PITTSBURGH — JJ Wetherholt led off with a home run against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, and the St. Louis Cardinals finished off a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 10-5 win on Thursday.
Skenes (4-2) fell to 0-5 against the Cardinals after allowing five runs, four earned, in five innings. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner’s brilliant April finished with a rare dud, as Pittsburgh’s losing streak hit five.
The 23-year-old had been masterful after a shaky performance on opening day, allowing only three runs over his last five starts. The Cardinals matched that in the first inning alone.
Wetherholt, who grew up in the Pittsburgh suburbs, sent a cutter into the right-field seats three pitches into the game. Jordan Walker followed three batters later by turning on a sweeper that scraped over the left-field wall, marking just the second time in Skenes’ 62 big league starts that he surrendered multiple homers in the same inning.
Alec Burleson finished with three hits and drove in three runs for the Cardinals. Wetherholt, Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Pedro Pages had two hits each. Nathan Church added a two-run double during a five-run eighth to give the Cardinals some breathing room after the Pirates had cut a four-run deficit to one.
Gordon Graceffo (2-0) won in relief of starter Hunter Dobbins, who didn’t make it out of the fifth inning in his first major league start since tearing the ACL in his right knee last summer while playing for Boston. Dobbins was acquired in December’s trade that sent Willson Contreras to the Red Sox.
TIGERS 5, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA — Gleyber Torres had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as Detroit rallied to beat Atlanta to avoid a three-game sweep.
With Atlanta leading 2-1, Kerry Carpenter tripled off Joel Payamps (0-2) starting the eighth. Matt Vierling’s double tied the game and Payamps walked Hao-Yu Lee. Aaron Bummer relieved and walked Kevin McGonigle, and Torres’ fly ball drove in Vierling for a 3-2 lead.
Detroit, which got back to .500 at 16-16, added two run in the ninth.
José Suarez walked pinch-hitter Wenceel Pérez, who scored when left fielder Mike Yastrzemski bobbled Vierling’s third hit for an error. After Suarez walked Hao-Yu Lee, Dillon Dingler’s double drove in Vierling as Lee was thrown out at the plate on shortstop Mauricio Dubón’s relay to Drake Baldwin.
Eli White and Dubón singled in runs off left-hander Framber Valdez for a 2-0 lead. The Braves clinched the series on Wednesday night when Matt Olson’s two-run homer off Kenley Jansen in the ninth provided a 4-3 win.
Drew Anderson (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings. One day after Jansen’s third blown save in nine chances, right-hander Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his first save.
REDS 6, ROCKIES 4
CINCINNATI — Nathaniel Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games and Andrew Abbott pitched six strong innings as Cincinnati beat Colorado to take two of three in the series.
Cincinnati (20-11) is off to its best 31-game start since 2006. The Reds have won 20 games prior to May 1 for the first time in franchise history.
Tyler Freeman’s first home run of the season put the Rockies ahead 2-0 in the first inning. It was his first homer since Aug. 16, 2025, against the Diamondbacks.
It was an important start for Abbott (1-2), who posted a 6.54 ERA in his first six starts. He allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks to earn his first victory of the season.
Lowe’s solo homer came off former Red Michael Lorenzen to make the score 2-1 in the second.
Lorenzen (2-3) allowed four earned runs on four hits including two home runs in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and fanned five.
ORIOLES 10, ASTROS 3, 1ST GAME
ASTROS 11, ORIOLES 5, 2ND GAME
BALTIMORE — Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 4 with his 12th homer and scored three runs as Houston beat Baltimore to split a doubleheader.
Lance McCullers Jr. (2-2) pitched six innings, allowing three runs and two hits. He struck out nine and walked four.
Cam Smith launched an early three-run homer and Yainer Diaz got three hits for the Astros, who finished with 15 to salvage the finale of the three-game series. Leody Taveras had a two-run double, and Isaac Paredes went 5 for 10 in the doubleheader.
Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson each hit a grand slam in the opener to help the Orioles cruise to a 10-3 win. Chris Bassitt (2-2) tossed 6 2/3 innings for his longest outing this season and allowed one run on seven hits.
Houston outhit Baltimore 27-12 in the twinbill.
Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 4 with his 12th homer and scored three runs as the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-5 to split a doubleheader Thursday.
Lance McCullers Jr. (2-2) pitched six innings, allowing three runs and two hits. He struck out nine and walked four.
Cam Smith launched an early three-run homer and Yainer Diaz got three hits for the Astros, who finished with 15 to salvage the finale of the three-game series. Leody Taveras had a two-run double, and Isaac Paredes went 5 for 10 in the doubleheader.
Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson each hit a grand slam in the opener to help the Orioles cruise to a 10-3 win. Chris Bassitt (2-2) tossed 6 2/3 innings for his longest outing this season and allowed one run on seven hits.
Houston outhit Baltimore 27-12 in the twinbill.
In the second game, the Astros sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and jumped on Baltimore starter Brandon Young for five runs, two on a single by Dustin Harris and three on Smith’s homer.
Alvarez, whose 13-game hitting streak ended in the opener, made it 6-0 with a solo homer in the second.
PHILLIES 3, GIANTS 2, 1ST GAME
PHILLIES 6, GIANTS 5, 10 INNINGS, 2ND GAME
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber hit a tying double with two outs in the ninth inning, Alec Bohm delivered with his glove and bat in the 10th, and Philadelphia defeated San Francisco to sweep their split doubleheader.
Philadelphia trailed in the ninth inning of both games before rallying for two walk-off wins on the same day for the first time since July 24, 1998, a pair of 12-inning victories against the Florida Marlins.
Schwarber homered in the first inning of each game. Trea Turner launched a leadoff shot on Adrian Houser’s first pitch in the nightcap, and Schwarber followed with a 446-foot drive to right-center.
Jung Hoo Lee put San Francisco ahead 5-4 with a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth against José Alvarado, but pinch-hitter Brandon Marsh doubled off Keaton Winn to open the bottom half. Garrett Stubbs walked and Turner grounded into a double play before Schwarber, who was 4 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs, doubled to right field on a full-count splitter.
NATIONALS 5, METS 4
NEW YORK — CJ Abrams hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Washington beat New York for its 17th loss in 20 games.
James Wood robbed Juan Soto of a home run with a leaping catch at the right-field wall in the first inning and Washington dropped the Mets to a major league-worst 10-21. New York’s .323 winning percentage through April is its fourth-lowest behind starts in 1962 (3-13), 1964 (2-10) and 1981 (4-10).
New York, which opened with the season with the major leagues’ highest payroll at $358.4 million, went 3-6 on its homestand and headed to California for a nine-game trip.
After overcoming a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead on MJ Melendez’s three-run homer in the third off Miles Mikolas and Mark Vientos’ RBI double in the sixth against Mitchell Parker (1-0), the Mets lost a game in which they were ahead for the 10th time this year.
Luis García Jr. singled on the first pitch of the eighth from Luke Weaver (2-1) and Daylen Lile beat out the relay throw to avoid a double-play grounder. Abrams drove a hanging changeup 403 feet to right-center.
Gus Varland got four outs for his second save. He retired Tyrone Taylor on a flyout in the eighth that stranded Soto on second and struck out Ronny Mauricio on a full-count slider for the final out with Francisco Alvarez at second.
BREWERS 13, DIAMONDBACKS 1
MILWAUKEE — William Contreras went 4 for 4 with a homer and four RBIs as Milwaukee overcame Brandon Woodruff’s early exit and trounced Arizona.
The Brewers took two of three from Arizona to cap a 3-3 homestand.
Woodruff had a 1-0 count on Nolan Arenado when he left with one out in the second inning. The two-time All-Star didn’t exceed 86.9 mph on any of his 21 pitches, and his average fastball velocity was 85.4 mph.
Contreras delivered an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run homer in the third. He hit an RBI single in the fourth, walked in the sixth and singled again in the eighth.
Sal Frelick homered and Tyler Black and Luis Rengifo had three RBIs apiece for the Brewers. Contreras and Garrett Mitchell each scored three runs.
Arizona right-hander Michael Soroka (4-1) gave up eight runs over three-plus innings as his ERA soared from 2.60 to 4.70. He faced four batters in the fourth but didn’t retire any of them.
Shane Drohan (1-1) earned his first career win after allowing one run in four innings of relief.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas went 2 for 4 and has hit safely in each of his 23 games played this season. Vargas has a 26-game overall hitting streak, including his final three games in 2025.
ATHLETICS 6, ROYALS 3
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nick Kurtz drew a walk for his 19th consecutive game and hit a two-run double, helping the Athletics defeat Kansas City.
Shea Langeliers added three doubles, while Darell Hernaiz had three hits and two RBIs. Jacob Wilson had two hits and scored twice to help the A’s to their sixth win in nine games.
Elias Diaz hit his first home run of the season for the Royals, and Maikel Garcia and Starling Marte had three hits apiece. Vinnie Pasquantino missed his second straight start because of lower back tightness but pinch hit in the ninth and hit a game-ending flyout with a man on against Jack Perkins, who got his third save.
Kurtz built a 4-2 lead when he lined a 1-0 slider from Noah Cameron (2-2) to right-center in a four-run second that put the A’s ahead 5-2. Langeliers had an RBI double earlier in the inning, and Kurtz scored on shortstop Nick Loftin’s throwing error.
Kurtz was walked by John Schreiber in the seventh. He tied Ted Williams for the third-longest streak behind Detroit’s Roy Cullenbine in 1947 and San Francisco’s Barry Bonds in 2002-03. Records date to 1910 in the National League and 1913 in the American.
TWINS 7, BLUE JAYS 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Byron Buxton homered for the third time in four games and Ryan Jeffers hit a go-ahead, two-run drive that led Minnesota over Toronto in the opener of a four-game series.
Daulton Varsho homered off Bailey Ober (3-1) in the fourth and Jeffers put the Twins ahead to stay at 2-1 in the bottom half against Kevin Gausman (2-2).
Buxton homered two innings later, his team-leading eighth, and Austin Martin added an RBI single later in the sixth. Buxton was 3 for 4 in his third three-hit game this season.
Minnesota won for the second time in its last nine games and the third time in 14.
Ober allowed four hits in six-plus innings. Anthony Banda, Andrew Morris and Justin Topa combined for two-hit relief for a Twins bullpen that entered with a 5.30 ERA, fourth-worst among big league bullpens.
Gausman allowed four runs, four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. The four earned runs off him were a season high.
1:20
