BALTIMORE (AP) — DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton hit Minnesota’s first back-to-back homers this season, Chris Paddack pitched seven shutout innings and the Twins extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.
The win streak is the fourth-longest in Twins history. The record is 15 straight in 1991. They had a 12-game winning streak last season. The Twins swept the season series 6-0 after being swept by the Orioles 6-0 last year.
After the homers gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the top of the third, center fielder while chasing a shallow fly ball that Buxton caught. Correa left the game while Buxton stayed in before exiting in the fourth. The team said both were in concussion protocol.
Paddack gave up three hits and one walk. He struck out three. Louis Varland and Jhoan Duran finished up the Twins’ third shutout this season.
Since giving up nine runs in his season opener, Paddack has posted a 2.51 ERA over eight starts and pitched seven or more innings in consecutive starts for the first time in his seven-year MLB career.
Willi Castro and Royce Lewis had two hits each with Lewis reaching 500 for his career.
Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three.
BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — AJ Smith-Shawver allowed only two hits and no earned runs in six strong innings, Nick Allen drove in a run with two hits and Atlanta beat Washington.
The Braves won three of four games in the series, leaving the Nationals with eight losses in their last nine games. Washington snapped a seven-game losing streak with a on Wednesday night.
Smith-Shawver (3-2) relied on his splitter for six strikeouts and gave up one unearned run. He has won his last three decisions.
C.J. Abrams had two hits, including a homer off left-hander Dylan Lee in the eighth, for Washington.
Smith-Shawver, 22, has emerged as a reliable right-hander following his recall from Triple-A Gwinnett on April 29. He took a of a 4-0 win over Cincinnati on May 5.
Trevor Williams (2-5) gave up four runs, three earned, in 4 1/3 innings.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his seventh save, a day after suffering his third blown save.
REDS 7, WHITE SOX 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain homered, Nick Martinez pitched seven shutout innings and Cincinnati snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Chicago.
The Reds came in averaging 2.2 runs over their last 10 games. They won Thursday for just the third time in 12 games.
Martinez (2-4) gave up two hits and walked none while striking out three. He has not given up a walk in his last three starts covering 19 innings.
De La Cruz’s homer was his eighth of the season and third in five games. Benson’s was his first and McLain’s his sixth. Those three and Gavin Lux had two hits apiece with Benson driving in three.
Bryse Wilson (0-2) went 5 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits, including the three homers. He walked one and struck out three.
Miguel Vargas had two hits and drove in Chicago’s only run in the eighth.
RAYS 8, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) — Josh Lowe had a homer among his three hits in his first game since getting injured on opening day, Brandon Lowe homered twice and Tampa Bay defeated Toronto.
Josh Lowe, recovered from an oblique strain, scored on Brandon Lowe’s sixth and seventh homers of the season and hit his first of the season in the fifth inning. Brandon Lowe finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs.
Kameron Misner hit his fourth homer. José Caballero had two hits, as did Danny Jansen, including an RBI single against his former team.
Zack Littell (3-5) worked 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts. The Rays have won Littell’s last four starts, a span in which he has posted a 3.23 ERA over 25 1/3 innings.
Kevin Gausman (3-4) pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits, including three homers. The 34-year-old right-hander didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Addison Barger hit his second homer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added his fifth and Nathan Lukes his third, all off Littell. Bo Bichette had three hits.
RANGERS 1, ASTROS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for Texas, who got Jake Burger’s solo home run off Hunter Brown in a win over Houston in an anticipated pitchers’ duel that certainly lived up to expectations.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom (4-1) is having quite a comeback after missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old right-hander struck out seven, two of those to end innings with two runners on base, while walking one and giving up five hits.
Brown (6-2), who is 10 years younger that deGrom, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. The righty was tied for the major league lead in wins and retired the first 12 batters he faced before Adolis GarcÃa lined a double to left to start the fifth.
Shawn Armstrong worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his second save.
Burger went deep leading off the sixth, a 394-foot drive into the Texas bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the season.
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