Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker each hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to power the Houston Astros to a 6-3 win over the host Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Alvarez delivered a go-ahead home run for the second time in as many nights, as his sixth round-tripper of the season ignited a four-run sixth.

His homer in the ninth inning on Friday sent Houston to a 6-4 win in the series opener. The defending World Series champions will go for the sweep on Sunday.

With his homer, Alvarez extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 23, dating to last season. He reached again in the ninth on Ozzie Albies’ fielding error.

Kyle Wright (0-1) cruised through five scoreless innings for Atlanta, but he gave up three hits to start the sixth inning. Alex Bregman opened the offensive stretch for the Astros with a single to get aboard before Alvarez’s home run.

After Vaughn Grissom’s error allowed Jose Abreu to reach first base safely, Tucker’s sixth home run of the season pushed Houston’s lead to 4-1. Wright’s night ended after giving up a single to Jeremy Pena two pitches later.

Albies’ two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning pulled the Braves to within 4-3.

Houston added an insurance run in the eighth, when Pena scored on Corey Julks’ single to left.

Pena went 3-for-4, with Julks going 2-for-4. Mauricio Dubon singled in the ninth, extending his MLB-best hitting streak to 16 games, then scored on an Abreu’s single to right.

The run support helped secure the win for Astros starter Framber Valdez (2-2), who allowed three runs on eight hits to go along with nine strikeouts and no walks in seven innings.

Rafael Montero pitched a scoreless eighth before Bryan Abreu silenced the Braves in the ninth for his first save of the season.

The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on Sean Murphy’s homer.

–Field Level Media

Adolis Garcia’s bat told the whole story on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas, as the Texas Rangers right fielder swatted three home runs among his five hits and drove in eight runs, leading an 18-3 thumping of the visiting Oakland A’s.

Texas’ offensive outburst saw the hosts regain traction after Oakland snapped the Rangers’ four-game win streak with a 5-4 victory in the series opener Friday. The A’s allowed double-digit runs in a game for the ninth time this season, as the Rangers tallied 18 hits.

Though he struggled early, Texas starter Andrew Heaney (2-1) gave up just two runs en route in six innings.

It was a sharp contrast to the showing from Oakland starter Shintaro Fujinami (0-4), who allowed eight runs in just 2 1/3 innings. The rookie right-hander’s ERA swelled to 14.40.

Texas’ Josh Jung proved to wield one of many hot bats for the Rangers, as he extended his hit streak to 10 games by going 2-for-6. Garcia’s five runs scored tied a franchise record.

Fifteen pitches into Heaney’s fourth outing of the season, Oakland led 2-0, as the A’s first four batters reached base. Esteury Ruiz’s ground-rule double opened the contest, followed by Jordan Diaz’s sharp RBI single to left field. But after a mound visit, Heaney settled in, inducing a sacrifice fly and a double play that abruptly ended Oakland’s string of offensive success.

The Rangers’ counter came quickly. A two-run home run from Garcia, his fifth of the season, knotted the score at two apiece in the bottom of the first.

Texas seized its first lead one inning later, as Marcus Semien drove a payoff pitch into left field, scoring Leody Taveras easily from third base with one out.

Jung produced his second single of the day, a sharp ground ball that raced into left field, driving in Semien and Travis Jankowski. By the time Jonah Heim’s two-out, RBI double hit the center-field turf, Jung and Garcia were on their way home, granting the hosts a 7-2 advantage.

Over the next six innings, the Rangers put 11 runs on the board, pulling away. Garcia headlined the show, with homers in the third and fifth, in addition to an RBI double that brought two across in the seventh. Ezequiel Duran was the only other Ranger to hit a home run, as he connected on an eighth-inning pitch that made the score 18-3.

Texas reliever Josh Sborz struck out the final two batters he faced, closing out the win with four strikeouts in two innings.

–Field Level Media

Rowdy Tellez had a two-run homer, and the Milwaukee bullpen preserved the Brewers’ 5-4 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Rafael Devers pulled Boston to within 5-4 in the sixth with his eighth homer of the season, a 416-foot, two-run shot to right off Joel Payamps.

Peter Strzelecki and Hoby Milner kept the Red Sox off the board until the ninth, when Devin Williams worked around a one-out single to pick up his third save of the year.

Brewers starter Wade Miley (3-1) allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking one.

Boston starter Garrett Whitlock (1-2) was tagged for all five runs on eight hits in four innings.

Yu Chang pulled the Red Sox within 3-2 in the fifth with a two-run shot off Miley, but Milwaukee answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Blake Perkins led off with a single to right for his first major league hit and Christian Yelich followed with an RBI double to center. Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch and Willy Adames singled to load the bases. Yelich scored when Tellez grounded into a double play to make it 5-2.

Tellez put the Brewers in front 3-0 in third inning with a two-run homer that scored Yelich, who had led off the inning with a single.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when William Contreras and Brian Anderson opened with back-to-back doubles.

The Red Sox had runners on second and third with two outs in the first, but Miley got Enrique Hernandez to ground out to second. Masataka Yoshida opened the second with a single, but he was picked off first base by Miley to stifle any chance of an early rally.

–Field Level Media

Ramon Urias drilled a three-run double and Kyle Gibson struck out 11 as the Baltimore Orioles picked up a 5-1 victory against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.

James McCann hit his first home run in an Orioles uniform against one of his former teams as Baltimore won its fifth game in a row.

Gibson (4-0) logged 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks. Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe completed what became a two-hitter, though Coulombe did issue a walk.

One of those two hits was Zach McKinstry’s home run to center field with one out in the seventh inning. Detroit, loser of three in a row, had so few threats that it left only five runners on base.

By the time it was all said and done, the Tigers struck out 15 times and were limited to one run for the second night in a row. Every starter in the batting order fanned at least once.

Tigers starter Joey Wentz (0-3) gave up five runs on six hits in four innings. Relievers Will Vest and Tyler Alexander combined for four hitless innings.

Adley Rutschman went 2-for-3 with a walk as the game’s only player with more than one hit.

Gibson has worked at least five innings in all five of his starts. During the five-game winning streak, the Orioles have surrendered a total of six runs.

The Orioles struck first on Rutschman’s two-out single in the third inning. It was a rather innocent inning after Gunnar Henderson’s leadoff single. The next two batters were retired, but by the time Rutschman stepped to the plate, a balk and a wild pitch had put Henderson on third base.

Baltimore wasn’t done, as Ryan Mountcastle singled and Anthony Santander walked before Urias’ big hit.

McCann’s solo homer came in the fourth inning. He was appearing in his sixth game with the Orioles.

McCann played his first five seasons (2014-18) with the Tigers.

–Field Level Media

Jack Suwinski’s RBI double in the fourth was the difference-maker Saturday as the Pittsburgh Pirates won their sixth game in a row, 2-1 over the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Pittsburgh starter Rich Hill (2-2) allowed one run and six hits in five innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks. The walks and the fact the Reds had at least one baserunner in each inning he pitched got his pitch count up, and thus the Pirates’ streak of quality starts ended at 11 games.

Duane Underwood Jr. picked up a two-inning save, his second, without allowing a baserunner.

The Reds have lost five straight and six of their past seven. They have managed just six runs through the first three games of this four-game series.

Cincinnati starter Luis Cessa (0-3) pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs and six hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. While it wasn’t a gem, the start was a bounce-back from Sunday, when Cessa gave up 11 runs, nine in the first, and 14 hits in three-plus innings Sunday against Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the first. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a leadoff triple to right-center and came home on Bryan Reynolds’ sacrifice fly to left.

With one out in the fourth, Carlos Santana doubled to the corner in right. Suwinski sent Santana home with a double to right to up the Pirates’ lead to 2-0.

Cincinnati cut the deficit in half in the fifth. Jonathan India led off with a base hit to center. An out later, Stuart Fairchild singled to center, where Ji Hwan Bae overran the ball. His fielding error allowed India to score to make it 2-1.

The Reds had just three baserunners the balance of the game.

The game came hours after the Pirates announced a contract extension for manager Derek Shelton, who had been on the final year of his deal.

The start was delayed almost a half-hour because of rain.

–Field Level Media

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz was helped off the field prior to the top of the eighth inning during Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox due to dehydration.

The Rays said Diaz would be re-evaluated Sunday.

Diaz took the field for warm-ups before indicating he couldn’t continue. He was helped into the dugout and replaced by Isaac Paredes.

Diaz went 3-for-4 at the plate before exiting with the Rays ahead 3-2. Tampa Bay eventually prevailed 4-3 in 10 innings.

The 31-year-old native of Cuba has appeared in 19 games this season and is batting .310 with six home runs and 14 RBIs. He collected just nine homers in 2022.

–Field Level Media

Bryan De La Cruz homered, and the visiting Miami Marlins struck early and never looked back to earn a 6-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Friday night’s rainout of the series opener caused the twin bill, and Saturday’s first game was delayed by nearly two hours due to more showers in the Cleveland area.

The Marlins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning off Guardians starter Shane Bieber, who wasn’t sharp from the start. He walked De La Cruz to open the frame, and, after a one-out single by Jean Segura, De La Cruz scored on a base hit by Yuli Gurriel. Segura scored on an error by Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario.

Cleveland’s Josh Bell doubled into the gap in the bottom of the fourth to drive in Rosario from first to cut the lead to 2-1.

De La Cruz put the Marlins up 3-1 in the sixth when he lined a fastball from Bieber inches over the wall in right for a 353-foot opposite-field homer.

The Marlins broke the game open in the seventh. Jon Berti and Jorge Soler drew walks and advanced into scoring position on a passed ball before Luis Arraez drove both home with a sharp single to right. Avisail Garcia’s RBI single then made it 6-1.

Bieber (1-1) lasted just 5 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on four hits while walking four and fanning four. Miami hitters drew a total of seven walks in the game.

Marlins left-hander Devin Smeltzer made the start because Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, was scratched because of biceps tendinitis. Smeltzer went four innings, struck out three, walked one and allowed only one run on three hits before giving way to the Miami bullpen.

Marlins relievers Andrew Nardi (2-1), Huascar Brazoban, Matt Barnes and Steven Okert combined for five innings of scoreless relief to preserve the victory.

–Field Level Media

Randy Arozarena, who homered in his first at-bat, delivered an RBI single to right field in the 10th inning to lift the host Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Arozarena finished 3-for-5 and drove in all four Rays’ runs.

The Rays improved to 18-3, and for the second straight game, walked-off the White Sox.

In the 10th inning, Vidal Brujan was the placed runner at second base. With one out, Wander Franco was intentionally walked, and Arozarena ended it with his single to right off Jimmy Lambert (1-1).

Garrett Cleavinger (1-0) threw a scoreless top of the 10th to earn the win.

Rays starter Shane McClanahan was simply dominant over six innings, striking out 10 while walking one. The southpaw allowed three hits, but two of them were solo home runs. With his pitch count at 88, Tampa Bay went to the bullpen.

McClanahan’s bid for a win was erased in the eighth inning when Gavin Sheets connected on a pinch-hit home run off Jason Adam, knotting the score at 3-3.

In the first inning, Arozarena’s two-run homer off Dylan Cease set a major league record for Tampa Bay, which has homered in each of its first 21 games. The 2019 Seattle Mariners did it in 20 games.

The White Sox chipped back in the second inning on Eloy Jimenez’s home run. And in the fifth inning, Yasmani Grandal’s home run to lead off the inning pulled the White Sox even at 2-2.

The Rays effectively ran up Cease’s pitch count, and the White Sox went to the bullpen with no outs and two on in the fifth inning.

Yandy Diaz and Franco each singled to open the fifth, and Cease exited at 101 pitches with runners on the corners in a 2-2 game. Arozarena bounced an RBI single to left off Keynan Middleton, putting Tampa Bay back in front 3-2.

Diaz went 3-for-4 for the Rays, but the first baseman removed himself from the game during warmups in the top of the eighth inning. The team announced Diaz felt dehydrated. Isaac Paredes took over at first.

–Field Level Media

Brandon Crawford launched a three-run home run in the first, Logan Webb retained a comfortable lead through seven innings for his first win of the season and the San Francisco Giants finally got the better of the visiting New York Mets with a 7-4 victory Saturday afternoon.

Wilmer Flores also homered for the Giants, who had lost seven of their previous eight, including 9-4 and 7-0 blowouts to the Mets on the first two nights of the four-game set.

After being shut out for seven innings by left-hander Joey Lucchesi the night before, the Giants jumped on fellow lefty David Peterson (1-3) for six runs in the first two innings, including four in the first.

Singles by Thairo Estrada and Michael Conforto, and a walk to Flores, set the stage for the early uprising. David Villar put the Giants ahead with a sacrifice fly, after which Crawford smacked his third homer of the season to make it 4-0.

The Mets got one back in the second on a Daniel Vogelbach RBI double, but the Giants countered with two more after Heliot Ramos doubled and Estrada singled. Darin Ruf made it 5-1 with an RBI single, and Conforto’s infield out plated Estrada to give Webb (1-4) a five-run cushion.

Peterson was pulled after five innings, charged with seven runs and seven hits. He walked one and struck out eight.

A 15-game winner last season, Webb finally broke into the win column this year, allowing two runs and five hits in his seven innings. He walked one and struck out eight.

The only other run against Webb was the product of a Brandon Nimmo homer, his second, in the third inning.

The Giants got that run back on Flores’ solo shot, his third of the year, in the fifth, then held on when the Mets attempted to rally from down 7-2 in the eighth.

An RBI single by Starling Marte made it 7-3 and brought the potential tying run to the on-deck circle. But Scott Alexander got Francisco Lindor to fly to left field and Pete Alonso to ground to short to retain the four-run lead.

A two-out, two-strike RBI single by Brett Baty closed the gap to 7-4 in the ninth before Giants closer Camilo Doval got pinch hitter Luis Guillorme to ground out, ending the Mets’ winning streak at three.

Estrada finished with two hits and scored twice, while Flores also scored twice for the Giants, who were outhit in the game, 10-7.

Marte, Mark Canha and Baty had two hits apiece for the Mets, who fell to 7-2 on a 10-day California swing that ends Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Colorado Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant exited Saturday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies in the third inning due to back tightness.

Bryant was serving as the designated hitter when he struck out swinging in the first inning. But when his spot came up in the third inning, Elehuris Montero came up as a pinch hitter.

Bryant is batting .288 with three homers and six RBIs in 21 games this season.

Last season, Bryant batted .306 with just five homers and 14 RBIs in his first season with the Rockies after signing a seven-year, $182 million deal. He was limited to 42 games due to back and foot injuries.

Bryant was National League MVP in 2016 for the Chicago Cubs. The four-time All-Star has a .280 career average with 175 homers and 507 RBIs in 947 games with the Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Rockies.

–Field Level Media