UNDATED (AP) — Jon Lester pitched seven scoreless innings and homered, Juan Soto hit two home runs and the Washington Nationals routed the Miami Marlins 18-1.
Lester turned in his longest outing of the season, allowing six hits while striking out seven without a walk. Lester hit his fourth career homer and added a single for his fourth career multi-hit game. Soto continued his torrid post-All Star game pace, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs. He’s 10-for-17 (.588) with five homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs scored in four games since the break. Trea Turner drove in four runs with a homer and a triple as Washington began a stretch of six games against the last-place Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles.
In other Monday action:
— Caleb Smith pitched 6 2/3 stellar innings, Eduardo Escobar hit a two-run homer for the second straight game and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2. It was a nice bounce-back outing for Smith, who was rocked for nine earned runs in one inning during a 22-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers just before the All-Star break. The left-hander even earned his first career stolen base, surprising the Pirates by getting a huge jump and swiping second. Escobar’s homer was his 22nd of the season.
— Ramón Laureano hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning as Oakland finally got on the board once Shohei Ohtani left the mound, and the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1. Laureano connected against Steve Cishek after Ohtani left following six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts. It marked the two-way star’s second outing on the mound when he also had at least a share of the major league home run lead. All-Star Matt Olson hit his team-leading 24th homer in the eighth for the A’s.
— Buster Posey and Wilmer Flores hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, Thairo Estrada had a key double in the seventh and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 in the opener of a pivotal four-game series between the NL West rivals. Posey had two hits and drove in two runs in his first game back after he missed two weeks due to a bruised left thumb. Estrada came through with a two-run double in the seventh inning as the Giants broke open a close game by scoring four times. Max Muncy and Justin Turner homered for Los Angeles, which was held to four hits.
— Nelson Cruz hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning after tying the game with a solo shot in the sixth, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jorge Polanco added an RBI single in the eighth as Minnesota ended a three-game losing streak and beat division rival Chicago for just the third time in 13 games. Tim Anderson homered for the third straight game for the White Sox and extended his hitting
— The game between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres was postponed on Monday night because of rain and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday. Wednesday’s first game will start at 12:20 p.m. as scheduled. The makeup game will begin at 5:20 p.m. Yu Darvish was supposed to start for San Diego, against Atlanta.
— Yordan Alvarez snapped an 0-for-22 slump with at two-run homer to help the Houston Astros to a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. The Astros were up by 1 with one out in the fifth inning when Alvarez connected off rookie J.C. Mejía (1-5) on his soaring shot to the second deck right field to make it 4-1. Houston starter Zack Greinke (9-3) yielded five hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings. Ryan Pressly walked one in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save.
— Dylan Carlson homered and drove in four runs, Jake Woodford pitched 5 2/3 strong innings in his first start of the season, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-3. Woodford, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis prior to the game, struck out six and didn’t allow a walk. Carlson’s four RBIs tied a career high set earlier this season on April 7 against Miami. Only one of the five runs allowed by Cubs starter Alec Mills was earned.
— Miguel Cabrera drove in five runs, including a bases-loaded double in a four-run fifth inning, and the Detroit Tigers went on to defeat the Texas Rangers 14-0. The Rangers have lost six straight, the last three by a combined score of 29-0. The last major league team to allow that many runs while being shut out in three straight games was the 1906 Brooklyn Superbas, who were outscored 31-0 between July 6-9.
— Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam, Kiké Hernández drove in three runs with two homers and the Boston Red Sox routed the Toronto Blue Jays 13-4. Rookie Jarren Duran hit his first major league homer, Dylan Santana and Rafael Devers added blasts, and J.D. Martinez broke out of a slump with four hits as the Red Sox stopped a two-game skid. Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta allowed four runs on 11 hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
— Rookie Gavin Sheets hit a game-ending three run homer in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Chicago White Sox a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a doubleheader. Minnesota won the opener 3-2 in eight innings, but the White Sox avoided a sweep when Sheets turned on a 3-1 fastball from Twins ace José Berrios and drove it deep to right for his fifth home run.
— Rookie right-hander Spenser Watkins gave up one run in six innings as the Baltimore Orioles tied a season high with their third consecutive win, 6-1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. The 28-year old Watkins, making his third start and fourth career appearance, scattered four hits, walked two and struck out seven. His ERA dropped from 1.74 to 1.65 in 16 1/3 innings. Watkins was signed as a minor league free agent in February after not pitching in 2020 and spending 2014-19 in Detroit’s organization.
