CHICAGO — Josh Rojas launched his first three longballs of the season and the Arizona Diamondbacks powered past the Chicago Cubs 10-6 Friday in a game of home run derby at Wrigley Field.
With a strong wind blowing out on a warm day, the teams combined to clear the walls 11 times – the Diamondbacks connected seven times.
David Peralta went deep twice and Alek Thomas and Christian Walker added solo shots as the Diamondbacks won their second straight after a six-game slide.
Rojas posted his first three-homer game and third career multi-homer effort. After a flyout in the first inning, he hit a solo homer in the third, a two-run drive in the fifth and another solo home run in the seventh.
Rojas led off the ninth with a chance to tie the big league record of four home runs in a game, but struck out looking. There have been 18 four-homer games performances in the majors, the last by J.D. Martinez for the Diamondbacks in 2017.
The versatile Rojas, who started at third base, entered batting .250 with three RBI in 13 games after being reinstated from the injured list on May 6. The 27-year-old had been out with a strained right oblique.
On a day when the Cubs honored Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, they lost their third in a row. Jenkins, in fact, led the National League in home runs allowed during five of his 10 seasons with Chicago.
Jonathan Villar homered and doubled for the Cubs in his 1,000th big league game. Patrick Wisdom hit his seventh homer to end an 0-for-10 slump
Cubs rookie Christopher Morel and Ildemaro Vargas also homered.
Humberto Castellanos (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win.
CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 3: Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings of one-run ball to extend his domination of the Pirates, and battery-mate Yadier Molina keyed a four-run sixth inning with a two-run single as St. Louis won in Pittsburgh.
Wainwright has won 10 straight decisions against the Pirates and gone 19 starts since last losing to Pittsburgh in 2016, on Opening Day. He scattered four hits, walked three and struck out three while improving his lifetime record to 23-7 versus Pittsburgh.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 3: Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a deep double and later singled and stole a base as Atlanta beat Miami in his first game at the stadium where he sustained a season-ending knee injury last year.
Marcell Ozuna homered for the third consecutive game, while Dansby Swanson and Travis d’Arnaud also went deep for the Braves.
DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 1: Freddie Freeman singled three times and drove in two runs, Julio Urías pitched five shutout innings and Los Angeles won in Philadelphia for its sixth straight victory.
Trea Turner doubled and had an RBI for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who opened a 10-day, 10-game road trip.
The Phillies continued to struggle without slugger Bryce Harper, who missed his fifth straight game after having a platelet-rich plasma injection in his injured right elbow on Sunday.
BREWERS 7, NATIONALS 0: Eric Lauer pitched seven sharp innings and Rowdy Tellez and Tyrone Taylor homered as Milwaukee won at home.
The Nationals didn’t score, but they did provide a couple of highlights as they unsuccessfully attempted an inside-the-park homer in the top of the seventh and executed a triple play in the bottom of the inning.
Washington trailed 2-0 when Lane Thomas ripped a shot to deep center field for a triple but was thrown out at home trying to score on the play.
The Brewers had runners on first and second with nobody out in the seventh when Luis Urías hit a grounder to third baseman Maikel Franco, who stepped on the bag to start a 5-4-3 triple play. It was the first one for the Nationals since July 30, 2016, at San Francisco.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
GUARDIANS 6, TIGERS 1: José Ramírez hit a three-run homer and tripled a day after avoiding a serious injury when he fouled a ball off his leg, and Cleveland won at home.
Both teams were without their managers for the series opener. Detroit’s A.J. Hinch missed the game because he wasn’t feeling well, though he tested negative for COVID-19. Bench coach George Lombard managed the team. Cleveland’s Terry Francona missed the game to have a minor surgical procedure and is expected back Saturday.
RANGERS 3, ASTROS 0: Martín Pérez pitched his first shutout since 2014, scattering seven singles as Texas won in Houston, ending the Astros’ nine-game home winning streak.
It was the first complete-game shutout for Texas since Kyle Gibson beat the Astros 1-0 on Sept. 16, 2020.
Pérez (3-2) struck out five, walked one and threw 108 pitches. The 31-year-old lefty won his third straight start and has a 1.64 ERA in eight outings this season.
Pérez last threw a shutout on April 23, 2014, against Oakland. He spent his first seven seasons with Texas and later played for Minnesota and Boston before rejoining the Rangers this year.
INTERLEAGUE
RAYS 2, REDS 1: Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six shutout innings to earn his first victory of the season, and the Blue Jays held Reds star Joey Votto in check in his return from COVID-19 as Toronto won at home.
Toronto improved to 11-6 in one-run games. It is 21-18 overall.
Making his fourth start of the season and his second after being activated off the injured list because of a sore forearm, Ryu (1-0) allowed six hits, including five doubles, walked none and struck out three. The left-hander lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 6.00.
NOTES
REDS: Cincinnati activated Canadian slugger Joey Votto off the injured list before Friday’s game in Toronto against the Blue Jays.
A six-time All-Star in 16 seasons, Votto hasn’t played a lot in front of the local fans – only nine games at Rogers Centre, during which he’s hit three home runs while going 8 for 33 (.242) with seven RBI.
Votto, who grew up in Toronto, was in the lineup in the cleanup spot Friday against Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu.
Votto is off to a tough start. He’s hitting .122 with no home runs and three RBI in 22 games, and has struck out 29 times in 74 at-bats. He last played for Cincinnati on May 1.
Also Friday, the Reds put left-hander Ross Detwiler on the bereavement list and placed infielder Brandon Drury, outfielder Albert Almora, right-hander Joel Kuhnel and right-hander Tyler Mahle on the restricted list.
To enter the country, the Canadian government requires a person to have received a second COVID-19 vaccine dose – or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – at least 14 days before entry.
POSTPONEMENTS: The opener of the Rockies’ three-game series against the New York Mets was postponed, 6 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch, with a winter storm warning in effect for the Denver area. The forecast calls for 3 to 5 inches of snow at Coors Field.
The teams are scheduled to make it up in a split doubleheader on Saturday, but more snow was in the forecast for Saturday morning before it was expected to clear, with a low of 34 degrees in the evening
Also Friday’s game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium was postponed due to a forecast of inclement weather and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday.
The Yankees announced the postponement about 3 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch. The doubleheader Sunday will begin at 3:05 p.m.
NATIONALS: Infielder Carter Kieboom will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to address the elbow issue that landed him on the injured list in March.
Manager Dave Martinez said before the Nationals’ Friday night game at Milwaukee that Kieboom will have the surgery on May 27. Kieboom, who went on the injured list before the season, has been dealing with a strained flexor mass and sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow.
MARLINS: Pablo López went to a salary arbitration hearing with Miami, with the right-hander asking for $3 million and the team arguing for $2.45 million.
López, 26, was 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 20 starts last season, striking out 115 and walking 26 in 102 2/3 innings. He is 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA in eight starts this year with 48 strikeouts and 11 walks in 46 innings.
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