A.J. Smith-Shawver carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves defeated the visiting Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Monday in the opener of their three-game series.
Smith-Shawver (2-2) pitched a career-high eight innings and allowed no runs on one hit — a leadoff single by Santiago Espinal in the eighth — with four walks and five strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches, 60 for strikes.
Matt Olson collected an inside-the-park home run on an unusual play in which Reds rookie left fielder Tyler Callihan stretched out for the catch, temporarily had the ball in his glove, but slammed into the side wall. Callihan broke his left forearm on the play as Olson came around to score.
Cincinnati’s Brady Singer (4-2) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.
Dodgers 7, Marlins 4
Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each drilled two-run homers as Los Angeles defeated host Miami in the opener of a three-game series.
Ohtani, who hit a National League-high 54 homers last year, has nine this season. Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-2 with his MLB-high 34th RBI of the season.
Miami, which has lost eight of its last nine, was led by rookie Agustin Ramirez, who blasted the longest drive of the night — a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth that went 424 feet. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in five innings.
Royals 3, White Sox 0
Cole Ragans struck out 11 over five solid innings and Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits with an RBI, as Kansas City continued its recent dominance over visiting Chicago.
Maikel Garcia and Drew Waters each had a run-scoring hit, while Garcia and Witt stole two bases apiece for the Royals, who won their third straight and 12th in the last 14 games. Kansas City has won seven in a row and 15 of the last 16 versus Chicago, which managed six hits and fanned 14 times while losing their eighth consecutive road contest against the Royals.
Ragans (2-1) scattered three hits, while White Sox rookie Shane Smith (1-2) also was solid but allowed two runs, five hits and three walks while striking out five.
Cubs 9, Giants 2
Dansby Swanson went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Ian Happ and Carson Kelly each homered, propelling Chicago over visiting San Francisco.
Happ drove in three runs and Seiya Suzuki drove in two as the Cubs won their fourth game in five tries. Matthew Boyd (3-2) threw six innings of five-hit, two-run ball, while striking out seven for Chicago.
Landen Roupp (2-3) surrendered five hits and four runs (two earned) across five innings and struck out four. Luis Matos’ two-run homer accounted for all of the Giants’ offense, and San Francisco’s defense committed four errors. The Giants saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
Padres 4, Yankees 3
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning as visiting San Diego rallied past New York.
The Padres won their sixth straight game by erasing a three-run deficit against Devin Williams and Luke Weaver (0-1). Williams loaded the bases in the eighth on a four-pitch walk to Luis Arraez. Weaver entered and Manny Machado lined a 1-1 fastball to left field for a two-run double to get San Diego within 3-2. On the next pitch, Bogaerts hit a cutter for a bloop single.
Trent Grisham hit a two-run homer for the Yankees in the third. Carlos Rodon limited the Padres to three singles in 6 2/3 innings.
Brewers 5, Astros 1
Christian Yelich had a two-run home run and Tobias Myers led a stellar pitching effort in Milwaukee’s victory over visiting Houston in the opener of a three-game series.
Myers (1-0) allowed one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, bouncing back from his previous start when he lasted just two innings. The Brewers’ bullpen preserved the lead as Nick Mears, Jared Koenig, Grant Anderson and Joel Payamps kept the Astros off the scoreboard.
Houston starter Ronel Blanco (2-3) allowed three runs, all in the third inning. He yielded seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 3
Willson Contreras had two hits, including a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, to help host St. Louis come back to beat Pittsburgh.
Contreras’ fifth home run of the season came off Pirates reliever Chase Shugart (1-2), who allowed all four of the Cardinals’ runs in the sixth without recording an out. Jose Barrero finished with two hits and three RBIs and drove in the last two runs of that inning on a ground-rule double down the left field line with the bases loaded. Pedro Pages also had two hits.
The Cardinals picked up their third consecutive victory while the Pirates lost their fifth in a row — their longest losing skid of this season. Bryan Reynolds pocketed his fifth home run, a two-run blast off Miles Mikolas to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead after only two at-bats to open the game.
