Having been swept in three games by the host Tampa Bay Rays, the Chicago White Sox don’t catch a break, immediately starting a series in Toronto on Monday.

The Blue Jays are opening a six-game homestand after a 3-3 trip, completed Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Right-hander Lance Lynn (0-2, 7.59 ERA) will start Monday for Chicago. He is 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts) against the Blue Jays. In three career starts in Toronto, he is 0-2 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings.

Toronto right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.40) is 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox.

The White Sox, who were swept in a series for the first time this season, have lost four straight overall and nine of their past 11.

“We’ve just got to keep playing,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “There’s nothing else to it. They’re not going to stop the season. … Buckle down. Head to Toronto and play good baseball. That’s it.”

The White Sox had a chance to do better against the Rays. Chicago reliever Reynaldo Lopez turned a save opportunity into a loss when he allowed three runs in the ninth inning of an 8-7 defeat on Friday. The White Sox tied Saturday’s game at 3-3 with a run in the eighth inning before losing 4-3 in 10.

“There’s a lot of care in (the White Sox clubhouse), there’s a lot of fight in there,” Grifol said. “They’ve been through this before. We’ve just got to keep fighting. … It’s going to turn around.”

“We definitely have not played our best,” said Andrew Benintendi, who doubled and scored a run for Chicago on Sunday.

“We haven’t clicked as a team yet as far as hitting and pitching at the same time. There’s a lot of games we have kept ourselves in and had a chance to win. That’s only going to benefit us moving forward. Still a lot of season left, but definitely need to start making a move here,” Benintendi said.

“If we started off 23-0, I wouldn’t think we were the best team ever, it’s just taking it for what it is. Learn from it, get better, go get them tomorrow.”

Kevin Gausman struck out 11 in seven shutout innings for Toronto on Sunday. The game was scoreless until the sixth, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer and Daulton Varsho followed with a solo shot.

“Any time (Guerrero) comes up to bat, we’re all paying attention, because he just hits the ball so hard,” Gausman said. “You don’t know what you’re going to see. Obviously, that’s a big two-run home run that got things started. He’s a guy that kind of likes being the villain when we come here.”

Guerrero has said that he would never sign with the Yankees, and the crowd booed him during the series.

The Blue Jays also won two of three from the Rays this season, an American League East contender as are the Yankees.

“Any time we play (the Yankees) this year, it’s going to be big,” Gausman said. “Two super-talented teams just going at it. It’s nice to come in here and get two of three. They’re a good ball club, and we’re going to need to win a lot of series against them to have success this year.”

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves look to pull out of a slump on Monday when they open a four-game home series with their National League East counterparts, the Miami Marlins.

Miami heads to Atlanta having won four straight series, most recently taking both games in a doubleheader on Saturday against Cleveland before dropping Sunday’s finale, 7-4.

The Marlins start right-hander Edward Cabrera (1-1, 4.08 ERA), who scored his first win of the season in his last appearance, April 18 vs. San Francisco. Cabrera struck out a season-high eight batters and went a season-long six innings.

Cabrera has no decisions and a 3.12 ERA in two career starts against Atlanta, the most recent a five-inning effort last September. Cabrera struck out seven and gave up just one earned run in a 2-1 Marlins loss.

The series opener on Monday is the first between the divisional opponents this season, and the first with Luis Arraez in the Miami lineup. Arraez, winner of a Silver Slugger award and the American League batting title last season in Minnesota, is hitting .444 in 72 at-bats with the Marlins in 2023.

He did not appear in Sunday’s 7-4 loss at Cleveland, but Jorge Soler — a member of Atlanta’s World Series-winning team in 2021 — went 3-for-3 vs. Guardians.

Miami also got production Sunday from Avisail Garcia, who hit a three-run home run in the eighth. It was his second homer of the season.

“We just have to keep continuing to play good baseball,” Garcia told the Miami Herald following Sunday’s loss.

The Marlins have won eight of their last 11 games and have limited opponents to two runs or fewer in six of those contests.

Spencer Strider (2-0, 2.45) makes the start for an Atlanta team trying to pull out of a four-game skid. Strider comes in with 36 strikeouts in his first four starts of the season, with nine strikeouts in each contest.

He earned the win after going six innings with just one hit his last time out, April 18 at San Diego. Monday marks Strider’s first career start against the Marlins after having seen them out of the bullpen twice early in the 2022 campaign. He is 0-1 with a 27.00 ERA in those two appearances.

Atlanta aims to rebound from falling on the wrong end of a sweep for the first time in 2023.

The Braves coughed up leads late in all three losses of its weekend series against Houston, concluding with a 5-2 loss on Sunday in which the Astros plated each of their runs from the sixth inning onward.

The defeat capped a trying weekend for the Braves bullpen. A.J. Minter took losses on both Friday and Sunday, giving up a ninth-inning home run to Yordan Alavarez in the first game of the series and surrendering three earned runs on Sunday.

“I can’t be too discouraged about it, because I thought I made some pretty good pitches,” Minter said in his postgame press conference. “I just gotta chalk that one up and just be ready to go tomorrow and ready to pitch.”

The Atlanta bullpen will add reinforcements with Collin McHugh and Raisel Iglesias nearing returns. Minter said having them back will be “a game-changer.”

–Field Level Media

The Texas Rangers aim to continue their torrid ways on Monday when they open a three-game interleague series on the road against the reeling Cincinnati Reds.

The high-octane Rangers recorded their 10th win in 13 outings with a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Texas is no stranger to lighting up the scoreboard, with the team’s loud bats going a long way toward providing great comfort to the club’s pitching staff.

“I think it is good for (the pitching staff) to know that this is a good offensive team,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “These guys will pick you up.”

Conversely, the ice-cold Reds have lost six in a row following Sunday’s 2-0 setback to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They mustered just four hits en route to being shut out for the third time during that stretch.

“We’re just in between, a little bit late on the fastball and out front of the breaking ball,” Cincinnati manager David Bell said. “Give (the opposing pitchers) credit, but we have to make the adjustments — that will be our focus. Coming out (Monday) and being on time, being aggressive and being ready to hit.”

Robbie Grossman and Leody Taveras were a big part of Texas’ offensive output on Sunday. The former belted a three-run homer in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the fourth, while the latter had three hits and scored three times.

“With how capable this team is of putting runs up on the board — a lot of runs, at times — it’s important that (the Rangers’ pitchers) keep battling out there and hold them where they can and limit the damage,” Bochy said. “You see it on the other side where a team has a really tough time scoring, and (pitchers) give up maybe two, three, four runs … you don’t see that being the case here a lot.”

Texas right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40 ERA) snapped a two-start losing skid by tossing six strong innings in a 12-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals last Tuesday. He allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out five in that outing.

Eovaldi, 33, is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) versus the Reds.

He will be opposed by Cincinnati left-hander Nick Lodolo (2-1, 4.98), who is looking to turn the corner following a disastrous outing in his last trip to the mound.

Lodolo, 25, yielded eight runs on 12 hits — including three homers — in 4 2/3 innings in a 10-0 shellacking by the high-powered Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. By comparison, he permitted four runs on 18 hits over his first three starts.

“He didn’t have a good feel for his breaking ball from what I could tell,” Bell said of that outing. “He doesn’t have a ton of experience in this league. We’ve seen him be very good. There’s no reason to believe he won’t come back from this.”

Lodolo will be making his first career start versus the Rangers.

–Field Level Media

Masataka Yoshida had a grand slam and a solo homer in a nine-run eighth inning as the visiting Boston Red Sox rallied for a 12-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Milwaukee went in front 4-3 with a run in the seventh and Matt Bush (0-1) entered in relief to open the eighth. Justin Turner led off with his second homer, lining an 0-1 pitch to left center. Yoshida followed with his second homer of the season to put Boston up 5-4, the first time this year the Red Sox went back-to-back.

Connor Wong delivered a two-run single to make it 7-4. Yu Chang singled and Rafael Devers was intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases. Turner walked to force in a run. Yoshida then sent an 0-2 pitch 407 feet to right for his first career grand slam. Yoshida also had a first-inning sacrifice fly for six RBIs.

Brian Anderson had solo homers in the fourth and eighth for Milwaukee. Milwaukee, which trailed 3-0 after two innings, scored the go-ahead run off Kaleb Ort (1-0) in the seventh without a hit. Joey Wiemer walked to open the home half of the frame, stole second, advanced on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.

Phillies 9, Rockies 3

Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh each homered and drove in two runs and Zack Wheeler struck out 11 batters to fuel host Philadelphia past Colorado.

Trea Turner and Kody Clemens each belted a solo shot and Alec Bohm added a double and two RBIs for the Phillies, who won their third in a row. Wheeler (2-1) gave up three runs and three hits in six innings. He departed after a season-high 111 pitches.

Ezequiel Tovar had two hits and an RBI and Charlie Blackmon added two hits for the Rockies, who have dropped three straight games.

Astros 5, Braves 2

Houston completed a three-game road series sweep of Atlanta thanks to its third straight comeback effort.

After being held scoreless through seven innings, the Astros broke through in the eighth when Yordan Alvarez continued his standout series with a two-run single that tied the game. Houston then took the lead in the ninth inning when Corey Julks drove in Kyle Tucker on a two-out single to center off Atlanta reliever A.J. Minter (1-2), who took the loss with three earned runs in an inning.

Braves starter Max Fried went 6 2/3 scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1

Kevin Gausman struck out 11 in seven outstanding innings while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning as visiting Toronto beat New York.

Gausman (2-2) bounced back nicely from allowing eight runs Monday in Houston and held the Yankees to three hits. He recorded his second double-digit strikeout game of the season and fanned every Yankee at least once except for DJ LeMahieu and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Anthony Rizzo homered in the ninth as the Yankees avoided being blanked for the first time this season.

Pirates 2, Reds 0

Vince Velasquez pitched seven scoreless innings and Jack Suwinski hit an RBI double as Pittsburgh downed visiting Cincinnati to complete a four-game series sweep.

Velasquez (3-2) allowed two hits, struck out 10 and walked two as he reached 100 pitches. The Pirates have won seven straight overall. It was their second straight series sweep and third of the season.

The Reds have lost six straight and seven of eight. They were outscored 12-6 in the series. Cincinnati starter Hunter Greene (0-1) took a hard-luck loss. He gave up one run and four hits in six innings, with six strikeouts and two walks.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 3

Mookie Betts had a two-run homer and two-run double, and Max Muncy also went deep with a man on for visiting Los Angeles, which took three of four from Chicago.

Los Angeles trailed 3-2 with a man on in the sixth against Chicago ace Marcus Stroman (2-2) when Muncy clubbed his 11th homer and fourth in the series. J.D. Martinez followed with a solo shot that chased Stroman, who recorded his 1,000th career strikeout, but allowed season highs of five runs and six hits.

Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw (4-1) followed up earning his 200th career victory by giving up three runs in six innings, but the only one earned came on Yan Gomes’ solo homer in the fifth. The 35-year-old left-hander only yielded three hits, a walk and struck out six for the Dodgers, who won back-to-back contests for the first time since early April.

Orioles 2, Tigers 1 (10 innings)

Baltimore scored the game-winning run on a 10th-inning wild pitch after going nearly seven innings without a baserunner, defeating visiting Detroit.

Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez took a perfect game into the seventh inning but didn’t end up with a decision. Instead, the Orioles extended their winning streak to six games.

Overshadowed was Baltimore starter Grayson Rodriguez, a highly touted rookie who was seeking his first big-league victory. He worked five shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six. Keegan Akin (1-1), the seventh pitcher of the day for Baltimore, was the winner by working the 10th despite two intentional walks that loaded the bases for the Tigers.

Giants 5, Mets 4

Mike Yastrzemski doubled home Joc Pederson with the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing San Francisco to beat visiting New York and salvage a split in their four-game series.

Giants closer Camilo Doval threw a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save. Scott Alexander (2-0), who likewise set down the Mets in order in the eighth, was credited with the win.

The Mets’ Tylor Megill allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Guardians 7, Marlins 4

Logan Allen struck out eight over six innings of one-run ball in his major league debut as Cleveland salvaged the finale of a three-game series against visiting Miami.

Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning. Ramirez finished with four RBIs and Amed Rosario tallied four hits, four runs and a stolen base. Allen (1-0) allowed five hits with one walk. Allen’s eight strikeouts are the most by a Guardians starting pitcher this season.

Avisail Garcia delivered a three-run homer and Jorge Soler had three hits for Miami, which had won eight of its previous 10 games.

Rays 4, White Sox 1

Luke Raley and Harold Ramirez each connected on home runs, and Tampa Bay defeated visiting Chicago to remain perfect at home at 13-0.

The Rays extended their MLB-record home run streak to open a season to 22 games on Raley’s two-run blast in the second inning. As a team, the Rays have a league-leading 48 homers. The Rays provided enough run support for Zach Eflin (3-0) to enjoy a successful return to the rotation. In five innings, Eflin gave up one run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Lucas Giolito (1-2) worked seven innings for the White Sox, giving up four runs and five hits. He had five strikeouts and walked two.

Cardinals 7, Mariners 3

Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Paul DeJong hit home runs as St. Louis defeated host Seattle to salvage the finale of the three-game, interleague series.

Right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-2) posted only the Cardinals’ third quality start of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits in six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. It was Flaherty’s 30th consecutive start allowing six or fewer hits, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

Jarred Kelenic homered for Seattle as Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen (0-4), making his fourth straight start for the injured Robbie Ray, gave up six runs on nine hits in four innings.

Rangers 5, Athletics 2

Texas starter Jacob deGrom tossed 11 strikeouts and the host Rangers shut down Oakland.

In his first appearance since leaving an April 17 game due to wrist soreness, deGrom (2-0) went six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on just three hits and no walks. His 11 strikeouts tied his season high. Leody Taveras was the team’s lone batter with multiple hits. The center fielder went 3-for-4, scoring three times. Robbie Grossman homered and contributed four RBIs in the win.

Oakland tallied just five hits in the loss, with only Shea Langeliers’ two-run homer in the fifth resulting in runs.

Angels 4, Royals 3

Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit consecutive home runs to lead off the sixth inning, propelling Los Angeles to a victory over Kansas City in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels had just seven hits in the game, three of them by Trout, who doubled twice in addition to his fifth home run of the season. Ohtani had two hits — a homer and an infield single.

The Angels needed all three home runs because the Royals hit three themselves. But all three — by MJ Melendez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinny Pasquantino — were solo homers. Austin Warren (1-0), one of three Angels relievers, got the victory over Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-4), who gave up four runs in six innings.

Twins 3, Nationals 1

Jorge Polanco went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs as Minnesota avoided a three-game sweep by beating Washington in Minneapolis.

Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 with a run and a walk, and right-hander Bailey Ober (1-0) allowed a run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 5 2/3 innings for Minnesota. Michael A. Taylor added a solo homer for the Twins.

Keibert Ruiz went 1-for-4 with an RBI double for the Nationals, who were held to just three hits after winning the first two games by a combined score of 13-6. Patrick Corbin (1-3) allowed three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings for Washington, which has dropped seven of its past 10 games.

Padres 7, Diamondbacks 5

Matt Carpenter had a home run, two doubles and drove in five runs, leading San Diego to a victory against Arizona in Phoenix.

Yu Darvish held the Diamondbacks to one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings to get the win. But Darvish (1-2) departed the game with two outs in the sixth after feeling pain in his upper right leg after his 102nd and final pitch. After the Diamondbacks scored twice in both the seventh and eighth, Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to earn his eighth save for the Padres.

The Diamondbacks were trailing 7-1 when Alek Thomas and Nick Ahmed opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back homers off Padres reliever Brent Honeywell, who replaced Darvish in the sixth and struck out Jake McCarthy with the bases loaded for the final out. Arizona starter Drey Jameson (2-1) suffered his first major league loss, departing after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks in a 43-pitch first.

–Field Level Media

The Baltimore Orioles have set the bar pretty high in the first few weeks of the season.

They share the second-best record in the American League. Yet from their perspective, this might just be the beginning.

“We have a lot of good players,” Baltimore infielder Adam Frazier said. “Everybody wants to win. We’re still coming together. It’s a good start.”

The Orioles carry a six-game winning streak into Monday night’s game against the visiting Boston Red Sox. It’s the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles have given up a total of just three runs across the last five games, most recently resulting in a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers to begin the homestand.

Next up in the rotation is right-hander Dean Kremer (1-0, 6.16 ERA). He’s coming off his best outing of the season, having pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings against the host Washington Nationals last Tuesday.

The season didn’t begin so well for Kremer, who allowed five runs on six hits and a walk in three innings on April 1 at Boston. In six career starts versus the Red Sox, Kremer is 0-4 with a 7.76 ERA.

Left-hander Chris Sale (1-1, 8.00) will start for the Red Sox. He opposed Kremer on April 1 and also struggled, surrendering seven runs on seven hits and two walks in three innings. He gave up three home runs.

Sale also had his best outing of the season last Tuesday, going six innings and holding the Minnesota Twins to one run on three hits and two walks while striking out 11. Once one of the game’s most dynamic pitchers, Sale has been slow to recover from Tommy John surgery and had only two big-league appearances in 2022.

“This is what we’ve been working for,” Sale said of his outing against Minnesota. “For the most part, I had everything going under control.”

Certainly, Sale is encouraged about what could come next as he goes through the season.

“I just need reps. I need to get off the mound. I need to feel more comfortable and just be more consistent,” Sale said. “You know, this is a game of consistency and making adjustments and those are two things I desperately needed to make.”

His outlook might be brighter knowing Baltimore is the next foe. Sale is 10-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 24 career appearances (18 starts) against the Orioles.

Boston catcher Reese McGuire didn’t play Sunday after his right hand was struck by a foul tip Saturday. It’s not expected to be a long-term absence, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

“He should be available in Baltimore to start a game,” Cora said.

Despite recent victories, Baltimore’s run production has been shoddy at times, but there are enough good signs to keep things moving in the right direction.

“It goes back to putting the pressure on the defense, putting the ball in play and making things happen,” Frazier said.

The Orioles didn’t have a base runner until the seventh inning Sunday against Detroit’s Eduardo Rodriguez. That didn’t prevent them from finding a solution. Baltimore won 2-1 in 10 innings despite collecting only three hits.

The Red Sox, who have won three of their last four games, should feel good about their bats after Sunday’s 12-5 romp at Milwaukee. Boston exploded in the eighth inning, scoring nine runs thanks in large part to a solo homer and grand slam from Masataka Yoshida.

“I’d love to stack wins, whether it’s in the division or out of the division,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

Boston won two of three games against the visiting Orioles to begin the season. The Red Sox scored nine runs in all three of those games.

–Field Level Media

If there is a knock on the Tampa Bay Rays’ scorching start, it’s that they have been beating up mostly on teams with losing records.

On Monday, the level of competition picks up with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros set to begin a three-game series in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Both teams are coming off three-game sweeps.

The Astros went into Atlanta and took all three against the Braves, while the Rays took care of business, winning their home set against the Chicago White Sox.

The Rays have won all 13 of their home games this season, the most consecutive home wins to start a season in club history.

Off to a 19-3 start, the Rays have homered in all 22 games to start the season, an MLB record. The Rays lead the majors with 48 home runs.

In Sunday’s 4-1 win against the White Sox, Luke Raley and Harold Ramirez went deep.

“A lot of power hitters here,” Ramirez said in a postgame interview. “It seems like everybody has a plan at the plate. Everybody just tries to make good contact. The result is going to come.”

The Astros, winners of four straight, are now 12-10 and starting to find their championship form. Houston outscored Atlanta 17-9 in their series sweep, stealing the final game by rallying from down 2-0 with five runs over the last two innings.

In Monday’s series opener, Tampa Bay starts rookie right-hander Taj Bradley (2-0, 2.61 ERA), who will be making his third big league start.

The Astros are going with right-hander Jose Urquidy (1-1, 3.66), who will be making his fifth start this season. The 27-year-old looks to bounce back from a loss in his last outing, when he gave up four runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Urquidy has faced the Rays twice in his career, both starts, and he is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 12 innings against them.

Bradley made his MLB debut on April 12 against the Boston Red Sox, and he has won both of his big league starts. In 10 1/3 innings, he has allowed three runs and eight hits.

“I think we’re seeing a guy that is coming into his own,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told MLB.com. “He’s going to continue to get better. He’s certainly not a finished product, but how can we not be excited about what he’s shown in two starts?”

The 22-year-old has swing-and-miss stuff, reflected by his 17 strikeouts thus far. Equally impressive is the fact he’s around the plate, as Bradley has walked just two batters.

In his previous start on April 18 at the Cincinnati Reds, Bradley fanned nine in 5 1/3 innings.

Urquidy traditionally isn’t known for high strikeout totals. His K/9 rate this year is 7.8. What’s worth monitoring is a rising walk rate, which stands at 3.2 per nine innings. A season ago, he posted a 2.1 walk rate in a career-high 164 1/3 innings.

After rallying late on Sunday to beat the Braves 5-2, the Astros continued to heat up. Alex Bregman had a two-run single in the ninth, and now has 500 career RBIs.

Yordan Alvarez added two RBIs and Kyle Tucker had two hits. Alvarez and Tucker are picking up the slack as Jose Abreu, hitting .250 without a home run in his first season with the organization, looks to get going.

“He’s a guy I’ve had the opportunity to play with since we were in the minor leagues,” Alvarez said of Tucker. “Every single day he’s just growing more and more. Just seeing him grow as a hitter and out there in the field, he’s great at everything — stealing bases, hitting.”

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Guardians offense has struggled to find a rhythm in the season’s first three weeks, but manager Terry Francona isn’t pressing the panic button.

After showing signs of progress on Sunday, the Guardians begin a three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Cleveland lost two of three to the Miami Marlins over the weekend, but there were several positive signs in the team’s 7-4 victory in Sunday’s finale. Amed Rosario went 4-for-5 and scored three runs, while Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell each homered.

Francona said it’s only a matter of time before slumping hitters such as Josh Naylor return to form. Naylor broke out of a 4-for-45 skid with a pair of hits on Sunday.

“He’s fearless at whatever he does,” Francona said. “I told him, I think it’s mental. ‘I think you sometimes get yourself out.’ He either tries to do too much, or sometimes he gets a little long and he wants to hit it far.”

The Guardians are facing a Colorado team that has lost 11 of its last 12 games. The Rockies’ 6-17 record is tied with the 2005 club for the worst record after 23 games in franchise history.

The Rockies lost three of four to the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend and allowed eight home runs in the final three games of the series.

Colorado outfielder Kris Bryant missed Sunday’s 9-3 loss and is listed as day-to-day with pain in his sacroiliac joint and glute. The Rockies struck out 15 times in Sunday’s series finale.

“We’re fighting hard,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “We had some opportunities for a bigger hit to stretch our lead or to get more runs and it didn’t happen. We had an opportunity to keep the game close, late. The takeaway is, we’ve got to make better pitches and we’ve got to have better at-bats.”

Colorado will turn to left-hander Austin Gomber (0-4, 12.12 ERA) in the series opener. After posting a quality start in his season debut, he has allowed 19 earned runs on 22 hits in 10 1/3 innings over his last three outings.

Gomber, 29, gave up nine runs over two innings in a 14-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Wednesday. He’s hoping to bring a more focused approach to Monday’s start.

“I feel like at some points right now, I’m just out there throwing with a lot of stuff going on,” Gomber said. “So if I can get back to worrying about pitching, then I’ll be fine. That’s the easy part, getting into the game and pitching. It’s keeping everything else out.”

Gomber has made one start and three relief appearances in his career versus Cleveland, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

The Guardians will counter with right-hander Cal Quantrill (1-1, 4.15), who pitched six shutout innings against the Detroit Tigers last Wednesday before leaving after a line drive hit him on the leg.

“He’s fine — he was more upset that I took him out of the game than he was about getting hit,” Francona said. “He was over 80 pitches and I wasn’t going to take any chances, but he would have gone back out there.”

Quantrill, 28, went 23-8 with a 3.16 ERA in the last two seasons. He struck out four with one walk in last Wednesday’s outing against Detroit.

–Field Level Media

Mike Yastrzemski doubled home Joc Pederson with the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday night, allowing the San Francisco Giants to beat the visiting New York Mets 5-4 and salvage a split in their four-game series.

Returning from a stint on the injured list caused by a sore right wrist, Pederson drew a five-pitch walk from the Mets’ fourth pitcher, Drew Smith (1-1), with one out in the eighth. Yastrzemski followed with his shot to center field, breaking a 4-4 tie and lifting the Giants to just the third win in their last 10 games.

Giants closer Camilo Doval threw a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save.

Scott Alexander (2-0), who likewise set down the Mets in order in the eighth, was credited with the win.

Down by one run to start the sixth, the Mets tied the game at 4-4 on Francisco Alvarez’s second career homer, a solo shot off Tyler Rogers.

New York led 3-2 after a two-run fourth that featured consecutive sacrifice flies by Mark Canha and Brandon Nimmo. The former set the stage for the latter when the flyball was dropped by Giants right fielder Michael Conforto, allowing Jeff McNeil to score while the bases remained loaded.

The Giants quickly regained a one-run lead in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Blake Sabol and a run-scoring infield out by Brett Wisely.

Neither starting pitcher got a decision.

The Mets’ Tylor Megill allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out two.

The first two runs off Megill were the result of Pederson’s RBI single in the first and a solo homer by Thairo Estrada, his fourth, that gave the Giants a 2-0 lead in the second.

Giants starter Ross Stripling couldn’t hold the advantage, however, and was gone before the end of the Mets’ two-run fourth, charged with three runs (two earned) on six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.

Francisco Lindor got the Mets on the board initially against Stripling with an RBI double in the third.

Yastrzemski and LaMonte Wade Jr. had two hits apiece, while Estrada scored twice for the Giants, who lost the first two games of the series before winning the final two.

McNeil had two hits for the Mets, who completed a California trip with seven wins in 10 games.

–Field Level Media

Matt Carpenter had a home run, two doubles and drove in five runs Sunday, leading the San Diego Padres to a 7-5 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

San Diego won three games in the four-game set.

Yu Darvish held the Diamondbacks to one run on two hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings to get the win. But Darvish (1-2) departed the game with two outs in the sixth after feeling pain in his upper right leg after his 102nd and final pitch.

After the Diamondbacks scored twice in both the seventh and eighth, Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to earn his eighth save for the Padres.

Carpenter hit a two-run double in the first, a sacrifice fly in the third, a solo homer in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the seventh for the seventh game of his career with five or more RBIs.

The Diamondbacks were trailing 7-1 when Alek Thomas and Nick Ahmed opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back homers off Padres reliever Brent Honeywell, who replaced Darvish in the sixth and struck out Jake McCarthy with the bases loaded for the final out.

Arizona starter Drey Jameson (2-1) suffered his first major league loss, departing after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks in a 43-pitch first. Jake Cronenworth drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Carpenter followed with his two-run double to the base of the wall in center.

Cronenworth tripled off Anthony Misiewicz to open the third and scored on Carpenter’s sacrifice fly to center. Carpenter homered off Peter Solomon in the fifth. After Xander Bogaerts drew a two-out walk in the seventh, the Padres scored two runs on back-to-back doubles by Cronenworth and Carpenter.

Arizona’s Ketel Marte tripled to open the fourth off Darvish and scored on Evan Longoria’s sacrifice fly to right.

In the seventh, Thomas’ second homer of the season traveled 422 feet to right center. Two pitches later, Ahmed launched a 408-foot drive to left for his first homer of the season.

Corbin Carroll doubled to open the eighth against Tim Hill and came around to score on a couple of groundouts. McCarthy then pulled Arizona to within two runs with his first homer of the season on a 412-foot drive to right.

–Field Level Media

Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Paul DeJong hit home runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the host Seattle Mariners 7-3 Sunday afternoon to salvage the finale of the three-game, interleague series.

Right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-2) posted only the Cardinals’ third quality start of the season. Flaherty allowed three runs on five hits in six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. It was Flaherty’s 30th consecutive start allowing six or fewer hits, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

Jarred Kelenic homered for Seattle.

The Cardinals broke a 3-all tie in the fourth inning. With one out, Andrew Knizner lined a single to right field and Nootbaar grounded a single to center. An out later, Gorman hit a three-run homer to right-center off Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen (0-4).

St. Louis scored twice in the first. Nootbaar lined the game’s first pitch over the wall in right-center. Paul Goldschmidt lined a single to left and Gorman lined a single to right, sending Goldschmidt to third. Goldschmidt scored as Gorman was caught stealing on a third strike to Nolan Arenado.

Seattle took the lead by batting around for three runs in the bottom of the second. Kelenic pulled the Mariners within a run on a one-out solo shot to left. An out later, Kolten Wong singled to shallow center, J.P. Crawford doubled to left and Julio Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Ty France grounded a two-run single to left to make it 3-2.

The Cardinals tied it in the third as Goldschmidt led off with a walk and Willson Contreras did the same with two outs. Tyler O’Neill grounded a single to center to plate Goldschmidt.

DeJong, making his season debut after recovering from a lower back injury, homered to center with two outs in the seventh off Diego Castillo. DeJong went 3-for-4.

Flexen, making his fourth straight start for the injured Robbie Ray, gave up six runs on nine hits in four innings. The right-hander walked three and struck out three.

–Field Level Media