HOUSTON — Lance McCullers finally found his curveball — and the results were devastating for the Cleveland Indians.
McCullers allowed one hit over seven innings and Brian McCann hit a two-run homer to lead the Houston Astros to a 3-1 win Sunday night.
McCullers (6-2) took a perfect game into the sixth inning, retiring the first 15 batters he faced with six strikeouts, two ground balls and seven fly balls. One of the flyouts came in the first inning when Astros left fielder Tony Kemp chased down a ball near the foul line and made a leaping grab at the wall.
Jason Kipnis led off the sixth inning with a line-drive single to right center on a 2-2 count, but the Indians were unable to get much else going against McCullers. He had previously struggled with the location of his curve and has been forced to lean heavily on his fastball and changeup. Everything fell into place against the Indians.
CARDINALS 5, PHILLIES 1
ST. LOUIS — Even after such an impressive outing, Jack Flaherty just wanted to talk about his hitting.
Flaherty struck out a career-high 13 to earn his first major league win and Tyler O’Neill homered as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Sunday.
Making his ninth big league start, Flaherty (1-1) gave up only two hits and walked one in 7 2/3 dominant innings. But after throwing 120 pitches, all the rookie right-hander had on his mind was his first hit in 10 at-bats — a relatively meaningless single in the third.
METS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1
NEW YORK — All over baseball, rookies are making quite an impression — Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr., Gleyber Torres and more.
On Sunday, the New York Mets and their fans saw a glimpse of what Amed Rosario might bring someday.
Rosario hit his first two home runs of the season and pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera connected for a go-ahead drive, leading Noah Syndergaard and the Mets over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 for a surprising sweep.
ANGELS 5, RAYS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine while throwing 7 2/3 innings of excellent six-hit ball in his seventh career start, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their five-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
Martin Maldonado homered and drove in two runs, and Zack Cozart drove in two more runs on sacrifice flies as the Angels wrapped up a disappointing 11-game homestand with only four victories — including both games started by Ohtani (4-1).
(Associated Press)
