Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco celebrates with first-base coach Chris Prieto after his RBI single off Pirates starter Roansy Contreras during the fifth inning Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Harold Ramírez homered and drove in two runs to lead the Tampa Bay Rays over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams with the top two records in the major leagues.
Ramírez drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the fourth and boosted the lead to 4-1 with a solo homer in the sixth against Roansy Contreras (3-2). The Rays, who drew just 10,325 to Tropicana Field, lead the big leagues with 62 home runs and have outscored opponents 199-93.
Pittsburgh (20-10), in first place at the end of April for the first time since 1992, has lost back-to-back games for the first time since the last two games of opening series at Cincinnati. The Pirates lost for the third time in the last 13 games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WHITE SOX 3, TWINS 2: Andrew Benintendi robbed Carlos Correa of a homer and hit a game-ending single in the 10th inning, sending Chicago to a win over visiting Minnesota.
Hanser Alberto opened the 10th on second as the automatic runner and advanced on Elvis Andrus’ sacrifice. After Tim Anderson bounced to shortstop, Benintendi lined a clean single into left against Caleb Thielbar (0-1).
YANKEES 4, GUARDIANS 2: Willie Calhoun snapped a seventh-inning tie with his first home run for New York, which beat visiting Cleveland to stop a four-game slide.
Gerrit Cole settled down after a rocky start and rookie Anthony Volpe homered in the sixth to begin New York’s comeback from a two-run deficit.
Gleyber Torres followed with a double that chased impressive rookie Tanner Bibee. Anthony Rizzo’s single off James Karinchak tied it.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 4, CUBS 1: Alex Call hit a two-run double during a three-run seventh inning, and Washington beat visiting Chicago.
CJ Abrams had the tie-breaking RBI single in the seventh off Keegan Thompson (1-2) as part of a 3-for-3 night. Victor Robles followed with an infield hit and Call doubled to the gap in left-center to make it 4-1.
BRAVES 6, MARLINS 0: Bryce Elder outpitched NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara by throwing seven innings of three-hit ball and Atlanta won at Miami.
Ozzie Albies homered and doubled, and Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled, drove in a run and stole his NL-leading 14th base for the Braves. Acuña played a day after sustaining a bruised left shoulder when he was plunked by a 93 mph fastball in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets.
Elder (3-0) struck out six and induced 10 groundouts in his longest start of the season.
Alcantara (1-3) has a 7.40 ERA and lost three of his four starts since throwing a complete game shutout against Minnesota on April 4.
NOTES
METS: New York Mets star pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are returning to the mound, perhaps fittingly in Detroit against a team they helped have its last run of success.
“It’s funny how baseball works,” Verlander said Tuesday, surrounded by Detroit and New York-area reporters at Comerica Park.
The 40-year-old Verlander is scheduled to make his Mets debut on Thursday against the Tigers, who drafted the right-hander No. 2 overall in 2004 and traded him to Houston in 2017.
Verlander’s season-opening start was delayed due to a back injury.
The 38-year-old Scherzer (2-1, 3.72 ERA) is due to pitch Wednesday for the first time since April 19, when he was ejected for violating MLB’s foreign substance policy.
The series-opening game Tuesday night was postponed due to rain, and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday.
GIANTS: The San Francisco Giants released former New York Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez.
Sánchez, who signed a minor league deal in March, had a May 1 opt-out clause in his contract.
The 30-year-old Sánchez hadn’t appeared with the Giants this season, instead playing for Triple-A Sacramento. He struggled there, hitting .164 with no homers and eight RBI.
ROCKIES: Right-hander Germán Márquez will have Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season, the pitcher told reporters.
The surgery has not been scheduled as of yet.
ASTROS: Starter Luis García was placed on the 15-day injured list, the second Astros starter to be put on the list this week.
García left Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants after eight pitches with right elbow discomfort.
His injury came on the same day that fellow right-hander Jose Urquidy was placed on the IL with inflammation in his throwing shoulder after being injured Sunday night.
YANKEES: Harrison Bader was activated from the injured list and made his season debut against the Cleveland Guardians.
Bader was in the starting lineup, playing center and batting fifth.
New York’s pitching staff took another hit, though: Right-handed reliever Lou Trivino is scheduled for season-ending Tommy John surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles. Trivino has been out all year with an elbow strain.
Meanwhile, starter Carlos Rodón remains in a holding pattern because of back trouble.
Bader went 0 for 4 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday and was 3 for 25 (.125) with one RBI during a seven-game minor league rehab assignment. He was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the Aug. 2 trade deadline last year for left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
WHITE SOX: Tim Anderson is back, and he is looking to bring his usual positive energy to the Chicago White Sox.
The All-Star shortstop also realizes his own limitations.
“I’m just one guy. I’m one guy and I come to the ballpark every day to do my job,” he said.
Anderson returned to the White Sox, part of a flurry of moves by the sputtering ballclub.
Anderson and infielder Hanser Alberto were reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Anderson sprained his left knee on April 10 at Minnesota, and Alberto is coming back from a strained left quad.
Chicago also optioned rookie outfielder Oscar Colás and infielder Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A Charlotte. The 24-year-old Colás, one of the team’s top prospects, hit .211 with a homer and seven RBI in 25 games in his first stint in the majors.
With Colás back in the minors, Gavin Sheets, Eloy Jiménez and Adam Haseley likely will get most of the time in right field.
Sheets was in right and Jiménez was the designated hitter Tuesday night against the Twins. Anderson, Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. also were in the lineup. It was the first start for Benintendi since he was hit by a pitch Friday, and Robert was limited to pinch-hitting duties Sunday because of some right hamstring tightness.
Veteran reliever Alexander Colomé, outfielder Billy Hamilton and left-hander Sammy Peralta were promoted from Charlotte. Reliever Joe Kelly was placed on the paternity list, and utilityman Romy Gonzalez went on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation.
MARINERS: Former All-Star infielder Tommy La Stella was cut by the Seattle Mariners.
ROYALS: The Kansas City Royals recalled infielder Maikel Garcia, one of the organization’s top prospects, along with catcher Freddy Fermin .
Franmil Reyes was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and infielder Nicky Lopez was placed on the 10-day injured list.
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