Houston’s Jeremy Pena, a former UMaine player, watches his RBI double off Tampa Bay Rays starter Drew Rasmussen during the fifth inning Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. Astros’ Mauricio Dubon scored on the play. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Luis Garcia scattered three hits over six innings and the Houston Astros ended the Tampa Bay Rays’ 14-game season-opening home winning streak, 5-0 on Tuesday night.
Only three teams had a longer run than the Rays, who are 20-4 overall.
The 1880 Chicago White Stockings, who became the Cubs, hold the MLB record for the longest season-opening home streak with 21. The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had an 18-game stretch, while the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association won 16 in a row, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The announced crowd for the game between the MLB-best Rays and the defending World Series champion Astros at Tropicana Field was just 9,916.
Garcia (2-2) struck out seven, walked two and allowed just one runner to reach scoring position.
Phil Maton, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to finish a five-hitter.
Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubón doubled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 19 games and scored the game’s first run to start a five-run inning off Drew Rasmussen (3-2) when Jeremy Peña doubled on the next pitch.
Kyle Tucker had an RBI single, and José Abreu and Corey Julks had run-scoring doubles before Jake Meyers drove in a run with a single that ended Rasmussen’s night.
Rasmussen allowed five runs and nine hits, and had his ERA climb from 2.01 to 3.33.
BLUE JAYS 7, WHITE SOX 0: José Berríos struck out a season-high nine over seven innings, Danny Jansen homered twice and Toronto beat visiting Chicago, which has lost six straight.
TWINS 6, YANKEES 2: Joe Ryan became the first five-game winner in the major leagues this season, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach hit two-run homers in the sixth inning and Minnesota beat visiting New York to clinch its first season series against the Yankees since 2001.
Ryan (5-0) joined Jerry Koosman in 1979 as the only Twins pitchers to win their first five starts since the franchise moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season. Ryan allowed two runs — one earned — and seven hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Minnesota and New York each had eight hits but the Twins had seven extra-base hits — five doubles and two homers — and the Yankees had none.
New York has lost three straight for the first time this season and four of five.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DODGERS 8, PIRATES 7: Chris Taylor hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning to help Los Angeles overcome a five-run deficit and win at Pittsburgh.
Taylor took a sinker from Colin Holderman (0-1) deep to left for his fifth homer of the season. He singled his previous two at-bats and reached on an error in the second.
Yency Almonte (2-0) struck out two in a scoreless seventh for the win and Shelby Miller sent the side down in order in the ninth for his first save in the majors.
It ended the Pirates’ seven-game winning streak, their longest since an 11-game run in 2018.
NATIONALS 5, METS 0: Josiah Gray pitched six overpowering innings and batterymate Keibert Ruiz homered to help visiting Washington beat New York.
Luis García had a two-run double and Joey Meneses added a pair of RBI singles among his three hits. Ruiz also finished with three hits as the rebuilding Nationals won the first meeting this season between the NL East foes.
Back from a 7-3 West Coast trip, New York dropped its third straight in the opener of a seven-game homestand against two division rivals. The Mets were blanked for the fourth time this year.
BRAVES 7, MARLINS 4: Charlie Morton pitched seven strong innings, Ozzie Albies homered twice and Atlanta beat visiting Miami.
Morton (3-2) allowed three hits and one run with two walks and nine strikeouts. He retired 13 of 14 batters before Jon Berti singled with two outs in the seventh. Morton threw a season-high 108 pitches, 66 for strikes.
The five-time defending NL East champion Braves have won 10 of 12 against Miami, which got an inside-the-park homer from Yuli Gurriel in the ninth off Jesse Chavez.
CUBS 6, PADRES 0: Justin Steele pitched three-hit ball into the sixth inning in his fourth straight win, and Chicago beat visiting San Diego.
Yan Gomes had four of Chicago’s seven hits, including a two-run drive off Blake Snell in the second. Gomes is batting .441 (15 for 34) with four homers and nine RBI in his last eight games.
INTERLEAGUE
ROCKIES 5, GUARDIANS 1: Charlie Blackmon homered and drove in two runs, Brenton Doyle had his first three major league hits and visiting Colorado beat Cleveland to clinch its first series win this season.
Colorado, a National League-worst 8-17, lost 11 of 12 before winning its first two games of the three-game series by 11-1. The Rockies have won consecutive games for just the third time this season.
Blackmon hit his 40th leadoff homer, ninth most, on the second pitch of the game and then had an RBI double off Peyton Battenfield (0-2) in a three-run second that built a 4-0 lead. Blackmon scored on Kris Bryant’s single, tying Larry Walker for second in Rockies history with 892 runs.
REDS 7, RANGERS 6: Jonathan India hit a go-ahead, two-run single to cap a five-run eighth inning, and Cincinnati rallied from a 6-0 deficit to beat visiting Texas.
MARINERS 5, PHILLIES 3: Jarred Kelenic hit a solo home run, double and single, Teoscar Hernández also went deep and Seattle opened a nine-game trip by beating Philadelphia.
Jose Caballero and J.P. Crawford also drove in runs for the Mariners.
Edmundo Sosa homered for the defending NL champion Phillies.
TIGERS 4, BREWERS 3: Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run home run and four Detroit pitchers held Milwaukee in check as Detroit won at Milwaukee.
Milwaukee started the eighth inning with a leadoff double, but then Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and William Contreras struck out.
It was the first time this season that the Brewers have lost three straight, including a loss to the Red Sox on Sunday.
Before beating the Brewers 4-2 on Monday, the Tigers had lost four straight, scoring a total of five runs.
NOTES
PIRATES: Bryan Reynolds is sticking with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The veteran outfielder has agreed to an eight-year deal worth $106.75 million, three people with knowledge of the agreement told the Associated Press. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official pending a physical.
The contract is the richest in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates and gives the club another cornerstone to build around as it tries to emerge from four straight last-place finishes in the NL Central.
The 28-year-old was an All-Star in 2021 and is hitting .294 with five home runs and 18 RBI this season. The team is off to a surprising 16-7 start heading into a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Tuesday night.
The deal comes less than five months after Reynolds requested a trade.
Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington insisted the team was willing to do what it takes to keep Reynolds in the fold, and both sides made progress toward an agreement in recent weeks.
The new deal includes a $2 million signing bonus, a club option for 2031 and a limited six-team no-trade clause.
RAYS: The major-league leading Tampa Bay Rays reinstated center fielder Jose Siri from the 10-day injured list and optioned promising right-hander Taj Bradley to Triple-A Durham.
Siri has been out with a strained right hamstring, which happened April 7 when he was running down a fly ball. Before getting hurt, he was hitting .318 with two homers and eight RBI in six games.
Bradley, 22, won his third consecutive start on Monday. Since making his major league debut on April, 12, he has a 3.52 ERA with 23 strikeouts and two walks over 15 1/3 innings. Bradley has been pitching every sixth day, so the move could help him shift into the normal five-day rotation cycle.
Tampa Bay also selected reliever Heath Hembree and optioned infielder-outfielder Vidal Bruján to Durham. Right-hander Hector Perez cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Durham.
RANGERS: Clint Frazier has been released from his minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.
The 28-year-old hit .250 (13 for 52) with one homer and four RBI in 15 games for Triple-A Round Rock.
Frazier, a first-round draft pick by Cleveland in 2013, batted .216 in 19 games for the Chicago Cubs last season before being designated for assignment on June 10. He spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Iowa, batting .190 in 66 games.
He played for the New York Yankees from 2017-21.
CUBS: The Chicago Cubs placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the paternity list.
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