PITTSBURGH (AP) — Yandy Díaz hit a home run off the first pitch from Paul Skenes on Sunday before leading off a two-run eighth inning with a single, sparking a 3-1 win for the Tampa Bay Rays over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Díaz opened the first inning by driving Skenes’ near 100 mph first-pitch fastball off the right-field foul pole. He was 3-for-4 with two hits off Skenes, stretching his hit streak to 16 games.
“There's no secret that he's a good pitcher," Díaz said. "You don't want to battle too many pitches or see too many pitches in your count. So, that's why I went for the first pitch.”
Colin Holderman (3-1) replaced Skenes for the eighth, giving up the single to Díaz followed by another from Josh Lowe. José Caballero, running for Díaz, scored on Randy Arozarena’s sacrifice fly to put the Rays ahead 2-1 before Richie Palacios added another run with an RBI single.
“Just pass the baton on to the next person,” Lowe said. “That was a big inning for us.”
Kevin Kelly (2-0) got the final two outs of the seventh for the Rays, who took two of three from the Pirates. Pete Fairbanks retired the side in order with one strikeout in the ninth inning for his 11th save.
Skenes, drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in 2023, struck out eight and allowed one run and six hits with one walk in a season-high seven innings.
“That’s kind of been the goal since the start of the year, being able to get guys out quick,” Skenes said. “A couple of one-pitch outs in there. It was nice to cover that many innings.”
The 22-year-old right-hander has 61 strikeouts and eight walks in eight starts, becoming the first National League pitcher since 1901 with at least 60 strikeouts and fewer than 10 walks in his first eight appearances. Masahiro Tanaka (66 strikeouts, seven walks in 2014 with the New York Yankees) is the only pitcher to accomplish it in the majors, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Skenes retired the final 11 batters he faced, capped by striking out Alex Jackson on a 102 mph fastball to stay 4-0 and lower his ERA to 2.14. The rookie has thrown 70 pitches of at least 100.0 mph this season. No other starter has more than 36.
In three starts since June 11, he has an 0.93 ERA with 23 strikeouts and two walks in 19 1/3 innings.
“When anybody throws 100 or 102, or whatever it is, you have to attack the hardest pitch,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “So, I think that’s something that he’ll continue to see. The really good thing about it is he has other weapons to attack people with and I think we’ve seen that over the last couple starts.”
Bryan Reynolds’ infield single in the bottom of the first extended his hit streak to a career-best 20 games, the longest active in the majors. He then sent Aaron Civale’s curveball 360 feet over the wall in right, tying it 1-1 in the fourth with his 12th homer this season.
Civale went five innings for Tampa Bay, giving up one run and three hits.
“Yandy set the tone with his home run. They answered back with their big home run,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “But quite the pitchers' duel. Our pitchers did a tremendous job, highlighted by Civale.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Infielder Amed Rosario was not in the lineup after being hit by a 100 mph fastball from Pirates starter Jared Jones in the first inning Saturday.
Pirates: Right-hander David Bednar, a two-time All-Star closer, was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 20, with a strained left oblique muscle.
UP NEXT
Rays: Right-hander Taj Bradley (2-4, 4.06 ERA) will take the mound to start a three-game home series against the Mariners on Monday. Right-hander Bryan Woo (3-1, 1.67) is expected to go for Seattle.
Pirates: Left-hander Bailey Falter (3-5, 3.74) is in line to start Monday, the first of a three-game series at Cincinnati. Right-hander Carson Spiers (0-1, 3.20) will start for the Reds.
BRAVES 3, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Jarred Kelenic has taken to hitting at the top of the Atlanta Braves' batting order.
Recently moved to leadoff as the replacement for injured star Ronald Acuña Jr., Kelenic homered and drove in two runs in Sunday's 3-1 win over the New York Yankees.
Kelenic is hitting .324 with three homers and six RBIs in eight games since moving to the leadoff spot.
“Guys see that as an opportunity and some guys respond to the opportunities they get,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Kelenic is hitting .270 with seven homers and 21 RBIs overall this year. He started 22 games in the No. 9 hole, 15 hitting eighth and nine batting seventh.
“I just try to individualize each and every at-bat and let the let the game kind of tell me what I’m trying to do,” Kelenic said.
In his first season with the Braves at age 24, the outfielder was the sixth overall pick by the Mets in the 2018 amateur draft. He was dealt that December to Seattle as part of the package that brought closer Edwin Díaz and second baseman Robinson Canó to New York.
Kelenic hit. 141 as a rookie with the Mariners in 2021 and .141 the following year, then batted .253 last season with 11 homers and 49 RBIs. He became so frustrated during a midseason slump that he kicked a water cooler and broke a bone in his left foot, causing him to be sidelined between July 19 and Sept. 11. He was traded to the Braves in December after hitting .204 with 32 homers and 109 RBIs in 252 games for Seattle.
He has seen most of his time against right-handed pitchers, batting .275 against them in 160 at-bats vs. .250 against lefties in 36 at-bats. He put the Braves ahead with a third-inning homer against Nestor Cortes and added a sacrifice fly in a two-run fifth.
That was enough support for Max Fried, who allowed one run over six innings and improved to 4-1 in his last six starts.
“Playing behind him makes it pretty easy because you don’t have to do much,” Kelenic said. “Sometimes when I’m sitting out there, I’m thinking if I were to face him what I would do. He'd come at you from so many sides of the plate — his balls, they move so much.”
Kelenic settled in as the Braves' platoon left fielder, but shifted to center after Michael Harris II strained his left hamstring on June 13. His shift in the batting order and defensive alignment coincided with a turnaround by the Braves, who have won eight of 10 following a five-game losing streak.
Atlanta took two of three from the Yankees after winning two of three from Tampa Bay and sweeping Detroit.
“It’s a big series,” Snitker said. “We’re playing more to our capabilities. Quite honestly, I still don’t think we’re hitting on all cylinders.”
GUARDIANS 6, BLUE JAYS 5
CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor hit solo homers as Cleveland scored five straight runs in the third and fourth innings, helping the AL Central-leading Guardians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday.
Cleveland won its fifth straight and is a season-high 23 games over .500. The Guardians and rookie manager Stephen Vogt have the best home record in the majors at 26-9, matching their franchise best through 35 games.
“(Kwan) leads us and when he goes, we all go,” Naylor said. “I don’t think we can thank him enough as an offense. He’s an incredible teammate, an incredible human.”
Tim Herrin (3-0) was awarded the win with a scoreless fourth. Emmanuel Clase picked up his AL-best 24th save, retiring George Springer for the final out after putting the potential go-ahead run aboard.
“Our guys stepped up huge again,” Vogt said. “Kwanny is not missing mistakes and with Josh, it’s really impressive what he’s doing.”
Rookie Spencer Horwitz belted two solo homers and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a two-run blast for Toronto, which has lost six in a row for the first time since May 19-24, 2021. The Blue Jays were swept in back-to-back series for the first time since 2019.
“We’ve had our chances, but our starting pitching has had some uncharacteristic outings of late,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Kind of the story of the season is we’re not hitting as many homers as we can and we’re giving up more than we should.”
Kwan went 2 for 5 and is hitting .390, but is 11 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaderboard. He has a .463 average since May 31.
The Canadian-born Naylor, who equaled his career high with his 20th homer, also singled, doubled and scored twice.
“The numbers obviously speak for themselves,” Kwan said. “It’s kind of cool.”
The Guardians took a 4-3 lead with three runs in the third -- one before a 40-minute rain delay, two after it — that were charged to Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7).
Kwan and Naylor tacked on solo shots in the fourth, one off Zach Pop and the second off Brendon Little, making it 6-3.
José Ramírez scored two runs in the first three innings for Cleveland. Angel Martínez singled in the second for his first major league hit.
Blue Jays outfielder Steward Berroa made his major league debut in center field in the eighth. He filled the roster spot of Orelvis Martinez, who was suspended 80 games by MLB after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (right calf strain), who was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 15, is likely to be activated Tuesday.
Guardians: C David Fry (right elbow inflammation) exited in the third. Vogt said he irritated his elbow on a throw to second base.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Chris Bassitt (6-6, 3.52 ERA) pitches Monday in the first game of a three-game series in Boston. Bassitt is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA over his last six starts.
Guardians: RHP Tanner Bibee (5-2, 3.65 ERA) works Monday in the opener of a three-game set in Baltimore. Bibee struck out a career-high 12 against Seattle on June 19.
