Cody Bellinger drove in four runs with his first two homers of the season and Freddie Freeman got the Dodgers offense rolling with a two-run homer in the third inning Sunday afternoon as visiting Los Angeles routed the San Diego Padres 10-2 in the rubber match of a three-game series.

The anticipated left-handed pitching duel between Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and San Diego’s Sean Manaea failed to materialize as Los Angeles scored seven runs (six earned) on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings against Manaea (2-2), who had entered the game with a 1.42 ERA.

Meanwhile, Kershaw held the Padres to one run on four hits with three strikeouts over five innings to run his record to 3-0 and lower his ERA to 2.65. Kershaw, however, remains four strikeouts shy of passing Don Sutton (2,696) as the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to the Padres’ first fielding error of the season after a modern-era record run of 16 straight errorless games to open the season.

Mookie Betts singled to open the game and reached second when shortstop Ha-Seong Kim couldn’t handle Manny Machado’s flip to second on Freeman’s grounder. Betts moved to third on a fly to deep right and scored on Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly.

Betts walked with one out in the third and scored on Freeman’s third homer of the season to make it 3-0. Bellinger’s first homer in the fourth made it 4-0 before the Padres finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning on three singles by Machado, Eric Hosmer (2-for-3, run scored) and Wil Myers.

The Dodgers broke it open with a four-run fifth, the runs scoring on a Chris Taylor sacrifice fly followed immediately by a three-run Bellinger homer off Dinelson Lamet. The Dodgers added two runs in the top of the sixth against rookie reliever Pedro Avila on a pair of run-scoring groundouts.

–Field Level Media

Tylor Megill continued his strong start to the season Sunday afternoon, earning the win by allowing two runs over 6 2/3 innings, as the New York Mets earned another series win by beating the host Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 in the finale of a three-game set.

Starling Marte built the go-ahead run in the sixth for the Mets, who have won their first five series — tying the franchise record for most consecutive series wins to start a season, set in 2018.

The Diamondbacks are still seeking their first series win, though they have earned two splits.

Megill (3-0) gave up five hits and one walk while striking out seven. He retired the first eight batters he faced and came within one out of matching his career-long outing, set against the New York Yankees last Sept. 10.

Seth Lugo got four outs and Joely Rodriguez struck out two in a perfect ninth inning.

Mark Canha scored the Mets’ first run when he led off the game with an infield single, went to second on Sergio Alcantara’s throwing error and scored on Francisco Lindor’s one-out single. Christian Walker tied the game by homering off Megill in the fourth.

Marte put the Mets ahead when he doubled with one out in the sixth off J.B. Wendelken (0-1), stole third and scored when catcher Jose Herrera’s throw sailed into left field. The stolen base was the 300th of Marte’s career.

New York extended the lead to 4-1 in the seventh with the benefit of just one base hit — a one-out single by Luis Guillorme — when Travis Jankowski drew a bases-loaded walk and Marte was plunked by a pitch with the bases still loaded.

Nick Ahmed chased Megill with an RBI single before the Mets added a pair of two-out insurance runs in the eighth, when J.D. Davis homered and Guillorme doubled and scored after Alcantara misplayed James McCann’s grounder.

Davis and Lindor had two hits apiece for the Mets. Ahmed had two hits for Arizona.

Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner allowed an unearned run on four hits and no walks while striking out four over five innings.

–Field Level Media

Stephen Piscotty’s two-run home run was all Oakland needed as the Athletics outlasted the visiting Texas Rangers 2-0 on Sunday in the finale of a three-game American League West series.

Cole Irvin (2-1), the first of four Oakland pitchers, allowed just one hit and walked two in five innings of work to earn the win. Irvin struck out four in his 87-pitch stint and allowed the Athletics to salvage the final game of the series.

Dany Jimenez worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the ninth inning to earn his third save. Jimenez has not allowed a run in seven appearances this season.

Piscotty’s homer with one out in the bottom of the fourth off Spencer Howard plated Sean Murphy and produced more runs than the Athletics had scored in the first two games of the series combined. Oakland managed just five hits in the win — and 10 in the three games in this series — and squandered seven base runners on Sunday.

Oakland loaded the bases with one out in the fifth but could not extend the lead when Brett Martin struck out Murphy and Christian Bethancourt to end the threat.

Texas came into the game on a season-best three-game winning streak but was limited to just four hits and didn’t get a runner to second base until Marcus Semien’s two-out double in the eighth. Semien is a former Oakland player who finished third in American League voting for the Toronto Blue Jays last season and was signed by the Rangers in the offseason.

Semien also singled to start the game.

Nathaniel Lowe and Johan Heim singled in the ninth but were stranded when Willie Calhoun grounded out to end the contest.

Garrett Richards was the opening pitcher for the Rangers, leaving after two innings for Howard (0-1). Howard was followed to the mound by Albert Abreu, Martin, Dennis Santana, and Kolby Allard.

Texas heads home to begin a four-game series against Houston on Monday while the Athletics have an off day on Monday before hosting the San Francisco Giants for the two-game, interleague, Bay Area series.

–Field Level Media

Kevin Newman had two hits, including an RBI double, and David Bednar struck out Frank Schwindel with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon.

Ke’Bryan Hayes also had an RBI double for Pittsburgh, which bounced back from a 21-0 loss on Saturday afternoon, the most lopsided loss in franchise history, to win the series with its third win in four games.

Dillon Peters (3-0) allowed one hit over 2 2/3 inning of relief to pick up the win. Bednar, despite allowing back-to-back doubles with one out in the ninth, bounced back to garner his second save of the season.

Ian Happ homered, Rafeal Ortega doubled twice and Schwindel went 2-for-5 with an RBI to lead Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in six games. The Cubs, who had 23 hits in the largest shutout win in franchise history on Saturday, finished with 10 hits.

Justin Steele (1-2) took the loss, allowing three runs on four hits over three innings. He walked four and struck out two.

Chicago took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Ortega led off with a double to right and scored one out later when Hayes misplayed Willson Contreras’ high-hop grounder for an error. After Happ walked, Schwindel singled down the right field line to drive in Contreras.

Pittsburgh cut it to 2-1 in the second on a two-out RBI single by Ben Gamel, driving in Yoshi Tsutsugo who had singled.

The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Tsutsugo, driving in Bryan Reynolds, who had led off with a walk and advanced to third on a double by Hayes. Newman then drove in Hayes with a double to center.

Pittsburgh extended its lead to 4-2 in the fourth with an unearned run. Diego Castillo singled with one out, stole second and scored one out later when Jonathan Villar threw wildly to first on Hayes’ routine grounder for his fourth error of the season.

Chicago cut it to 4-3 in the eighth on Happ’s first homer of the season, a 393-foot opposite field drive to left-center off reliever Heath Hembree.

The Cubs had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Ortega doubled off the wall down the right-field line with one out and then advanced to third on a bloop double to shallow right by Seiya Suzuki. Contreras then struck out and Happ was then walked intentionally to load the bases. Schwindel then struck out on three straight fastballs to end the game.

–Field Level Media

Byron Buxton homered twice, including a walk-off, three-run blast to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 6-4 win in 10 innings over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Buxton’s 469-foot blast sealed the Twins’ fourth win in a row and completed a three-game sweep over Chicago. Buxton finished with five RBIs while Gio Urshela drove in Minnesota’s other run.

Tim Anderson and Danny Mendick each homered for the White Sox, who lost their seventh in a row.

Twins right-hander Joe Smith (1-0) earned the win after allowing one unearned run in one inning.

White Sox right-hander Liam Hendriks (0-2) gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Chicago pulled ahead 4-3 in the top of the 10th when Yasmani Grandal singled to deep right field to score Mendick.

Hendricks could not preserve the lead. He had runners on second and third when Buxton crushed his 96 mph fastball over the heart of the plate.

The White Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game. Anderson drove it 395 feet over the wall in left-center field for his second homer of the season.

Two innings later, Anderson helped the White Sox increase their lead to 2-0. He led off the third with a single, stole second base, advanced to third base after a pair of walks and came home to score on a single by Andrew Vaughn.

The Twins cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third. Minnesota loaded the bases with nobody out for Urshela, who hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Luis Arraez.

Giolito prevented further damage as he struck out Trevor Larnach and Nick Gordon to end the inning.

Chicago regained a two-run lead in the seventh when Mendick hit a leadoff home run to left field. The 406-foot blast was his first homer of the season.

Buxton tied it at 3-3 with a two-run blast in the bottom of the seventh. White Sox left-hander Aaron Bummer issued a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Jose Godoy, and Buxton made him pay for it moments later with an opposite-field rocket.

–Field Level Media

Rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena crushed a two-run, walk-off home run to straightaway center field in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Houston Astros averted a series sweep with an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

Pena drilled a 96.6 mph fastball from Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (0-1), who had converted 31 consecutive saves and led the majors with eight this season. Pena drove home Kyle Tucker, the automatic runner, with his third home run this season to counter the run-scoring double Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stroked in the top of the 10th that gave the Blue Jays a 7-6 lead.

Gurriel drove home Bo Bichette, the automatic runner, with one out in the 10th inning. He produced a pair of extra-base hits and two RBIs.

Houston received production from the bottom third of their batting order. Aledmys Diaz (walk) and Pena (error) reached and scored in the Astros’ two-run second inning and Diaz produced an RBI single that scored Yuli Gurriel and tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh.

Astros starter Luis Garcia was exceptional early, facing the minimum through three innings before the Blue Jays started to apply pressure on him the second time through the order.

George Springer keyed the shift in momentum with a leadoff double in the fourth and scored two batters later on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sacrifice fly, sliding under the tag of Astros catcher Martin Maldonado after the throw from right fielder Tucker took Maldonado up the third-base line.

Toronto halved the two-run deficit when Springer scored, but trailed 4-1 entering the fifth after Astros left fielder Michael Brantley cranked a two-out, two-run homer to right off Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, punishing Kikuchi for issuing a walk to the nine-hole hitter Maldonado.

But Lourdes Gurriel Jr. got one of those runs back for the Blue Jays with his first-pitch home run leading off the fifth, his first of the year. Toronto struck an even bigger blow with two outs in the sixth when catcher Zack Collins bashed a 3-0 fastball from Garcia into the right-field seats, driving in Springer and Guerrero and erasing what was a 5-2 deficit. It was Collins’ third home run.

Blake Taylor (1-1) earned the win on just three pitches and one out in the 10th. Garcia allowed five runs on five hits in six innings, striking out six. Kikuchi lasted 3 2/3 innings for Toronto and allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits, with five walks and four strikeouts.

–Field Level Media