Photo: The Canadian Press
Kyle Stowers had three hits, including two doubles and a career-high four RBIs, Ryan Mountcastle also had three hits and the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 11-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
Cedric Mullins added a two-run triple as Baltimore scored five runs in the fourth off Boston’s Cooper Criswell (2-2) to help open the series with its fifth consecutive win.
Cole Irvin (5-2) pitched five shutout innings in a return to the rotation spurred by the Orioles placing John Means and Dean Kremer on the 15-day injured list last week.
Criswell allowed seven runs — six earned — over four innings as Boston lost its third out of four overall and fourth straight against Baltimore. Five of the Orioles’ six hits off the right-hander went for extra bases.
Romy Gonzalez hit a three-run triple in the eighth off Baltimore’s Thyago Vieira, who let all five batters reach in his club debut.
TWINS 6, ROYALS 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Ryan pitched seven smooth innings for Minnesota, who got a two-run homer by Jose Miranda and a three-run shot from Trevor Larnach and hung on to beat Kansas City in the opener of a four-game series.
Ryan allowed one run and four singles while lowering his team-leading ERA to 2.96. The right-hander struck out nine and walked none.
Ryan (4-3) has pitched at least into the sixth in each of his 11 starts this season.
Alex Kirilloff’s two-out RBI single in the eighth inning gave the Twins (29-24) enough insurance to improve to 5-1 since a seven-game losing streak.
Hunter Renfroe’s two-out RBI double in the ninth off Cole Sands put men on second and third and the tying run on deck for the Royals (34-21), before Jhoan Duran was summoned for the final out.
BLUE JAYS 5, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — George Springer, Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider homered, and Toronto beat the Chicago White Sox.
Chris Bassitt struck out seven in five scoreless innings as Toronto stopped a three-game slide. Bassitt (5-6) allowed five hits and walked none against his first major league team.
Springer connected in the second inning after Daulton Varsho reached on a two-out walk against Nick Nastrini. It was Springer’s fourth homer of the season.
Bichette led off the fourth with his fourth homer, a 419-foot drive to center.
Nastrini (0-4) allowed three hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked four.
Last-place Chicago lost its sixth consecutive game. It dropped to 15-40 for the worst 55-game start in franchise history.
REDS 3, CARDINALS 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Lodolo came off the injured list to pitch 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Jeimer Candelario homered and Cincinnati won a season-high fourth straight game, over St. Louis.
Lodolo, who missed his last two starts while nursing a groin injury, allowed a first-inning home run to Paul Goldschmidt but otherwise stayed out of trouble against the hot-hitting Cardinals. The 26-year-old lefty allowed five hits, struck out three and did not issue a walk.
Reliever Fernando Cruz struck out all five batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. Sam Moll fanned two more Cardinals in the eighth, and Lucas Sims retired the side in order in the ninth to get his first save.
St. Louis had a five-game win streak snapped after coming off a 7-1 homestand.
The Cards got solid pitching from starter Lance Lynn, who allowed three runs (one earned) and five hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked three.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Willy Adames hit a three-run homer during Milwaukee’s five-run eighth inning, and the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs in Craig Counsell’s return to American Family Field.
Counsell, the winningest manager in Brewers history, left Milwaukee after last season when the Cubs signed him to a five-year contract worth over $40 million. He already had managed against his former team when the Cubs took two of three from the Brewers at Wrigley Field from May 3-5.
The Brewers welcomed Counsell back with a brief thank-you video message on the scoreboard that was accompanied by a chorus of boos from Brewers fans in the sellout crowd of 41,882. Counsell was booed every time he left the dugout.
The Cubs lost their fifth straight and wasted a brilliant performance from Justin Steele, who spent most of the day in a pitchers’ duel with Robert Gasser. The Cubs didn’t arrive in Milwaukee until early Monday morning following a 4-3 loss at St. Louis in a rain-delayed game Sunday night.
The NL Central-leading Brewers lead the Cubs by 4 1/2 games.
NATIONALS 8, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — Mitchell Parker pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning and CJ Abrams homered, helping Washington beat Atlanta Braves.
Parker (4-2) allowed three runs, struck out six and walked none in 6 1/3 innings. The rookie left-hander has permitted three runs or fewer in each of his first eight major league starts.
The Braves adjusted their lineup in their first game since losing 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Sunday.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies was the team’s new leadoff hitter. Jared Kelenic and Adam Duvall, who have been sharing time in left field, each started. Duvall replaced Acuña in right and Kelenic started in left.
Jacob Young had three of the Nationals’ 15 hits. Nick Senzel had two hits, including a two-run single in a four-run first inning against Charlie Morton.
Parker retired 14 consecutive batters in one stretch. He was working with an 8-0 lead before fading in the seventh.
ROCKIES 8, GUARDIANS 6
DENVER (AP) — Charlie Blackmon homered to cap a six-run fourth inning and Colorado ended Cleveland’s nine-game winning streak.
Blackmon drove in four runs and made a sliding catch in foul territory for Colorado, which is 11-6 since an 8-28 start.
The fourth-inning rally ended Cleveland’s longest winning streak since it won an AL record 22 straight from Aug. 24 to Sept. 14, 2017.
José Ramírez continued his strong start to the season with two doubles and drove and increased his major league RBI lead to 54 with two driven in. He had a chance for more but struck out with a runner on in the ninth.
The Rockies own the second worst record in the NL but are 6-1 against Texas, Philadelphia and Cleveland over the last two weeks. They used a big fourth against starter Xzavion Curry (0-1) to turn a three-run deficit into a 7-4 lead and end the Guardians’ streak.
GIANTS 8, PHILLIES 4
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brett Wisely doubled in a key insurance run in the sixth inning after an earlier RBI single, Patrick Bailey hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth, and San Francisco beat Philadelphia.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell remains winless with San Francisco since signing a $62 million, two-year contract in March. Randy Rodríguez (1-0) relieved and pitched two innings for his first major league win.
Thairo Estrada’s hard grounder scored the tying run in the fifth when the ball glanced off third baseman Alec Bohm’s glove for an error.
Heliot Ramos added a two-run single in the seventh as the Giants won for the ninth time in 11 games, much to the delight of the holiday sellout crowd of 40,598. San Francisco was swept in a four-game series at Philadelphia from May 3-6, getting outscored 29-11.
The Phillies fought back after trailing 3-0 to go ahead 4-3. Kyle Schwarber connected for his 10th homer with a two-run drive in the third. Edmundo Sosa hit a one-out triple in the fourth, then scored the tying run moments later on Snell’s wild pitch.
PADRES 2, MARLINS 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jake Cronenworth drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the seventh, one batter after shortstop Tim Anderson committed his second error of the inning, and San Diego beat Miami.
It was the Padres’ second consecutive home win after losing five straight games at Petco Park.
After failing to score with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, the Padres came through in the seventh for the go-ahead run.
Ha-Seong Kim hit a leadoff single and Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on Anderson’s fielding error with one out. Jurickson Profar flied out and Anthony Bender replaced A.J. Puk (0-6) on the mound. Manny Machado grounded to Anderson, who went for an inning-ending force out at second base but bobbled the ball for another error. Cronenworth then worked a seven-pitch walk to bring in Kim.
Adrian Morejon (1-0) got the win and Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save.
MARINERS 3, ASTROS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Bryce Miller allowed two runs over six innings to pick up his first win since April 17, and Seattle used a big first inning against Houston starter Framber Valdez to hold on for win over Houston.
Seattle scored three times in the first off Valdez and then leaned on its pitching to make the early lead stand up. Miller did his part then turned it over to relievers Trent Thornton, Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz to close out the victory.
Muñoz got the final three outs for his 11th save.
