UNDATED (AP) — Jacob deGrom shouldered the load for New York in his return from another injury scare, pitching one-hit ball over five scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 to open a doubleheader.
DeGrom didn’t allow a hit in the seven-inning game until Mets outfielders misplayed a fly ball with two outs in the fifth, letting it fall for a ground-rule double. DeGrom threw 70 pitches, 15 of them over 100 mph, with two walks and six strikeouts. It was a comfort for fans concerned about New York’s ace after he left his previous outing with shoulder soreness.
In other MLB action:
— Yu Darvish struck out 11 in six brilliant innings to become the fastest big leaguer to reach 1,500 for his career, Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth homered and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the opener of a three-game series between the NL West rivals. Darvish reached 1,500 strikeouts on the nose in 197 starts. He held the Dodgers to two hits, including Mookie Betts’ solo homer, and walked just one. The Padres improved to 5-3 this season against the Dodgers.
— Merrill Kelly pitched seven effective innings, Ketel Marte had two hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks finally snapped a 17-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Monday night. The win was a long time coming for Arizona, which has plunged to the bottom of the standings in the NL West and has the worst record in the majors at 21-53. It’s the first win for the Diamondbacks since June 1, when they beat the Mets 6-5 in 10 innings.
— Jake Odorizzi and the Houston bullpen took a bid for a combined no-hitter into the eighth inning, eventually settling for a 10-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles that marked the Astros’ eighth straight win. Maikel Franco hit a two-run homer with one out in the eighth off Brandon Bielak, breaking up the no-hitter. Odorizzi and reliever Cristian Javier held the Orioles without a hit through seven. The start of the game was delayed by rain for an hour, and there was also a 41-minute rain delay during the top of the eighth.
— Bobby Bradley and Josh Naylor homered, helping the Cleveland Indians overcome the loss of Aaron Civale during a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Civale, who leads the majors with 10 wins, exited with two out in the fifth inning because of a right middle finger injury. The Indians moved within two games of the idle White Sox for the top spot in the AL Central. Chicago lost for the sixth time in eight games, and shortstop Javier Báez was pulled by manager David Ross after he made an embarrassing mental mistake.
— Andy Ibañez and Jose Trevino each hit three-run homers as the Texas Rangers ended a six-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over Oakland. Kyle Gibson had another solid start pitching into the sixth inning Monday night. He is 5-0 and unbeaten in his last 15 starts overall.
