Catcher Kevin Plawecki made an impressive big league debut, contributing with his bat and glove as the banged-up New York Mets won their ninth straight by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Tuesday night.
The Mets extended their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2008. The team record is 11 in a row, last done in 1990.
Curtis Granderson drove in four runs and Jonathon Niese (2-0) pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, helping the Mets stretch the best home start in club history to 8-0 at Citi Field.
Photo: AFP
A highly regarded prospect, Plawecki got two hits, scored twice and threw out a runner trying to advance on a ball in the dirt.
Plawecki was promoted from Triple-A earlier in the day to replace catcher Travis d’Arnaud, out for at least three weeks after breaking a finger when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday.
ROYALS 6, TWINS 5
In Kansas City, Missouri, Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer, then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning, as the Kansas City Royals rallied over the Minnesota Twins.
The Royals trailed 5-3 in the sixth when Christian Colon started their comeback with an RBI double. Colon added a run-scoring groundout off Casey Fien (0-1) in the eighth to knot the game, and Moustakas fileted a single to left off Glen Perkins to take the lead.
Chris Young (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of struggling starter Jason Vargas, and Wade Davis breezed through the ninth for his third save of the season.
RED SOX 1, RAYS 0
In St Petersburg, Florida, Wade Miley and four relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Boston Red Sox took advantage of an error to beat Chris Archer.
Miley (1-1) gave up three hits, four walks and had three strikeouts over 5-2/3 innings. Alexi Ogando, Robbie Ross Jr, and Junichi Tazawa combined to retire seven straight batters. Koji Uehara allowed a leadoff single in the ninth before finishing for his second save.
Archer (2-2) allowed one unearned run and seven hits in 5-2/3 innings for the Rays, who have lost the first four games of a nine-game homestand. He struck out nine and walked one.
YANKEES 5, TIGERS 2
In Detroit, Chris Young and Stephen Drew homered in a three-run seventh and Nathan Eovaldi earned his first win with the New York Yankees.
Eovaldi (1-0) gave up a run on eight hits and a walk in seven-plus innings. Eovaldi started the eighth, but was removed after allowing a leadoff double to Alex Avila.
Eovaldi was not dominant, but got four double plays.
The Tigers scored in the ninth when Andrew Miller walked Nick Castellanos and Rajai Davis to force in a run. He then struck out Jose Iglesias for his fifth save.
Kyle Lobstein (1-1) yielded one run and three hits in six innings. Four Tigers relievers combined to allow three runs in the seventh, letting the Yankees pull away.
In other MLB games, it was:
‧ Giants 6, Dodgers 2
‧ Cubs 9, Pirates 8
‧ Nationals 2, Cardinals 1, 10 inns
‧ Reds 16, Brewers 10
‧ Blue Jays 13, Orioles 6
‧ Indians 6, White Sox 2
‧ Angels 14, A’s 1
‧ Phillies 7, Marlins 3
‧ Rangers 7, Diamonbacks 1
‧ Padres 7, Rockies 6
‧ Astros 6, Mariners 3
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