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Major League Baseball roundup: Soto cracks first home run in Nationals rout

[May 22, 2018] Nineteen-year-old Juan Soto, the youngest player in the major leagues since the 2012 season, hit a three-run homer in the first at-bat of his first big league start Monday night to trigger the Washington Nationals to a 10-2 win over the visiting San Diego Padres.

Soto drove the first pitch he saw from left-handed Padres starter Robbie Erlin (1-3) into the seats in left-center to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

His homer, which ignited a five-run second inning for Washington, was one of four the Nationals hit off Erlin and reliever Bryan Mitchell. Mark Reynolds hit solo home runs to lead off the third and seventh inning, respectively. Bryce Harper homered to lead off the fifth.

The win snapped both the Padres' three-game winning streak and the Nationals' three-game losing streak.

Yankees 10, Rangers 5

Rookie Gleyber Torres recorded his first career multi-homer game as visiting New York slugged five home runs in crushing Texas.

Torres homered twice off Bartolo Colon (2-2), whose major league debut occurred on April 4, 1997, when the second baseman was less than 4 months old. It also was the 12th multi-homer game by a Yankee this season and Torres' fifth and sixth homers since making his major league debut on April 22.

The Yankees won for the 22nd time in 26 games by hitting at least four homers in a third straight game for the first time in team history. Neil Walker, Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks provided the other blasts.

Cardinals 6, Royals 0

Tyler O'Neill homered for the third straight game and Miles Mikolas hurled his first career shutout as host St. Louis blanked hapless Kansas City.

In becoming the first Cardinal pitcher to start 6-0 since Allen Watson did it 25 years ago, Mikolas allowed only four hits and walked one while fanning nine. Mikolas, who threw 77 of his 109 pitches for strikes, has issued only six walks in 60 1/3 innings over nine starts.

O'Neill, who cracked his first big league homer on Saturday and then walloped his second on Sunday, capped a four-run third inning with a towering three-run shot into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center field. The 388-foot blast scored Jose Martinez and Marcell Ozuna, with Ozuna ending an 0-for-23 skid on an RBI single prior.

Rockies 2, Dodgers 1

Carlos Gonzalez's infield single in the eighth inning brought home the go-ahead run as visiting Colorado edged Los Angeles to move into sole possession of first place in the National League West.

Gonzalez's slow bouncer up the middle was picked up by Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley, but the throw to first base was late and off line, allowing Tony Wolters to score from third base with two outs. The Rockies' victory came in the first meeting of the year between the division rivals.

The Dodgers managed just three hits as they saw their four-game win streak come to an end at the start of a season-long 10-game, 11-day homestand. Reliever Pedro Baez (1-3) took the loss after pitching two-thirds of an inning.

Phillies 3, Braves 0

Nick Pivetta pitched seven shutout innings, Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams each homered and Philadelphia opened an important three-game series with a shutout victory over visiting Atlanta.

Pivetta (4-2) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked just one batter after throwing 107 pitches, 72 for strikes. Hector Neris earned the save after throwing a scoreless ninth, and Williams and Odubel Herrera each had two hits apiece for the Phillies.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (3-3) pitched six solid innings, allowing only one earned run and six hits while striking out five. The Braves managed just five hits -- all singles -- and no player had more than one.

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Nationals left fielder Juan Soto (22) hits a three run home run during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 2

Travis Shaw, Domingo Santana and Lorenzo Cain homered and right-hander Chase Anderson won in his return from the disabled list as host Milwaukee extended Arizona's slide.

Shaw's two-run homer in the first inning gave the Brewers a lead they never lost, and Anderson (4-3) gave up three hits in six innings in his first start since May 6 after missing time with an illness.

Jake Lamb homered and walked twice for the Diamondbacks, who have lost five in a row and 11 of 12. Arizona has scored 24 runs in the last 11 games -- one run in five games and two in four others.

Mets 2, Marlins 0

Jason Vargas finally earned his first win with New York, twirling five solid innings and combining with five relievers on a five-hit shutout of visiting Miami.

Vargas (1-3), who went 0-2 with a 12.19 ERA in two starts with the Mets in 2007 and entered Monday 0-3 with a 13.86 ERA in three starts this season, allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven. He retired the first nine batters before Martin Prado singled leading off the fourth.

The Marlins mounted their biggest threat in the sixth, when Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins combined to load the bases with two outs. But AJ Ramos struck out pinch hitter Derek Dietrich and then worked a hitless seventh.

Orioles 3, White Sox 2

Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo and Adam Jones hit home runs and left fielder Trey Mancini helped protect a narrow lead by throwing out two baserunners in the same inning, lifting Baltimore past host Chicago.

Machado hit his 15th home run of the season in the fourth inning and Trumbo added his second in the fifth, staking Baltimore to a 2-0 lead.

The White Sox threatened to erase the deficit, and perhaps even go ahead, in the bottom of the fifth, only to be denied by Mancini. Adam Engel hit a one-out single, but was gunned down trying to stretch it into a double by Mancini. Yoan Moncada then walked and Yolmer Sanchez singled before Jose Abreu doubled to left field to get the White Sox within 2-1. Sanchez also tried to score on the play and was thrown out by Mancini, allowing the Orioles to retain the lead.

Twins 4, Tigers 2

Jose Berrios pitched eight strong innings, Logan Morrison drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the go-ahead run and host Minnesota doubled up Detroit.

Berrios (5-4) held the Tigers to two runs on three hits in eight innings while walking two and striking out nine. He didn't allow a hit after the third inning. Fernando Rodney collected his 10th save.

Max Kepler had a two-run double to lead the Twins offense. Robbie Grossman scored a run and knocked in another. Nicholas Castellanos led the Tigers with a solo homer and run-scoring single.

--Field Level Media

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