Steven Matz pitched seven impressive innings in his season debut, Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer, and the New York Mets beat the Braves, 8-1, on Saturday night to sweep a doubleheader in Atlanta.
Yoenis Cespedes made a smashing return in the first game, hitting a grand slam to celebrate his return to the lineup following a six-week stint on the disabled list. The Mets won the opener, 6-1.
Matz, appearing in a big league game for first time since Aug. 14, gave up five hits, one run, and one walk. The lefthander struck out two, holding the Braves scoreless until the seventh.
Matz had a bone spur surgically removed from his left elbow last October and began the season on the disabled list with elbow inflammation. The oft-injured former phenom hardly looked rusty, cruising through the first five innings before escaping trouble in the sixth when Matt Kemp flied out with two runners on.
Wilmer Flores got four hits, and went a combined 6 for 9 in the two games.
New York, which didn’t trail all day, went up 3-0 in the fifth on Bruce’s 16th homer. Pinch-hitter T.J. Rivera had a two-run homer in the eighth and pinch-hitter Juan Lagares added a two-run single in the ninth.
The Braves have lost 15 of 20 games to the Mets in Atlanta.
Matt Wilser (0-1) gave up six hits, four runs and three walks in six innings. He struck out seven in making his first start of the season.
Cespedes, back from a strained left hamstring, said he still can’t run at 100 percent, but he didn’t need to run fast after connecting against Luke Jackson in the ninth inning of the first game.
The slugging outfielder sent a drive over the left-center field wall and was able to trot slowly enough to soak in the moment and smile at his cheering teammates. He went 2 for 5, including his seventh home run of the season.
‘‘It’s not easy for any ballplayer to miss that much time and still have your timing down,’’ Cespedes said. ‘‘But in my case, I’ve been playing for lots of years. So I just try to stay calm and look for good pitches.’’
Sean Newcomb lost in his major league debut in the opener despite allowing just one unearned run and four hits in 6⅓ innings. The former Middleboro High and University of Hartford star struck out seven and walked two.
Robert Gsellman (5-3) won his third straight start. He gave up three hits, two walks and struck out four in 6⅔ scoreless innings.
Yankees 16, Orioles 3 — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 19th homer and host New York connected five times in all in its fourth straight win.
Starlin Castro, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, and Matt Holliday also homered. The Yankees have outscored their opponents, 41-6, during their winning streak.
Luis Severino (5-2) pitched seven sharp innings, giving up one run and two hits. He struck out eight walked two.
Orioles starter Chris Tillman (1-4) was tagged for nine runs in only 1⅓ innings.
Rockies 9, Cubs 1 — Mark Reynolds and Charlie Blackmon homered, rookie Jeff Hoffman pitched neatly into the seventh inning, and visiting Colorado won its seventh straight game by routing Chicago.
The Rockies have their longest winning streak since 2011. The Cubs lost their fourth in a row, dropping the World Series champions to 30-31.
Reynolds had four hits, including his 17th homer, and Nolan Arenado had a three-run double during a five-run ninth inning. The NL-leading Rockies improved to 24-10 on the road.
One of four rookies in the Rockies’ rotation, the 24-year-old Hoffman (4-0) allowed one run and struck out eight in 6⅓ innings. Four Colorado relievers kept Chicago scoreless the rest of the way. Cubs starter Eddie Butler (3-2) pitched five innings and gave up three runs on six hits in his first outing against his former team.
Rangers 6, Nationals 3 — Robinson Chirinos nearly put Texas ahead during a ninth-inning rally that tied it, then hit a three-run homer in the 11th that sent the Rangers over host Washington.
Texas scored twice in the ninth to make it 3-all. Chirinos’s bid for a tiebreaking sacrifice fly was thwarted by Washington right fielder Bryce Harper, who made a strong throw to nail a runner at the plate. Washington almost won it in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Trea Turner bunted with a man at third, but pinch runner Wilmer Difo hesitated going home and was quickly tagged out.
Pinch-hitter Joey Gallo doubled with two outs in the Texas 11th off Shawn Kelley (3-2). Following an intentional walk to Nomar Mazara, Chirinos drove a fastball just over the left-field wall.
Keone Kela (3-1) went two innings as the below-.500 Rangers beat the NL East leaders for the second straight day.
Pirates 7, Marlins 6 — Jordy Mercer hit a tying two-run triple in the eighth and John Jaso followed with a go-ahead double, lifting host Pittsburgh over Miami.
Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton was hit by a pitch on the wrist in the first and left the game. He is day-to-day with a bruised wrist.
Mercer’s double to center off reliever David Phelps (2-3) scored Andrew McCutchen and Elias Diaz, then Mercer scored on Jaso’s ground-rule double to right.
Pittsburgh rallied from three deficits, including after Miami opened with a three-run first. McCutchen, Diaz and Josh Bell each had three hits for the Pirates, although Bell was thrown out at the plate in the third and the Pirates left runners in scoring position in five consecutive innings before finally breaking through.
Pirates starter Trevor Williams gave up five runs in four innings, including homers to J.T. Realmuto and Derek Dietrich. Realmuto had three hits and three RBIs.
Daniel Hudson (1-2) earned the win behind a scoreless seventh. Juan Nicasio got two outs in the eighth, and Felipe Rivero got four outs for the save — his first with the Pirates and the fourth of his career.
Royals 12, Padres 6 — Lorenzo Cain hit two homers, including a grand slam that capped a nine-run eighth inning that sent visiting Kansas City over San Diego.
The Royals trailed, 5-3, when Cain led off the eighth with an infield single. Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez followed with home runs off Brad Hand (1-4) to put Kansas City ahead. Cain’s second career slam came off Jose Valdez. Padres pitchers got only one out in the inning before the Royals scored nine times.
Astros 3, Angels 1 — Mike Fiers (4-2) went 7⅓ innings to win his third straight start and Brian McCann homered to lead host Houston over Los Angeles.
Ken Giles walked one and struck out three in a scoreless ninth for his 16th save.
McCann put Houston up, 1-0, with his solo shot to right field off Ricky Nolasco (2-7) with one out in the second. That hit gave the Astros at least one homer in 18 straight games, which ties a franchise record set in 2000.
Twins 3, Giants 2 — Brian Dozier and Kennys Vargas homered and Jose Berrios (5-1) struck out eight over 5⅓ innings to lead visiting Minnesota over San Francisco.
The righthander escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third. After Denard Span’s double and walks to Brandon Belt and Buster Posey, Berrios struck out Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence.
Belt splashed a 3-and-2 pitch into McCovey Cove for a solo homer in the first inning to put San Francisco ahead. It marked his seventh career homer into the bay beyond the right-field wall named for Hall of Famer Willie McCovey and second this season.
Giants starter Jeff Samardzija (2-8) struck out six and walked one over six innings.
Rays, 6-5; Athletics, 7-2 — Evan Longoria hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and host Tampa Bay beat Oakland in the opener of the majors’ first regularly scheduled doubleheader since 2011. In the nightcap, Ryon Healy hit his 14th homer and the A’s cruised.
The Rays won their fourth in a row. Oakland, which scored a run in the ninth to tie it, lost despite getting a season-high 16 hits.
Peter Bourjos led off the 10th with a single, advanced on a wild pitch by Liam Hendriks (2-1) and scored on Longoria’s third hit of the game. Austin Pruitt (5-1) won in relief.
Oakland starter Sonny Gray struck out 10 while giving up five runs, only two of them earned, in six innings. Steven Souza Jr. and Tim Beckham each drove in two runs for the Rays,
Cardinals 7, Phillies 0 — Carlos Martinez (5-5) struck out 11 in a complete-game shutout and host St. Louis beat Philadelphia.
Martinez allowed four hits and walked one in his first complete game and first shutout of his career. Martinez’s 101st pitch of the game was a 100 miles per hour fastball that struck out Howie Kendrick for the second out in the ninth.
White Sox 5, Indians 3 — Jose Abreu had an RBI single in a three-run first and Chicago won at Cleveland despite having six runners thrown out on the bases.
The White Sox had two runners thrown out in the first and one in the second, third, fifth and eighth innings. Melky Cabrera was thrown out at home in the first and again in the second.
