Friday's MLB: Story's Monster slam lands in former Red Sox player's hands
Boston — Trevor Story hit a grand slam over the Green Monster — and into the hands of a former Red Sox player — a night after hitting three over Fenway Park’s fabled left field wall, leading Boston to a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Story connected on a thigh-high 1-2 slider off Robbie Ray (4-4), driving it into the first row of seats to give Boston a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Former Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, a member of Boston’s 2013 World Series champions, was seated atop the Monster. He moved a few steps to his right and caught Story’s slam against his body, high-fiving the person next to him with a big smile.
Jackie Bradley Jr. added a three-run shot for the Red Sox, who won for the seventh time in 10 games following a season-high five-game losing streak.
Austin Davis (1-1) relieved starter Michael Wacha with two on and two outs in the fifth, striking out J.P. Crawford before working a perfect sixth for the victory.
Abraham Toro hit a two-run homer for the Mariners, who have dropped four of five.
Arizona 10, (at) Chicago Cubs 6: Josh Rojas launched his first three longballs of the season and Arizona powered past Chicago in a game of home run derby at Wrigley Field.
With a strong wind blowing out on a warm day, the teams combined to clear the walls 11 times — the Diamondbacks connected seven times. David Peralta went deep twice and Alek Thomas and Christian Walker added solo shots as the Diamondbacks won their second straight after a six-game slide. Humberto Castellanos (3-1) allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win.
Rojas posted his first three-homer game and third career multi-homer effort. After a flyout in the first inning, he hit a solo homer in the third, a two-run drive in the fifth and another solo home run in the seventh.
Jonathan Villar homered and doubled for the Cubs in his 1,000th big league game. Patrick Wisdom hit his seventh homer to end an 0-for-10 slump Cubs rookie Christopher Morel and Ildemaro Vargas also homered. Kyle Hendricks (2-4) yielded a season-high seven runs and eight hits in five innings.
Atlanta 5, (at) Miami 3: Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a deep double and later singled and stole a base as Atlanta beat Miami in the Braves slugger's first game at the stadium where he sustained a season-ending knee injury last year.
Acuña didn’t play in the World Series after tearing his knee in a game at Miami on July 10. Because of the synthetic surface at loanDepot Park, the star outfielder is scheduled to be the designated hitter during the weekend series.
Marcell Ozuna homered for the third consecutive game, while Dansby Swanson and Travis d’Arnaud also went deep for the Braves. Charlie Morton (3-3) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball. Will Smith threw a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Jorge Soler hit his eighth homer for Miami. It was his first against Atlanta since he was the MVP of the World Series for the champion Braves last season.
Atlanta struck quickly against Trevor Rogers (2-5) in the first. Ozzie Albies hit a single that scored Acuña, and Ozuna followed with a two-run shot. Swanson made it 4-0 when he led off the second with his fifth homer. Rogers allowed five runs and eight hits in four innings.
(At) Toronto 2, Cincinnati 1: Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six shutout innings to earn his first victory of the season, and Toronto held Cincinnati star Joey Votto in check in his return from COVID-19.
Making his fourth start of the season and his second after being activated off the injured list because of a sore forearm, Ryu (1-0) allowed six hits, including five doubles, walked none and struck out three. Jordan Romano got three outs for his 13th save in 15 chances as Toronto improved to 11-6 in one-run games. The Blue Jays are 21-18 overall.
Playing a series in his Canadian hometown for the fourth time, and the first since 2017, Votto went 1 for 4 with a double. He was activated off the COVID-19 injured list before the game. He last played in the majors on May 1.
Luis Castillo (0-2) made his third start of the season and lost his second straight outing, allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings. The right-hander walked none and struck out five.
St. Louis 5, (at) Pittsburgh 3: Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings of one-run ball to extend his domination of Pittsburgh, and battery-mate Yadier Molina keyed a four-run sixth inning with a two-run single as St. Louis beat the Pirates.
Wainwright has won 10 straight decisions against the Pirates and gone 19 starts since last losing to Pittsburgh in 2016, on opening day. He scattered four hits, walked three and struck out three to improve his career record to 23-7 vs. Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals scored a run on a fielder’s choice in the first inning, and broke it open in the sixth, extending their lead to 5-0. Molina’s single with the bases loaded was sandwiched between RBI singles by Dylan Carlson and Harrison Bader.
Michael Chavis hit a solo home run in the seventh to end Wainwright’s 37 1/3-inning scoreless streak against the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds had an RBI single and Yoshi Tsutsugo added a run-producing grounder.
Zach Thompson (2-4) allowed one run and five hits in five innings with two strikeouts and a walk.
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Philadelphia 1: Freddie Freeman singled three times and drove in two runs, Julio Urías pitched five shutout innings and Los Angeles beat Philadelphia for its sixth straight victory.
Trea Turner doubled and had an RBI for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who opened a 10-day, 10-game road trip.
Urías (3-3) gave up two hits and struck out five with no walks. Craig Kimbrel got one out for his eighth save in as many tries.
The Phillies continued to struggle without slugger Bryce Harper, who missed his fifth straight game after having a platelet-rich plasma injection in his injured right elbow on Sunday. Philadelphia lost for the fourth time in the last five and avoided its third shutout defeat over that stretch when J.T. Realmuto hit an RBI double with two outs in the ninth.
Ranger Suarez (4-2) lasted just three innings, allowing three runs and five hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Winter storm wipes out Mets-Rockies
Denver — Kris Bryant's return from a back injury will have to wait. It's hard to play baseball during a snowstorm in Colorado.
The opener of the Rockies' three-game series against the New York Mets was postponed Friday, 6 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch, with a winter storm warning in effect for the Denver area. The forecast called for 3 to 5 inches of snow at Coors Field.
The teams are scheduled to make it up in a split doubleheader on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. But more snow was in the forecast for Saturday morning before it was expected to clear, with a low of 34 degrees in the evening.
Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-1, 3.73 ERA) is to face right-hander Germán Márquez (1-3, 6.16) in the opener Saturday. Righty Trevor Williams (0-2, 4.20) will work the night game for the Mets, while the Rockies had yet to announce a starter.
The rare late-May mountain storm started as rain Friday morning, before switching to snow in the afternoon with the temperature plunging to freezing.
Bryant, who last played for the Rockies on April 25, was set to rejoin the team after going 2 for 7 in a two-game rehab stint for Triple-A Albuquerque this week.
The series, which is the Mets' only scheduled trip to Denver, is to end Sunday. The teams have a mutual off day June 13, the day after the Mets conclude a West Coast trip against the Los Angeles Angels.
Bryant, who signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with the Rockies in March, was diagnosed with a lower back strain in Philadelphia last month amid a 1 for 16 stretch.
The four-time All-Star and 2016 NL MVP is still seeking his first home run with Colorado. The left fielder is batting .281 with four doubles and four RBIs in 15 games.
The start of the NL East-leading Mets' six-game trip was put on hold a day after they learned that right-hander Max Scherzer will be sidelined 6 to 8 weeks with a strained oblique muscle in his left side. Fellow ace Jacob deGrom is already out for at least another month with a right scapula stress reaction.
The doubleheader Saturday would be the Mets' fifth of the season and second in five days. They've won two and split two so far.