Tarik Skubal pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning, and Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Friday night in the opener of a weekend series between two of the majors’ best teams.
Skubal (6-2) allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked none in 7 2/3 innings. In his past 11 starts, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is 6-0 with a 1.61 ERA, 95 strikeouts and three walks.
Skubal left with runners on the corners, then had to wait out a dramatic moment. Seiya Suzuki lifted a deep flyball to right off Will Vest, but Kerry Carpenter reached above the wall to keep Detroit in front.
Vest got four outs for his 10th save.
Cubs right-hander Ben Brown (3-4) permitted two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Spencer Torkelson and Jahmai Jones homered for the AL Central-leading Tigers.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda drove in two runs to lead Tampa Bay over Miami at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
It was the Rays’ fourth straight win to improve to 34-29, and the Marlins’ fifth consecutive loss to drop to 23-38.
Aranda is hitting .379 at the Rays’ temporary home ballpark. He drove in the first run on a single in the first inning, just one of two hits the Rays got with runners in scoring position in 14 chances. He drove in another run on a groundout in the two-run third inning.
Aranda singled again in the seventh and scored what turned out to be the winning run after singles by Jake Mangum and Matt Thaiss.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Soroka struck out seven in six sparkling innings, and Washington beat Patrick Corbin and Texas.
Soroka (3-3) allowed two hits and walked one. Brad Lord and Jose A. Ferrer each got three outs before Kyle Finnegan finished the two-hitter for his 18th save.
The speedy game was over in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Adolis García singled with two outs in the fifth for Texas’ first hit. Josh Smith added a one-out single in the sixth for the Rangers in their fourth consecutive loss.
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second when Nathaniel Lowe and Alex Call opened with back-to-back singles. Lowe went to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout by Robert Hassell III.
Call led off the seventh with his first homer of the season.
Corbin (3-5) allowed five hits in eight innings in his longest start of the season. He struck out two and walked none against his former team.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jeremy Peña had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, Colton Gordon got his first major league win and Houston defeated Cleveland.
Christian Walker drove in a pair of runs in the fifth inning and Brendan Rodgers added a solo shot in the sixth as the Astros improved to 3-1 on their six-game road trip.
Gordon (1-1), who was making his fifth start, allowed one run on seven hits and struck out five. The left-hander was an eighth-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft.
Josh Hader recorded his 17th save, tied for second in the American League.
David Fry homered for the Guardians, who have dropped three of four. Carlos Santana had his 14-game hitting streak snapped.
Volpe was hit by an 88.2 mph pitch from Walker Buehler in the second, then was replaced at the start of the fourth. New York said Volpe was undergoing an X-ray and a CT scan.
Aaron Judge had his ninth game with three or more hits, raising his major league-leading average to .397. Before a sellout crowd of 46,783, Jazz Chisholm Jr. had three hits, including a homer in the first, four RBIs and two stolen bases. Paul Goldschmidt also homered for the Yankees, who led 7-0 after the second and 8-1 following the fifth.
Every starter had a hit for New York (39-23), which has won nine of 12 and 15 of 20 to move a season-high 16 games over .500.
Boston dropped to 30-35 with its ninth loss in 12 games. The Red Sox made a pair of errors, raising their big league-high total to 57.
Rafael Devers hit his 29th home run against the Yankees, a two-run drive in the seventh off Brent Headrick. Marcelo Mayer, a 22-year-old who debuted on May 24, hit his first big league homer, a 410-foot solo drive to right-center in the fifth against Will Warren (4-3).
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Frazier had three hits and scored the winning run on Nick Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, helping Pittsburgh rally for a victory over Philadelphia.
David Bednar (1-4) struck out the side in the ninth.
Frazier and Jared Triolo started the ninth with singles off Jordan Romano (0-3). Isiah Kiner-Falefa loaded the bases with a bunt before Oneil Cruz struck out looking. Gonzales then lifted a 2-2 slider to the warning track, allowing Frazier to score.
Trea Turner gave Philadelphia an early lead, getting on with a single for his first of three hits and taking third on a double steal in the first before scoring on a grounder from Nick Castellanos. The Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds hit an RBI single the next inning.
Turner hit a double to right and Alec Bohm brought him in with a single to left, putting the Phillies back ahead 2-1 in the third. Reynolds tied it again with his eighth home run of the season into the left-field bleachers.
CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. drove in three runs in his return to the lineup, and Chicago beat Kansas City.
Mike Tauchman homered to help the last-place White Sox to their third win in four games. Davis Martin struck out seven while pitching six innings of two-run ball.
White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, one of baseball’s top prospects, went 1 for 2 with two walks and scored a run in his major league debut.
Robert hit a tiebreaking two-run single in Chicago’s five-run eighth inning. He also had a run-scoring single in the second.
It was Robert’s first game since Monday. The slumping slugger has been working on some adjustments at the plate, and he got an extra day after he was struck on his head by a ball in the batting cage.
The White Sox beat the Royals for the second time in the last 20 matchups.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Manny Machado homered for a second straight game and five San Diego pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Padres defeated Milwaukee.
Machado’s eighth-inning homer off Grant Anderson was his ninth of the season. It came one day after he hit his 350th career homer in a 3-2 loss at San Francisco, making him the 33rd player to reach that milestone in his age-32 season or earlier. Machado turns 33 on July 6.
San Diego’s other run came when Luis Arraez singled home Tyler Wade in the third.
Wandy Peralta (3-0) earned the win after replacing starter Randy Vásquez and striking out Christian Yelich to strand runners on second and third in the fifth. Robert Suarez retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his MLB-leading 20th save in 22 opportunities.
Vásquez walked four while striking out two and allowing two hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick (3-5) struck out six and gave up one run, four hits and three walks in six innings.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Addison Barger hit a two-run home run, Bo Bichette had a go-ahead two-run single in the fifth inning and Toronto beat Minnesota for its fifth straight victory.
Trevor Larnach homered two batters into the first off rookie Paxton Schultz to give the Twins the lead and tie him for the team lead with 10. Kody Clemens had a run-scoring ground out and Christian Vázquez hit a two-out RBI double to make it 3-0 in the second.
Bailey Ober hit Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a pitch to begin the fourth and then gave up his first hit when Barger homered to right field to get Toronto to 3-2. Five of Barger’s seven homers have come in his last seven games.
Ernie Clement singled leading off the fifth and Andrés Giménez doubled before Bichette blooped a single to center for a 4-3 lead.
George Springer hit his ninth home run — a solo shot off Mason Fluharty to make it 5-3 in the sixth.
Guerrero doubled leading off the eighth and scored on Alejandro Kirk’s single for a 6-3 lead.
Ober (4-2) retired the first eight Blue Jays before walking Andrés Giménez on a full count. He allowed five runs and five hits in seven innings.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pedro Pagés hit a two-run homer, Sonny Gray pitched into the seventh inning and St. Louis beat Los Angeles in a game that started after a 1 hour, 17 minute rain delay.
Willson Contreras hit his sixth homer of the season in the eighth inning off Chris Stratton, who was re-signed by Los Angeles before the game, and Nolan Arenado had three hits to help St. Louis improve to a National League-best 21-9 since May 4.
Gray (7-1) allowed eight hits and struck out five without walking a batter in 6 1/3 innings to earn his second win against the Dodgers in eight career starts against them.
JoJo Romero, Phil Maton and Steven Matz combined to pitch 2 2/3 innings in relief to secure the Cardinals’ eighth shutout of the season.
DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Francisco Lindor, broken toe and all, hit a go-ahead two-run double in the ninth inning and New York beat Colorado.
Lindor lined a cutter from reliever Zach Agnos (0-2) into right field, scoring Juan Soto from second. Pete Alonso used a nifty slide on the play to avoid the tag and give the Mets a 4-2 lead.
Lindor was questionable to play at all this weekend after his right pinky toe was broken by a pitch in the first inning on Wednesday.
Alonso also added a two-run double in the seventh on a night the Mets were 2 of 15 with runners in scoring position.
Ryne Stanek (2-4) pitched out of a no-out, bases loaded jam in the eighth courtesy of an unassisted double play by Brett Baty at third and a strikeout.
Edwin Díaz turned in a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
