If the Kansas City Royals are to make a serious final push at the postseason, star pitcher Seth Lugo likely needs to get back on track from a recent subpar stretch.

The veteran right-hander has also had some issues against the Washington Nationals during his career.

Looking to rebound from his worst outing of the season, Lugo will try solve the Nationals on Wednesday and help the Royals sweep this three-game home set.

Since signing a two-year, $46 million extension to stay with Kansas City last month, Lugo (8-6, 3.46 ERA) is 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in three starts, none of which lasted six innings. On Friday at Minnesota, the 35-year-old allowed season highs of seven runs and nine hits while lasting just four innings in the Royals’ 9-4 loss.

“I think you just flush that one,” Lugo said. “I feel like even executed pitches were getting hit, mistakes we’re getting hit.

“It’s not ideal.”

Especially with Kansas City a .500 club and chasing three teams to just to reach wild-card position in the American League in the final weeks of the season.

However, the Royals are 10-4 over their past 14 home games. They have won four straight in Kansas City after outscoring Washington 15-9 during the first two games of a series that is kicking off a 10-game homestand.

“For the offense, it’s great. They build the confidence,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “There is a lot to like.”

This will be Lugo’s 40th appearance against Washington, but he is just 1-4 with a 6.59 ERA in six starts vs. the Nationals. The most recent of those outings came in 2023, when he took a loss for the San Diego Padres after permitting three runs in five innings.

The Nationals have lost 10 of 13 after allowing two home runs and six walks in each of the first two games of the series.

“It’s baseball and we got to do a better job of executing as group,” said Washington infielder and ex-Royal Paul DeJong, who has three hits in the series but is 0-for-7 vs. Lugo. “There is no magic formula, it’s just kinda feeding off each other.”

Scheduled Washington starter Jake Irvin (8-7, 4.90 ERA) will look to avoid a third straight losing decision after he yielded nine runs (eight earned) and 16 hits over 9 1/3 innings in his first two August starts. Four of those runs, three earned, came in 5 1 1/3 innings of the Nationals’ 5-0 loss at San Francisco on Friday.

Irvin is set for his first appearance against Kansas City, but he has faced some current Royals when they played for other teams. Kansas City’s Jonathan India, who hit a two-run homer during the Royals’ 8-5 victory on Tuesday, is 1-for-9 vs. Irvin.

The right-hander has not faced Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino, who clubbed a three-run homer and recorded five RBIs on Tuesday. It was the third time this season that Pasquantino posted at least five RBIs in a game.

Meanwhile, Washington All-Star James Wood had two hits and an RBI on Tuesday. He has eight hits and seven RBIs in his past four games.

Dating to last season, Kansas City owns a 26-13 run advantage while winning five in a row against the Nationals.

–Field Level Media

Pete Alonso clubbed two of the Mets’ six homers Tuesday night, breaking the franchise record for career long balls in the process, as New York routed the visiting Atlanta Braves 13-5.

Alonso’s first homer, a two-run shot to right-center in the bottom of the third, was the 253rd of his seven-year career. That knocked Darryl Strawberry’s 37-year old record out of the books and Alonso got a long ovation from the Citi Field crowd, taking a curtain call to boot.

Alonso added his 28th homer of the year in the sixth, marking his fourth two-homer game of the year and allowing New York to snap a seven-game losing streak. Teammate Francisco Alvarez also cracked a pair of homers while Brandon Nimmo and Brett Baty tacked on homers in the team’s 16-hit attack.

Reliever Gregory Soto (1-3) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win while rookie Justin Hagenman pitched four hitless innings to earn his first major league save. Starter Clay Holmes was bailed out despite permitting six hits and five runs in 3 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out four.

Brewers 14, Pirates 0

Freddy Peralta allowed three hits over six scoreless innings and red-hot Milwaukee slugged five homers to extend its winning streak to 11 games with a rout of visiting Pittsburgh.

Peralta (14-5) leads the National League in victories. Sal Frelick and Brice Turang had solo homers off Pirates ace Paul Skenes (7-9), who entered with an MLB-best 1.94 ERA, but was tagged for four runs on six hits in four innings.

Christian Yelich, Andrew Vaughn and Caleb Durbin also homered for the Brewers. Four Milwaukee pitchers held Pittsburgh to four hits.

Mariners 1, Orioles 0

Seattle’s George Kirby held host Baltimore to three hits in seven innings and the Mariners earned their eighth consecutive victory.

Kirby (8-5) faced just two batters over the minimum during his stint. Andres Munoz secured his 28th save despite issuing a two-out walk to Gunnar Henderson in the ninth and then a single by Adley Rutschman.

Dean Kremer (8-9) was the hard-luck loser for Baltimore after tossing eight innings of one-run ball. A first-inning run held up as Josh Naylor delivered a two-out single to drive in the game’s lone run.

Red Sox 14, Astros 1

The Red Sox scored 12 runs in the final four innings and Dustin May twirled six shutout frames as Boston posted a win at Houston.

Carlos Narvaez, Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony all went deep for the Red Sox, the latter two homering for the second day in a row. Narvaez and Wilyer Abreu each had three RBIs. May (7-8) allowed five hits and issued one walk while recording eight strikeouts.

Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti (1-3) allowed just one hit and two runs over five innings but walked five. Jeremy Pena went 3-for-5.

Yankees 9, Twins 1

Carlos Rodon allowed one hit in seven outstanding innings, Giancarlo Stanton homered and collected four hits, and New York trounced visiting Minnesota.

Rodon (12-7) cruised after the first three hitters reached in a 31-pitch opening inning, allowing one baserunner in the remainder of his outing. The left-hander gave up one run as New York won its second straight game. Stanton homered for the second straight game and drove in three runs. Aaron Judge homered for the first time since July 23 and Anthony Volpe hit a tiebreaking three-run homer.

Minnesota’s Austin Martin opened the game with a single and scored the Twins’ lone run. Rookie Travis Adams (1-2) allowed four runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings during his second career start.

Blue Jays 5, Cubs 1

Ernie Clement hit a three-run home run, and Toronto defeated visiting Chicago.

Daulton Varsho added a solo homer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three singles for the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series that kicks off a six-game homestand. Jose Berrios (9-4) finished with no runs allowed on two hits.

Toronto scored once in the first against Javier Assad (0-1), who was making his first start of the season. Bo Bichette, Guerrero, and Alejandro Kirk singled in the first against Assad, who had been out all season with a strained left oblique. The Cubs fall to 1-3 during their current six-game road trip.

Guardians 4, Marlins 3

Jose Ramirez hit two solo homers, including the go-ahead blast in the eighth inning off Calvin Faucher, as Cleveland edged visiting Miami in their three-game series opener.

Ramirez finished 3-for-4, leading the Guardians to their 10th win in 12 games since July 29. Kyle Manzardo went deep for the third time in two games for Cleveland.

Guardians starter Logan Allen worked five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits. Cade Smith (5-4) retired all four batters he faced to earn the victory, while Marlins co-closer Calvin Faucher (3-3) took the loss, giving up one run in one inning.

Reds 6, Phillies 1

Brady Singer allowed three hits over six shutout innings while Miguel Andujar homered for the second time in three games to lead host Cincinnati past Philadelphia.

Spencer Steer doubled and drove in three runs and Jose Trevino went 2-for-4 and drove in two as the Reds won for the third time in four games, extending their MLB-best streak of not being swept this season to 39 series.

With heavy rain falling, Bryce Harper launched a towering homer, his 18th, to the seats in right with two outs in the ninth to end the shutout bid. The Phillies had their four-game win streak snapped and lost for the first time in five tries on their 10-game, three-city road trip.

Royals 8, Nationals 5

Vinnie Pasquantino clubbed a three-run homer and had five RBIs, and Michael Wacha allowed two runs while pitching into the sixth inning as Kansas City beat visiting Washington.

Jonathan India added a two-run homer as Kansas City won its fourth straight home game. It was the third time this season Pasquantino recorded at least five RBIs in a game. Meanwhile, Wacha won his third straight start, lasting 5 2/3 innings.

James Wood and CJ Abrams each had two hits with an RBI for Washington, which has lost 10 of 13. The Nationals’ Mitchell Parker (7-13) yielded only two hits but three walks aided in his surrendering five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Rockies 3, Cardinals 0

Kyle Freeland and Victor Vodnik combined on a six-hitter as visiting Colorado blanked St. Louis to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Freeland (3-12) allowed just five hits over 7 1/3 innings and Vodnik got the last five outs to earn his third save. Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to provide all the offense the Rockies needed. Kyle Farmer added an RBI single.

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (6-10) allowed three runs on four hits in four-plus innings. Brendan Donovan had two of St. Louis’ six hits.

Diamondbacks 3, Rangers 2

Ketel Marte’s solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning was the difference as Arizona came from behind to beat Texas in the middle game of a three-game interleague match set in Arlington, Texas.

Marte’s long ball came off Rangers reliever Danny Coulombe (2-1), who had not allowed a home run all season. Marte had two hits and two RBIs as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in their past five games. Tyler Locklear also had two of Arizona’s eight hits and Blaze Alexander added a solo homer.

Texas managed just four hits — only one after the third inning — and lost for the fifth time in six games.

Angels 7, Dodgers 6 (10 innings)

Jo Adell bounced a single into left field to drive in Taylor Ward from third base in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Angels, who earlier turned the eighth triple play in team history, a walk-off Freeway Series victory over the Dodgers in Anaheim, Calif.

Ward, who went 2-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs, began the inning as the automatic runner at second and advanced to third on a bunt single by Christian Moore, setting the stage for Adell’s game-winner. It was the ninth walk-off win of the season for the Angels, tied for the most in the majors.

Shohei Ohtani, who hit into the triple play in his previous at-bat, hit his 43rd home run in the ninth inning to extend his homer streak to four games. The triple play came in the sixth inning with the score tied, 5-5. Miguel Rojas and Dalton Rushing began the inning with back-to-back singles before Ohtani hit a soft liner over the second base bag where shortstop Zach Neto caught it, stepped on the bag to double off Rojas and then threw to Nolan Schanuel at first to triple-off Rushing. It was marked the team’s first triple play since Aug. 18, 2023, against Tampa Bay.

Athletics 6, Rays 0

Jacob Lopez struck out nine in seven scoreless innings to help Athletics beat visiting Tampa in West Sacramento, Calif., giving the A’s their 12th win in 18 games.

Lawrence Butler and Colby Thomas each had two hits and two RBIs for the Athletics, while Lopez (6-6) gave up four hits and walked none during his fourth consecutive scoreless effort. The rookie left-hander has allowed just 14 hits in 24 innings during that stretch.

Rays starter Shane Baz (8-9) allowed five runs (four earned) and six hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked two while dropping to 0-6 over his past seven starts.

Padres 5, Giants 1

Jose Iglesias and Jackson Merrill hit home runs, four San Diego relievers combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and the visiting Padres made it two in a row over San Francisco.

Ramon Laureano doubled, singled and scored twice for the Padres, who won their fourth game in a row. After the teams traded single runs in the first inning, San Diego took the lead for good when Laureano opened the second with a single and jogged home on Iglesias’ two-run homer to left field. It was Iglesias’ first long ball of the season.

Giants starter Robbie Ray (9-6) yielded four runs in six innings. He allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out four. San Francisco lost its fourth game in a row.

White Sox 9, Tigers 6

Yoendrys Gomez pitched five sharp innings in his first major league start and Colson Montgomery punctuated a five-run fifth with a two-run single as host Chicago defeated Detroit.

Recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, Gomez shined in his first big-league action since May 19. The rookie right-hander, who also pitched with the Yankees and Dodgers this season, yielded one run and one hit. Chicago evened the series at one game apiece behind a 13-hit attack that also coaxed two bases-loaded walks. Edgar Quero smacked a solo home run as part of a 3-for-5, three-RBI effort.

Detroit drew within the final margin on Colt Keith’s three-run home run in the ninth. Keith and Riley Greene both had two hits for the Tigers. Right-hander Jack Flaherty (6-12) permitted five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Jacob Lopez struck out nine in seven scoreless innings to help the Athletics record a 6-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

Lawrence Butler and Colby Thomas each had two hits and two RBIs for the Athletics, who won for the 12th time in their past 18 games. Tyler Soderstrom had two hits and scored twice for the A’s.

Lopez (6-6) gave up four hits and walked none during his fourth consecutive scoreless effort. The rookie left-hander has allowed just 14 hits in 24 innings during that stretch.

Brandon Lowe had two hits for the Rays, who lost for the 16th time in the past 22 games. Tampa Bay was blanked for the 11th time this season.

Rays starter Shane Baz (8-9) allowed five runs (four earned) and six hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked two while dropping to 0-6 over his past eight starts.

Justin Sterner pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Athletics. Tyler Ferguson walked two in the ninth before retiring Junior Caminero on a fielder’s choice and striking out Everson Pereira to end it. Pereira fanned in all four of his at-bats.

The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz went 0-for-4 and struck out three times as his streak of reaching base ended at 26 games.

The A’s struck in the second inning as Soderstrom led off with a single and scored on Thomas’ double into the gap in left-center.

The hosts tacked on three runs in the fourth. Brent Rooker was hit in the bill of the helmet by a pitch to start the frame, and he moved to third on Soderstrom’s double.

Thomas followed with a sacrifice fly to right to score Rooker. One out later, Butler doubled inside the left field line to score Soderstrom.

Tampa Bay appeared to get out of the inning when Luis Urias hit a popup in the infield. Catcher Nick Fortes wasn’t called off and he dropped the ball as Butler scored to make it 4-0.

The Athletics added on in the fifth as Langeliers hit a one-out double and was later at third with two outs when Baz threw a wild pitch over the reach of Fortes. Langeliers beat the throw to the plate for a five-run lead.

In the eighth, Thomas singled with one out and stole second. After Darell Hernaiz walked, Butler delivered an RBI single off Mason Montgomery.

–Field Level Media

Jose Iglesias and Jackson Merrill hit home runs, four San Diego relievers combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and the Padres made it two in a row over the San Francisco Giants with a 5-1 road triumph on Tuesday.

Ramon Laureano doubled, singled and scored twice for the Padres, who won their fourth game in a row.

After the teams traded single runs in the first inning, San Diego took the lead for good when Laureano opened the second with a single and jogged home on Iglesias’ two-run homer to left field. It was Iglesias’ first long ball of the season.

San Diego tacked on single runs in the fourth (on an RBI double by Jake Cronenworth, scoring Laureano) and in the eighth (on Merrill’s ninth homer of the year).

Giants starter Robbie Ray (9-6) yielded four runs in six innings. He allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out four.

San Francisco lost its fourth game in a row.

Down 1-0 after Ray balked home Manny Machado in the top of the first, the Giants immediately got even when Casey Schmitt doubled, went to third on a single by Rafael Devers and scored on a two-out infield hit by Wilmer Flores.

That was the last of the San Francisco scoring. Padres starter Nestor Cortes teamed with relievers David Morgan, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Robert Suarez to dance into and out of trouble, limiting the Giants to just the one run despite 10 hits.

Ahead 4-1 but facing a two-on, two-out situation, Cortes was pulled one out from a possible win in the fifth. Morgan came on to strike out Willy Adames and end the threat.

Adam (8-3), who took over for Morgan and worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out mess in the sixth to retain the three-run lead, was credited with the win. The Giants wound up stranding 11 baserunners.

Merrill joined Laureano with two hits apiece for the Padres, who have won six of eight against the Giants this season.

Schmitt had a career-high-tying four hits and Flores added two hits for the Giants, who fell to 1-4 on their nine-game homestand.

–Field Level Media

Jo Adell bounced a single into left field to drive in Taylor Ward from third base in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Angels, who earlier turned the eighth triple play in team history, a wild 7-6 walk-off Freeway Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Ward, who went 2-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs, began the inning as the automatic runner at second and advanced to third on a bunt single by Christian Moore, setting the stage for Adell’s game-winner. It was the ninth walk-off win of the season for the Angels, tied for the most in the majors.

Connor Brogdon (3-1) pitched a hitless inning of relief to pick up the victory for the Angels, their sixth straight win over the Dodgers in Freeway Series play.

Shohei Ohtani, who hit into the triple play in his previous at-bat, led off the top of the ninth with a go-ahead home run to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. Ohtani hit a 1-0 cutter by Kenley Jansen 404 feet down the right field line for his 43rd home run, breaking a tie with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the National League lead and extending his homer streak to four games. It snapped a streak of 21 games by Jansen where he hadn’t allowed an earned run.

The Angels rallied to tie it in the bottom of the ninth when Luis Rengifo scored on Nolan Schanuel’s sacrifice fly against reliever Alex Vesia. Ben Casparius (7-5) then got Ward to strike out to end the threat.

The triple play came in the sixth inning with the score tied, 5-5. Miguel Rojas and Dalton Rushing began the inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Brock Burke, bringing Ohtani to the plate. Ohtani then hit a soft liner over the second base bag where shortstop Zach Neto caught it, stepped on the bag to double-off Rojas and then threw to Schanuel at first to triple-off Rushing. It was marked the team’s first triple play since Aug. 18, 2023 against Tampa Bay.

Rushing homered and had two hits and two RBIs, Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and two RBIs and Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages also had two hits for the Dodgers, who fell into a tie for first place in the National League West with the San Diego Padres with their third straight loss.

After the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Hernandez, the Angels answered with three runs in the bottom half on an RBI single by Ward followed by an RBI double by Yoan Moncada and an RBI groundout by Adell.

The Dodgers tied it, 3-3, in the second on a two-run home run to right by Rushing, driving in Alex Freeland, who had walked.

Ward put the Angels back in front in the third with his 28th home run, a 413-foot drive to center. Bryce Teodosio extended the lead to 5-3 in the fourth when he doubled in Rengifo, who had walked, for his first major league RBI.

The Dodgers tied it, 5-5, in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Hernandez and a bases-loaded walk by Pages off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.

–Field Level Media

Yoendrys Gomez pitched five sharp innings in his first major league start and Colson Montgomery punctuated a five-run fifth with a two-run single as the host Chicago White Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers 9-6 on Tuesday.

Chicago evened the three-game series at one game apiece behind a 13-hit attack that also coaxed two bases-loaded walks. Edgar Quero smacked a solo home run as part of a 3-for-5, three-RBI effort while Mike Tauchman, Kyle Teel and Curtis Mead added two hits each.

Detroit drew within the final margin on Colt Keith’s three-run home run in the ninth. Keith and Riley Greene both had two hits for the Tigers.

Recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, Gomez shined in his first big-league action since May 19. The rookie right-hander, who also pitched with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers this season, yielded one run and one hit.

Gomez (2-1) walked one, hit two batters and struck out a career-high seven. Jordan Leasure fanned Spencer Torkelson for the final out to earn his fourth save.

Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty retired the first six batters and limited the White Sox to a pair of singles through four innings before encountering major trouble in the fifth.

Chicago delivered four straight hits to open the inning, including Mead’s game-tying bloop single that fell beyond shortstop Trey Sweeney. Montgomery gave the White Sox a 3-1 lead, smacking a two-run single to right field. Luis Robert Jr. added an RBI single to end Flaherty’s night, and Teel later worked a bases-loaded walk from Brant Hurter to cap the outburst.

Flaherty (6-12), who defeated the White Sox on April 4 and June 2, permitted five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and fanned six.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Wenceel Perez.

Dillon Dingler hit a two-run home run in the seventh to draw the Tigers within 6-3. Robert, Chicago’s center fielder, tipped the ball over the fence with his glove while attempting a leaping catch.

The start of the game was delayed by 50 minutes due to rain.

Detroit fell to 6-3 against Chicago this season.

–Field Level Media

Ketel Marte’s solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning was the difference as the Arizona Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game interleague set in Arlington, Texas.

Marte’s long ball came off Rangers reliever Danny Coulombe (2-1), who had not allowed a home run all season. Marte had two hits and two RBIs as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in their past five games.

Tyler Locklear also had two of Arizona’s eight hits and Blaze Alexander added a solo homer.

Arizona reliever Jalen Beeks (3-1) reaped the reward for Marte’s clutch homer after allowing a walk and striking out one over 1 2/3 innings. Juan Morillo pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save of the season.

Texas managed just four hits — only one after the third inning — and lost for the fifth time in six games.

The Rangers took the lead in the second with Joc Pederson singling off Arizona starter Anthony DeSclafani, going to second on a single by Wyatt Langford, stealing third base and then coming home on an RBI groundout by Adolis Garcia.

The Diamondbacks answered in the third when Alexander led off the frame with a home run into the stands in left-center field, his fourth of the season.

Texas retook the lead in the bottom of the third. Kyle Higashioka walked, went to second on a single by Josh Smith, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Marcus Semien’s sacrifice fly.

Arizona tied it again in the seventh thanks to a pair of Rangers errors. Reliever Robert Garcia tried to flip the ball over his shoulder after partially knocking down a grounder from Jose Herrera that became an infield single, allowing Herrera to move to second.

Josh Jung then booted Gerlado Perdomo’s sacrifice bunt, with Herrera going to third. Marte came through when he squibbed a grounder to Semien at second base and beat the throw to first as Herrera raced across the plate to make it 2-2.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected by home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson in the ninth inning for arguing balls and strikes. Marte immediately followed with his game winning round tripper.

–Field Level Media

The Red Sox scored 12 runs in the final four innings and Dustin May twirled six shutout frames as visiting Boston posted a 14-1 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

After scoring four runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in their series-opening loss on Monday, the Red Sox exploded for five runs with two outs in the sixth on Tuesday to break open a close game. Carlos Narvaez clubbed his 10th homer off Astros reliever Shawn Dubin with Masataka Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela on base to extend the lead to 5-0.

Two batters later, Alex Bregman homered for the second time in the series and chased home Roman Anthony with his 16th home run.

Narvaez drilled a 2-1 sweeper 383 feet to left field after Rafaela greeted Dubin with a single to left. Bregman took Dubin the opposite way off the right field foul pole to give Boston a 7-0 lead.

Anthony socked his fourth homer of the season 428 feet to straightaway center in a four-run eighth. Like Bregman, Anthony also homered in the series opener.

The Red Sox carved out a 2-0 lead against Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (1-3), who made his second start following a four-month stint on the injured list caused by a fractured thumb. While he allowed just one hit over his five innings, Arrighetti labored with his control.

Arrighetti walked Anthony and Bregman to load the bases with no outs in the third. He plunked Trevor Story with a pitch to force home Narvaez before Yoshida followed with a sacrifice fly.

Arrighetti issued five walks against three strikeouts. He surrendered two runs.

May (7-8) worked around traffic in the first three innings, stranding four runners, including two in scoring position. He induced Carlos Correa to ground into a double play to erase Jeremy Pena, who opened the third with a single. May closed that frame by getting Jesus Sanchez to lift an infield popup, keying a run where he retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced.

May notched his first victory since being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline. He allowed five hits and issued one walk while recording eight strikeouts.

Pena went 3-for-5 for Houston and improved his batting average to .318.

–Field Level Media

Kyle Freeland and Victor Vodnik combined on a six-hitter as the visiting Colorado Rockies blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Tuesday to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Freeland (3-12) allowed just five hits over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out two, walked two and coaxed three double-play grounders.

Vodnik got the last five outs to earn his third save.

Colorado registered just its second shutout of the season — and both came against the Cardinals.

Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to provide all the offense the Rockies needed.

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (6-10) allowed three runs on four hits and one walk in four-plus innings. He struck out three batters, all in the first inning.

St. Louis first baseman Willson Contreras left the game after five innings with a right foot contusion, which he sustained when he was hit by a pitch.

The Cardinals had won four of their previous five games.

Rain delayed the start of the game for 41 minutes. Brendan Donovan and Ivan Herrera hit singles to start the bottom of the first inning, but Freeland defused the situation by inducing a double-play grounder from Contreras.

Liberatore retired the first nine batters he faced. Tyler Freeman hit a leadoff single in the fourth inning but was thrown out trying to steal second base.

That cost Colorado a run, as Ezequiel Tovar followed with a single before Goodman hit his 23rd homer of the year to put the Rockies up 2-0.

Colorado increased the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Brenton Doyle walked and went to third on Kyle Karros’ single that ended Liberatore’s night. Kyle Farmer hit a one-out RBI single off Matt Svanson.

Victor Scott II and Donovan singled to start the St. Louis sixth inning, but Herrera grounded into a double play as the rally fizzled.

The Cardinals’ Thomas Saggese hit a one-out single in the eighth inning before Scott walked. Vodnik replaced Freeland and struck out Donovan and Herrera to end the threat.

Nolan Gorman led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, but Vodnik retired the next three batters to close out the game.

The teams will play the decisive game of the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

–Field Level Media

Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale took a step toward returning to the Atlanta Braves by throwing 40 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday night.

Sale has been sidelined since fracturing his left ribcage during a game against the New York Mets on June 18.

The left-hander allowed one run and three hits in the two-inning stint against Louisville. He struck out two and walked two while throwing 23 pitches for strikes.

Sale will make at least one more rehab start before being activated. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters Sale won’t be activated until he throws at least 75 pitches in a rehab start.

Sale was injured while diving for an infield dribbler hit by Juan Soto in the ninth inning of a 5-0 victory over the New York Mets. Sale threw Soto out at first but left two batters later when he was just one out away from his fourth career shutout.

Sale, 36, is 5-4 with a 2.52 ERA in 15 starts this season, his second with the Braves. The nine-time All-Star went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 29 starts last season while being a runaway winner in Cy Young balloting.

Over 15 seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2010-16), Boston Red Sox (2017-2023) and Braves, the 2010 first-round pick (No. 13 overall) is 143-87 in 387 games (307 starts) with a 3.02 ERA along with 2,528 strikeouts and 481 walks in 2,047 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media