DENVER >> Clayton Kershaw struck out five to inch closer to 3,000, Shohei Ohtani hit his 28th home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 3-1 on Thursday.

Kershaw (4-0) struck out five in six innings for his fourth straight win and has 2,997 strikeouts over his 18-year career — three short of becoming the 20th major leaguer and the third active pitcher to reach 3,000.

Ohtani’s 419-foot homer to right-center gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the seventh.

Mookie Betts had two hits and an RBI and Freddie Freeman had an RBI single for the Dodgers, who have won 10 in a row against the Rockies — six this season.

The Dodgers, who trailed 1-0 after Brenton Doyle homered off Kershaw in the second, had their major league-high 31st comeback victory.

Mets 4, Braves 0 >> Pete Alonso had three hits and an RBI and the New York Mets overcame the loss of starting pitcher Griffin Canning to injury in the third inning Thursday night for a 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves and a split of the four-game series.

The Mets, who had lost 10 of 11 games before a 7-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday night, moved back into first place in the NL East, a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Canning worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings before suffering a left ankle injury on a non-contact play while trying to race off the mound. After the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said it “looks like an Achilles injury.” The team said he would undergo imaging to determine the severity of the injury.

Astros 2, Phillies 1 >> Cam Smith hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Houston Astros a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The rookie’s second hit of the game came off Orion Kerkering (5-3) and gave the Astros their fourth straight win.

Brandon Marsh tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the top of the inning to end the Phillies’ 26-inning scoreless streak.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead on Yainer Diaz’s RBI single in the second inning. They only managed three more hits off Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez, who struck out 11 with zero walks over six innings. Sanchez has not issued a walk in three straight starts.

Hunter Brown lowered his league best ERA to 1.74 by scattering three singles over seven shutout innings, with nine strikeouts. He did not allow a runner to reach second base.

Marlins 12, Giants 5 >> Kyle Stowers and Agustín Ramírez each homered and the Miami Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants 12-5 on Thursday to complete a three-game series sweep.

Xavier Edwards had a two-run double for Miami, which has won four straight overall, five of six, and six straight on the road.

Rafael Devers had three hits including a homer and a double for San Francisco, which has lost eight of its last 11.

Devers’ homer was his 17th and his second in nine games since being acquired by San Francisco last week.

Rays 4, Royals 0 >> Shane Baz allowed three hits over a career-best eight innings, Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero hit back-to-back homers in the sixth, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on Thursday for a three-game sweep.

Baz (8-3) struck out nine and walked one. Jacob Lowe had three hits for the Rays, and Jake Mangum hit a run-scoring triple.

Tampa Bay has won five of six to move a season-high 11 games above .500 (46-35) and a half-game behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees, who were off Thursday.

Tampa Bay starters have thrown 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

Blue Jays 6, Guardians 0 >> Kevin Gausman threw eight innings of two-hit ball, Alejandro Kirk and Nathan Lukes drove in two runs apiece and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-0 on Thursday to win the three-game series.

Gausman (6-6) gave up one walk on 104 pitches with six strikeouts and reliever Chad Green finished the Guardians’ fifth shutout of the season.

Addison Barger led off the ninth with a single, Ernie Clement and Jonatan Clase each drew a walk to load the bases with one out and pinch-hitter Kirk’s single scored Barger and Clement. Clase scored on a throwing error by left fielder Steven Kwan, one of four by Cleveland.

Cubs 3, Cardinals 0 >> Shota Imanaga returned from the injured list to throw five innings of one-hit ball, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday for a split of a four-game series.

Michael Busch homered and singled and Carson Kelly also had two hits for the NL Central-leading Cubs.

St. Louis was shut out in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Five Chicago pitchers combined on a three-hitter.

A left hamstring strain cost Imanaga (4-2) nearly two months. In his Busch Stadium debut, Imanaga gave up a first-inning single to Masyn Winn and then retired 10 batters before issuing his lone walk.

Tigers 8, Athletics 0 >> Dietrich Enns pitched five scoreless innings in his return to the majors as the Detroit Tigers beat the Athletics 8-0 on Thursday.

Enns (1-0) gave up a single and two walks in his first game since he threw two scoreless innings for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 24, 2021.

The 34-year-old pitched for the Seibu Lions in Japan from 2022-23 before going 13-6 last season for the LG Twins in South Korea.

Jeffrey Springs (5-6) allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in five innings.

Twins 10, Mariners 1 >> Trevor Larnach homered with three RBIs after Simeon Woods Richardson started with five scoreless innings, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 10-1 on Thursday after a rain delay of 4 hours and 22 minutes.

Brooks Lee led off an eight-run sixth against reliever Zach Pop with a home run. Then came RBI doubles from Byron Buxton and Willi Castro, a two-run single by Carlos Correa and a two-run homer from Matt Wallner in the highest-scoring inning for the Twins since a nine-run outburst in the first at New York on April 13, 2023.

Woods Richardson (3-4) produced a superb follow-up to the six scoreless innings Joe Ryan threw in a 2-0 victory on Wednesday, helping the Twins (39-42) win consecutive games for the first time since taking three straight from June 3-5.

They lost 15 of 18 after that.