Guerrero hits first HR of season as Blue Jays beat the Braves

By Canadian Press on April 16, 2025.

TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first home run of the season and drove in a pair, Chris Bassitt pitched five shutout innings and the Toronto Blue Jays spoiled Spencer Strider’s return from elbow surgery by beating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Wednesday.

Chris Bassitt (2-0) struck out a season-high 10 and allowed three hits, all singles. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 0.77 through four starts.

The Blue Jays set a single-game, nine-inning record with 19 strikeouts.

Jeff Hoffman gave up Drake Baldwin’s first career home run in the ninth inning, but finished for his fourth save in four opportunities.

TWINS 4, METS 3, 10 INNINGS

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ty France singled in the 10th inning to give the Minnesota a victory over New York, who had rallied with a three-run eighth

With the speedy Byron Buxton conveniently on second as the automatic runner, France smacked a 1-1 pitch from Reed Garrett (0-1) with none out that bounced in center field with no chance for Tyrone Taylor to get his glove down.

Buxton, Harrison Bader and Willi Castro had RBI singles for the Twins (7-12), who won just their second series in six sets this season after Jhoan Duran pitched a hitless ninth and Cole Sands (2-1) did the same in the 10th.

First base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt had to leave in the sixth after being hit in the head by a foul ball by Taylor.

Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker hit RBI doubles to end a 12-inning scoreless streak for the Mets (11-7) in the eighth against Griffin Jax, and Luisangel Acuña tied it with a two-out single.

BREWERS 5, TIGERS 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich, Rhys Hoskins and Sal Frelick all hit home runs Wednesday and Milwaukee defeated Detroit.

The Brewers pushed across a run in the second off Keider Montero (0-1) when Garrett Mitchell tripled with one out and scored on Oliver Dunn’s sacrifice bunt. Dunn became the first Brewers player to use a “torpedo” bat during the plate appearance.

Yelich connected for a solo home run with one out in the third. Hoskins hit a two-run blast later in the inning to push Milwaukee’s lead to 4-0.

José Quintana (2-0), making his second start of the season after pitching seven shoutout innings in his Brewers debut on Friday, held the Tigers to one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings.

CARDINALS 4, ASTROS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lars Nootbaar hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and Steven Matz pitched five strong innings in his first start of the season to help St. Louis beat Houston.

Matz (1-0) retired the last 15 batters he faced, striking out five, after allowing a run on a pair of singles to lead off the game.

Ryan Fernandez, Kyle Leahy and Phil Maton each pitched a scoreless inning of relief before Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Ronel Blanco (1-2) allowed three runs and five hits and three walks in five innings for Houston, which has not won consecutive games this season.

PADRES 4, CUBS 2

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado each drove in two runs and Nick Pivetta pitched six strong innings for San Diego, who beat Chicago to take two of three in a series between National League division leaders.

Tatis and Machado each hit an RBI single in the third off Matthew Boyd. Machado hit an RBI double in the seventh off Daniel Palencia, and Tatis drew a bases-loaded walk against Luke Little with two outs in the eighth.

Pivetta (3-1) allowed one run and four hits in a sharp performance. He struck out six and walked one.

Boyd (1-2) was charged with two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his big league-leading eighth save.

The Cubs loaded the bases with no outs in the third on two singles and a walk, but it managed just one run. Kyle Tucker hit a sacrifice fly before Seiya Suzuki grounded into a double play.

PIRATES 6, NATIONALS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Oneil Cruz hit his first career grand slam to help Bailey Falter and Pittsburgh beat Washington.

Henry Davis also connected for Pittsburgh, which had dropped four of five. Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two hits and scored run.

Falter (1-2) allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings. It was the 10th time this season that a Pirates starter went six innings or more — tops in the majors.

Washington wasted a sharp performance by Mitchell Parker (2-1), who tossed six innings of one-run ball. The Nationals scored their only run on Alex Call’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.

ORIOLES 9, GUARDIANS 1

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday hit a second-inning grand slam, Dean Kremer turned in his best start of the young season and Baltimore routed Cleveland.

Holliday snapped an 0-for-17 drought with a drive that carried into the Baltimore bullpen in center field off Gavin Williams (1-1) with one out in the second.

Kremer (2-2) entered the game with an ERA of 8.16 but allowed just one run — a homer by Gabriel Arias in the third — in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits.

Ramón Laureano hit a solo homer for the Orioles in the seventh, and Ryan O’Hearn added one in Baltimore’s four-run eighth.

Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the eighth but failed to score.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, MARLINS 2

MIAMI (AP) — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run homer and Arizona went deep four times to beat Miami for their fourth straight victory.

Josh Naylor, Pavin Smith and Tim Tawa added solo shots for the Diamondbacks, who have won six of seven following a three-game skid.

Brandon Pfaadt (3-1) allowed one run and five hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six.

Corbin Carroll had a go-ahead RBI single in the fifth to stretch his on-base streak to a career-high 24 games dating to Sept. 23, 2024, tied for the longest active run in the majors.

Miami reliever Tyler Phillips gave up Gurriel’s third homer of the season, a two-out drive to left field in the eighth that made it 6-1.

Otto Lopez doubled home a run for the Marlins in the eighth. Xavier Edwards and Jesús Sánchez each had two hits.

MARINERS 5, REDS 3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cal Raleigh hit two more homers and Bryce Miller pitched five sharp innings, helping Seattle beat Cincinnati.

Raleigh hit a solo drive from each side of the plate. The catcher has five homers in his last five games, giving him 100 for his career.

Dylan Moore had two hits and scored two runs for the Mariners in their fifth win in six games. Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford each had two hits and drove in a run.

Arozarena has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games, including five doubles and 10 RBIs.

Miller (1-2) allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two. Andrés Muñoz handled the ninth for his seventh save.

YANKEES 4, ROYALS 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the seventh inning that ended a 10-game drought, and New York defeated Kansas City to complete a three-game sweep

With a runner at second base in the ninth, Cody Bellinger made a diving catch in right field on MJ Melendez’s sinking liner to preserve Fernando Cruz’s first career save.

Judge had three hits for the third time this season. He reached base four times and his batting average climbed 27 points to a major league-best .409.

Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt had some dominant moments and pitched 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball in his season debut.

Anthony Volpe hit a two-run double in the third and Bellinger had an RBI double in the fourth to give the Yankees a 3-1 led.

Schmidt retired 11 straight before Drew Waters opened the fifth with a single and scored on Kyle Isbel’s triple. Isbel scored the tying run on a groundout by Jonathan India.

GIANTS 11, PHILLIES 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jung Hoo Lee singled, doubled and drove in two runs to help San Francisco beat Philadelphia.

San Francisco improved to 13-5 with its third win in four games. Mike Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores and Patrick Bailey also drove in a pair of runs for the Giants.

Bryce Harper homered for Philadelphia.

San Francisco had 13 hits and nine walks, with much of the damage coming off struggling Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola (0-4). The right-hander gave up six earned runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

RED SOX 1, RAYS 0

TAMPA (AP) — David Hamilton hit a third-inning home run, four pitchers combined to strike out 13 and Boston beat Tampa Bay.

Hamilton lined a 3-2 fastball just inside the right-field foul pole off Rays starter Zack Littell (0-4) to lead off the third and give Boston all it needed in the three-game series finale. The Red Sox rebounded from Monday’s 16-1 loss to win the final two games.

Playing without Alex Bregman, on paternity leave after a career-high five hits with two homers in Tuesday’s win, the Boston bullpen limited the Rays to one hit over the final 4 1/3 innings.

Relievers Greg Weissert (1-0), Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten combined to retire 13 of the final 14 Tampa Bay hitters with no walks and nine strikeouts.

The Associated Press

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