The visiting Atlanta Braves will go for a three-game sweep when they conclude their series with the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

The Braves will look to get it done behind 24-year-old left-hander Jared Shuster, who will be making his major league debut.

Atlanta’s first-round pick in the 2020 draft, Shuster had a 3.29 ERA and 145 strikeouts across 139 1/3 innings between the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season. He earned his rotation spot by holding opponents to a .130 average and pitching to the tune of a 1.74 ERA in 20 2/3 innings during spring training.

Atlanta smacked four home runs in a 7-1 win on Saturday. Matt Olson went deep twice, and Ronald Acuna Jr. and Olson led off the game with back-to-back home runs against Nationals starter Josiah Gray.

“Ronnie hitting the homer from the jump changes the whole dynamic of the game,” Olson said. “I’ve been on the other side when that happens, and it can be deflating when you come out and somebody at the top of the order has power like that.”

Olson hit eight home runs during spring training and appears to have carried that hot streak into the regular season.

Marcell Ozuna also homered on Saturday for Atlanta, which has outscored the Nationals 14-3 in the first two games of the series.

“Sometimes, I get a little nervous before the game,” Atlanta starter and winner Spencer Strider said. “Then, I look at our lineup and I feel a lot better. That’s no offense to anybody else. But we’ve got a lineup I don’t want to face.”

Washington was again unable to cash in on the baserunners they managed to get against Atlanta pitching. The Nationals are now 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position through two games. With runs hard to come by, the team might be pressing.

“I think anybody’s guilty of that,” Washington outfielder Lane Thomas said. “You want to do your job really bad for the team and the skipper. You’ve got to just take a breath and, hopefully, get a good pitch to hit, instead of trying so hard.”

Keibert Ruiz broke up Saturday’s shutout bid with a late home run and also had a single, and Thomas had two hits.

Washington outfielder Corey Dickerson left in the eighth inning with a left calf injury.

“We don’t know what it is yet,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s going to go get a scan (on Sunday), and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

Twenty-four-year-old left-hander MacKenzie Gore makes his Nationals debut in the series finale. Acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto trade last season, Gore was on the injured list at the time due to left elbow inflammation. He made rehabilitation starts for the Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A) but did not pitch for Washington.

“Of course, we always get nervous,” Gore said. “I try to stay pretty calm. But yeah, of course, I’ll have some butterflies.”

Gore went 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 16 games (13 starts) for the Padres in 2022. He went 1-1 with a 4.18 ERA in spring training.

–Field Level Media

Trayce Thompson established career highs of three homers and eight RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a crushing 10-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Thompson hit a grand slam in the first inning, a three-run shot in the fifth and a solo shot in the eighth. It was just the second multi-homer game of his career. J.D. Martinez also went deep for the first time as a member of the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw (1-0) gave up one run and four hits in six innings for the Dodgers. He struck out nine and walked none.

Christian Walker homered for Arizona. Walker had two of the Diamondbacks’ five hits. Madison Bumgarner (0-1) gave up five runs and four hits in four innings. He walked four and struck out two.

Red Sox 9, Orioles 8

Adam Duvall hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning to lift Boston over Baltimore.

His two-run shot just over the top of the Green Monster was his second homer of the game and capped a 4-for-5 effort. He finished with five RBIs, three runs and was a single shy of the cycle.

Austin Hays became the second Orioles player to go 5-for-5 in as many games, matching the effort of Adley Rutschman on Opening Day. Hays hit a homer and two doubles. Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins also homered, and Felix Bautista (0-1) took the loss.

Rangers 16, Phillies 3

Mitch Garver hit a pair of three-run home runs in Texas’ rout of Philadelphia in Arlington, Texas.

Garver’s first home run extended the Texas lead to 7-3 in the fifth. His second came in the seventh and made it 10-3. Second baseman Marcus Semien also homered for the Rangers, who had 17 hits.

Nick Castellanos, Darick Hall, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner each had two hits for the Phillies.

Angels 13, Athletics 1

Taylor Ward capped an 11-run third inning with a two-run homer, left-hander Patrick Sandoval worked five strong innings and visiting Los Angeles avenged an Opening Day loss to Oakland.

The Angels roughed up Oakland starter Shintaro Fujinami (0-1) and reliever Adam Oller for seven hits in the third inning alone in the rematch, spoiling the major league debut of the former Japanese star.

Ward, batting leadoff, went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, one off his career best. Sandoval (1-0) eased through his five innings, limiting the A’s to two hits and one run. Ramon Laureano homered for Oakland.

Astros 6, White Sox 4

Kyle Tucker had a pair of RBI singles and Yordan Alvarez recorded three hits and two runs as host Houston beat Chicago.

The high-powered Astros banged out 11 hits, 10 of them singles.

Yoan Moncada homered in the second inning and backup catcher Seby Zavala went deep in the fourth for the White Sox.

Cardinals 4, Blue Jays 1

Jack Flaherty and four St. Louis relievers combined on an unconventional three-hitter to beat visiting Toronto.

The Cardinals issued 10 walks, hit a batter and threw a run-producing wild pitch, but the Blue Jays stranded 12 runners and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Flaherty (1-0) walked seven batters and hit another but did not allow a hit in five shutout innings.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman (0-1) struck out seven and walked one in six innings. He allowed three unearned runs on eight hits.

Brewers 3, Cubs 1

William Contreras snapped a tie with a two-run single in the eighth inning, helping visiting Milwaukee avenge an Opening Day loss with a victory over Chicago.

Ian Happ hit a solo homer in the sixth inning. Peter Strzelecki (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff, who allowed one run on three hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts over six frames. Devin Williams stranded a runner at third in the ninth inning for his first save.

Milwaukee rallied in the eighth inning against Javier Assad (0-1), who gave up a leadoff single and a walk. Pinch hitter Jesse Winker followed with a single to center that scored one run. Assad was later replaced by Michael Fulmer, who walked one to load the bases but struck out the next batter. Contreras then gave Milwaukee the lead with his hit.

Giants 7, Yankees 5

LaMonte Wade Jr. and Thairo Estrada delivered RBI singles on hits that did not leave the infield in the sixth inning as visiting San Francisco recorded a victory over New York.

Joc Pederson hit a solo homer and Brandon Crawford hit a two-run shot off New York’s Clarke Schmidt in the fourth as the Giants rallied from an early two-run deficit. Mike Yastrzemski added an insurance RBI double in the ninth, and Crawford hit a run-scoring single off Clay Holmes.

Giancarlo Stanton accounted for New York’s first two runs. He reached on a throwing error by San Francisco starter Alex Cobb in the first, allowing Aaron Judge to score, and then homered in the third.

Braves 7, Nationals 1

Matt Olson homered twice, Spencer Strider pitched six scoreless innings and visiting Atlanta beat Washington.

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna also homered for Atlanta, and Orlando Arcia had three hits and scored twice. Strider (1-0) was dominant in his sophomore season debut, limiting Washington to three hits and striking out nine batters while walking three.

Keibert Ruiz had two hits, including a home run, for Washington, which has scored three runs in two games. Nationals starter Josiah Gray (0-1) allowed five runs on seven hits — including three home runs — in five innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Twins 2, Royals 0

Sonny Gray threw five shutout innings and visiting Minnesota blanked Kansas City for the second straight game.

Gray (1-0) allowed three hits, struck out one and walked four in the second game of the three-game series. Byron Buxton had two hits and scored both runs, and Christian Vazquez also delivered two hits for Minnesota, which won the season opener 2-0 on Thursday.

Salvador Perez had two hits for the Royals and starting pitcher Jordan Lyles (0-1) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

Reds 6, Pirates 2

Cincinnati belted three homers while starter Nick Lodolo struck out nine over five innings to cruise past visiting Pittsburgh.

Jonathan India drove a line-drive homer to left and former Pirate Kevin Newman hit a two-run shot to cap a three-run first for Cincinnati. Jake Fraley belted a three-run, pinch-hit homer to right off reliever Chase De Jong to break open a one-run game in the sixth. Lodolo allowed two runs on seven hits.

Rich Hill (0-1) allowed three runs on three hits over five innings. The 43-year-old left-hander finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Rays 12, Tigers 2

Jose Siri and Josh Lowe totaled four RBIs in a seven-run third inning, Zach Eflin won in his pitching debut for his childhood team and Tampa Bay demolished Detroit in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays scored the seven runs on six hits, and Yandy Diaz added two runs with a home run the following inning. Diaz went 3-for 4 with a homer, double, three RBIs and three runs. Wander Franco was 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run.

Eflin (1-0) pitched five innings, allowing one run. Over 74 pitches, he yielded three hits and a walk while striking out five. The Tigers’ Kerry Carpenter was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. Miguel Cabrera and Austin Meadows singled in runs.

Mets 6, Marlins 2

Mark Canha homered, scored three runs and was a big part of four rallies, leading New York to a win over host Miami.

Canha went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle. Miami was led by Luis Arraez, who went 4-for-5, and Nick Fortes, who was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. Arraez, the 2022 American League batting champ, is off to a .583 start.

Mets starter Tylor Megill (1-0) struck out seven and allowed two runs in five innings. New York’s bullpen pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk. Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (0-1) lasted just four innings, walking a career-high six batters. He also allowed two hits and two runs.

Padres 8, Rockies 4

Xander Bogaerts hit a first-inning homer and Matt Carpenter laced a two-run double as San Diego held off a late rally from visiting Colorado to win its first game of the season.

Right-hander Michael Wacha (1-0) earned the win in his Padres debut.

Rockies starter Jose Urena (0-1) gave up four runs on five hits and four walks in just 2 1/3 innings to take the loss.

Guardians 2, Mariners 0

Aaron Civale pitched seven scoreless innings, and Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez hit solo home runs as Cleveland blanked host Seattle.

Civale (1-0), a right-hander, allowed two hits, walked one and struck out three. Reliever James Karinchak, who allowed the decisive three-run homer in a 3-0 loss in the season opener Thursday, pitched around a one-out double in the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season.

Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert (0-1) went six innings, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Toronto Blue Jays hitters will try to regroup Sunday, one day after contributing to an exasperating loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Blue Jays outlasted the Cardinals 10-9 in their season opener Thursday in St. Louis despite leaving 12 men on base. Then Toronto went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position Saturday in their 4-1 loss at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals walked 10 batters, hit another and threw a run-scoring wild pitch. But time after time, the Blue Jays failed to capitalize while stranding 12 runners again.

Toronto will turn to starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to try to win the rubber contest of the three-game series. The right-hander was 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA last season for the New York Mets.

Bassitt, who is 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals, set working deep into games as one of his key season goals.

“I see the true value of depth from a starter,” he told The Athletic. “Go talk to any bullpen arm and ask them, who do you want, the five-inning guy or the seven-inning guy. ‘Well, the five-inning guy is nasty, but I don’t care, we have to eat four innings.’ I know how good our bullpen can be, but we can also give them the chance to go off-day, off-day, off-day.

“To me, the teams that are really, really good have the healthiest bullpens. I want our bullpen to pitch because they have to pitch, not because we need them to pitch, if that makes sense.”

The Cardinals will counter with starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who was 9-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 32 starts last season. The left-hander was 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts for the Cardinals after arriving in a trade with the New York Yankees.

Montgomery is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 10 career outings against the Blue Jays, including nine starts.

Offensively, the Cardinals have gotten good starts from Paul Goldschmidt (4-for-8, two runs, RBI), Nolan Arenado (3-for-9, two runs, three RBIs) and rookie Jordan Walker (3-for-9, two RBIs).

Also starting well is second-year designated hitter Nolan Gorman, who is 2-for-5 with four walks and two RBIs in two games.

“He’s doing a nice job,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s taking at bats, laying off some pitches he would normally go after. That’s going to be key.

“We’re going to rely on his bat in the middle of that order.”

Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (knee bruise), outfielder Lars Nootbaar (jammed thumb) and reliever Giovanny Gallegos (sore back) are questionable for this game after sitting out Saturday with injuries,

Andrew Knizner filled in for Contreras Saturday and Alec Burleson replaced Nootbaar in left field.

Contreras suffered his injury when reliever Jordan Hicks hit him in the knee with a pitch.

“Thankfully, it’s better than we all thought,” Contreras said. “It was really scary. I watched the video, and I ran after the ball, but that was just a reaction. When I squatted down, my whole leg was completely numb. I tried to give it a minute, but when I was squatting down it was completely numb. That’s why I was carried out of the ballpark [by a trainer], but 10 or 15 minutes later it started feeling better.”

–Field Level Media

Joe Ryan and Brad Keller are among a growing list of Major League Baseball players who took a technical approach to the offseason.

They’ll get the first opportunity to test their results on Sunday afternoon when Keller starts on the mound for the Kansas City Royals and Ryan takes the ball for the visiting Minnesota Twins in the finale of the three-game series.

The Twins have blanked the Royals by the same score of 2-0 in the first two games, the first time in team history Minnesota has won its first two of the season via shutout.

Ryan and Keller both spent time at Driveline Baseball during the offseason, developing new pitches and refining others in their quest to build on last season’s results.

Ryan focused on fine-tuning his slider, while Keller added a curveball to his repertoire.

“I’d call it a new pitch. (Ryan) may call it the same pitch and a different version of it, but I think that’s something that’s really exciting,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Pitchers can do this even more so these days, but you can come in with something brand new, something that’s very effective.”

Ryan went 13-8 last season with a 3.55 ERA in his first full season in the majors.

He finished last season by not allowing an earned run in three of his last four starts, including a seven-inning performance against the Royals in a 6-3 win on Sept. 13. In the process, Ryan broke Francisco Liriano’s franchise record for strikeouts by a rookie in a season (151).

“That guy’s really good,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after Ryan went 4-0 against Detroit last season with a 1.13 ERA. “He does a lot to disrupt your timing and he throws just enough strikes to keep you on the defensive.”

Keller is looking to bounce back after going 6-14 last season with a 5.09 ERA. He finished last season in the bullpen.

Keller isn’t aiming to get more strikeouts with his new curveball, but rather throw off the opposition’s timing.

“With that curveball he’s got now and how he’s getting some swings and misses on it, I think he’s got all the ingredients,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Quatraro said Keller has plenty of options when it comes to getting batters out.

“He’s got an interesting pitch profile,” Quatraro said. “He’s got a ball that cuts, a ball that runs, so when it comes down to that stuff, usually it comes down to whether you’re locating or not. If it cuts in on the hands, it’s great, but if it cuts over the middle of the plate, it’s usually not a great idea.”

At the plate, Kansas City will need to take advantage of its opportunities. The Royals are 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position through the first two games.

The Royals also will need to solve Minnesota’s bullpen, which has thrown 7 2/3 scoreless innings so far.

“They’re working hard, they’re prepared,” Quatraro said. “We’re going to break through, we’re going to score runs. These guys can hit. It’s definitely not a team meeting or panic thing at all.”

Minnesota relievers Griffin Jax and Caleb Thielbar each appeared in the first two games of the series and will likely be unavailable for the series finale.

–Field Level Media

With 160 games left in the regular season, it seems a little early to be celebrating, but Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz has a professional and personal reason to do just that.

Off to a strong start in 2023, Diaz likely will be leading off Sunday afternoon for the Rays when they attempt to finish a season-opening sweep of the Detroit Tigers in St. Petersburg, Fla.

In Tampa Bay’s 12-2 Saturday rout of Detroit, the first baseman went 3-for-4 with a homer, double, walk, three RBIs and three runs as the Rays used a seven-run third inning to cruise to the win.

Diaz, 31, reached base four times in the first four frames, capping it with his first homer of the season — a two-run laser to left field for a 10-1 lead.

When he returned to the dugout, his teammates formed a line, and Diaz ducked under their arms and finished the short trek by pretending to rock a baby.

“Simply put, my wife is pregnant, and it’s going to be my first baby,” Diaz said through a translator. “I was very excited, so I was able to show my emotion about being excited to have my first baby.

“Every home run I hit, I’m going to dedicate to my wife and my kid because of that.”

A serious, scowling player when it is game time and the action is between the lines, Diaz is regarded as a fun-loving teammate and a lively clubhouse presence.

After the Rays sent 13 batters to the plate in the third, the seventh-year player said there was plenty to be happy about.

“We were able to take advantage of that inning and were able to score some runs,” said Diaz, who hit .296 last year. “We were able to open up the game.”

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch’s pitching staff will need a strong performance from Spencer Turnbull this season, but the right-hander wasn’t up to the task Saturday in his first start since Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2021.

“He was a little tentative early getting into counts,” Hinch said of Turnbull, who allowed seven runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings. “There were probably a lot of emotions going into the game, but a tough start.”

Joey Wentz, 25, who made seven starts and put up impressive numbers last season, will start for the Tigers Sunday.

Across those seven outings, Wentz tossed 32 2/3 innings and recorded a 2-2 mark to go along with a 3.03 ERA. He allowed 23 hits and two homers while striking out 27 and walking 13.

Wentz had a difficult spring training but showed enough in late 2022 that Hinch put him in the rotation with starter Michael Lorenzen (groin strain) on the mend.

Currently on the 15-day injured list, Lorenzen has been ramping up his readiness and threw bullpens this week.

Three days after Shane McClanahan shut down Detroit, Tampa Bay will send out another tough southpaw in Jeffrey Springs, who converted from reliever to starter last season and went 9-5 with a 2.46 ERA in 33 games (25 starts).

Springs, 30, beat the Tigers in his lone career appearance against them on Aug. 4, 2022. He started and allowed two runs (both unearned) over six innings in a 6-2 win.

–Field Level Media

New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga is set to make his major league debut on Sunday when he faces the Miami Marlins.

The Mets have won two of the first three games in this weekend series in Miami.

Senga, 30, spent 11 seasons playing pro ball in Japan, posting a 104-51 record, a 2.42 ERA and a 1.096 WHIP. He also averaged 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings by using a 95-to-99 mph fastball and a “ghost” forkball that has a wicked downward break.

In spring training, Senga wasn’t dominant, however. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder, who apparently lacks a quality third pitch, allowed six hits, five walks and four runs in nine innings. He also struck out 10 batters.

But on Monday, Senga pitched five scoreless innings in an intrasquad game, tossing 72 pitches.

“I had good control of my pitches,” said Senga, who signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets in the offseason. “It went pretty well.”

Perhaps Senga just needed time to make adjustments to the different-sized baseball and the warmer weather in Florida. He also missed a spring-training start due to soreness on his right index finger.

Senga joked that he wanted to play somewhere with “less sun” than Miami, but Mets manager Buck Showalter said his starter has been cleared to throw as many as 90 pitches on Sunday.

The Marlins, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Trevor Rogers, 25. The Marlins’ first-round pick in 2017, Rogers is 12-21 with a 4.13 ERA in parts of three MLB seasons and 55 total starts.

In six career starts against the Mets, Rogers is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA. He hasn’t been as good at home, going 5-11 with a 4.80 ERA in 24 starts.

Rogers struggled against right-handed batters last year, allowing them to hit .299 with an .886 OPS. Lefty batters hit just .194 with a .584 OPS.

The Marlins are also likely concerned about Rogers’ slippage from his All-Star 2021 season, when he went 7-8 with a 2.64 ERA. Last season, he went 4-11 with a 5.47 ERA.

Rogers is counting on support from first baseman Garrett Cooper and second baseman Luis Arraez, among others.

Cooper, who joined the Marlins in 2018, is the longest-tenured player on the roster, and he said he appreciates Miami’s new coaching staff, led by manager Skip Schumaker.

“I’ve seen so many changes from (2018) to now,” Cooper said. “We have a different mindset offensively.”

So far, that mindset includes hitting more to the opposite field along with occasional power.

As far as the four homers the Marlins have hit in the season’s first three games, Schumaker said the long ball is not what his staff emphasizes.

“We preach competitive at-bats,” he said. “It’s obviously much easier to score when guys are hitting homers. But grinding out at-bats is what we want from everybody.”

Arraez, the 2022 American League batting champion acquired in an offseason trade with the Minnesota Twins, exemplifies what the Marlins want out of their hitters.

Arraez, who went 4-for-5 in Miami’s 6-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday, is batting .583 in the first three games of the season. Cooper, who is hitting .385, also has embraced the Marlins’ offensive motto.

–Field Level Media

As MLB players and fans ease into the new look of baseball in 2023 with its multiple rules changes, there’s at least one pitcher who will appear to be just a shadow of his former colorful self.

Houston right-hander Luis Garcia will take the ball for his first start of the season when the defending world champion Astros square off against the visiting Chicago White Sox on Sunday in the finale of their four-game season-opening series.

That’s because in previous years, Garcia was instantly recognizable with his windup routine — a balletic dance of balance, shifting limbs and a “rock the baby” move — before an explosive delivery to the plate.

With the pitch clock in effect across MLB in 2023, Garcia has had to tone down his pre-delivery routine to throw a pitch in the 15 seconds allowed by the pitch clock with runners not on base.

Garcia was an undrafted free agent from Venezuela when he made the jump from Single-A to the majors during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

And he’s been a stalwart in the Houston staff since, making 57 starts and compiling a 26-17 record and a 3.57 ERA. He posted a 15-8 record with a 3.72 ERA in 28 starts last season.

In spring training, Garcia worked to shorten his windup, eliminating the rocking motion with his shoulders, and taking just one step instead of two before finally making his downhill move to the plate.

“His stuff is going to be pretty much the same,” Astros pitching coach Josh Miller told MLB.com before the season. “It’s worked out pretty good for him so far in his major league career.”

The Astros will look to Garcia to control the dangerous bats of a White Sox lineup that has kept the first three games of this series interesting.

The White Sox will counter with 32-year-old right-hander Mike Clevinger, who is looking for a fresh start of his own in Chicago.

Clevinger owns a 51-30 record and 3.39 ERA with Cleveland and San Diego. He went 7-7 with a 4.33 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts) with the Padres last season.

The White Sox signed Clevinger to a one-year, $8 million deal in early December. But the deal appeared at risk in February, after allegations emerged that Clevinger was being investigated by MLB after accusations of domestic abuse raised by the mother of one of his children.

But on March 5, the league said in a statement that Clevinger will face no discipline after an investigation that included interviews with 15 individuals, including Clevinger himself and the woman.

He will need to control an Astros lineup that includes Yordan Alvarez, who has five hits in 11 at-bats with five RBIs so far in the series.

In the season opener on Thursday, Houston’s bats were no match for the brilliance of Chicago right-hander Dylan Cease, who struck out 10 Astros over 6 1/3 innings as the White Sox won 3-2.

On Friday, Houston outlasted White Sox starter Lance Lynn for a 6-3 victory. Saturday, the Astros pieced together 10 singles and a double, and their bullpen held on for a 6-4 win.

Chicago’s first-year manager Pedro Grifol defended his decision to replace tiring reliever Joe Kelly in the seventh with Jose Ruiz to face the dangerous Kyle Tucker with the game knotted at 3-3.

Tucker sliced a blooper into right field, just out of the reach of Oscar Colas, allowing Tucker to drive in what would end up being the winning run.

“Our guys are going to have to — and they know it and they are all in on it — at times they are going to pitch in innings, maybe they haven’t pitched in the past,” Grifol told The Athletic.

“I took (Kelly) as far as I was comfortable taking him. That’s the first time Joe has finished an inning and gone back out in a long time.”

–Field Level Media