Sunday's MLB roundup: Reds sweep first seven-inning doubleheader

Trevor Bauer made short work of the Detroit Tigers, capping Major League Baseball's first seven-inning doubleheader with a shutout.

Bauer threw a two-hitter in Cincinnati's 4-0 victory in the second game Sunday in Detroit. The Reds beat the Tigers 4-3 in the opener.

MLB recently decided to use doubleheaders of seven-inning games — a practice commonplace in the minor leagues and colleges — to help teams alleviate an expected crush of twinbills caused by weather and coronavirus-related postponements.

"It was great to win two games when we've been struggling so badly, but it was even better to sweep the first one of these in major league history," Reds manager David Bell said. "Someone said the Hall of Fame has called for some memorabilia from today, so that's cool."

Shogo Akiyama hit an RBI single in the seventh inning to lift the Reds in the first game.

Bauer was supposed to pitch Saturday, and he was furious when a rain delay was called minutes before first pitch. But the postponement meant he only had to throw seven innings for his shutout Sunday. He finished with 111 pitches.

"It was a constant struggle because of whatever you want to call what happened yesterday — there was a lot of doubt in my mind if I was going to be able to pitch today," he said.

Nick Castellanos homered twice and drove in three runs for Cincinnati in the opener against his former team. But his three-base error in right field with the bases loaded in the sixth inning enabled the Tigers to tie the score.

Texas 9, San Francisco 5: Willie Calhoun hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly after the Giants walked the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Joey Gallo followed with a three-run homer and the visiting Rangers avoided a three-game sweep.

American League

New York 9, Boston 7: Aaron Judge homered twice and drove in five runs, connecting for the fifth game in a row and breaking an eighth-inning tie with a tape-measure shot that powered the Yankees past the host Red Sox for their sixth consecutive victory. Luke Voit also went deep in a back-and forth slugfest to help the Yankees (7-1) finish a three-game sweep in the first series this season between the longtime rivals. New York has won six in a row and 11 of 12 against Boston since last July.

Houston 6, Los Angeles 5 (11): Alex Bregman hit an RBI single in the 11th inning, and the Astros rallied to win in Anaheim, Calif. Bregman also homered, and Josh Reddick delivered the tying RBI single in the ninth. Albert Pujols hit a grand slam for the Angels, his 658th career homer.

Baltimore 5, Tampa Bay 1: Hanser Alberto doubled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning, Renato Nunez and Pat Valaika homered and the host Orioles completed their first series sweep in nearly two years. The Rays have lost five in a row.

Chicago 9, Kansas City 2: White Sox prospect Nick Madrigal had the first four hits of his promising big league career, including two during a seven-run seventh inning, and his team finished a three-game sweep of the host Royals.

Oakland 3, Seattle 2: Ramon Laureano broke out of a slump with a three-run homer and Chris Bassitt became the first Athletics starter to earn a victory in 2020 by beating the host Mariners.

National League

Los Angeles 3, Arizona 0: Clayton Kershaw threw 5⅔ sharp innings in his season debut, NL MVP Cody Bellinger hit his first home run of the season and the Dodgers beat the host Diamondbacks. Mookie Betts homered and doubled before leaving early because of an injury.

Atlanta 4, New York 0: Kyle Wright and his bullpen combined on a 10-hit shutout and the host Braves won their fifth in a row, handing the Mets their fifth consecutive loss on a day New York found out late that slugger Yoenis Cespedes had opted out of playing any more this season.

Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 1 (11): Javier Baez singled through a drawn-in infield in the 11th inning, scoring David Bote from third base as the Cubs beat the Pirates at Wrigley Field for the 10th meeting in a row.

Colorado 9, San Diego 6: Antonio Senzatela pitched six innings of one-run ball, designated hitter Matt Kemp homered for a second game in a row and the host Rockies improved to 6-2.