ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Isaac Paredes homered twice against his former teammates to double his career big league total, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 Wednesday on an afternoon Eduardo Rodriguez did not make it out of the first inning.
Rodriguez (1-3) lasted just one out and averaged 91.9 mph for his fastball, 2.4 mph below his season average, and left the mound with Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter. Rodriguez allowed three runs, four hits and two walks, throwing just 11 of 23 pitches for strikes. After signing a $77 million, five-year contract, he has a 4.38 ERA.
“His left side is bothersome,” Manager AJ Hinch said. “It got worse during his warm-up. He tried to go out there, and you could tell he was off. He’ll be out for a bit. Likely IL.”
Drew Rasmussen (4-1) allowed four hits in five shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks, improving to 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his last five starts. Matt Wisler, Colin Poche and J.P. Feyereisen finished, with Feyereisen striking out two in the ninth during his 15th straight scoreless appearance.
Paredes, traded by the Tigers for Austin Meadows on April 5, hit solo home runs in the third off Rony Garcia and in the eighth against Wily Peralta. Paredes hit one home run each in 2020 and 2021.
Yandy Diaz had three of the 11 hits by the Rays, who won for the fifth time in seven games.
Spencer Torkelson homered in the seventh off Wisler and has a team-high four home runs for the Tigers, who have hit a major league-low 20 homers in 38 games.
Tampa Bay’s first five batters reached. Diaz, Wander Franco and Harold Ramirez loaded the bases with singles, Randy Arozarena walked on four pitches and Francisco Mejia hit a two-run single for a 3-0 lead.. After another walk, Rodriguez was replaced by Garcia.
YANKEES 3, ORIOLES 2: Gerrit Cole outpitched Jordan Lyles in a duel of veteran right-handers, and New York squeezed past skidding for its ninth straight series win.
Gleyber Torres hit an RBI double and scored in a three-run first inning that propelled the Yankees to their 21st win in 24 games, including 9 of 10. New York’s 28-9 start is tied for second best in the majors since 1948, trailing only the 1984 Detroit Tigers at 32-5.
The Yankees will attempt to complete a four-game sweep of last-place Baltimore on Thursday afternoon. The Orioles, who have lost six straight, are the only team to take a series from the Yankees this season, winning 2 of 3 in mid-April.
Cole (4-0) went seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits with five strikeouts. The 31-year-old is 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA in his last four starts against Baltimore.
Clay Holmes worked the final two innings for the third save of his career, all this season and all against the Orioles.
MARINERS 5, BLUE JAYS 1: Ty France hit a two-run homer, Marco Gonzales pitched six solid innings to snap a five-start winless streak and Seattle won at Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.
Cal Raleigh and Abraham Toro each hit solo home runs and Jesse Winker added a sacrifice fly for the Mariners, who bounced back with 10 hits after being blanked for the sixth time this season in Tuesday’s 3-0 loss.
France went 3 for 5 with two singles, in addition to his home run. Adam Frazier also had three hits for Seattle.
TWINS 14, ATHLETICS 4: Carlos Correa went 2 for 4 with an RBI double in his return from a stint on the injured list caused by a bruised middle finger on his right hand, and Minnesota set a season high for runs in a win at Oakland, California.
Correa was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after missing 11 games due to an injury sustained when a pitch hit the two-time All-Star while he gripped the bat during a swing.
Gary Sanchez went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBI. Luis Arraez, Ryan Jeffers and Gilberto Celestino each drove in two runs.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 3: C.J. Cron hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning, and host Colorado stopped a 12-game losing streak.
Logan Webb retired 16 straight batters in pursuit of becoming the major leagues’ first six-game winner and led 3-2 when pinch-hitter Connor Joe singled leading off the eighth.
Jose Alvarez (1-1) relieved, Charlie Blackmon sacrificed and Yonathan Daza extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single.
Cron followed with a 454-foot drive to left on a 3-1 change-up for his 10th home run.
BREWERS 7, BRAVES 6: Keston Hiura returned to the majors and hit a two-run, winning homer off Jesse Chavez in the 11th inning as Milwaukee rallied from a four-run deficit to beat visiting Atlanta.
The Brewers had tied it with two outs in the ninth on an RBI triple from Kolten Wong.
Hiura, called up from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day, led off the bottom of the 11th by sending a 1-2 sinker from Chavez (0-1) over the center-field wall. The drive scored automatic runner Jace Peterson.
DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Justin Turner hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Los Angeles rallied past visiting Arizona to complete a four-game sweep.
The Dodgers won their fifth straight overall, finishing off a 5-3 homestand that included eight games in seven days and four within 42 hours.
David Price came off the COVID-19 list and made a key contribution in relief as Los Angeles sent Arizona to its fifth loss in a row.
Price came in in the seventh inning and struck out Josh Rojas on three pitches to end the inning. Price pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth that included two strikeouts.
PHILLIES 3, PADRES 0: Zack Wheeler struck out nine over seven shutout innings, Rhys Hoskins homered and Philadelphia beat visiting San Diego.
Wheeler (2-3), who lost his first three starts of the season, had yet another outing more in line with the ones that helped him finish second in NL Cy Young Award voting last season. He allowed four hits and walked none over 94 pitches.
Jose Alvarado worked the eighth and Corey Knebel earned his eighth save.
NOTES
GUARDIANS: Manager Terry Francona has cleared health and safety protocols and returned to the team after missing four games with COVID-19.
METS: Ace Max Scherzer removed himself from a start against the St. Louis Cardinals with discomfort in his left side.
He will have an MRI on Thursday, the team said.
STREAMING: Fans have watched more than 2.8 billion minutes of game action on MLB.TV through the first 40 days of the regular season, a record for the streaming package and a 9% increase over the same period last year.
Three of the most-watched days on the 20-year-old-streaming platform have come this season – April 12, April 8 and April 9. The three most-watched games also occurred during the first two days of this season, including the Red Sox-Yankees opener on April 8, along with Brewers-Cubs and Guardians-Royals on April 7.
In total, nine of the 10 most-watched days and seven of the 10 most-watched games occurred this season.
ARBITRATION: Luke Jackson, sidelined for the season by Tommy John surgery, had his lockout-delayed salary arbitration hearing with the Atlanta Braves.
Jackson asked for a raise from $1.9 million to $4 million, and the Braves argued for $3.6 million. The case was heard by Robert Herzog, Richard Bloch and Scott Buchheit, and a decision is expected Thursday.
A 30-year-old right-hander, Jackson had surgery on April 13 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
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