When the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays square off for the final game of a three-game series Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla., it won’t be the last time these two teams see each other this season.

Far from it. Counting this series, the Blue Jays and Rays will play 19 games against each other this year. That includes a September stretch that could play a prominent role in the American League East standings.

From Sept. 12-25, the Blue Jays and Rays will play each other nine times. Although the New York Yankees currently lead the division, there is plenty of time for Toronto and Tampa Bay to get back into the race, and both teams have reasons to be optimistic.

Toronto was a popular pick to win the division before the season began, but offensive struggles have landed the team at two games over .500. But the Jays ended a five-game losing streak with Saturday’s 5-1 win over Tampa Bay.

“That’s just part of the American League East,” Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Like I always say, to be good enough is not enough when you dream of being great. You’ve got to play the good teams and battle to win.”

The Blue Jays know they can count on superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who ran his hitting streak to 11 games in the first inning. But they got some help from unexpected places Saturday. That’s because the Blue Jays are getting healthy.

Teoscar Hernandez and Danny Jansen each homered in a four-run eighth inning. Both had missed significant amounts of time due to injuries.

“These guys are getting hot right now,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of the Blue Jays.

And there’s even more good news for Toronto. Center fielder George Springer injured his ankle in Friday night’s game and sat out Saturday, but the injury isn’t expected to keep him out for long.

The Blue Jays were 18 games over .500 when Springer was in the lineup last year and just two games over .500 when he wasn’t.

Plus, the pitching matchup in Sunday’s game favors the Blue Jays.

Toronto will start right-hander Alek Manoah (4-0, 1.75 ERA), who was 3-1 in four games against the Rays last season.

Cash will hand the ball to left-hander Jeffrey Springs as the Rays again will turn to the opener concept to help compensate for injuries to their pitching staff.

“We’ve got to find a way to help ourselves pitching-wise,” Cash said. “We’ve taxed our bullpen way too much.”

Springs (1-1, 2.12) has appeared in 10 games this season, but he has made only two starts. In his career, Springs has pitched in 112 games with only four starts. He has never started against Toronto.

That means Tampa Bay will have to find its offense. Manuel Margot extended his hitting streak to 11 games Saturday and improved his batting average to .348.

But shortstop Wander Franco, who got off to a fast start, has slowed. Franco hasn’t had a hit in his last 16 at-bats. That has led to questions about if he is healthy.

“He’s totally fine,” Cash said. “He’ll get going.”

–Field Level Media

Patrick Mazeika’s first two game-winning RBIs traveled about 120 feet. His third one Saturday went a lot farther — and gave the New York Mets a chance to win yet another series.

The Mets, who haven’t lost a series this season, will look to win another one Sunday when they are scheduled to host the Seattle Mariners in the rubber match of a three-game interleague set.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-1, 3.19 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Mets against the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, left-hander Robbie Ray (3-3, 4.22 ERA).

The Mets squandered a four-run lead Saturday by allowing a single run in the sixth and three more in the seventh, before Mazeika led off the bottom of the inning by hitting Andres Munoz’s first pitch well into the right field seats for the tie-breaking run in a 5-4 victory.

“That was a great moment for him, let alone the team,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He ambushed a guy throwing 100 mph. We needed it. It was one of those games that you knew they were going to make a run at you, and they did.”

Mazeika’s hit came in his first big league appearance of the season.

He batted just .190 last year with six RBIs — two of which were walk-off fielder’s choice RBIs collected during the same homestand. His dribbler between the pitcher’s mound and first base scored Pete Alonso against the Arizona Diamondback on May 7, 2021, before Jonathan Villar raced home on a grounder to first against the Baltimore Orioles three days later.

“I’m sure a few guys remember that,” Mazeika said with a grin. “This one’s pretty special right now.”

Mazeika’s homer allowed the Mets — who are 9-0-1 in series play this year — to get the final word on the Mariners and Jesse Winker, who continued his tongue-in-cheek sparring with New York fans by hitting the game-tying three-run homer in the seventh.

Winker, who waved goodbye to Mets fans after catching the final out in a game for the Cincinnati Reds in 2019 and tossed an autographed ball to a fan displaying a sign making fun of him last year, flipped the bat upon hitting the homer and raised a fist in a waving motion as he crossed home plate.

Winker had a chance to tie the game in the ninth, but he made the final out by striking out on a 100 mph fastball from Edwin Diaz.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I love them — they are an amazing group of people,” Winker said of Mets fans. “I can understand the passion, and I respect it. This thing we’ve got going on is special.”

Carrasco won his second straight start Tuesday, when he allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals 4-2. Ray also won Tuesday after surrendering two runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Mariners’ 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Carrasco is 5-3 with a 3.67 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts) against the Mariners. Ray is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA in six starts against the Mets.

–Field Level Media

Regardless of records, the Pittsburgh Pirates have showed they can beat the visiting Cincinnati Reds, and now they have a chance to earn a split in their four-game weekend series with a win Sunday.

After dropping the first two games 4-0 and 8-2, and after dropping two of three last weekend in Cincinnati, the Pirates downed the Reds 3-1 Saturday.

“It’s awesome,” Pittsburgh’s Daniel Vogelbach, who hit a solo homer Saturday, told AT&T Sportsnet of bouncing back after two fairly lopsided games.

“Wins are fun. I feel like we’ve been playing good baseball. We could have a lot more wins than we do.”

The Reds had won a season-high three straight, five of six and six of eight before Saturday. That’s quite a contrast to their 3-22 start.

A win Sunday could further boost the Reds’ confidence with a third straight series win — one against Milwaukee since the first set with the Pirates. That was after Cincinnati went 0-7-1 in its first eight series.

Cincinnati got a scare Saturday when catcher Tyler Stephenson, who is batting .324, left in the third inning after taking a hard foul tip to the chin area of his mask.

Stephenson has a history of concussion, but manager David Bell said the team is relieved that initial reports are encouraging.

In the series finale, Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene (1-5, 7.62 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Pittsburgh left-hander Jose Quintana (1-1, 2.70 ERA).

Quintana, set for his seventh start, is coming off one of the more impressive starts by a Pirates pitcher this season. He picked up his first win on Monday when he shut out the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers for six innings, allowing two hits, five strikeouts and four walks, in Pittsburgh’s 5-1 win.

That might be considered a reward since Quintana had received poor run support in three of his first five starts, masking the fact that he has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his first six starts.

It was not only Quintana’s first win this season, but also his first since Sept. 5, 2019. Injuries and ineffectiveness plagued him in the interim.

His win on Monday also marked the Pirates’ first win by a starter in their 28th game, a dubious major league record at a season’s start.

“Huge,” Quintana said. “It’s tough to get hurt. I kept working hard. I knew (it) would come one day. I’m really happy to get a win against a team like that. It’s good. Just keep rolling.”

Against Cincinnati, Quintana is 4-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 career games, nine of them starts.

Greene’s rookie season, which includes six starts, has had its bumps, but there also have been positives.

On Tuesday against Milwaukee, the 22-year-old did not allow hit through three innings, then gave up a homer to Luis Urias in the fourth and left with the game tied 1-1 but was charged with another run after he left with a runner on.

In 5 1/3 innings, he gave up four hits and four walks, with six strikeouts.

“Big step forward,” Bell said of Greene. “He can take that into next time and even go deeper into the game. Really a lot of good things.”

Greene will be facing Pittsburgh for the first time.

–Field Level Media

Yadiel Hernandez drove in four runs and drilled one of two Washington home runs as the Nationals ended the visiting Houston Astros’ 11-game winning streak by winning 13-6 on Saturday night.

Maikel Franco homered and knocked in three runs and Nelson Cruz provided three RBIs and three hits as the Nationals won for just the second time in their last six games.

Josh Rogers (2-2), with one shutout inning of relief, was the winning pitcher after starter Erick Fedde worked four innings and gave up three runs on five hits.

The Nationals scored in five of the first six innings, building a 13-4 lead by reaching a double-figure run total for the fifth time this season. They had four consecutive frames of multiple runs. That was more runs allowed by Houston than the total (12 runs) given up during its 11-game winning streak.

Phillies 8, Dodgers 3

Bryce Harper hit his third home run in three games and had three hits as Philadelphia continued to pour on the offense in beating host Los Angeles.

Jean Segura, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins also hit home runs for the Phillies, who have scored 29 runs in the first three games of the four-game series, all victories.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (4-1) gave up three runs on five hits over seven innings. Mookie Betts hit a home run for the Dodgers, who are on a season-worst four-game losing streak. Dodgers starter Julio Urias (2-3) gave up a career-high four home runs over six innings.

White Sox 3, Yankees 2

Luis Robert had two hits and two RBIs, including the walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, to lift host Chicago to a victory over New York.

Yoan Moncada homered for the second time in three games for the White Sox.

Outscored 25-11 in the first two games of the series, the White Sox prevailed in a nail-biter as Dallas Keuchel outdueled Yankees counterpart Jordan Montgomery before the game came down to the bullpens.

Cardinals 4, Giants 0

Dakota Hudson tossed five strong innings to fuel host St. Louis to a win over San Francisco.

Hudson (3-2) allowed five hits and two walks as the Cardinals won for just the second time in seven games. Four relievers combined to surrender just three hits the rest of the way.

Giants starting pitcher Jakob Junis (1-1) permitted two runs on six hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.

Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 2

Yan Gomes drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and also homered as Chicago rallied to beat Arizona in Phoenix.

It was just the third win in the last 10 games for Chicago, which had managed just three base runners before scoring three times in the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Mark Melancon (0-5).

Melancon, who saved Arizona’s 4-3 series opening win on Friday, faced four batters to start the ninth and didn’t record an out.

Braves 6, Padres 5

Slumping Marcell Ozuna belted a two-run homer and Austin Riley added a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning to lift host Atlanta to a win over San Diego.

The Padres stunned the Braves by scoring four runs to take a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth. Atlanta, however, responded with its own four-run rally to regain the lead.

The Braves tied it against Steven Wilson (3-1) on an RBI single by Ozzie Albies and a two-run shot by Ozuna, who was in a 3-for-45 slump. It was Ozuna’s fifth homer and first since April 17 against the Padres. Atlanta took the lead when Travis d’Arnaud scored on Riley’s double.

Athletics 4, Angels 3 (Game 1)

Luis Barrera’s two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Oakland to a victory over visiting Los Angeles in the first game of a doubleheader.

The Athletics trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth and the Angels had closer Raisel Iglesias on the mound. Iglesias, who entered the game a perfect 8 for 8 in save opportunities, retired the first two batters and got ahead 0-2 to Ramon Laureano. Laureano worked the count to 2-2 before doubling to right-center.

Iglesias (1-1) then walked Christian Bethancourt, bringing to the plate Barrera, who had one hit all season. But Barrera hit a slider over the fence in right field for his first career major league homer.

Angels 9, Athletics 1 (Game 2)

Taylor Ward belted a grand slam as Los Angeles bounced back from a walk-off defeat earlier in the day to thump host Oakland in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

Shohei Ohtani added a two-run home run for the Angels.

Angels starter Michael Lorenzen (4-2) went seven innings, charged with one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Rockies 10, Royals 4

Ryan McMahon homered and finished with two hits, Charlie Blackmon and Sam Hilliard also went deep, and Colorado pounded Kansas City in Denver.

Brendan Rodgers and Yonathan Daza also had two hits each and German Marquez picked up his first win for Colorado, which ended a five-game losing streak.

Marquez (1-3) allowed three runs on three hits and struck out six in six innings. He walked one. Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the Royals.

Mets 5, Mariners 4

Patrick Mazeika, making his season debut, hit the tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning as New York edged visiting Seattle.

Adam Ottavino (1-1) was credited with the win after he allowed a single to Luis Torrens but stranded him at third in the eighth. Edwin Diaz, who collected 109 saves for the Mariners from 2016-18, dispatched his former team by striking out the side to earn his eighth save.

Starling Marte finished a homer shy of the cycle and scored three runs for the Mets.

Tigers 3, Orioles 0

Willi Castro had a home run and two RBIs to lead host Detroit to a win over Baltimore.

The Tigers have won consecutive games for the first time since April 21-23. Detroit also clinched only its second series win of the season. Detroit’s bullpen tossed 7 2/3 innings of scoreless relief after starter Michael Pineda had to leave the game with a right hand contusion. Pineda was hit by a line drive off the bat of Baltimore’s Ramon Urias.

Bruce Zimmerman (2-2) took the loss for the Orioles. He allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits, walking one and striking out two in six-plus innings of work. Baltimore only collected four hits in the game.

Pirates 3, Reds 1

Daniel Vogelbach homered and Zach Thompson pitched six shutout innings in Pittsburgh’s win over visiting Cincinnati.

Diego Castillo added an RBI single for the Pirates, who had dropped the first two games of the four-game series.

Thompson (2-3), who pitched five shutout innings against the Reds in his previous start, carried a no-hitter into the sixth, when Brandon Drury lined a single to right with two outs for the only hit he allowed. Thompson struck out three and walked three. David Bednar picked up a four-out save, his sixth in six opportunities.

Marlins 9, Brewers 3

Miami slugged three homers in the fourth inning and went on to rout visiting Milwaukee.

Jesus Aguilar started off the power show, homering for the second straight day. Jorge Soler and Brian Anderson also homered.

Aguilar, Anderson and Miguel Rojas led Miami with two RBIs each as the Marlins won for just the third time in 13 games. Eight of those 10 losses were by one run. Left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-4) earned the win, allowing five hits, no walks and one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Red Sox 11, Rangers 3

Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez homered, and Enrique Hernandez drove in three runs as Boston rolled past struggling Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Martinez extended his hitting streak to 15 games as the Red Sox won for the third time in their past four contests.

Boston starter Rich Hill (1-1), who was activated from the COVID injury list earlier in the day, allowed three runs, two earned, in six-plus innings.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 1

Teoscar Hernandez and Danny Jansen each hit home runs in a four-run eighth inning as Toronto defeated Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The victory stopped Toronto’s losing streak at five games. Prior to the solo shot by Hernandez, the game had been tied 1-1 since the first inning. Jansen added a two-run home run after the blast by Hernandez, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had an RBI single in the uprising.

Tampa Bay’s Manuel Margot extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single in the fourth inning. Margot also singled in the sixth inning.

Guardians 3, Twins 2 (10)

Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw each drove in runs in the top of the 10th inning as Cleveland beat host Minnesota.

Cleveland broke a 1-1 tie when Gimenez’s leadoff double off the right-field wall scored Ernie Clement, who was pinch-running for automatic runner Franmil Reyes, from second base. The Guardians added an insurance run on Straw’s two-out, RBI single off Jharel Cotton (0-1).

Guardians reliever Nick Sandlin (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Emmanuel Clase allowed a run in the bottom of the 10th before securing his seventh save.

–Field Level Media

Two right-handers trying to get on track — Elieser Hernandez and Brandon Woodruff — will take the mound on Sunday afternoon as the Milwaukee Brewers and the host Miami Marlins close a three-game series.

The series is tied at one game each after the Marlins defeated the Brewers 9-3 on Saturday night.

Miami’s Hernandez (2-2, 6.37 ERA) has faced Milwaukee twice in his career, including one start. He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in those two appearances.

Coincidentally, Milwaukee’s Woodruff (3-2, 5.97 ERA) had identical numbers against Miami (1-0, 3.86).

The Marlins are 3-3 with Hernandez on the mound.

In 43 career games at home, Hernandez has a 3.89 ERA. In contrast, he has a 6.01 ERA in 33 road games.

However, Hernandez has only lasted longer than 5 1/3 innings once this season.

If Hernandez goes relatively short again, the Marlins could turn to Cody Poteet, 27. Poteet made his MLB debut last year with a 4.99 ERA in seven starts.

This year, strictly as a reliever, Poteet has a 0.55 ERA in eight outings, covering 16 1/3 innings.

“Cody’s been great,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been able to come in and throw zeroes.”

The Brewers are 4-2 with Woodruff on the mound. He had a string of 12 straight scoreless innings snapped on April 26.

But in his most recent 10 innings, he has been charged with 13 runs, including 12 earned.

It’s a puzzling reversal of fortunes for Woodruff, who went 9-10 last year with a 2.56 ERA, finishing fifth in the National League in the Cy Young voting.

A two-time All-Star, Woodruff, 29, held opponents to a .200 batting average last year. This year, opponents are hitting .261 against him.

“I’ve had the bug of allowing big innings this year,” Woodruff said. “My two-seam fastball has been a little too flat. I need to get better at some stuff.”

If Woodruff has a short outing on Sunday, the Brewers won’t be able to bring in lefty Brent Suter (1-0, 4.09 ERA). He went on paternity leave on Saturday.

As for the offenses, Miami placed third baseman Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right hamstring.

The good news for the Marlins is that right fielder Avisail Garcia is back. He left Friday’s series opener due to a stomach illness. But he returned on Saturday, and he went 2-for-5 with a stolen base.

Miami’s bats came alive on Saturday as Jesus Aguilar, Jorge Soler and Brian Anderson all homered in the fourth inning. Aguilar, Anderson and Miguel Rojas had two RBIs each.

“Guys are heating up,” Mattingly said after Saturday’s game. “(The offense) is looking good.”

Milwaukee’s offense on Saturday was limited to Willy Adames’ solo homer and Hunter Renfroe’s two-run blast.

Adames and Renfroe are tied for the team lead with nine homers. Rowdy Tellez tops the club with 27 RBIs, and Christian Yelich is No. 1 on the Brewers with eight doubles and also leads in runs with 23.

There is one injury of note from Saturday: Marlins first baseman/DH Garrett Cooper left the game due to a leg contusion.

–Field Level Media

There should be no reason to fret for the Houston Astros after their pitching, which had been so dominant the past couple of weeks, let them down.

They’ll be right back at it Sunday afternoon to finish a three-game road series against the Washington Nationals about 15 hours after their 11-game winning streak came to a halt.

“We weren’t going to win every game (though) I would love to,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “We just have to brush that one off and start a new streak.”

The 13-6 loss Saturday night was out of character for Houston; the Astros gave up a total of 12 runs during their winning streak. The loss left them one game away from equaling the franchise-best winning streak.

The Nationals figure they had something to do with that after scoring just one run in the series opener.

“All of us did a great job of making adjustments and going out there and being aggressive,” said outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, who drove in four runs.

Houston had scored fewer than six runs in seven of its first 11 wins this month, so the offense generally maintained its pace.

Washington has posted double-figure run totals in five of its 12 victories this season.

“Everybody contributed,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of the latest outburst. “A good night offensively.”

It’s safe to say that the Nationals have generally underachieved with the bats so far this season.

“They’ve got a good lineup,” Baker said. “The guys aren’t hitting until this point, but they were hitting (Saturday). They’re a dangerous crew over there.”

The Astros send out right-hander Justin Verlander (4-1, 1.55 ERA) to try to put the team back on track. Verlander has faced the Nationals just twice in his 460-game career, winning both of those starts (in 2010 and 2013 when he was with the Detroit Tigers).

Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-5, 6.06 ERA) is slated to make the start for Washington.

Corbin has worked five or more innings in each of his past three starts. The Nationals are 0-7 when he starts this season.

Corbin is 2-1 all-time vs. Houston, though he hasn’t faced the Astros in the regular season since 2017. However, he threw three scoreless innings of relief in the Game 7 victory of the 2019 World Series vs. Houston.

The Astros added utility player Mauricio Dubon in a trade from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for catcher Michael Papierski, a minor leaguer. Dubon is expected to be with the Astros for Sunday’s game.

“I’ve got to lay eyes on him,” Baker said. “He’s a talent. He has some skills. He has some speed. He can play different positions. He gives us some depth.”

That appears to be convenient with second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Jeremy Pena battling injuries that might best heal with some time off. They weren’t in Saturday’s lineup, but they should be available for the series finale.

“He was off (Saturday) anyway,” Baker said of Altuve.

Sunday’s game will mark Houston’s final outing against a National League team until June 10 against the Miami Marlins. Washington won’t take on another American League opponent until June 21 at Baltimore.

–Field Level Media

A pair of talented young right-handers will face each other on Sunday when the Atlanta Braves host the San Diego Padres in the rubber match of their three-game series.

The Padres won the first game 11-6 on Friday and the Braves evened things with a dramatic 6-5 comeback win on Saturday. Both games have featured solid starting pitching and late-inning bullpen woes.

This will also be the rubber game for the season series. Each team has won three games. Atlanta has claimed the season series for the last five years.

The Padres will send Joe Musgrove (4-0, 2.08 ERA) against Atlanta’s Kyle Wright (3-2, 3.03) in the finale.

Musgrove, 29, is tied for the league lead with six quality starts. He has not allowed more than two earned runs in a start all season. In his last outing on May 8 against Miami, Musgrove pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on five hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts — which matched his season high for the third time. He threw a season-high 108 pitches.

Musgrove beat the Braves on April 14 when he worked 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out six. He has made seven career starts against Atlanta, going 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

Wright, 26, will try to rebound from his worst start of the season. He allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings on May 10 against the Boston Red Sox. It equaled the total number of runs he had allowed in his first five starts combined.

“Obviously I’m not glad the way it turned out, but I think sometimes I get stuck in the trap of thinking I’ve got to put up a zero that you lose focus of the very small goal, which is executing a pitch,” Wright said. “It’s definitely something to learn from and grow from.”

Wright faced the Padres for the first time in his career on April 15 and did not receive a decision. He allowed two runs in five innings and fanned nine.

San Diego slugger Manny Machado is 0-for-8 in the series and his batting average has dipped to .359. His streak of reaching base in 22 straight games was also halted. First baseman Eric Hosmer’s average fell to .364 after he went hitless in four at-bats and ended his five-game hitting streak.

More concerning is the bullpen, which failed to protect a three-run lead with two innings left. Chris Wilson, who had pitched effectively on Friday, was hammered on Saturday.

“We have all the confidence in the world for (Wilson) to get the big out for us,” acting manager Ryan Christenson said. “And we’re going to continue to have confidence.”

Although Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. pronounced himself fit to play on Saturday, the team doctors did not agree and the right fielder missed his third straight game with right groin discomfort. Braves manager Brian Snitker said an MRI found nothing to indicate Acuna needed to go on the injured list and instead said Acuna’s status would be determined on a daily basis.

“It’s the best news possible,” Snitker said. “I don’t know how long it will be. They’ll just treat him up.”

–Field Level Media

Bryce Harper hit his third home run in three games and had three hits as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies continued to pour on the offense in an 8-3 victory Saturday over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jean Segura, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins also hit home runs for the Phillies, who have scored 29 runs in the first three games of the four-game series, all victories. Philadelphia’s previous high for runs in a three-game stretch at Dodger Stadium was 26 in June of 1976.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (4-1) gave up three runs on five hits over seven innings, with a walk and six strikeouts.

Mookie Betts hit a home run for the Dodgers, who are on a season-worst four-game losing streak and have lost five of their last six. Dodgers starter Julio Urias (2-3) gave up a career-high four home runs over six innings.

Segura had the night off Friday but returned to hit a three-run home run in the first inning, his sixth, while extending his hitting streak to 11 games. His two-out blast came in an inning that was extended by a throwing error from Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner.

Betts hit his sixth home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the first.

Harper responded two innings later with a three-run blast into the Phillies’ bullpen in right, his ninth. Harper has gone 8-for-12 in the series with seven extra-base hits.

All of Harper’s production in the series has come after getting confirmation Friday that a small tear in the UCL of his right elbow will not prevent him from operating out of the designated-hitter role.

Schwarber and Hoskins each hit solo home runs in the fourth inning to give the Phillies an 8-1 advantage. It was Schwarber’s ninth of the season and his second in two games, while Hoskins hit his sixth.

Cody Bellinger hit a two-run double for the Dodgers in the fourth inning. The Dodgers did not have a hit over the final five innings

–Field Level Media

Taylor Ward belted a grand slam as the Los Angeles Angels bounced back from a walk-off defeat earlier in the day to thump the host Oakland Athletics 9-1 in the nightcap of a doubleheader Saturday.

Shohei Ohtani added a two-run home run for the Angels.

Luis Barrera belted a walk-off, three-run home run in the ninth inning that gave the A’s a stunning 4-3 win in the opener.

Seeking a sweep of the twin bill, the A’s jumped on Angels starter Michael Lorenzen (4-2) for a first-inning run on a Tony Kemp double, Sheldon Neuse single and double-play groundout.

But the Angels responded immediately to take the lead for good when a Jared Walsh double helped load the bases with no outs in the second against A’s starter Adam Oller (0-3).

Oller walked Chad Wallach to force in a run, then got the next two batters out before Ward unloaded to right-center field for his eighth homer of the season, making it 5-1.

The grand slam was Ward’s second of the season and third of his career. He also cleared the bases against Zach Plesac of the Cleveland Guardians on April 27.

Ohtani’s homer, his seventh of the year, came following back-to-back doubles by Ward and Mike Trout in the fifth, increasing the Los Angeles lead to 8-1.

Oller was pulled after five innings, having allowed eight runs and six hits. He walked three and struck out three.

Ward also had a hand in the Angels’ final run of the night when he completed a 3-for-3, five-RBI effort with a run-scoring single in the sixth.

Lorenzen went seven innings, charged with one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Game 1 hero Barrera went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a walk in the nightcap to join teammate Jed Lowrie and Ward as the only players in the game with multiple hits.

Kemp’s leadoff double and Christian Bethancourt’s eighth-inning two-bagger were Oakland’s only extra-base hits.

The Angels outhit the A’s 9-7.

–Field Level Media

Ryan McMahon homered and finished with two hits, Charlie Blackmon and Sam Hilliard also went deep, and the Colorado Rockies pounded the Kansas City Royals 10-4 in Denver on Saturday night.

Brendan Rodgers and Yonathan Daza also had two hits each and German Marquez picked up his first win for Colorado, which ended a five-game losing streak.

Marquez (1-3) allowed three runs on three hits and struck out six in six innings. He walked one.

Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the Royals.

The Rockies jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the first when Connor Joe led off with a walk and Blackmon followed with his fifth home run of the season.

They made it 3-0 in the second when Hilliard walked, went to third on Daza’s single and scored on Dom Nunez’s sacrifice fly.

Kansas City rallied to tie it in the third. Michael A. Taylor led off with a triple and scored on a one-out single by Whit Merrifield. An out later, Perez hit a two-run homer — his sixth of the season — to make it 3-3.

Colorado responded in the bottom of the inning. C.J. Cron and McMahon led off with singles, and Rodgers grounded into a force play to leave runners on the corners. Jose Iglesias singled to drive in Cron, and Hilliard followed with a three-run homer to put the Rockies ahead 7-3. It was his second of the season.

Colorado padded its lead in the fifth. McMahon led off with a walk and scored on a double by Rodgers, which ended the night for Royals starter Carlos Hernandez.

Rodgers moved to third on a lineout and scored on Hilliard’s sacrifice fly to make it 9-3.

Hernandez (0-3) allowed nine runs on eight hits and walked three in four-plus innings. He struck out three.

The Royals got one back in the seventh when Witt hit a solo homer — his second of the season — off reliever Ashton Goudeau, but McMahon hit his third of the season leading off the bottom of the inning to make it a six-run lead again.

–Field Level Media