ST. LOUIS (AP) — Merrill Kelly threw seven shutout innings and Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed each homered in the eighth inning, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals. Kelly pitched seven scoreless innings for the win and held the Cardinals to two hits with four strikeouts. Ian Kennedy gave up a leadoff walk before retiring the side in the ninth to pick up his first save and preserve the shutout. St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Eric Lauer kept up his strikeout success, fanning 11 in seven innings as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 9-1. Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Christian Yelich and Hunter Renfroe connected for consecutive home runs in the eighth. The Cubs are 2-9 in the last 11 games after winning six of 10 to start the season. Lauer, who struck out a career-high 13 last weekend against Philadelphia, reached double digits in strikeouts in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
In other MLB action:
— Clayton Kershaw became the Dodgers’ career strikeout leader during the fourth inning of Saturday night’s game against Detroit. But the Tigers started hitting after he left the game, spoiling the Dodger Stadium celebration by downing L.A. 5-1. Javier Báez and Austin Meadows each drove in two runs as Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak. Báez tied it at 1-all in the third inning with a base hit to left and then had the go-ahead double down the right-field line off Evan Phillips in the seventh. Kershaw began the game needing four strikeouts to pass Don Sutton on the Dodgers’ all-time list. The 33-year-old lefty got Spencer Torkelson to whiff on a slider low and inside for his 2,697th strikeout, passing Sutton. Kershaw received a standing ovation and tipped his cap, finishing the night with seven punchouts over six innings but no decision. Mookie Betts accounted for Los Angeles’ only run with a leadoff homer in the first.
— Kyle Schwarber found his stroke at New York’s Citi Field, hitting a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Philadelphia Phillies bounced back from being no-hit by beating the New York Mets 4-1. Mets starter Taijuan Walker and reliever Trevor May blanked the Phillies through six innings before J.T. Realmuto drew a one-out walk in the seventh from Adam Ottavino. Schwarber, who entered Saturday hitting .164, followed by homering to right-center field for a 2-1 lead.
— Gerrit Cole pitched six shutout innings and the New York Yankees manufactured just enough runs to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 for their eighth straight win. Cole scattered five hits and two walks while striking out six. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his fifth save, helping the Yankees improve to 15-6 on the season.
— Jesús Luzardo allowed one run and two hits in six innings and the Miami Marlins won their seventh straight game, beating the Seattle Mariners 3-1. The Marlins’ last seven-game win streak run came in April six years ago.
— Corey Seager homered in his third straight game to lead the Texas Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. Dane Dunning allowed one run over a career-high 7 2/3 innings for his first win since last August. The Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak.
— George Springer homered twice against his former team, leading the Toronto Blue Jays over Houston 2-1. Springer’s leadoff homer in the first was the 46th of his career. The loss snapped the Astros’ winning streak at four.
— Tim Anderson and Luis Robert homered to help the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0. It ended the Angels’ six-game winning streak. Josh Harrison, AJ Pollock, and Anderson had two hits apiece for the White Sox, who won for the second time in 12 games.
— Pinch-hitter Richie Palacios delivered a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning and the Cleveland Guardians took advantage of a key error to beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1. Steven Kwan had two hits in his return to the lineup as the Guardians won their second straight following a seven-game losing streak.
— The Giants are still missing players with COVID-19, but they had enough to defeat the visiting Nationals, 9-3. Jason Vosler homered and Darin Ruf had three hits as San Francisco snapped a two-game skid. Washington lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
— The Minnesota Twins beat Tampa Bay 9-1, powered by two home runs from Kyle Garlick and three hits from Carlos Correa. Rays starter Shane McClanahan struck out a career-high 11 in five innings but gave up three runs to take the loss.
— A dramatic play at the plate gave the Pirates a 7-6 extra-inning victory over the San Diego Padres in Pittsburgh. The Bucs’ Ke’Bryan Hayes keyed the win, hitting a leadoff single in the 10th to drive in automatic runner Jake Marisnick with the needed point to overcome the Padres.
— Jorge Mateo scored the winning run in the 10th inning on a throwing error by pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura, capping a comeback that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Boston Red Sox 2-1. The Orioles’ rally ends a five-game skid.
— The Reds are reeling, dropping their fifth straight and eighteenth of the season with a 4-3 loss to the Rockies in Denver. Colorado’s Chad Kuhl shook off a first-pitch homer by Tyler Naquin to last into the eighth inning, and Ryan McMahon hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the sixth for the win.
