ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Astros starter Luis Garcia and reliever Phil Maton each threw an immaculate inning — nine pitches, three strikeouts — and Martín Maldonado keyed a six-run first inning that sent Houston over the Texas Rangers 9-2 on Wednesday.
Maldonado hit a two-run double in the first and later homered for the AL West-leading Astros.
Garcia (4-5) struck out nine without a walk over six innings while limiting Texas to two runs and four hits. He had a span of five consecutive strikeouts that began with an immaculate second inning — when he threw only nine pitches to strike out Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Duran and Brad Miller.
Those were the first three batters Maton faced after replacing Garcia to start the seventh. And Maton also recorded a nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning.
Astros and Rangers officials said it was the first time in MLB history to have two nine-pitch, three-strikeout innings in the same game — either both by one team, or each team recording one.
The Astros sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. The first nine faced fill-in starter Tyson Miller (0-1).
YANKEES 4, RAYS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 25th home run, No. 9 batter Kyle Higashioka followed an intentional walk with a three-run drive and New York beat Tampa Bay for its 13th straight win at home.
Nestor Cortes (6-2) outpitched Shane McClanahan (7-3) in a matchup of stellar starters with sub-2.00 ERAs, and Clay Holmes matched Mariano Rivera’s team record of 28 consecutive scoreless appearances, remaining perfect in 11 save chances.
The Yankees have won six in a row and 13 of 14 overall. New York’s 46-16 record is its best after 62 games since 1998. The team’s 13-game winning streak at home is its longest since 1973.
Cortes started 18 of 22 batters with strikes and lowered his ERA to 1.94, allowing one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Austin Riley homered twice, rookie Spencer Strider allowed one hit over 5 2/3 innings, and Atlanta beat Washington for its 14th straight victory.
Orlando Arcia had a homer, three singles and a walk for the Braves, who swept a three-game series at Washington.
The Braves are one win away from tying the franchise’s post-1900 record, a 15-game streak from April 16-May 2, 2000.
Strider (3-2) didn’t allow a hit until Luis Garcia homered to right-center with two outs in the fifth.
Washington starter Erick Fedde (4-5) went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.
PHILLIES 3, MARLINS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Garrett Stubbs hit a three-run homer with two out in the ninth inning, sending Philadelphia past Miami.
Alec Bohm sparked the winning rally with a one-out single against Tanner Scott (2-2). Pinch-hitter J.T. Realmuto walked before Yairo Muñoz struck out swinging.
That brought Stubbs to the plate, and he drove a 2-2 fastball deep to right for his third homer.
Kyle Gibson pitched eight-plus innings for Philadelphia before Connor Brogdon (2-0) got three outs.
WHITE SOX 13, TIGERS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Yoán Moncada had five hits and five RBIs and Chicago completed a three-game sweep of Detroit.
Moncada, Danny Mendick and Seby Zavala homered for Chicago. The White Sox finished with 22 hits, compared to four for the Tigers. Davis Martin (1-2) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-hit ball.
Tigers starter Alex Faedo (1-3) allowed seven runs and nine hits in three-plus innings.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch gave up on his pitching staff after six innings, using position players including Kody Clemens, who made his pitching debut. The 26-year-old's father, Roger, won seven Cy Young Awards.
RED SOX 10, ATHLETICS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Rafael Devers homered in his fourth straight game and Alex Verdugo hit his first home run in almost two months as Boston beat Oakland.
Rookie Josh Winckowski (1-1) earned his first major league win in his second start. The 23-year-old righty allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one in five scoreless innings.
James Kaprielian (0-4) gave up six runs on seven hits and six walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Boston has won 11 of its last 13 games, outscoring opponents 65-27 in that span. The A’s have lost 13 of their last 14 and are in a 6-23 rut.
BREWERS 10, METS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Corbin Burnes bounced back from his two shortest outings of the season to pitch six innings of two-run ball, Willy Adames got two of his three hits in a seven-run fifth and Milwaukee routed New York.
Manager Craig Counsell got his 564th victory with the Brewers, breaking the franchise record. Counsell passed Phil Garner, who managed 1,180 games for the team from 1992-99.
New York’s nine-game home winning streak ended.
Burnes (4-4) yielded five hits, including Jeff McNeil’s homer in the fourth and RBI single in the sixth, while striking out eight and walking none.
The Brewers poured it on in the fifth against David Peterson (3-1) and two relievers.
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 6, 10 INNINGS
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 16th homer, then singled home the winning run in the 10th inning to lift Toronto over Baltimore.
Orioles rookie Adley Rutschman hit his first career home run and got his first two RBIs. Ryan Mountcastle homered twice, but Baltimore lost for the eighth time in nine meetings against Toronto.
Leading off the 10th against Félix Bautista (2-2), Guerrero lined a single to left that scored automatic runner Bo Bichette from second base.
Adam Cimber (7-2) worked one inning of relief for the win.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, REDS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen pitched seven effective innings despite an early bout of wildness, and Arizona used a four-run eighth inning to top Cincinnati.
Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, who avoided a three-game sweep.
Arizona went ahead to stay on David Peralta’s one-out RBI single against Art Warren (2-3).
Brandon Drury hit his 13th homer for Cincinnati, a tying shot with two outs in the eighth off Noe Ramirez (2-1). Luis Castillo pitched seven innings of four-hit ball for the Reds.
Gallen retired his final 16 batters. He struck out five and allowed just two hits without walking a batter.
TWINS 5, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Ryan Jeffers hit an RBI single off the center-field wall to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning Minnesota beat Seattle.
Twins starter Sonny Gray, making his first appearance since going on the injured list with a strained pectoral muscle on June 2, threw five shutout innings.
Five Twins relievers then completed the five-hitter. Griffin Jax (4-0) followed Gray and struck out two in one inning.
Mariners starter Marco Gonzales (3-7) allowed one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
ROYALS 3, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Whit Merrifield broke a 2-2 tie with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly and Kansas City edged San Francisco to avoid a three-game sweep.
Brandon Belt homered for the Giants, whose five-game winning streak ended.
Jose Cuas (1-0) entered with one out in the seventh and retired three batters to earn his first career victory. Scott Barlow recorded the last five outs for his seventh save in eight opportunities as Kansas City snapped a four-game losing streak.
Reliever John Brebbia (3-1) suffered his first loss since July 18, 2021.
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