Wednesday's MLB: Mets ace, ex-Tiger Max Scherzer exits start with apparent injury

New York — Max Scherzer pulled himself from a start with discomfort in his left side before New York finished off St. Louis.

Pete Alonso homered and drove in four runs for the Mets (25-14), who improved to 13-1 following a loss. Jeff McNeil had an early two-run single and Alonso snapped a 2-all tie with an RBI single off rookie reliever Jake Walsh (0-1) in a four-run fifth inning. Dominic Smith knocked in a run with a single during the outburst, and Luis Guillorme drove in another with a nicely executed safety squeeze.

Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals. Albert Pujols got two hits to pass Eddie Collins for 10th place on the career list with 3,314, including an early two-run single off Scherzer (5-1).

The three-time Cy Young Award winner left with two outs in the sixth and a 1-1 count on Pujols. He will have an MRI on Thursday, the Mets said.

More games

(At) Milwaukee 7, Atlanta 6: Keston Hiura returned to the majors led off the 11th with a two-run homer off Jesse Chavez (0-1), capping a comeback from a 4-0, fourth-inning deficit.

Kolten Wong's two-out RBI triple tied the score in the ninth, the first blown save for Kenley Jansen in 10 chances.

Both teams scored in the 10th, and the Braves took a 6-5 lead when Travis d’Arnaud led off the 11th with an RBI single against Trevor Kelley (1-0).

(At) Colorado 5, San Francisco 3: C.J. Cron hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off José Álvarez (1-1) in a three-run eighth, and Colorado stopped its 12-game losing streak against San Francisco.

Charlie Blackmon hit his 37th leadoff home run and Brendan Rodgers added an RBI single in the first for Colorado, which stopped a three-game skid overall.

Tyler Kinley (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Daniel Bard pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.

Minnesota 14, (at) Oakland 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 Twins set a season high for runs.

Gary Sánchez went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. Luis Arráez, Ryan Jeffers and Gilberto Celestino each drove in two runs. The Twins won their first series in Oakland since 2011, stopping a nine-series losing streak.

Sonny Gray (1-1) agave up two runs in six innings to earn his first career victory against his former team. Daulton Jefferies (1-7) allowed six earned runs in four innings and became the first Oakland pitcher to lose seven straight starts since Brian Kingman in 1980.

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, (at) Arizona 3: Justin Turner hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Wednesday to complete a four-game sweep tha extended their winning streak to five.

David Price came off the COVID-19 list to pitch 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief as Los Angeles sent Arizona to its fifth loss in a row.

Turner drove a 3-2 pitch from Zach Davies (2-2) into the lower left-field pavilion in his 1,300th major league game, putting the Dodgers back in front 4-2 in the fourth. Gavin Lux added a two-out RBI single in the fourth that backed Walker Buehler (5-1), who allowed two runs and six hits in five innings. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth for his second save.

(At) Philadelphia 3, San Diego 0: Zack Wheeler struck out nine over seven shutout innings, Rhys Hoskins homered and Philadelphia beat San Diego.

Wheeler (2-3) allowed four hits and walked none over 94 pitches. Jose Alvarado worked the eighth and Corey Knebel earned his eighth save.

J.T. Realmuto and Hoskins helped spoil Blake Snell’s first start of the season in his return from a groin injury. Snell (0-1) lasted 3 2/3 innings and gave up three hits, three runs and struck out five in his first appearance since Sept. 12, 2021.

Hoskins’ solo shot in the third, his seventh, made it 2-0. Odubel Herrera chased Snell with an RBI double in the fourth.

New York Yankees 3, (at) Baltimore 2: Gerrit Cole outpitched Jordan Lyles in a duel of veteran right-handers, and New York squeezed past skidding Baltimore to clinch their 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 nine of their last 10.

Cole (4-0) went seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits with five strikeouts. Clay Holmes worked the final two innings for the third save of his career, all this season and all against the Orioles.

Making his 190th career start and 297th appearance, Lyles (2-4) gave up three runs — two earned — and five hits over seven innings. He struck out eight in the Orioles sixth straight loss.

(At) Boston 5, Houston 1: Nick Pivetta pitched a two-hitter, Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run, Rafael Devers added an RBI double as Boston beat Houston in the rubber match of the three-game series.

It marked the first complete game by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale on June 5, 2019, at Kansas City. It was the first at Fenway Park since Rick Porcello against the New York Yankees on Aug. 3, 2018.

Kiké Hernández and Christian Vázquez added RBI singles for Boston, which took two of three from the team that beat them in the ALCS last season.

Pivetta (2-4) gave up a leadoff home run to Jose Altuve, but settled down to retire the next 18 batters. He finished with eight strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk. He threw 112 pitches, 78 for strikes.

Houston’s Luis Garcia (3-2) lasted four innings, allowing five hits, five runs (three earned), three walks and a home run while striking out four.

Seattle 5, (at) Toronto 1: Ty France hit a two-run homer, Marco Gonzales pitched six solid innings to snap a five-start winless streak and Seattle beat 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.

France went 3 for 5 with two singles, in addition to his home run. Adam Frazier also had three hits for Seattle.

Gonzales (2-4) allowed one run and five hits, walked three and struck out two to win for the first time since April 15 against Houston.

Kevin Gausman (3-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Washington 5, (at) Miami 4, (10 innings): Keibert Ruiz had three hits, including a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, and Washington topped Miami.

César Hernández tripled and doubled, Maikel Franco singled twice, and Juan Soto had three walks for the Nationals, who avoided their second three-game sweep to the Marlins this season.

Ruiz’s smash down the third-base line off reliever Daniel Castano (0-1) scored automatic runner Dee Strange-Gordon from third.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sacrifice fly against Washington reliever Tanner Rainey (1-1) with the bases loaded in the ninth tied it at 4. The Nationals unsuccessfully appealed that Jesús Sánchez left third base before Soto caught Chisholm’s shot in right.

Victor Arano worked the 10th for his first save.

Pittsburgh 3, (at) Chicago Cubs 2: Rookie Jack Suwinski, who attended high school 20 minutes from Wrigley Field, hit a tiebreaking home run and Pittsburgh ended Chicago’s four-game winning streak.

Suwinski made his major league debut this season and began the day hitting .183 with two homers. With the score 2-all, the 23-year-old outfielder from Taft High School opened the fifth inning with a drive off Drew Smyly (1-5) that barely cleared the center field wall.

Michael Chavis’ single in the third snapped the Pirates’ scoreless streak of 20 innings.

Pirates relievers Mitch Keller (1-5), Duane Underwood Jr. and David Bednar allowed four hits over the final seven innings. Wil Crowe went two innings in his first start of the season after 13 relief appearances.

Smyly struck out a season-high five in the first two innings, but the Pirates solved him quickly the second time through the order.