Jake Irvin allowed just one hit and issued one walk in eight innings, Jesse Winker hit a pinch-hit home run and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 1-0 on Thursday in the traditional 11 a.m. Fourth of July game in the nation’s capital.
Irvin (7-6) pumped his chest and gestured to the crowd for applause after striking out Tyrone Taylor on his 99th pitch and walking off the mound following the longest outing of his major league career. That was Irvin’s eighth strikeout, and he faced just one batter over the minimum. Irvin retired the final 17 batters he faced.
The Mets were blanked for the seventh time this season and were held to only one hit in a game for the first time since a loss to Milwaukee on opening day.
Winker made sure Irvin left with the victory by hitting a curveball from Adrian Houser 407 feet to right-center field. It was his fifth career pinch-hit home run and his 10th of any kind this season.
Houser (1-5) became the latest Mets reliever to give up a big hit as the beleaguered bullpen slogs on without suspended closer Edwin Díaz.
CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 2, 10 INNINGS
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pedro Pages doubled home pinch runner Michael Siani and then scored on Alec Burleson’s RBI single as the St. Louis edged Pittsburgh in 10 innings.
St. Louis took two of three from its NL Central Division rivals by winning a series finale for the 12th time in its last 13 chances.
Burleson and Dylan Carlson had two hits apiece for the Cardinals. John King (3-1) retired Andrew McCutchen with the tying run on second in the 10th to pick up the victory for St. Louis, which improved to 30-17 since May 12, the third-best record in the majors over that span.
GUARDIANS 8, WHITE SOX 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — All-Star Steven Kwan homered, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and officially took over as the majors’ leading hitter while sending Cleveland to a win over the Chicago White Sox.
Kwan connected for his eighth homer leading off the third inning against Justin Anderson as the AL Central-leading Guardians took two of three in the series and improved baseball’s best home record to 28-10.
Although his average has been over .350 for most of the season — he recently flirted with .400 — Kwan didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the MLB lead after missing a month with a hamstring injury.
He’s now batting .367 and has 12 three-hit games, the most in the AL.
ASTROS 5, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) — Mauricio Dubón hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, Jeremy Peña added a solo home run and Houston beat Toronto for their 12th win in 14 games.
Framber Valdez pitched six innings to win his third straight start as the Astros extended their team-record Fourth of July winning streak to seven.
Yordan Alvarez reached base four times and scored a run as Houston won the four-game series 3-1.
Peña went 2 for 4 with a walk and scored twice. He extended Houston’s lead with a solo homer off Trevor Richards in the seventh inning, his seventh of the season. Peña also homered in Monday’s series opener.
Valdez (7-5) allowed three runs and nine hits. He walked two and struck out four.
TWINS 12, TIGERS 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jose Miranda went 5 for 5 with three doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs as Minnesota beat Detroit in a game called in the seventh inning due to rain.
The start was moved up an hour with threatening weather in the forecast. Rain began to fall steadily in the fourth and play was finally stopped in the bottom of the seventh.
Ryan Jeffers had three hits and four RBIs for the Twins, including his team-leading 14th homer. Max Kepler added two hits and two RBIs.
Bailey Ober (8-4) allowed one earned run on seven hits and struck out eight in six innings to win his third straight decision.
REDS 8, YANKEES 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Frankie Montas made a triumphant return to Yankee Stadium, Nick Martini, Jonathan India and Spencer Steer homered and Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of reeling New York.
Steer opened a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning with a three-run, opposite-field homer to right off Marcus Stroman (7-4). Jake Fraley boosted the advantage to 8-2 with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh against Jake Cousins as Cincinnati (42-45) became the first NL team to sweep a regular-season interleague series in the Bronx.
New York (54-35) has lost 13 of 17 games and 14 of 19 after a 49-21 start.
PADRES 3, RANGERS 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jurickson Profar hit his 12th home run and the All-Star left fielder also threw out a runner at the plate as San Diego beat Texas.
Profar had two hits and scored both times against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (1-2), who made only his third start of the season since offseason back surgery and a rehab disrupted by thumb soreness and a nerve issue. Profar singled and scored in the fourth, then went deep in the sixth for a 2-0 lead.
Rangers rookie left fielder Wyatt Langford had two defensive gems of his own to prevent runs, and also had an RBI single for their only score.
Padres starter Michael King (7-5) struck out five while giving up one run over 5 1/3 innings. Robert Suarez, the third Padres reliever, worked around a leadoff walk to Langford in the ninth for his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Scherzer allowed three runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and a walk.
RED SOX 6, MARLINS 5
MIAMI (AP) — Automatic runner Romy Gonzalez scored a go-ahead run on David Hamilton’s RBI groundout in the 12th inning, Tyler O’Neill added an RBI double and Boston beat the Miami for a sweep of the three-game series.
Gonzalez advanced to third on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single against Matt Andriese (0-1) and then raced home on Hamilton’s grounder to third. O’Neill followed with a shot to the warning track in center field that scored Rafaela.
Zack Kelly (3-1) threw two innings of relief. Greg Weissert closed, allowing Jonah Bride’s sacrifice fly in the 12th for his first major league save.
Run scoring singles from O’Neill and Enmanuel Valdez in the top of the 11th put the Red Sox ahead 4-2. But Jesús Sánchez tied it in the bottom half with a two-run homer on the first pitch by Kelly.
Sánchez missed the cycle by a single. His two-out triple in the seventh ended a no-hit bid by Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta.
CUBS 10, PHILLIES 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ hit three-run homers from both sides of the plate for a career-high six RBIs, and the struggling Chicago Cubs pounded the major league-leading Philadelphia to avoid a three-game sweep on Thursday.
The Cubs trailed 2-0 when Happ connected from the right side against starter Cristopher Sánchez during a five-run fourth inning. Happ struck again batting left-handed in the fifth against Seranthony Domínguez, making it 8-2 and giving him 14 career multi-homer games.
It was the second time Happ went deep from both sides of the plate. He also singled and doubled to finish 4 for 4.
Jameson Taillon (5-4) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked none.
MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodríguez homered for the first time since June 15 and doubled, J.P. Crawford lined a tiebreaking three-run double, and Seattle beat Baltimore to avoid a three-game sweep.
Seattle’s slumping offense broke out in a big way and it was the Mariners’ best player leading the charge. Mired in a slump at the plate, Rodríguez hit an 0-2 pitch from Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes an estimated 428 feet to center field in the fifth inning to pull Seattle to 2-1.
Two innings later, Rodríguez keyed Seattle’s five-run seventh inning with a line drive double off Baltimore reliever Bryan Baker. The Mariners eventually loaded the bases against Baker (1-1) and with two outs and Crawford cleared them after Keegan Akin fell behind in the count.
Crawford is hitting .636 with 37 RBIs with the bases loaded over the past two seasons.
Mitch Garver capped Seattle’s offensive burst with a two-run homer, his 11th of the season.
ATHLETICS 5, ANGELS 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and Oakland blanked the Los Angeles for a second straight game by the same 5-0 score to complete three-game series sweep.
Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly in the decisive inning on a hot Independence Day in the Bay Area, with an announced holiday crowd of 11,956.
Sears (5-7) struck out six and walked one, allowing two hits over five scoreless innings to snap a six-start winless stretch since beating Houston on May 25. The left-hander had dropped his previous four decisions.
The Angels lost a fourth straight game coming off a 5-0 shutout Wednesday after having scored five or more runs in seven straight games. They were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since June 20-21, 2023 at home against the Dodgers.
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jake Irvin reacts after he struck out New York Mets' Tyrone Taylor to end the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Washington. Irvin allowed just one hit and issued one walk in eight innings, Jesse Winker hit a pinch-hit home run and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 1-0 (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
