Bryce Harper celebrated with a soccer slide after his tying home run, Ranger Suárez became the season’s first 10-game winner and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-2 on Saturday in the opener of Major League Baseball’s third London Series.
Harper sparked a six-run fourth that included Whit Merrifield’s three-run homer for the major league-best Phillies (45-19), who have won four in a row.
Nick Castellanos added an eighth-inning homer inside the left-field foul pole at London Stadium, home of the Premier League club West Ham.
Suárez (10-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
After Starling Marte’s RBI double for the Mets in the first, Harper pulled a sweeper from Sean Manaea (3-3) over the Mets bullpen in right. The two-time NL MVP then did a soccer slide in front of the Phillies dugout and moments later yelled “I love soccer!” while high-fiving teammates.
REDS 4, CUBS 3 >> TJ Friedl homered and drove in three runs, Andrew Abbott pitched five effective innings and host Cincinnati edged Chicago for its seventh straight victory.
Friedl hit a two-run shot in the third, and he drove in another run with a groundout in the fifth.
GIANTS 3, RANGERS 1 >> Heliot Ramos drove in all the runs for San Francisco in a road victory over Texas.
The Giants, who won three World Series titles with Bruce Bochy from 2010-14, have taken the first two games for a series victory against their former manager, who came out of a three-year retirement and led Texas to its first championship last season.
After Austin Slater drew a leadoff walk to start the game, Ramos drove him in with a double. The game was tied at 1 in the third before Slater hit a one-out single and Ramos followed with his sixth homer.
PADRES 13, DIAMONDBACKS 1 >> Knuckleballer Matt Waldron combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, and Ha-Seong-Kim and Jake Cronenworth each hit a three-run homer for San Diego in a home win against Arizona.
Kyle Higashioka hit a solo homer. David Peralta, who spent his first 81/2 seasons with the Diamondbacks, reached base five straight times and had three hits, two RBIs and scored twice. Cronenworth also had an RBI single.
Waldron (4-5) held the Diamondbacks to one run, three hits and two walks in six innings.
PIRATES 4, TWINS 0 >> Rowdy Tellez homered and drove in three runs against visitiing Minnesota.
Tellez hit a solo homer in the seventh and added a two-run single in the ninth as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games.
BLUE JAYS 7, ATHLETICS 0 >> Kevin Gausman pitched the first shutout of his 12-year career, a five-hitter, as Toronto won at Oakland.
A two-time All-Star who had never thrown a nine-inning complete game in the majors, the 33-year-old Gausman (5-4) matched his season high of 10 strikeouts and walked one.
Kevin Kiermaier homered and Danny Jansen drove in two runs for Toronto.
ORIOLES 5, RAYS 0 >> Kyle Bradish went six innings and combined with two relievers on a two-hitter, Gunnar Henderson drove in three runs with his 20th homer of the season, and Baltimore won on the road over Tampa Bay.
After allowing Yandy Díaz’s infield single leading off the first, Bradish retired 18 in a row. The Rays did not hit a ball out of the infield against Bradish (2-0), who struck out nine.
Ryan O’Hearn also homered for the Orioles, who have a major league best 100 home runs.
NATIONALS 7, BRAVES 3 >> Nick Senzel homered and drove in three runs, Eddie Rosario had three RBIs against his former team and host Washington defeated Atlanta.
Sean Murphy homered for the Braves, who have dropped three of four to fall a season-high nine games behind Philadelphia in the NL East standings.
Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore (5-5) gave up two runs, six hits and struck out seven over five innings.
GUARDIANS 8, MARLINS 0 >> Ben Lively won his fifth straight start, José Ramirez and Steven Kwan homered, and Cleveland won at Miami.
Lively (6-2) allowed three hits and walked none, lowering his ERA to 2.59.
ROYALS 8, MARINERS 4 >> Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tiebreaking two-run double during Kansas City’s three-run fifth in a home win over Seattle.
Kyle Isbel had three RBIs for the Royals, who won their third in a row.
Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (5-7) permitted five runs and six hits in five innings.
ROCKIES 6, CARDINALS 5 >> Ezequiel Tovar homered twice and added two singles while driving in four runs to spark Colorado to a victory at St. Louis.
Charlie Blackmon added three hits and a run scored.
Rockies starter Ryan Feltner allowed no runs in 5 1/3 innings, but failed to earn his first win since April 12. He gave up two hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
WHITE SOX 6, RED SOX 1 >> Gavin Sheets hit his first career grand slam and Chicago won its second straight after a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, beating visiting Boston.
Paul DeJong added a solo drive in the seventh as the White Sox earned consecutive wins for the first time since beating Washington on May 14 and 15. Chicago is a major league-worst 17-48.
BREWERS 5, TIGERS 4 >> Jackson Chourio hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning and Milwaukee won at Detroit.
Christian Yelich had two hits and drove in two runs, while Brice Turang reached base three times and scored twice.