Justin Verlander, who has not pitched in a regular-season game since July 2020, had his second scoreless outing of the spring Wednesday as the Houston Astros defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The two-time Cy Young winner, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, was pulled after 2 2/3 innings after exceeding the team-imposed pitch count of 50 by one. Verlander threw two scoreless innings in his spring debut, also against the Cardinals, last week. Verlander is expected to get one more start before the end of spring training.
Houston’s Scott Schreiber had a three-run home run, and Yuli Gurriel and Pedro Leon also went deep for the Astros.
Twins 10, Red Sox 4
Trevor Larnach had a three-run home run for Houston in a four-run fifth inning and starter Josh Winder struck out three in two scoreless innings as Minnesota defeated Boston at Fort Myers, Fla. Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi threw four perfect innings and struck out six.
Marlins 3, Nationals 2
Yadiel Hernandez doubled to deep left to drive home Richard Urena with the winning run in the ninth inning as Miami defeated Washington at Jupiter, Fla. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara gave up one hit and one run four innings. Nationals starter Patrick Corbin threw four scoreless innings while striking out four.
Phillies 8, Blue Jays 7
J.T. Realmuto hit a home run that traveled 414 feet and Matt Vierling had a two-run single as Philadelphia beat Toronto at Clearwater, Fla. The Blue Jays’ Santiago Espinal hit a two-run home run.
Tigers 6, Pirates 6
Ryan Kreidler hit a grand slam as Detroit rallied from a 5-1 deficit at Lakeland, Fla. Hunter Owen had a ninth-inning home run for Pittsburgh to force the tie.
Rays 7, Braves 7
Austin Riley hit two home runs and drove in three runs for and Trey Harris hit a game-tying, ninth-inning single as Atlanta rallied against Tampa Bay at North Port, Fla. Catchers Francisco Mejia and Joe Hudson had two hits apiece for the Rays, who have yet to win a game this spring.
Cubs 5, Athletics 4
Andy Weber’s two-run single in the seventh inning put Chicago ahead to stay against Oakland at Mesa, Ariz. Tony Kemp, Kevin Smith and Elvis Andrus each had two hits for the A’s.
Dodgers 6, Guardians 2
Miguel Vargas hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the second inning and six Los Angeles pitchers held Cleveland scoreless the rest of the way at Phoenix. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw had a rocky start, allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings to boost his spring ERA to 7.36.
Diamondbacks 5, Giants 3
Dominic Canzone hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to help Arizona preserve its lead at Scottsdale, Ariz. The Diamondbacks’ six pitchers held San Francisco to three hits, with starter Merrill Kelly tossing three scoreless, hitless innings.
Rangers 14, White Sox 5
Corey Seager, Mitch Garver, Blaine Crim and Brad Miller had two hits apiece as Texas had a 16-hit outburst at Surprise, Ariz. Romy Gonzalez had a solo home run for Chicago.
Royals 8, Rockies 4
Edward Olivares hit two solo home runs for Kansas City and starter Zack Greinke pitched three innings of one-run ball at Scottsdale, Ariz. Sam Hilliard had a two-run home run for Colorado.
Padres 3, Angels 0
Seven San Diego pitchers combined on a two-hitter at Peoria, Ariz. Starter MacKenzie Gore went three innings, allowing one hit while striking out five. Jorge Alfaro homered for San Diego.
Yankees 7, Orioles 1
Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres each had two-run home runs for New York at Tampa, Fla., and DJ LeMahieu added a solo shot. Austin Hays had a single and a double for Baltimore.
Reds 12, Brewers 8
Elly De La Cruz’s eighth-inning grand slam snapped a tie and sent Cincinnati past Milwaukee at Goodyear, Ariz. Keston Hiura homered and doubled for the Brewers.
–Field Level Media
