LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw pitched his first no-hitter Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw pitched his first no-hitter Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Kershaw’s gem gave the Dodgers the only two no-hitters in the majors this season. Josh Beckett tossed one May 25 in Philadelphia.
“I am so amazed,” Kershaw said. “Beckett told me he was going to teach me how to do that, so I have Josh to thank.”
Cheered on by his wife in the stands, Kershaw (7-2) retired his first 18 batters before Corey Dickerson led off the seventh with a slow bouncer to Ramirez. His throw on the run went wide past first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for a two-base error — ending any chance for a perfect game.
That was it for the Rockies against Kershaw, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner.
With the crowd of 46,069 on its feet and roaring, the left-hander made quick work of the Rockies in the ninth.
After his 107th and final pitch, a smiling Kershaw raised his arms above his head and waited for a huge hug from catcher A.J. Ellis.
Moments later, as he was about to be interviewed on the field, Kershaw was doused by teammates with two large buckets. He also got a hug from his wife.
The only other time the Dodgers threw two no-hitters in one season was 1956, when the team was still in Brooklyn. Carl Erskine and Sal Maglie turned the trick that year.
ROYALS 2, TIGERS 1
DETROIT — The Kansas City Royals won their 10th straight game, extending their best streak in 20 years when Jeremy Guthrie and a lucky hop helped them beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Wednesday.
The Royals have not won this many games in a row since a run of 14 straight in 1994. They extended their AL Central lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games.
Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and struck out nine in 6 2-3 innings. Drew Smyly (3-6) nearly matched him, but the Detroit left-hander was hurt by Alex Gordon’s RBI single that deflected off second base in the first and a solo homer by Omar Infante in the fifth.
J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances.
Kansas City will try for a four-game sweep Thursday.
RED SOX 2, TWINS 1, 10 INNINGS
BOSTON (AP) — Mike Napoli and David Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and Boston rallied to hand Minnesota its fifth straight loss.
Boston was held to one hit — a fifth-inning double by Daniel Nava — before the homers.
The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th on Chris Parmelee’s two-out home run off Koji Uehara (2-1), snpping the closer’s scoreless streak at 21 2-3 innings. But after Dustin Pedroia flied out to begin the Boston 10th, the Red Sox connected against Casey Fien (3-4) to complete a three-game sweep.
ATHLETICS 4, RANGERS 2
OAKLAND, Calif. — Brandon Moss hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth inning and Sonny Gray pitched Oakland past Texas, giving the Athletics the best record in the majors.
Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Donaldson each had two hits for the A’s. Oakland has won four of five and is a season-high 16 games over .500 at 44-28.
Gray (7-3) had won just two of his previous eight starts before going seven innings and striking out seven. Luke Gregerson pitched the eighth and Sean Doolittle worked the ninth for his ninth save.
Nick Tepesch (2-3) went five innings. Shin-Soo Choo drove in both runs for the Rangers.
YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 3
NEW YORK — Brian McCann hit a go-ahead, two-run homer and later added a bases-loaded triple to lead New York over first-place Toronto.
The Yankees beat Mark Buehrle for the ninth straight time and handed the Blue Jays their 15th loss in a row in the Bronx.
Rookie right-hander Chase Whitley (3-0) remained unbeaten in seven starts since making his big league debut this season.
Buehrle (10-4) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings and lost his third straight start overall. He is 1-11 against the Yankees, with his lone win coming in 2004 with the Chicago White Sox.
McCann tied his career high with five RBIs. His third major league triple was his first since 2009 with Atlanta. Toronto’s Jose Bautista had an RBI double for his 1,000th career hit.
ORIOLES 2, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Gausman pitched six innings, Steve Pearce’s double snapped a scoreless tie and Nelson Cruz added his major league-leading 22nd home run to help Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.
Pearce homered during a 7-5 victory Tuesday night and put the Orioles ahead this time with a line drive down the right-field line in the fifth.
Alex Cobb (2-5) would have made it through the inning unscathed if second baseman Ben Zobrist hadn’t mishandled Nick Markakis’ grounder for an error.
Gausman (3-1) allowed five hits and struck out five, including Zobrist and James Loney after the Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the first.
The Rays were blanked for an AL-leading 11th time, finishing with five hits and going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
WHITE SOX 7, GIANTS 6
CHICAGO — Jose Abreu hit his 20th homer, a two-run shot, and Adam Dunn added a three-run drive to help Chicago hand San Francisco its fifth straight loss.
White Sox ace Chris Sale (6-1) gave up three runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. Ronald Belisario got five outs for his seventh save.Abreu reached 20 homers in his 58th game, the third-fewest in major league history behind Wally Berger (51) and Mark McGuire (56). Chicago swept the two-game series.
Giants starter Tim Hudson (7-3) allowed seven runs and 12 hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing this season. He entered with a major league-best 1.81 ERA.
NATIONALS 6, ASTROS 5
WASHINGTON — Anthony Rendon homered to spark a three-run seventh inning, and pinch-hitter Nate McLouth came through with a tiebreaking sacrifice fly as Washington rallied past Houston for a two-game sweep.
The Nationals extended their NL East lead to 1 1/2 games over Atlanta and Miami. They open a four-game series against the Braves on Thursday night in Washington.
Ian Desmond hit a key double off Kyle Farnsworth in the seventh. Darin Downs (1-1) took the loss.
Aaron Barrett (3-0) got one out for the win and Rafael Soriano earned his 15th save.
Matt Dominguez drove in two runs for the Astros, who have lost three straight.
PHILLIES 10, BRAVES 5
ATLANTA — Ryan Howard capped a big series by driving in two runs with three hits, and Philadelphia battered Aaron Harang to complete a three-game sweep of Atlanta.
Howard, who homered in the first two games of the series, doubled home a run in a five-run second inning and added an RBI single in the fifth. He had five hits, four walks and six RBIs in the series.
Marlon Byrd drove in three runs with three hits, including a homer. Five players each had three of Philadelphia’s season-high 18 hits.
Evan Gattis hit a two-run homer in the Braves’ four-run first inning off Roberto Hernandez (3-5). Ryan Doumit also homered and hit a two-run single.
Harang (5-6) allowed nine runs, eight earned, and 13 hits. He threw 115 pitches in five innings.
The Phillies have won seven of nine. Atlanta has lost eight of 12.
METS 3, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS — Bartolo Colon worked eight dominant innings in 91-degree heat and keyed the go-ahead rally with his first career extra-base hit, helping New York beat St. Louis to avoid a three-game sweep.
Eric Young Jr. and David Wright each had an RBI in a two-run sixth that put the Mets up by a run. Young added an RBI double in the seventh, aided by Colon’s second sacrifice of the game. A day after dropping their sixth straight series in St. Louis, the Mets ended an eight-game road losing streak dating to June 3.
Matt Carpenter hit his third career leadoff homer for the Cardinals, who lost for the second time in nine games. They had just one runner in scoring position against the 41-year-old Colon (7-5), who retired 13 in a row before Daniel Descalso’s two-out single in the eighth.
Colon surprised Lance Lynn (7-5) with a double to open the sixth. The pitcher had been 0 for 43 at the plate since June 10, 2005, when he singled for the Angels against the Mets. He scored his second career run, and first since 2002 with the Expos, when Young followed with a double.
Colon won his fifth straight decision and needed just 86 pitches. He allowed four hits and walked none.
Left-hander Dana Eveland retired lefty swinging Matt Adams with a runner on for his second career save. The other came in 2005.
The Mets won for the fourth time in 15 games.
CUBS 6, MARLINS 1
MIAMI — Jake Arrieta had a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings, and Nate Schierholtz hit a three-run homer to lead Chicago over Miami.
By taking the rubber game of the three-game set, the last-place Cubs won consecutive road series for the first time since June 2013.
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit his NL-leading 20th homer in the first but left the game after six innings with a bruised left wrist. Stanton said the injury wasn’t serious, and he expected to be back in the lineup Thursday.
Arrieta (3-1) allowed five hits and one walk, lowering his ERA to 1.98. He also doubled for his first career extra-base hit.
Schierholtz connected off Nathan Eovaldi (4-3) in a four-run sixth. Starlin Castro had a pair of RBI doubles and a single.