TORONTO (AP) — James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners became the first Canadian to pitch a no-hitter in his home country, shutting down the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 Tuesday night.
Paxton joined Dick Fowler of the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics as the only Canadians to throw a no-hitter.
Paxton, who’s from British Columbia, pointed to a giant tattoo on his right forearm of a maple leaf — a national symbol of Canada — as he celebrated to a standing ovation at Rogers Centre.
The 29-year-old lefty nicknamed “The Big Maple” threw 99 pitches in tossing the third no-hitter in the majors this year — all three have come in different countries.
Oakland’s Sean Manaea pitched one against Boston on April 21 in California. Four Los Angeles Dodgers combined to no-hit San Diego in Mexico last Friday.
Coming off a career-high 16 strikeouts in his last start, Paxton (2-1) was electric once again, hitting 100 mph with his fastball while retiring Josh Donaldson on a grounder to end it.
Astros 4, Athletics 2
OAKLAND, Calif. — George Springer kept up his hitting surge with two hits and two RBIs as Houston beat Sean Manaea and the A’s.
A day earlier, Springer became the first Astros player to get six hits in a nine-inning game. Manaea (4-4) lost in his first start in Oakland since pitching a no-hitter against Boston.
Lance McCullers (5-1) won his fourth straight start and Ken Giles got his fourth save.
Royals 15, Orioles 7
BALTIMORE — Dylan Bundy set a dubious modern-day record, yielding four homers and leaving without getting an out, part of a 10-run first inning that propelled Kansas City past hapless Baltimore.
Bundy (1-5) was lifted after allowing five hits and two walks to the only seven batters he faced. The Orioles have lost seven in a row and 19 of 22.
Jon Jay started the onslaught with a leadoff single before Jorge Soler, Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez homered in succession.
Two walks and a home run by Alex Gordon followed, ending Bundy’s night. It marked the first time in the current era (1908-present) that a pitcher gave up four home runs during an outing in which he did not retire a batter, according to baseball-reference.com.
Tigers 7, Rangers 4
ARLINGTON, Texas — Victor Martinez, Jeimer Candelario and Jose Iglesias homered for Detroit.
Adrian Beltre got three hits for Texas after missing 12 games with a strained hamstring. He is MLB’s active leader in hits with 3,078.
Mike Fiers (3-2), winless with an 8.90 ERA in six previous appearances against Texas, took a shutout into the fifth. Shane Greene struck out the side after a leadoff single in the ninth for his first four-out save of the season and seventh overall in nine chances.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Reds 7, Mets 2
CINCINNATI — Catcher Devin Mesoraco made the short walk between clubhouses shortly before the first pitch as New York dealt for help at its neediest position, and he watched the Mets lose to Cincinnati.
The Mets traded former ace Matt Harvey to the Reds — he’ll join them in Los Angeles on Thursday for the start of a series against the Dodgers — and had Mesoraco on their bench for the first pitch. He pinch hit in the ninth and took a called third strike as the Mets lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Cubs 4, Marlins 3
CHICAGO — Kris Bryant slid home safely with the go-ahead run on Victor Caratini’s grounder to the right side in the eighth inning as Chicago beat Miami.
Carl Edwards Jr. (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth, and Brandon Morrow retired all three batters in the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances.
Nationals 4, Padres 0
SAN DIEGO — Jeremy Hellickson was perfect until Travis Jankowski’s single leading off the seventh inning and led Washington over San Diego.
Hellickson (1-0) struck out eight and kept the Padres off balance four nights after they were no-hit by four Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers in Mexico.
Hellickson allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings and walked none. He also hit an RBI double.
Clayton Richard (1-5) gave three runs in eight innings. He also struck out eight without issuing a walk.
Diamondback 8, Dodgers 5, 12 innings
LOS ANGELES — David Descalso hit a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run homer in the 12th inning to lift Arizona to its third straight win.
Yimi Garcia (0-1) served up the shot to right field with two outs after pinch-hitter Alex Avila singled and Paul Goldschmidt walked.
The NL West leaders won after blowing two- and three-run leads earlier in the game.
A.J. Pollock and John Ryan Murphy hit two-run homers and Chris Owings added a solo shot for Arizona.
Pinch-hitter Kike Hernandez homered on his first pitch from Brad Boxberger to tie it 5-all in the ninth.
The Dodgers stranded three runners in the 10th and two more in the 11th to lose their third in a row.
Phillies 4, Giants 2
PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Nola struck out a career-high 12 in seven stellar innings and Odubel Herrera had two hits to extend his career-best on-base streak to 37 games for Philadelphia.
Aaron Altherr, Carlos Santana and Jorge Alfaro hit solo home runs for the Phillies. Nola (5-1) allowed one run and five hits while walking none.
Hector Neris got the last two outs, striking out both batters, for his seventh save in nine chances.
INTERLEAGUE
Braves 1, Rays 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player to homer in a 1-0 game since 1935, lifting Atlanta over Tampa Bay.
The last player younger than the 20-year-old Acuna to go deep in a 1-0 game was the Chicago Cubs’ Phil Cavarretta against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 25, 1935, according to MLB.com. Cavarretta was 19 years old at the time.
Sean Newcomb (3-1) allowed two singles in six innings and has thrown 13 scoreless innings over his last two starts for the Braves. Atlanta ended a three-game skid and won its sixth consecutive road game, including three consecutive road shutouts.
Brewers 3, Indians 2
MILWAUKEE — Reliever Brent Suter homered off AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and threw 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball to lead Milwaukee over Cleveland.
Suter connected on the first pitch by Kluber (5-2) in the third for the first homer of his professional career. It was the first home run given up by Kluber to a pitcher in his eight years with the Indians.
Suter (2-2) had an eventful night on the mound, too. The left-hander entered with one out in the first for starter Wade Miley, who left following 19 pitches with a strained right oblique.
Suter allowed five hits, including solo homers to Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor, and struck out five in handing Cleveland its fourth straight loss. Josh Hader fanned three over the last two innings for his fifth save.
Twins 7, Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS — Jake Odorizzi pitched five strong innings and Eduardo Escobar had a two-run homer as Minnesota won its season-high fifth straight game.
The win capped a two-game series sweep for the Twins, who have won 14 of their last 17 games against National League teams.
Odorizzi (3-2) allowed just two hits and one run, a homer by St. Louis’ Jose Martinez in the first inning. The right-hander combined with three relievers to retire the final 18 batters of the game.
Carlos Martinez (3-2) saw his stretch of six straight starts allowing one or fewer runs end.
Pirates 10, White Sox 6
CHICAGO — Colin Moran hit a key two-run double, Jordy Mercer also had two RBIs and Pittsburgh cleaned up in interleague play once again, beating the White Sox.
Corey Dickerson had four hits. The Pirates have dropped five of seven, but they love to plunder the other league, specifically their counterparts in the AL Central. Pittsburgh improved to 7-2 in interleague play this year and 65-44 over the last six seasons, tops in the NL.
Welington Castillo homered twice for the last-place White Sox, who have lost four straight.
Rockies 4, Angels 2
DENVER — Jon Gray continued Colorado’s strong stretch of starts with seven scoreless innings, and the Rockies won their sixth in a row.
Gray walked one and struck out eight to notch Colorado’s ninth straight quality start, a franchise record. He shook off a 28-pitch first inning to hold the Angels’ potent lineup to four hits.
