HOUSTON (AP) — Bartolo Colon carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and Robinson Chirinos drove in all three runs for the Texas Rangers during their 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in 10 innings Sunday night.
The 44-year-old Colon turned back the clock and dominated the defending World Series champions for seven innings, retiring his first 21 batters in an entertaining pitchers’ duel with Astros ace Justin Verlander.
Colon walked Carlos Correa to start the eighth before Josh Reddick lined an 0-2 delivery down the right-field line for a double that put runners at second and third, spoiling the no-hit bid as well.
Opposing fans in Houston gave Colon a standing ovation. Two outs later, he was pulled with the score tied at 1.
Chirinos homered in the third for the only hit off Verlander, who struck out 11 over eight innings.
In the 10th, Chirinos launched a two-run double off Hector Rondon (1-1) that short-hopped the wall in straightaway center field. Jake Diekman pitched out of trouble in the bottom half for his first save.
Keone Kela (2-0) tossed a scoreless ninth for the win.
RED SOX 3, ORIOLES 1
BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi got three hits and Boston extended the best start in its 118-year history by beating Baltimore at frigid Fenway Park.
Mitch Moreland also had three hits for the Red Sox, who completed a three-game sweep of the shortened series and improved to a major league-best 13-2 under new manager Alex Cora.
The series was supposed to last four games, but the traditional Patriots’ Day game scheduled for Monday morning at 11:05 a.m. was postponed late Sunday afternoon because of a forecast that calls for heavy rain throughout the day.
The game will be made up May 17. It is the first time the Patriots’ Day game in Boston has been postponed since 1984.
Manny Machado had an RBI double for Baltimore, which has lost five of six.
PHILLIES 10, RAYS 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Altherr hit a three-run homer, Scott Kingery had a three-run double and Philadelphia won its sixth in a row.
Kingery’s two-out drive off the center field wall capped a four-run burst in the third inning that put Philadelphia ahead 4-2. The rookie has 12 RBIs over his past eight games.
Philadelphia took a commanding 10-3 advantage during a five-run eighth when Maikel Franco hit a two-run single and Altherr homered off Andrew Kittredge.
Reliever Yacksel Rios (2-0) went 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
METS 3, BREWERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Wilmer Flores hit a game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and New York beat Milwaukee to improve the best start in team history to 12-2.
Noah Syndergaard struck out eight batters in a row, two shy of Tom Seaver’s major league record, and Brandon Nimmo finished a double shy of the cycle. Nimmo connected for a tying home run against Taylor Williams leading off the sixth on a cold, blustery afternoon at Citi Field.
Flores broke a 2-all tie with a drive over the left-center wall against Matt Albers (2-1) for his second home run this year. New York has opened a season with five straight series wins for the first time.
ROCKIES 6,
NATIONALS 5
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ian Desmond hit a tiebreaking, two-out homer in the ninth inning against his former team, Charlie Blackmon drove in three runs and Colorado rallied to beat Washington.
After Sean Doolittle (0-1) struck out Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra to open the ninth, Desmond sent a belt-high, 3-2 fastball over the 402-foot sign in straightaway center as Colorado took three out of four in its only visit to Washington.
PIRATES 7, MARLINS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Starling Marte went 5 for 5 with a ninth-inning homer to help Pittsburgh beat Miami.
Marte’s five hits were a career high, and his average rose from .241 to .305. He scored four times and hit his third homer off Junichi Tazawa.
The surprising Pirates (11-4) improved to 7-0 in day games, completed a 4-2 trip and head home atop the NL Central.
Ivan Nova (2-1) recovered from a wobbly start to pitch 6 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs and struck out nine, his highest total since 2016.
CARDINALS 3, REDS 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Carlos Martinez struck out a season-high 11 batters in seven shutout innings and Harrison Bader’s two-run home run helped St. Louis complete its first four-game sweep in Cincinnati since 1949.
Martinez (2-1) allowed two hits and four walks while helping send the Reds to their eighth consecutive loss, one short of matching their longest losing streak of last season.
The Reds scored 10 runs in the series while being swept in four games at home by St. Louis for the first time since July 8-10, 1949.
The Reds haven’t enjoyed a lead in 32 innings, going back to the fourth inning on Thursday. They are 2-13 for the first time since the 1931 Reds won two of their first 19 games.
DODGERS 7,
DIAMONDBACKS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 and pitched two-hit ball over seven innings and Los Angeles Dodgers ended an 11-game losing streak against Arizona in the regular season.
Los Angeles had been 0-5 versus the Diamondbacks this year, and hadn’t beaten them in the regular season since last August. But the Dodgers swept Arizona 3-0 last year in the NL Division Series.
Chris Taylor homered, doubled and drove in three runs to help the Dodgers stop a three-game skid. The Diamondbacks, who had won three in row, finished a 6-3 road trip.
Zack Godley (2-1), who led the National League with a 0.64 ERA entering the game, allowed six runs and five hits and six walks in four innings.
