Josh Lowe and Luke Raley each hit solo home runs and Shane McClanahan pitched six shutout innings to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-0 win over the host Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

McClanahan (7-0) was dominant, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks as the Rays opened a three-game series against the Orioles by winning for the ninth time in their past 11 games.

The Orioles, who have dropped their past three games, wasted a quality start by Kyle Gibson (4-2). He allowed just two runs on six hits to go along with four strikeouts and two walks before being relieved by Bryan Baker after giving up a leadoff single to Raley to open the seventh.

Baker walked Francisco Mejia and Yandy Diaz to load the bases before Wander Franco’s sacrifice fly scored Raley, though Diaz was thrown out at second trying to advance on the play.

Franco went 2-for-3, while Raley went 2-for-4 with a solo homer in the ninth inning to cap the scoring.

Austin Hays, who went 2-for-4, was the lone Oriole to record multiple hits.

After Lowe’s solo homer gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second, McClanahan made the lead stand until relieved by Colin Poche to open the seventh.

Poche worked around a two-out single and double to keep the shutout intact before Kevin Kelly pitched a perfect eighth.

Jason Adam worked around Ramon Urias’ two-out single and recorded three strikeouts for his fourth save of the season.

The Orioles got a runner past second base just twice.

In the sixth, Anthony Santander hit a one-out double to left and took third on Jorge Mateo’s groundout. But McClanahan got out of the inning unscathed by getting James McCann to ground out to shortstop.

In the seventh, Ryan McKenna hit a two-out single to left and took third on Hays’ double to left, but Poche struck out Adley Rutschman to end the threat.

–Field Level Media

Andy Ibanez singled, homered and scored three times to help the visiting Detroit Tigers post a 6-2 win against the Cleveland Guardians in the opener of a three-game series on Monday night.

Eric Haase had three hits and scored two runs and Riley Greene added two hits and two RBIs for the Tigers, who have won six of seven.

Tigers starter Joey Wentz (1-3) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.

Guardians starter Tanner Bibee (1-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking four.

Jose Ramirez homered for Cleveland, which had won two in a row.

The Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Steven Kwan led off with a double, took second on Amed Rosario’s single and scored on a double-play grounder by Ramirez.

Ibanez and Haase opened the third with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Ibanez scored on a slow roller to short by Zach McKinstry, who was initially called out at first, but the ruling was overturned.

Haase came home on a one-out single by Javier Baez for a 2-1 lead, and Nick Maton made it 3-1 with a double off the wall in right.

Ibanez and Haase reached base again to start the fourth. With one out, Greene doubled into the gap in right-center to score Ibanez and make it 4-1, but Haase was thrown out at the plate.

Ramirez went deep to start the fourth and cut the deficit to 4-2.

Ibanez hit the first pitch from Eli Morgan in the sixth inning deep over the fence in left for a 5-2 lead.

Wentz walked the first two batters to open the sixth, but Ramirez popped out and Josh Bell flied out before Will Vest entered and got pinch hitter Josh Naylor to ground out to end the inning.

The Guardians had runners on the corners with one out in the seventh but again failed to capitalize.

Detroit tacked on another run in the eighth on an RBI single by Greene to make it 6-2.

–Field Level Media

Rodolfo Castro’s two-run home run in the seventh inning backed a brilliant start by right-hander Mitch Keller as the Pittsburgh Pirates downed the visiting Colorado Rockies 2-0 Monday to end a seven-game losing streak.

Keller (4-1) produced a four-hit shutout in his first career complete game. He struck out eight and walked one.

The Rockies had won two in a row and six of their past seven.

Colorado starter Kyle Freeland (3-4) kept pace in a pitchers’ duel for much of his outing. He gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings, with four strikeouts and three walks.

On the far side of the seventh inning stretch, Connor Joe led off for the Pirates with a single to right. Castro followed with his fourth homer, just clearing the wall in center, for a 2-0 lead.

Both teams had their chances earlier in the game.

Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the Pirates’ first with a single up the middle but later was caught stealing as Andrew McCutchen struck out.

In the third, Charlie Blackmon hit a two-out double for the Rockies but went nowhere.

Jack Suwinski led off the bottom of the third with a walk and went to second on Chris Owings’ single, but Suwinski was out at third on Austin Hedges’ bunt before Hayes grounded into a double play.

In the fifth, Colorado’s Mike Moustakas led off with a single, but Ezequiel Tovar hit into a double play. In the bottom of the fifth, Castro walked and Suwinski singled, but Owings struck out and Castro was out at third on a delayed steal attempt.

The Rockies’ Jurickson Profar drew a two-out walk in the sixth and went to second on Kris Bryant’s single, but Ryan McMahon grounded out.

Hedges doubled to left-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and Hayes reached on an infield single, but Bryan Reynolds grounded into a double play. McCutchen walked on four pitches before Carlos Santana hit into a forceout.

–Field Level Media

The Cincinnati Reds claimed right-hander Franklin German off waivers Monday from the Chicago White Sox and assigned him to Triple-A Louisville.

The White Sox designated German for assignment last week. The 25-year-old did not appear in a major league game for them this season.

German has five games of major league experience, all with the Boston Red Sox last season, when he had an 18.00 ERA.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Cubs recalled infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel from Triple-A Iowa in advance of Monday’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.

In a corresponding move, outfielder Nelson Velazquez was optioned to Triple-A.

The series will feature the return of Willson Contreras to Chicago after the three-time All-Star signed a free-agent deal with the rival Cardinals in the offseason.

Morel, 23, made his major league debut last season after he was recalled from Double-A Tennessee, batting .235 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs in 113 games with the Cubs. But he did not make the Opening Day roster this season.

At Iowa, Morel delivered a .330 average with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in 29 games to earn his way back to Chicago.

Velazquez, 24, was batting .241 with three home runs and six RBIs in 13 games with the Cubs. He also made his major league debut for the Cubs last season and is a .210 hitter with nine home runs and 32 RBIs in 90 career major league games.

–Field Level Media

After losing their 10th straight regular-season series to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres will head to Minneapolis for a three-game interleague series with the Minnesota Twins starting Tuesday night.

It’s the start of a six-game road trip that ends with a rematch with the National League West leaders at Dodger Stadium beginning on Friday.

Right-hander Michael Wacha (2-1, 5.46 ERA), who is 3-1 with a 4.13 ERA in five career starts against the Twins, will start the series opener for San Diego. Wacha is 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA in two career starts at Target Field.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander Louie Varland (0-0, 5.91), who will be making his eighth major league start and facing San Diego for the first time.

San Diego had an off day on Monday to try to regroup after a bitter 5-2 loss in 10 innings in the series finale against the Dodgers. Closer Josh Hader was one out away from closing out a 2-1 victory in the rubber game of the series when Mookie Betts homered to left-center to tie it.

The Dodgers then scored three times in the 10th off reliever Brent Honeywell on Michael Busch’s go-ahead single and a two-run homer by James Outman to pull out the dramatic win.

“It’s going to happen sometimes,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said of Hader blowing his first save opportunity in 12 tries. “Hader’s been absolutely fantastic. He had one more out to get, and Mookie Betts is a tough customer.

“We would have loved to have taken the first series (with the Dodgers), especially here at home. We had a chance to. We just couldn’t finish it off.”

Despite the loss, the Padres, who sputtered out of the gate with an 8-11 start, trail the Dodgers by just three games heading into Monday’s action.

“We’re still above .500 (18-17),” shortstop Xander Bogaerts told MLB.com. “That’s not the baseball we want to play, but we started off pretty bad. Sometimes you lose tough games against a really good team.”

Minnesota is coming off a 2-4 road trip that concluded with back-to-back losses at Cleveland. The Twins are trying to jump-start an offense that managed a total of just five runs and 12 hits in Cleveland over the weekend.

The Twins, who rank last in the majors with a .220 team batting average, managed just one hit in a 2-0 loss in Sunday’s finale. Cal Quantrill threw 6 2/3 no-hit innings before yielding a line single to Alex Kirilloff. Guardians rookie Peyton Battenfield retired the first 17 Twins he faced in the series opener won by Minnesota, 2-0, on a two-run homer by Max Kepler.

“Our team has been hitting the ball over the fence when we do hit the ball,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Led by Byron Buxton (eight) and Joey Gallo (seven), Minnesota ranked eighth in the majors with 45 home runs and also was a respectable 14th in runs scored (152) as of Monday. The Twins enter the new week leading the American League Central by 2 1/2 games in strong part due to a pitching staff that ranks third with a 3.33 ERA, behind only Tampa Bay (3.01) and Houston (3.32).

Third baseman Jose Miranda is in the middle of a 3-for-24 slump while Gallo is 0-for-23 with six walks in his last 29 plate appearances. Shortstop Carlos Correa is batting just .193 with five home runs.

“I think there’s a few guys that don’t feel comfortable with the strike zone right now, and which pitches to attack or which areas of the plate they’re trying to really look towards,” Baldelli said. “We’ve got to do better. We’ve got to swing at better pitches. We’ve got to find a way to find the barrel (of the bat).”

–Field Level Media

Two slumping teams coming off bad blowout home losses will meet when the New York Mets visit the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

The Mets were routed 13-6 at home by the Colorado Rockies, losing for the 11th time in 14 games and falling below .500 for just the second time this season.

“We just have to play better. We did score six runs, but we just couldn’t seem to hold them,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “You try to stretch out the good times and shorten up the bad ones. Right now, we’re trying to figure out a way to shorten this.”

After opening 14-7, the Mets now stand 17-18 on the season, already seven games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

“It’s probably not going to be the last time that something like this goes on this season,” Mets designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach said. “I’m not very good at math, but we have a lot of games left.

“We’re starting to get healthy, we’re starting to get guys back, so we just have to stick together,” he added. “I think that’s something that this group does very well; when the game challenges you like this, it’s easy to separate and it’s easy to start pointing fingers. This group doesn’t do that.”

The Reds have followed up a season-best five-game winning streak by dropping five of seven, including Sunday’s 17-4 embarrassment at home to the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox scored 11 runs in the second inning to chase starter Graham Ashcraft.

The Mets are 38-22 in 60 games all-time at Great American Ball Park. The .633 winning percentage is the highest of any National League team since the stadium opened in 2003.

The Mets will send right-hander Max Scherzer (2-2, 5.56 ERA) to the mound, looking to rebound from his worst start of the season.

Last Wednesday, in his return from a 10-game suspension for violating MLB’s foreign substance policy, Scherzer was tagged for six earned runs on eight hits over just 3 1/3 innings against Detroit. Scherzer struck out only three batters in an 8-1 loss to the Tigers.

Scherzer has had Cincinnati’s number over his career. He is 6-2 lifetime with a 1.67 ERA in 10 starts. He is 4-0 with a microscopic 0.27 ERA in five starts in Cincinnati, including last July 5, when he allowed just two hits over six scoreless innings. He struck out 11 but received a no decision in a 1-0 Cincinnati win.

The Reds will counter with right-hander Luke Weaver (0-2, 7.88), who will be looking for his first win in his fourth start since being promoted from Triple-A Louisville.

In his last start, May 1 in San Diego, Weaver was charged with four runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-3 loss to the Padres. In three starts with Cincinnati, Weaver has been tagged for 14 runs on 21 hits in just 16 innings.

After Sunday’s blowout loss, lefty reliever Reiver Sanmartin said he expects to be placed on the injured list with a sore pitching elbow. He was pulled from Sunday’s game in the fifth inning after pitching to a 7.07 ERA through 14 appearances with 13 strikeouts.

“I’ve felt it for a couple of weeks now,” Sanmartin said through an interpreter. “I’ve tried to pitch through it. I just couldn’t push through it anymore.”

–Field Level Media

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected the contract of veteran utility man Chris Owings from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday, while infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias was optioned to Triple-A.

Owings, 31, is set to take the field for his sixth MLB franchise over an 11-year career. He is a lifetime .239 hitter with 37 home runs and 220 RBIs over 710 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies and Baltimore Orioles.

In 13 games at Indianapolis, Owings was batting .273 with two home runs and four RBIs.

Mathias, 28, was batting .275 with four RBIs in 15 games for the Pirates this season. In three major league seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and Pirates, he is a .261 hitter with six home runs and 28 RBIs in 61 games.

–Field Level Media

The Kansas City Royals placed left-hander Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list with head fractures Monday after he was hit in the face by a line drive in Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.

The Royals released a statement Monday saying the pitcher is doing well as he recovers from the scary incident.

“We’re happy to share that Ryan is stable and improving and never lost consciousness,” the Royals said in a Twitter post. “He sustained multiple non-displaced fractures, and we do not believe he will need surgery.

“Ryan is undergoing more testing today, and we will share his progress as we can.”

We appreciate all the support for Ryan Yarbrough and the patience from fans and the media.

We're happy to share that Ryan is stable and improving and never lost consciousness. He sustained multiple non-displaced fractures, and we do not believe he will need surgery.

Ryan is…

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 8, 2023

Yarbrough, 31, was hit just above the left temple by a line drive from Oakland’s Ryan Noda in the top of the sixth inning. Yarbrough immediately crumpled to the ground, while the ball ricocheted back toward home plate.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez fielded the ball and threw to first base for the out.

Yarbrough was tended to by Royals medical personnel and walked off the field with some assistance while holding a towel to his face.

A transaction report from the Royals, as well as MLB’s official website, noted the “head fractures” for Yarbrough. Right-hander Jose Cuas was recalled from Triple-A Omaha.

Yarbrough is 1-4 with a 6.15 ERA in 10 appearances (three starts) with the Royals this season. He spent his first five major league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and is 41-35 in 137 appearances (62 starts) with a 4.41 ERA.

Cuas, 28, was 1-0 with a 5.65 ERA in 14 appearances earlier this season with the Royals and is 5-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 61 relief appearances with Kansas City over the past two seasons.

–Field Level Media

Lumen Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks, will host the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, MLB announced Monday.

The draft is part of the festivities of the MLB All-Star Game, which will be played at T-Mobile Park, the home of the Mariners. The area surrounding Lumen Field, across the street from the Mariners’ stadium, is playing a role in the game week festivities.

The first round of the draft is set for July 9. The All-Star Game will be played July 11.

The Pittsburgh Pirates hold the No. 1 pick, followed by the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins.

Two LSU players, outfielder Dylan Crews and right-hander Paul Skenes, could be the first teammates selected Nos. 1 and 2 in the draft.

–Field Level Media