JUSTIN Verlander hurled six no-hit innings and Alex Bregman provided insurance with a seventh-inning homer as the Houston Astros topped the visiting Minnesota Twins 4-2 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
Verlander (16-3) allowed just one baserunner, and that came when Nick Gordon struck out but reached on a wild pitch with one out in the second inning. He fanned 10, moving past Pedro Martinez and Max Scherzer into 13th place on the all-time strikeouts list with 3,161.
The veteran right-hander exited after throwing 91 pitches, one above his preset limit.
Down 4-0 entering the ninth, the Twins scored twice and pushed the tying run into scoring position with two outs. Bryan Abreu finally fanned Jake Cave to earn his second save and send Minnesota to its fourth consecutive loss.
In other games, it was the Cubs 2, Cardinals 0 (Game 1); Cardinals 13, Cubs 3 (Game 2); Dodgers 10, Brewers 1; Diamondbacks 7, Royals 3; Rockies 7, Rangers 6; Braves 6, Pirates 1; Rays 11, Angels 1; Yankees 4, Mets 2; Giants 3, Tigers 1; Orioles 5, White Sox 3; Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 3; Phillies 7, Reds 6; Mariners 4, Nationals 2; Marlins 5, Athletics 3; and Guardians 3, Padres 1.
Cubs 2, Cardinals 0 (Game 1)
Javier Assad grinded out four solid innings in his major league debut as Chicago halted visiting St. Louis’ winning streak at eight games with a victory.
Though the right-hander did not qualify for the victory, he kept the Cubs in the game. He allowed four hits and four walks while pitching into the fifth. Chicago struck for the game’s only runs in the bottom of the third on Nico Hoerner’s RBI groundout and a run-scoring single from Seiya Suzuki. The runs snapped the Cubs’ 16-inning scoreless drought.
The National League Central-leading Cardinals, who had won 17 of their previous 20, left 11 men on base, wasted three leadoff doubles, and went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Their eight-game winning streak was a season high.
Cardinals 13, Cubs 3 (Game 2)
Nolan Arenado had three hits and homered along with Tyler O’Neill during a five-run fourth inning as visiting St. Louis beat Chicago to earn a doubleheader split.
Jake Woodford (3-0) yielded one run in 5 1/3 innings to get the win in his first start of the season. Corey Dickerson matched a career high with four hits while Tommy Edman also went deep and had three RBIs for the Cardinals.
Cubs starter Adrian Sampson (1-4) gave up five runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Nick Madrigal had two hits for Chicago. — Field Level Media
