T

TORONTO — Yusei Kikuchi struck out eight batters over 5 2/3 innings, Bo Bichette hit a solo home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the slumping White Sox 8-0 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep, extending Chicago’s losing streak to seven.

Blue Jays outfielder George Springer left in the fourth, one inning after he was hit on the right hand by a pitch from White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech (0-3). X-rays did not reveal a fracture.

Cavan Biggio pinch hit for Springer but struck out to strand two runners.

Chicago has lost 9 of 10 and 15 of 18. Things aren’t getting any easier for the White Sox, who host MLB-leading Tampa Bay in a four-game series beginning Thursday.

Kikuchi (4-0) allowed four hits, all singles, and walked one in his third straight winning start. The left-hander has pitched at least six innings in all three of those victories. He has allowed more than one earned run only once in five starts in 2023.

YANKEES 12, TWINS 6: Aaron Judge had three hits and three RBI and dodged an injury scare on his eventful 31st birthday, helping visiting New York avoid a sweep.

Gleyber Torres drove a two-run homer into the second deck in a six-run fourth inning against Kenta Maeda (0-4), who left the mound with Twins athletic trainer Nick Paparesta for the second straight start. He was tagged with a career-worst 11 hits and 10 runs.

Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo each had two-run doubles in the fateful fourth for Maeda, as the lagging and injury-limited Yankees’ lineup posted season highs in hits (14) and runs (12). They totaled only eight runs over their previous five games, losing four.

Judge surprisingly tried to steal third base in the second inning after a three-run double, and he was thrown out on an awkward head-first slide as his shoulders lurched forward ahead of his arms. His right hand was jammed into the dirt underneath the weight of his body, and he jogged without stopping off the diamond and up the tunnel to the clubhouse, causing concerned looks in the dugout.

Still squeezing and flexing his wrist upon his return to the bench, Judge — who was conveniently taking a turn as the designated hitter — stayed in the game and walked in his next at-bat.

ASTROS 1, JAYS 0: Hunter Brown combined with two relievers on a two-hitter and visiting Houston shut out major league-best Tampa Bay for the second straight game.

Brown (3-0) had a career-high eight strikeouts and walked two in his seven innings. Hector Neris pitched a perfect eighth and Ryan Pressly worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

The Astros had snapped the Rays’ 14-game home winning streak to start the season, the best in MLB since 1901, with Tuesday night’s 5-0 win.

INTERLEAGUE

GUARDIANS 4, ROCKIES 1: Tanner Bibee struck out eight and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings in his major league debut and Cleveland topped visiting Colorado to avoid a three-game sweep.

Bibee, a 24-year-old right-hander, was called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game and became the second Cleveland pitcher in four days to win his major league debut. Logan Allen won his debut Sunday against Miami, allowing one run and striking out eight in six innings.

Bibee gave up six hits, didn’t walk a batter and threw 91 pitches. He took a shutout into the sixth before Colorado scored on Kris Bryant’s RBI single. Bibee was pulled after Ryan McMahon’s two-out single.

REDS 5, RANGERS 3: Nick Senzel hit a game-ending, two-run homer in the ninth inning, ending Cincinnati’s longest homerless drought in 32 years and giving the host Reds  their first series sweep since last July.

Brad Mills’ sacrifice fly off Lucas Sims (1-0) tied the score in the ninth. Kevin Newman singled leading off the bottom half against Jonathan Hernández (0-1) and took second on shortstop Josh Smith’s throwing error.

Senzel hit a full-count slider off the yellow padding along the top of the left-field wall, ending the Reds’ streak of 79 innings without a home run since Kevin Newman’s second-inning drive against Tampa Bay on April 17. The eight games without a long ball were the most for the Reds since 1991.

BREWERS 6, TIGERS 2: Victor Caratini and rookie Joey Wiemer homered to back Freddy Peralta, leading Milwaukee over visiting Detroit to stop a three-game losing streak.

Detroit shortstop Javier Báez, who entered with a 10-game hitting streak, left in the first inning after being struck on the left hand by a 93 mph Peralta pitch. The Tigers said Báez’s hand was bruised and X-rays were negative.

DIAMONDBACKS 2, ROYALS 0: Zac Gallen struck out 12 over 6 1/3 innings and stretched his scoreless streak to 28 innings, leading Arizona over visiting Kansas City.

Gallen (4-1) gave up four hits and walked none. He struck out six straight batters in the fourth and fifth innings, one shy of the franchise record set by Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, both in 2001.

PHILLIES 6, MARINERS 5: Nick Castellanos had three hits and three RBI, Alec Bohm hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning and Philadelphia overcame an injury to Taijuan Walker to beat visiting Seattle.

J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber also drove in runs for the Phillies, who rebounded from a 5-2 second-inning deficit on a drizzly night. The defending National League champions, who lost their first four games, improved to 12-13 and with a win in Thursday’s series finale can reach .500 for the first time this season.

J.P. Crawford hit a grand slam, doubled and singled for Seattle, and Julio Rodríguez also went deep.

Walker was removed after four innings and 68 pitches because of right forearm tightness. The 30-year-old right-hander, who spent his first four big league seasons with the Mariners from 2013-16, allowed five runs — all in the second — five hits and two walks. He signed a $72 million, four-year deal with the Phillies as a free agent.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 8, DODGERS 1: Roansy Contreras gave up two hits in six scoreless innings and Ji Hwan Bae and Jason Delay had three hits each as Pittsburgh beat visiting Los Angeles.

Contreras (3-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Austin Wynns broke it up with a leadoff single and Freddie Freeman singled with one out. Contreras escaped the jam and preserved a 2-0 lead by getting Jason Heyward and James Outman to fly out.

Contreras struck out five and walked two.

BRAVES 6, MARLINS 4: Vaughn Grissom had two hits, including a single to drive in the go-ahead run in a four-run eighth inning, and host Atlanta rallied to overcome a strong start by Miami’s Sandy Alcantara.

Dylan Floro (1-1) blew a 4-2 lead in the eighth, which began with Matt Olson’s seventh homer. Grissom’s single to right field drove in Eddie Rosario, who tripled, for a 5-4 lead.

Marcell Ozuna’s grounder was fielded by Floro in front of the mound, but Floro’s wild throw past catcher Jacob Stallings for an error allowed Ozzie Albies to score.

Alcantara was sharp in his return after missing one start with right biceps tendinitis, allowing two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner, faded in the sixth, when he allowed both runs.

NATIONALS 4, METS 1: The New York Mets extended a losing streak to four for the first time since 2021 when MacKenzie Gore tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts and led  Washington to a win at New York.

Gore (3-1) gave up one run, four hits and two walks in six innings for the Nationals, who clinched their third series win against the Mets since the start of 2021. Washington was 13-25 against New York the last two seasons.

New York has been outscored 21-9 during the skid, their longest since dropping five from Sept. 21-26, 2021.

PADRES 5, CUBS 3: Fernando Tatis Jr. drove in three runs with a pair of singles, lifting San Diego to a win at Chicago.

With runners at second and third in the seventh, Tatis hit Brandon Hughes’ 2-1 slider past diving Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom to score both and give the Padres a 4-3 lead. He knocked in an insurance run in the ninth with a line shot to center.

Tatis played his sixth game since returning from an 80-game drug suspension. His RBI were his second, third and fourth since being reinstated.

NOTES

MARINERS: Left-hander Robbie Ray will have surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his pitching elbow and will miss the rest of the season.

Ray, in the second season of a $115 million, five-year contract, was injured in his season debut against Cleveland on March 31 when he walked five. He threw 91 pitches over 3 1/3 innings and walked five, one shy of his career high.

DIAMONDBACKS: Four-time All-Star Madison Bumgarner was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks after clearing waivers.

The veteran left-hander was designated for assignment on April 20, giving the team seven days to trade the 2014 World Series MVP or place him on waivers. Bumgarner wasn’t claimed and can sign with any team for a prorated share of the $720,000 major league minimum.

The 33-year-old allowed at least five runs in three of his four starts this season and dropped to 1-3 with a 10.26 ERA after his latest outing against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The big left-hander never lived up to expectations in the desert after signing a $85 million, five-year deal in 2020. A postseason hero for San Francisco, he was 15-32 with a 5.23 ERA in 69 starts over four seasons with the Diamondbacks, who were responsible for $34.4 million in remaining salary at the time he was cut.

CARDINALS: Promising rookie outfielder Jordan Walker was optioned to Triple-A Memphis following a 7-for-35 slide in his last 10 games.

Walker made his debut on Opening Day and opened the season with a record-tying 12-game hitting streak. He was hitting .353 through April 10 but his average has dropped to .274 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI. Walker struck out 20 times in 73 at-bats.