Pirates send skidding Cubs to 10th straight loss
Pittsburgh Pirates' Esmerlyn Valdez celebrates as he crosses home plate after hitting a two-run home run off Chicago Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run home run to cap a five-run first inning on Tuesday night and the Pittsburgh Pirates routed the skidding Cubs 12-1 to extend Chicago’s losing streak to 10 games. The rookie became the seventh player in Pirates’ history to hit two home runs within the first four games of his major league career and the first since Austin Meadows in 2018. The Cubs are just the second team in major league history to have two 10-game winning streaks and one 10-game losing streak in the same season, joining the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Elias Sports Bureau. It is also the Cubs’ longest losing streak since 2022. Braxton Ashcraft (4-3) allowed one run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out five and walking one. He is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in five starts in May. Valdez’s homer gave the Pirates a 5-0 lead after Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run double earlier in the first off Jordan Wicks (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Sunday to bolster an injury-depleted rotation. Wicks was rocked for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. Spencer Horwitz also homered for the Pirates, who won their third consecutive game. Oneil Cruz had three hits and Brandon Lowe, Reynolds, Nick Gonzales and Horwitz added two each. Valdez drove in three runs. Konnor Griffin, a 20-year-old rookie shortstop, became the youngest leadoff hitter for the Pirates since 1952. He was 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored. The Cubs’ Alex Bregman and Carson Kelly had two hits each. Chicago went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners. REDS 7, METS 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Chase Burns tossed 5 1/3 strong innings and won his fourth straight start Tuesday night for the Cincinnati Reds, who beat the Mets 7-2, dropping New York 11 games under .500 — tying a season-high. The Mets, who ended April at 10-21, have lost five straight to fall to 22-33. They have scored just six runs and collected 25 hits during the losing streak — their second-longest of the season behind a 12-game skid from April 8-21. Eugenio Suárez and Elly De La Cruz each had two-run doubles off David Peterson (3-5), who also gave up a pair of RBI hits to Tyler Stephenson. Sal Stewart added a run-scoring single in the eighth. Burns (7-1) allowed two runs and walked two with eight strikeouts. He carried a one-hit shutout into the sixth, when Juan Soto, back after a two-game absence due to illness, delivered a two-run homer. Burns has a 1.54 ERA over his last four starts to lower his seasonal ERA to 1.96. He hasn’t lost in his last eight starts dating back to April 18. Peterson gave up six runs and a career-high 11 hits with three walks and four strikeouts in five-plus innings. The 11 hits surrendered were the most allowed by a Mets pitcher since Luis Severino was tagged for 11 hits in five innings on March 30, 2024. Home plate umpire Emil Jimenez went 2 for 9 on ABS challenges. He lost the first six challenges before a pair of calls — a ball to Spencer Steer and a strike to Suárez — were upheld in the seventh. DIAMONDBACKS 3, GIANTS 2 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Soroka limited San Francisco to two runs on four hits in six innings, Geraldo Perdomo broke a seventh-inning tie with a sacrifice fly and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Giants 3-2 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep. Arizona has won five straight and 10 of 11. The Diamondbacks were 11-2 in a 13-game stretch against Colorado and San Francisco to improve to 31-24. The Diamondbacks also swept a three-game series against the Giants last week in Phoenix. San Francisco has lost the first six games of a season series for the first time since dropping the first seven games to San Diego in 2010. Soroka (7-2) gave up a two-run single to Luis Arraez with one out in the third inning. Soroka then retired the final 11 batters he faced. Paul Sewald finished for his 100th career save. He worked a three-up, three-down ninth for his 14th save this season. The Diamondbacks trailed 2-0 in the sixth before scoring twice off Trevor McDonald (2-2) to tie tie it. Adrian Del Castillo drove in a run with a single, and Ildemaro Vargas’ sacrifice fly made it 2-2. McDonald departed after allowing one-out singles to Tommy Troy and Ketel Marte in the seventh. Marte went 2 for 5 and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Reliever Matt Gage then committed an error on Corbin Carroll’s roller between the mound and first, loading the bases. and Perdomo followed with the sacrifice fly to left, giving Arizona a 3-2 edge. With Willy Adames on second and one out in the eighth, Arraez hit his third single of the game, a soft liner to left-center. The relay from left fielder Ryan Waldschmidt to third baseman Jose Fernandez to catcher Aramis Garcia cut down Adames. MARINERS 9, ATHLETICS 1 WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Rob Refsnyder and Julio Rodríguez hit three-run home runs and Logan Gilbert threw six shutout innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Athletics 9-1 on Wednesday to complete a series sweep and move into first place in the AL West. Refsnyder hit a full-count changeup 368 feet to left field, scoring J.P. Crawford and Josh Naylor for a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Colt Emerson hit his first MLB triple in the fourth inning, driving in two runs, and Seattle added another run on a throwing error by Athletics shortstop Darell Hernaiz, extending its lead to 6-0. Rodríguez capped the Mariners’ scoring with his 10th homer of the season in the top of the eighth inning. The 418-foot shot to left-center was his eighth homer in the month of May — tied for the most the 25-year-old has hit in any month in his big league career. Gilbert (3-4) struck out six and allowed five hits while walking two. The 29-year-old right-hander threw 91 pitches, 54 for strikes. Eduard Bazardo and Cooper Criswell worked the final three innings in relief. Jonah Heim scored the A’s lone run on a double-play groundout off the bat of Jeff McNeil in the bottom of the ninth. Jeffrey Spring (3-6) gave up five runs on six hits in five innings for the Athletics, while striking out seven. Seattle (28-29) moved a half-game ahead of the Athletics (27-29) in the division. BREWERS 2, CARDINALS 1 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Held without a hit through seven innings, the Milwaukee Brewers broke through in the eighth with three hits and two runs to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Wednesday. Dustin May carried a no-hitter into the eighth for the Cardinals, who have lost seven of nine games. May was looking to become just the third pitcher in the history of American Family Field, which opened in 2001, to pitch a no-hitter. Garrett Mitchell led off the eighth with a double and Luis Rengifo followed with a single, chasing May (3-6). After Sal Frelick grounded into a fielder’s choice and pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn struck out looking, Christian Yelich singled to drive in Mitchell to tie the score, with Frelick moving to third. Frelick then scored when Masyn Winn booted Jackson Chourio’s grounder. The Cardinals got on the board in the fourth against Brewers starter Chad Patrick when Jordan Walker led off with a single and later scored on Bryan Torres’ triple. The Brewers, who hold the top spot in the NL Central, have won 15 of their last 19 games. Patrick gave up five hits and one run in four innings while walking one and striking out four. Shane Drohan, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for five scoreless innings. Ashby (9-0) took over the major league lead in wins and Megill recorded his sixth save in seven tries. May, who came in with an ERA of 5.00, gave up two hits and two runs (one earned) in seven innings. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter in the hard-luck 87-pitch outing. BLUE JAYS 2, MARLINS 1 TORONTO (AP) — Kazuma Okamoto hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Wednesday. Jeff Hoffman (3-3) got four outs for the win as the Blue Jays won for the eighth time in 12 games. Tyler Rogers finished for his second save in four chances. Otto Lopez went 4 for 4 with an RBI, but the Marlins lost their second straight after winning the previous four. Miami put runners at first and second with nobody out against Louis Varland in the eighth but couldn’t score. Jakob Marsee grounded into a fielder’s choice, then got caught stealing second as Connor Norby struck out. Okamoto connected off left-hander Andrew Nardi (3-3), his 11th homer of the season. He hadn’t gone deep since May 5 at Tampa Bay. The home run came in Okamoto’s first plate appearance after being hit by a 97 mph pitch from Miami’s Eury Pérez. After Pérez hit Okamoto, he appeared to stare into Toronto’s dugout. Blue Jays manager John Schneider yelled at Pérez, but the situation did not escalate. Pérez set a season-high by striking out nine in four shutout innings but exited after his right hamstring spasmed while he was stretching in the dugout. Pérez allowed three hits, all singles, and walked none. Michael Petersen replaced Pérez but couldn’t hold a 1-0 lead. Tyler Heineman drew a two-out walk and scored on Nathan Lukes’ double. Toronto’s Kevin Gausman allowed one run and six hits in five innings. Lopez hit an RBI single in the first, but the Marlins didn’t score again. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returned after missing two games because of a sore right elbow. Guerrero was hit by a pitch Sunday.