MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Odorizzi pitched seven solid innings to outduel Justin Verlander, Ehire Adrianza homered off Houston’s ace and the Minnesota Twins beat the Astros 1-0 on Monday night.
Odorizzi (3-2) gave up four hits while beating Houston for the second time in two starts. He walked one and struck out seven, and Minnesota won for the eighth time in 10 games. Blake Parker recorded his sixth save.
Adrianza’s first homer of the season led off the third. He hit a towering, deep shot to the plaza in right field on a full count against Verlander (4-1), who allowed two hits, walked two and struck out seven over six innings.
Coming off a dominant sweep of Baltimore, the Twins faced Houston for the second time in a week. They also saw Verlander in the previous series, when he gave up one run and needed just 98 pitches to get through eight innings.
BREWERS 5, ROCKIES 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Struggling slugger Jesús Aguilar hit his first two homers of the season and Milwaukee beat Colorado with NL MVP Christian Yelich sidelined by lower back soreness.
Zach Davies allowed an unearned run in five 1/3 innings, and Milwaukee opened a 10-game homestand with a breakout game from its beefy first baseman.
Aguilar entered hitting .123 after accruing 35 homers and 108 RBIs last season. He had a three-run homer in the first and added a solo shot in the third, both off Kyle Freeland (2-4). Aguilar also singled in the eighth and had four RBIs.
Davies (3-0) allowed just three hits and lowered his ERA to 1.38. He struck out two and walked three. Alex Claudio, Jay Jackson and Donnie Hart combined to retire 11 of the final 12 hitters.
CARDINALS 6, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Harrison Bader homered to spark a six-run fifth inning as surging St. Louis rallied past Patrick Corbin and Washington in the opener of a four-game series.
Marcell Ozuna put the Cardinals ahead 4-3 with a two-run single. Jose Martinez had an RBI double, and Yadier Molina added a run-scoring single off Corbin (2-1), who took a 3-0 lead into the fifth.
Michael Wacha (2-0) went five innings after being activated from the 10-day injured list earlier in the day. The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits while striking out five.
BRAVES 3, PADRES 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Ozzie Albies homered and drove in two, Mike Soroka gave up one run in six innings and Atlanta beat San Diego.
Soroka (2-1) allowed four hits, struck out a career-high eight and walked one. The 21-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.62.
Rookie right-hander Jacob Webb recorded the final two outs for his first save, one day after his first win. Webb struck out pinch-hitter Wil Myers to end the game.
Nick Margevicius (2-3) allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings.
RAYS 8, ROYALS 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tommy Pham, Yandy Diaz and Ji-Man Choi each drove in two, sending hot-hitting Tampa Bay over Kansas City.
Michael Perez and Kevin Kiermaier also drove in runs for the Rays (19-9), who have won five of six to build upon the best record in baseball. They also moved to 10-2 on the road.
Yonny Chirinos went 5 2/3 innings in relief of effective opener Ryne Stanek, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk. Chirinos improved to 4-0 after going 0-3 last season.
The Rays did most of their damage against Brad Keller (2-3), who struggled in his return from a five-game suspension for his role in a fracas with the Chicago White Sox. The big right-hander allowed five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings.
REDS 5, METS 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Jesse Winker homered off All-Star closer Edwin Diaz with two outs in the ninth inning, and Cincinnati beat New York after wasting a four-run lead.
Left-handed batters had been 0 for 15 this year against Diaz (0-1) before Winker drove a fastball over the right-center field fence for his career-high eighth home run, the most by a Reds player this season. Diaz was pitching for the third straight day for the first time this season.
Raisel Iglesias (1-3) pitched two innings, striking out his last four batters.
WHITE SOX 5,
ORIOLES 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Tim Anderson and Yonder Alonso each hit a two-run homer, sending Manny Bañuelos and Chicago over slumping Baltimore.
Bañuelos (2-0) pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning in his first start since replacing Ervin Santana in the rotation. The rookie left-hander has two wins in his last three games after he went 1-4 in 2015 with Atlanta — his last season in the majors before this year.
Baltimore’s Chris Davis had two hits and two RBIs and Pedro Severino homered, but John Means (3-3) struggled after tossing five effective innings in a 4-3 win against Chicago last week.
