Mike Zunino’s three-run homer against his former club highlighted Tampa Bay’s four-run fourth inning as the visiting Rays edged the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Thursday night to open a four-game series.

A Seattle catcher from 2013 to 2018, Zunino lofted a 379-foot homer to left off Mariners starter Robbie Ray (2-3) — his third long ball of the season and second in three days.

Tampa Bay’s Harold Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and a stolen base, and Yandy Diaz had a single and a walk to extend his on-base streak to 16 games.

In a 5 1/3-inning start, Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan (2-2) yielded two runs on three hits. He struck out five and walked two.

The Rays won for the fourth straight time to start their 10-game road trip, and they have nine victories in their past 12 games. They improved to 7-3 on both the road and in one-run games.

Jesse Winker and Adam Frazier homered for the first time and Eugenio Suarez had an RBI single for Seattle, which lost its fourth straight and fell to 6-11 against winning clubs.

The visitors produced four runs in 6 2/3 innings against Ray, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. He allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked one.

Tampa Bay broke through in the fourth when Manuel Margot’s leadoff bunt single and stolen base ended with him scoring on Ramirez’s single. Isaac Paredes’ single to shallow center set up Zunino’s drive to left for a 4-0 lead.

In the fifth, Winker swatted a long ball for the Mariners’ first hit off McClanahan, a solo shot to center.

Seattle got to McClanahan again in the sixth on Suarez’s single off Jason Adam, but the reliever fanned Julio Rodriguez looking and got Winker to fly out to strand runners on the corners.

In a lefty-on-lefty matchup in the seventh, Frazier hit Colin Poche’s first pitch for a high homer just inside the right-field foul pole to put it at 4-3.

Adam, Poche and Brooks Raley tossed 3 2/3 innings of relief. The trio allowed two hits and one run while striking out three and issuing a walk.

Raley, a left-hander, crafted a perfect ninth and ended the game by snaring a one-hop comebacker by Luis Torrens to post his second save in as many chances.

–Field Level Media

Manny Machado hit two solo homers and Nick Martinez fired seven effective innings as the host San Diego Padres edged the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Martinez (2-2) delivered his best start of the season to outduel Miami’s Jesus Luzardo in the opener of a four-game series. The San Diego right-hander allowed one run on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts, lowering his ERA from 4.12 to 3.38.

After giving up a run on three singles in the third inning, Martinez retired 13 straight Miami hitters to end his outing. Martinez equaled his season high of 102 pitches.

Machado hit his sixth homer of the season into the Padres’ bullpen with two outs in the first inning. No. 7 came with one out in the fourth and sailed into the second deck at Petco Park in left-center.

San Diego won for the third time in four games while Miami dropped its fifth game in a row.

Machado produced his ninth multi-homer game at Petco Park, a record at the 18-year-old venue.

Luis Garcia followed Martinez to the mound and allowed a two-out single in a scoreless eighth for the Padres. Taylor Rogers then earned his National League-leading 11th save with a perfect ninth.

Luzardo (2-2) yielded two runs on three hits while walking two and fanning seven over six-plus innings. He fired a season-high 98 pitches.

Miami tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third on three hits, although a double play denied the Marlins a potentially bigger inning.

Miguel Rojas and Payton Henry, the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, opened the inning with back-to-back singles. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. flied out to center, Jesus Aguilar singled home Rojas to tie the game. However, Jorge Solar followed with a grounder to short that Ha-Seong Kim turned into the rally-killing double play.

Bench coach Ryan Christenson managed the Padres as Bob Melvin remained home with a non-COVID illness.

–Field Level Media

The stakes aren’t as high this weekend as the Milwaukee Brewers visit the Atlanta Braves to open a three-game series. A year ago, the two clubs met in the National League Division Series, with Atlanta going on to win the World Series.

While it’s far too early to start talking playoffs, this is an important series for Atlanta, which is hosting its annual “Hank Aaron Weekend.” Aaron, who died last year, had deep ties with both cities and franchises. He began his career with the Milwaukee Braves, broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record as at Atlanta Brave, then played his final season with the Brewers.

“He’s the reason I’m here,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, whom Aaron hired as a coach immediately after releasing him as a player. “I hate that (today’s players) aren’t going to be able to experience Hank Aaron. He was the epitome of grace (and) professionalism.”

The Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-5 on Thursday, completing a three-game sweep. Milwaukee is 17-5 over the last 22 games and 8-1 over the last nine.

The offense is rolling, with 20 home runs over the last six games. Six came in the series finale with the Reds.

“The guys, they came locked in,” Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames said. “They came to compete and sweep the series. We knew we needed to do that.”

Milwaukee will send left-hander Eric Lauer (2-0, 1.93 ERA) to the mound in the first game. The Braves aren’t expected to name their starter until Friday morning.

Lauer will be making his fifth start of the season. In his last outing, against the Chicago Cubs on April 30, he allowed only one run over seven innings, with 11 strikeouts and one walk.

He joined Teddy Higuera (1988) as the club’s only left-handed pitcher to have consecutive 10-strikeout games. Lauer fanned 13 in six innings against Philadelphia on April 24.

Lauer made one regular-season appearance against the Braves last season and received a no-decision after allowing three runs in three innings in the Brewers’ 6-3 loss. He also faced Atlanta in Game 4 of the NLDS and allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings of a 5-4 loss.

The Braves could start Kyle Muller, who started on Sunday in the series finale against Texas, or they could recall another pitcher from the minor leagues or go with Spencer Strider, the hard-throwing rookie. Strider has pitched three-plus innings in three of his five relief appearances and could serve as an opener.

The Braves did not play Thursday after splitting a four-game set with the New York Mets. Atlanta’s offense returned in the finale, a 9-2 win, after being limited to a total of four runs in losing both ends of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

The Braves have scored three or fewer runs in 15 games. They have lost four times while allowing three or fewer runs, tied for the most in the National League. They also lead the major leagues with 250 strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Kyle Tucker delivered a walk-off single in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros claimed the opener of a four-game series with the visiting Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Thursday.

Tucker plated pinch runner Chas McCormick with his opposite-field single to left field off Tigers left-hander Gregory Soto (1-2). McCormick ran for Yordan Alvarez, who had singled to open the ninth and moved to second on Yuli Gurriel’s walk.

The Astros have won four consecutive games and eight of their past 10.

Trailing 2-0 with two outs in the top of the ninth, the Tigers rallied behind Miguel Cabrera and Jeimer Candelario. Cabrera recorded his third hit of the game and the 3,008th of his career, a single, to pass Al Kaline for 30th on the career list.

Candelario then smacked a two-run homer to right off Astros closer Ryan Pressly, who had missed the previous 19 games due to right knee inflammation.

Pressly (1-1) emerged as the winner despite allowing the two runs in his lone inning.

The Astros are off to a 4-0 start on their seven-game homestand behind strong starting pitching and timely displays of power.

Right-hander Jose Urquidy fired six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk while recording three strikeouts in his strongest start of the season. He allowed just two baserunners into scoring position and kept the Tigers off balance with a deft blend of four-seamers, changeups, curveballs and cutters. Urquidy threw 91 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Detroit fashioned scoring threats in the first and fifth innings. Robbie Grossman smacked a one-out double to right-center field in the top of the first before Urquidy followed with a pair of ground-ball outs to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard. When Tucker Barnhart and Akil Baddoo stroked two-out singles in succession in the fifth, Urquidy induced Grossman into a groundout.

Urquidy continued an exceptional stretch for Houston starters, who were a combined 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA and .181 opponent batting average over the previous 10 games. Urquidy followed by producing the eighth start of at least six innings over an 11-game stretch.

Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal nearly matched Urquidy pitch for pitch but was undone by a first-pitch sinker to Jose Altuve that turned into a homer in the first and a 2-2 knuckle-curve that Jeremy Pena drilled 426 feet onto the home run porch in left-center leading off the fifth.

Altuve gave the Astros a 1-0 lead with his third homer before Pena doubled that lead with the sixth home run of his rookie season.

Skubal allowed just four more hits and did not walk a batter while recording a season-high nine strikeouts over six innings. He had struck out nine Astros in his prior start against them, last season.

–Field Level Media

The Cincinnati Reds hope a return home will result in a change of fortune as they open a four-game weekend series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night.

The Reds are not just battling the opposition — they’re up against history as they try to awaken from the club’s worst-ever start.

Cincinnati enters the game against Pittsburgh having lost nine straight and 20 of 21 after a 2-2 beginning to the season. Their 3-22 record stands as the worst 25-game start in franchise history.

The Reds are coming off a three-game sweep in Milwaukee in which they were outscored, 34-12.

“We just have to keep getting better in every area, every one of us,” Reds manager David Bell said. “That’s what we’ll continue to do. We look for every little adjustment, every edge we can to improve.”

The Reds have been plagued by injuries and poor starting pitching. They currently have 15 players on the injured list, including regulars like Joey Votto, Jonathan India and Tyler Naquin.

Rookie starter Hunter Greene allowed another eight earned runs on five homers in just 2 2/3 innings Thursday in Milwaukee. In their first 25 games, Reds starters are 3-19 with a major league-worst 8.91 ERA, allowing 22 home runs and 99 earned runs in 100 innings.

“We want to win every game very badly, especially right now,” Bell said. “I’m impressed with every single guy in this clubhouse and the way they’re handling it. It’s not easy. It’s a huge challenge that we have in front of us. They’re handling it better than I would (as a player). It’s impressive to me.”

Right-hander Connor Overton (0-0, 1.69 ERA) has been the rare exception to the rule. In his Reds debut last Saturday in Colorado, he held the Rockies to one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Overton is making his fifth career start and first against the Pirates, for whom he pitched in five games with three starts in September 2021. The right-hander is still looking for his first major league win.

The Pirates counter with right-hander JT Brubaker (0-2, 6.20), who will be making his sixth start of the season. Pittsburgh’s Opening Day starter is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in his three starting assignments on the road. The Pirates have won each of his last two starts.

Lifetime against Cincinnati, the 28-year-old is 1-2 with a 4.87 ERA in four career starts. He was 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts last season.

The Pirates are coming off a doubleheader split on Wednesday in Detroit, dropping the first game 3-2 before bouncing back for a 7-2 win in the nightcap. Dillon Peters started and went 3 1/3 innings in the loss but extended his scoreless streak to 16 2/3 innings to start the season with just two hits allowed.

“He’s thrown the ball really well,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Peters. “He’s attacked, he’s done it with really good hitters at different parks, starting (at) getting the top of lineups. He continues to impress. He continues to execute.”

The win was just the second in eight games for Pittsburgh, which will play another road doubleheader on Saturday against the Reds.

“We pitched well enough to win two games, but we need to tighten up our defense. We made mistakes in both games, but it cost us runs in the first one,” added Shelton.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox hope to change their recent trends against a new opponent as they open a three-game series against the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

The Red Sox send Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 2.51 ERA) to the mound as they look to bounce back from losing a third consecutive home series to begin the season.

Thursday’s 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels was Boston’s second straight and ninth in 12 games. The Sox were shut out for the second time this season, a day after losing a 10-5, 10-inning game in which the Angels were down to their final strike.

“We have to keep swinging at strikes and do damage in the zone. We’ve got to get better,” manager Alex Cora said. “… We have to put a complete game together, and we haven’t done that in a while.”

Shohei Ohtani’s 11 strikeouts in seven innings were the most by a starting pitcher against Boston this season.

Outfielder Enrique Hernandez was out Wednesday due to sickness, which the team hopes is not COVID-related.

“He’s feeling better, but nothing (is known yet) as far as testing,” Cora said.

Eovaldi struck out eight across seven scoreless frames Saturday at Baltimore. He retired 17 of the first 18 batters he faced in his 28th career scoreless start of at least six innings.

Despite struggling to find the win column, Boston’s starting pitchers have allowed two or fewer runs in 13 of the last 14 games.

“The only way we’re going to get back to where we need to be is even taking it at a smaller step than one game at a time — one pitch at a time, one swing at a time — and be able to make things small,” said lefty Rich Hill, who threw five shutout innings on Thursday.

Eovaldi is 2-1 with a 5.63 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the White Sox, including a 10-strikeout performance over 6 1/3 innings in a win on April 19, 2021.

The White Sox had Thursday off one day after beating the rival Chicago Cubs, 4-3, for their third straight win. Gavin Sheets and AJ Pollock had the game-tying and winning hits with two outs.

They will head to Boston without outfielder Andrew Vaughn, who was placed on the 10-day injured list (bruised right hand) on Thursday. Vaughn was originally scheduled to play on Wednesday, but the injury still ached when he attempted to swing.

“It’s an area where it’s not about being tough enough to handle it, it just alters everything you do,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said.

Infielder Danny Mendick, who played collegiately at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

“We faced a lot of adversity (including an early two-run deficit) and now we have guys banged up,” White Sox relief pitcher Matt Foster said on Wednesday. “But we have other guys who step up and fill those roles and just do their job, and we come through it.”

Lucas Giolito struck out 10 in 5 2/3 innings, and now Vince Velasquez (1-2, 4.58) will look to build upon that performance.

Velasquez earned his first win for Chicago in a Saturday start against the Angels, allowing four hits with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Notably he did not walk a batter and has allowed just one free pass over his last two starts, covering nine innings.

The righty will be making his sixth career appearance and fifth start against Boston. He has a 8.47 ERA in 17 innings against the Red Sox after being tagged for eight runs in 2 1/3 frames last July 9 at Fenway while pitching for Philadelphia.

–Field Level Media

Ryan Mountcastle hit two of Baltimore’s five solo home runs as the Orioles beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Thursday night to salvage a split of the four-game series.

Austin Hays broke a tie with a one-out homer in the eighth inning, and Mountcastle followed with his second blast of the game.

Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo also homered for the Orioles. Mountcastle doubled his home run total for the season as he now has four.

Jorge Lopez (3-1) earned the win by logging the last 1 1/3 innings. That was part of 4 1/3 scoreless innings compiled by four Orioles relievers.

Byron Buxton homered and knocked in three runs for Minnesota. The Twins had won 11 of 12 games before losing to the Orioles on consecutive nights.

Baltimore hadn’t scored against Minnesota relievers in any of the first three games of the series, but the final three homers in Thursday night’s contest came against the Twins’ bullpen.

Jhoan Duran (0-1) gave up the final two blasts and took the loss.

Twins starter Chris Archer went four innings and allowed two runs, but he remained without a decision with his new team. He exited after throwing 76 pitches.

Mountcastle began the scoring with a second-inning home run. The Twins tied the game on Buxton’s fielder’s choice grounder in the third.

In the bottom of the third, Mullins homered for the second game. Buxton’s two-run homer gave the Twins a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.

The Orioles responded in the bottom of the frame. Mateo, the first batter to face reliever Caleb Thielbar, homered for the first time this year.

The score didn’t change until Baltimore’s two homers in the eighth.

Max Kepler had three hits for Minnesota, while Gary Sanchez had a pair of hits. Mullins, Hays and Mountcastle each had to of Baltimore’s 11 hits.

Orioles starter Spenser Watkins did not factor into the decision. He gave up three runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Starling Marte hit a solo home run, a double and a single and drove in two runs, and the New York Mets scored seven runs in the ninth inning to rally past the host Philadelphia Phillies 8-7 on Thursday.

Francisco Lindor added a two-run home run and Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil had two hits apiece for New York.

Brandon Nimmo ripped a two-run single with two outs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 7 before Marte delivered the winning RBI double one batter later.

In the past 25 seasons, the Mets had been 0-330 in games in which they trailed by at least six runs in the ninth inning.

Adonis Medina (1-0) earned his first career win, doing so against his former team, with 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Edwin Diaz picked up his sixth save in a perfect ninth, with two strikeouts.

Mets starter Taijuan Walker was let off the hook after lasting just four innings; he allowed nine hits and seven runs, six earned. Walker, who hadn’t surrendered a run in seven innings heading into this matchup, struck out two and walked two.

Bryce Harper hit a home run and double, knocked in two runs and scored twice for the slumping Phillies, who have lost four in a row.

Nick Castellanos homered and drove in three runs and Jean Segura contributed three hits for the Phillies. Odubel Herrera and Alec Bohm added two hits each for Philadelphia, which had 12 total.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola had a stellar start spoiled by the bullpen. Nola gave up just three hits and one run, with seven strikeouts and one walk, in seven strong innings.

Closer Corey Knebel (0-2) suffered the loss and was charged with four hits and three runs in 2/3 inning.

The Phillies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning — highlighted by an RBI double from Harper and RBI singles from J.T. Realmuto and Segura.

Castellanos had RBI groundouts in the first and second for a 5-0 advantage.

In the fourth, Harper and Castellanos launched back-to-back solo homers for a 7-0 lead.

Marte hit a solo homer with two outs in the sixth to make it 7-1.

Castellanos was hit on the hand by Medina’s pitch in the sixth and left the game. According to the Phillies, X-rays were negative and Castellanos will be re-evaluated on Friday.

McNeil singled with two outs in the seventh, but he was stranded when Mark Canha struck out on Nola’s 101st pitch.

Lindor snapped an 0-for-18 slump with a two-run homer off James Norwood in the ninth.

Canha added an RBI infield single and J.D. Davis had a pinch-hit RBI double to get the Mets within 7-5.

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Guardians rode a three-run fifth inning and a solid performance from starter Aaron Civale to nip the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Thursday.

Civale (1-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four earned runs, six hits and no walks. Civale struck out a season-high eight batters in the opener of a four-game set.

Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase earned his fifth save with a perfect ninth.

Civale got off to a shaky start, as the Guardians trailed 2-0 six pitches into the game. Bo Bichette singled with one out and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sent a fastball over the left-field wall for a two-run home run. He now has seven home runs and 19 RBIs.

The Guardians knotted the score at 2-2 in the third inning. Rookie Steven Kwan, the reigning AL Rookie of the Month, blasted his first major league home run with Austin Hedges aboard.

Cleveland forged ahead 3-2 in the fourth. Franmil Reyes singled and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Andres Gimenez. Reyes came home on a groundout by Amed Rosario.

The Guardians jumped on starter Jose Berrios (2-1) for three more runs in the fifth.

Hot-hitting Josh Naylor drove in Myles Straw with a two-out single down the left-field line. Reyes followed with a single to center to knock in Kwan and send Berrios to the showers. Reyes went 3-for-4 on the night and has five hits in his last two games.

Gimenez greeted reliever Casey Lawrence with a run-scoring double to drive in Naylor, making it 6-2.

The Blue Jays fought back with two runs in the sixth. Civale yielded a single to Bichette and hit Guerrero, and it came back to haunt him. With two outs, Zack Collins doubled to right field to make it 6-4.

The Blue Jays closed to within 6-5 in the seventh off reliever Nick Sandlin, as Alejandro Kirk led off the inning with his first home run of the season, a towering drive into the left-field bleachers.

Berrios pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed six earned runs, eight hits and one walk.

–Field Level Media