Nationals beat Mets – The Washington Post

The Mets went hitless for the seventh time this season and for the first time since their opening day loss to Milwaukee, they were limited to just one hit in a game.

Winker made sure Irvin left with the win by hitting a curveball from Adrian Houser 407 feet to right-center field for his fifth career pinch-hit home run and his 10th of any kind this season.

Houser (1-5) is the latest Mets reliever to give up a big hit as the beleaguered bullpen struggles without suspended closer Edwin Díaz.

CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 2, 10 INNINGS

PITTSBURGH — Pedro Pages drove home pinch runner Michael Siani and then scored on an RBI single by Alec Burleson to give St. Louis a 10-inning win over Pittsburgh.

St. Louis made it two of three victories over its NL Central Division rivals by winning the final game of the series for the twelfth time in its last thirteen chances.

Burleson and Dylan Carlson each had two hits for the Cardinals. John King (3-1) struck out Andrew McCutchen with the tying run at second in the 10th to clinch the victory for St. Louis, which improved to 30-17 since May 12, the third-best record in the majors at that time.

CLEVELAND — All-Star Steven Kwan hit a home run, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and officially became the majors’ leading hitter as he led Cleveland to a victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Kwan hit his eighth home run in the third inning against Justin Anderson, giving the AL Central-leading Guardians two of three games in the series and improving baseball’s best home record to 28-10.

Though his average was above .350 for most of the season (and he recently flirted with .400), Kwan didn’t bat enough times to qualify for the MLB lead after missing a month with a hamstring injury.

He now has a .367 batting average and 12 three-hit games, the most in the AL.

TORONTO — Mauricio Dubón hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, Jeremy Peña added a solo home run and Houston defeated Toronto for its 12th win in 14 games.

Framber Valdez pitched six innings and won his third straight start, extending the Astros’ team-record Fourth of July winning streak to seven.

Yordan Alvarez reached base four times and scored a run, giving Houston a 3-1 win in the four-game series.

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.

MINNEAPOLIS — Jose Miranda went 5-for-5 with three doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs as Minnesota defeated Detroit in a game stopped in the seventh inning because of rain.

The start was moved up an hour due to threatening weather in the forecast. Rain began to fall steadily in the fourth inning and play was eventually halted in the seventh inning.

Ryan Jeffers had three hits and four RBI for the Twins, including his team-leading 14th home run. Max Kepler added two hits and two RBI.

Bailey Ober (8-4) allowed one earned run on seven hits and struck out eight in six innings to earn his third straight victory.

NEW YORK — Frankie Montas made a triumphant return to Yankee Stadium, Nick Martini, Jonathan India and Spencer Steer hit home runs and Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of a struggling New York.

Steer opened a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning with a three-run, opposite-field homer to right by Marcus Stroman (7-4). Jake Fraley extended the advantage to 8-2 with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh against Jake Cousins, making Cincinnati (42-45) the first NL team to win 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.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jurickson Profar hit his 12th home run and the All-Star left fielder also threw out a runner as San Diego defeated Texas.

Profar had two hits and a run both against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (1-2), making just his third start of the season since midseason back surgery and a rehab skewered by a sore thumb and a nerve problem. 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 plays of his own to prevent runs and also had an RBI single for their lone score.

Padres starter Michael King (7-5) struck out five and surrendered one run in 5 1/3 innings. Robert Suarez, the third Padres reliever, worked around a leadoff walk to Langford in the ninth inning for his 22nd save in 23 chances.

Scherzer allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and one walk.

MIAMI — 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 defeated Miami for a three-game series sweep.

Gonzalez advanced to third on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single against Matt Andriese (0-1), then raced home on Hamilton’s grounder to third. O’Neill followed with a shot to the warning track in center field, scoring 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 by O’Neill and Enmanuel Valdez in the top of the 11th put the Red Sox ahead 4-2. But Jesús Sánchez tied the score in the bottom half with a two-run homer off Kelly’s first pitch.

Sanchez missed the cycle with a single. His two-out triple in the seventh ended a no-hit bid by Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta.

CHICAGO — Ian Happ hit three-run homers to both sides of the plate for a career-high six RBIs, and the struggling Chicago Cubs beat major league leader Philadelphia to avoid a three-game sweep on Thursday.

The Cubs trailed 2-0 when Happ hit a strike from the right side against starter Cristopher Sánchez in the fifth inning. Happ again went left-handed in the fifth inning against Seranthony Domínguez to make it 8-2 and give him 14 career multi-homer games.

It was the second time Happ had gone deep from both sides of the plate, and he also singled and doubled to finish 4 for 4.

Jameson Taillon (5-4) threw seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits. The right-handed pitcher struck out seven and walked none.