Chase Utley hit a grand slam and a solo homer after Noah Syndergaard threw a 99-mile-per-hour fastball behind his back, and the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep a season-high five times in routing the host New York Mets, 9-1, on Saturday night.
In a scene that seemed inevitable since October, Syndergaard was immediately ejected following the third-inning pitch — almost certainly his shot at retaliation against Utley for the late takeout slide that broke the right leg of then-Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in last year’s playoffs.
Plate umpire Adam Hamari tossed Syndergaard, sending Mets manager Terry Collins into a rage, but no trouble ensued between the teams. A longtime New York nemesis, Utley raised one hand slightly in the direction of the Dodgers’ bench to keep teammates calm — and later answered by doing all sorts of damage with his bat.
Kenta Maeda (4-3) shook off an early line drive that appeared to hit him in the pitching hand and threw five shutout innings for the win.
Rangers 5, Pirates 2 — Yu Darvish struck out seven in five strong innings in his first start in the majors in almost 22 months as host Texas beat Pittsburgh.
The Japanese righthander, who last pitched Aug. 9, 2014, allowed three singles with a walk in his return from last year’s Tommy John surgery, ending Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak. He hit 98 m.p.h. in the first inning.
Adrian Beltre had a two-run homer in the first off Juan Nicasio (3-3) to become the fourth third baseman with at least 1,500 RBIs, finishing with 1,501.
Mitch Moreland snapped a 1-for-27 skid with a solo home run in the fourth.
Cubs 4, Phillies 1 — Kyle Hendricks pitched a five-hitter for his second career complete game, Dexter Fowler hit a leadoff homer, and Chicago beat Philadelphia at Wrigley Field. Hendricks (3-4) struck out seven and walked none.
He was in line for his second career shutout before giving up a run in the ninth.
Fowler sparked a two-run first against Jerad Eickhoff (2-7) with his sixth home run.
Jason Heyward had two doubles for Chicago, which has won four in a row. Ben Zobrist had two hits, including an RBI double, to extend his streak to 14 games.
The Phillies lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Reds 7, Brewers 6 — Joey Votto scored the go-ahead run in the ninth after an inning-ending double play was overturned, and Cincinnati snapped a 12-game losing streak with a tense victory at Milwaukee in which six batters were hit and Reds starter Alfredo Simon was ejected in the fifth for hitting Brewers counterpart Chase Anderson.
Royals 8, White Sox 7 — Brett Eibner’s single capped the biggest ninth-inning comeback in Royals history, a seven-run rally off David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle that lifted the defending World Series champions over visiting Chicago.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez was injured in the ninth in a foul-territory collision with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert.
Indians 11, Orioles 4 — Yan Gomes drove in three runs and highlighted a four-run first with a two-run single and Danny Salazar allowed two runs in six innings as host Cleveland belted out 13 hits against Baltimore, which committed four errors that led to six unearned runs.
Giants 10, Rockies 5 — Buster Posey hit a pair of three-run homers, including a tiebreaking drive as part of a six-run eighth inning, and San Francisco rallied to beat Colorado.
The host Rockies were limited to one run over six innings by Madison Bumgarner, but erupted in the seventh against five San Francisco relievers to take a 5-4 advantage before Posey led the charge in the eighth.
Cardinals 9, Nationals 4 — Adam Wainwright allowed four runs on six hits over seven innings, and sparked a four-run outburst in the second with a two-run double and a run in St. Louis’s victory at Washington.
Rays 9, Yankees 5 — Evan Longoria homered and drove in four runs as host Tampa dealt New York starter Michael Pineda his sixth loss in seven decisions.
Longoria had a sacrifice fly during a three-run first, boosted the lead to 5-0 with a two-run homer in the second, and chased Pineda with an RBI single in the fourth that made it 6-1.
Athletics 12, Tigers 3 — Billy Butler and Khris Davis each homered and drove in three runs to help Oakland snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Detroit.
Danny Valencia had three hits, including a home run, and Coco Crisp and Jake Smolinski each drove in two runs while the A’s reached double figures in scoring for the first time this season.
Braves 7, Marlins 2 — Gordon Beckham hit a three-run homer, Nick Markakis drove in two runs, and Atlanta secured its first home series win of the season.
The Braves rallied for a 2-0 deficit for the second straight day to improve to 4-20 at Turner Field.
