PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller pitched his first career complete game and Rodolfo Castro hit a two-run homer as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
Keller (4-1) shut out the Rockies on four hits in his first time pitching into the eighth inning. The fifth-year veteran struck out eight and walked one in a game that took just 1 hour, 55 minutes.
Castro’s homer off Kyle Freeland in the seventh broke the scoreless tie.
Freeland (3-4) also had a strong start, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings with four strikeouts and three walks.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits for the Pirates, who hold a slim lead in the NL Central. Kris Bryant had two hits for the Rockies, who had won six of seven.
YANKEES 7, ATHLETICS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Hicks broke out of his season-long slump with a two-run homer and New York went deep four times in a win over Oakland.
Gleyber Torres hit a tiebreaking solo drive in the sixth inning against former Yankees lefty JP Sears (0-3). Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu launched two-run shots off Sears as New York (19-17) avoiding falling back to .500 for the second time in a week.
The Yankees won for the fourth time in 10 games without slugger Aaron Judge, who is expected back Tuesday from a stint on the injured list due to a strained right hip.
Nestor Cortes rebounded from his worst start with the Yankees and allowed two runs on six hits in five-plus innings. Ron Marinaccio (2-1) earned the win in relief.
Sears allowed five runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings as the major league-worst A’s dropped to 8-28 overall.
TIGERS 6, GUARDIANS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Joey Wentz settled down after allowing a double and single to start the game on the way to his first win, and Andy Ibañez homered and scored three runs in Detroit’s win over struggling Cleveland.
After allowing the opening hits, Wentz (1-3) then retired 13 of 14 before giving up a pair of walks in the sixth. He got two outs and was pulled for Will Vest, who worked out of the jam. Jason Foley, Chasen Shreve and Alex Lange completed the combined six-hitter.
Ibañez connected for his first homer for Detroit and Riley Greene drove in two runs as the Tigers won for the sixth time in seven games.
José Ramírez homered as the Guardians continued to scuffle offensively. Rookie Tanner Bibee (1-1) for three runs and five hits in the third inning and didn’t survive the fourth.
RAYS 3, ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE (AP) — Shane McClanahan worked six innings and became this season’s first seven-game winner, Josh Lowe and Luke Raley homered and Tampa Bay topped Baltimore in a matchup of the teams with the best record in the American League.
The Rays extended their AL East lead to 6 1/2 games. McClanahan (7-0) allowed four hits and four walks and struck out seven.
Kyle Gibson (4-2) pitched well in defeat, allowing two runs in six-plus innings. Lowe hit a solo shot leading off the second and Raley added one in the ninth. Wander Franco hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Colin Poche and Kevin Kelly followed McClanahan for Tampa Bay, and Jason Adam struck out three in the ninth for his fourth save.
The Orioles lost a series opener for the first time this season after winning their first 11. It’s Baltimore’s first three-game losing streak of the season.
BREWERS 9, DODGERS 3
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Wiemer and Willy Adames hit three-run homers to back Freddy Peralta’s strong pitching and Milwaukee defeated Los Angeles for its second straight win after six straight losses.
Wiemer went 2 of 3 with four RBIs — his first since April 29 — while homering off Tony Gonsolin (0-1) with two outs in the fifth. He added an RBI double against Phil Bickford in the seventh.
Christian Yelich added a two-run single in the win.
Peralta (4-2) struck out five and allowed just three hits, one run and two walks in six innings for his third straight quality start.
Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Dodgers, who lost for just the second time in 10 games.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
