MLB roundup: Ex-Ray Matthew Liberatore carries Cards

Matthew Liberatore showed why he was once ranked among baseball's top prospects, tossing eight shutout innings in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The 23-year-old Liberatore established career highs for innings and strikeouts in a start (seven) against the team that drafted him in the first round in 2018.

Andrew Knizner hit a two-run home run and Tommy Edman added a solo shot for the Cardinals, who took two of three in the series.

The Rays got on the board in the ninth on Wander Franco's two-out, RBI triple off JoJo Romero. Franco scored Tampa Bay's second run on a wild pitch.

Orioles 5, Astros 4

Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle each had a home run and two RBIs to lead Baltimore over visiting Houston.

Rutschman and James McCann had two hits apiece as the Orioles salvaged the finale of the three-game series and extended their streak to 76 straight series without getting swept. Dean Kremer (11-4) pitched seven solid innings for his first victory since July 14.

Jose Altuve homered among four hits and Yainer Diaz also went deep for the Astros. Starter Hunter Brown allowed five runs and eight hits over six-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked none.

Phillies 6, Nationals 2

Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto each hit a two-run home run to lift host Philadelphia Phillies past Washington.

Realmuto had two hits and two walks. The Phillies drew nine walks overall as they took three of four in the series. Starter Aaron Nola tossed five innings and allowed five hits and one run along with six strikeouts and one walk.

Ildemaro Vargas hit two doubles and knocked in two runs for the Nationals. Starter Patrick Corbin allowed one hit and one unearned run with seven walks and two strikeouts in five-plus innings.

Pirates 7, Braves 5

Ke'Bryan Hayes drove in three runs and Liover Peguero added two RBI singles as Pittsburgh posted a victory over visiting Atlanta to record a split of their four-game series.

Thomas Hatch (1-0), who made his Pirates debut in relief of Bailey Falter, scattered two hits in four scoreless innings to pick up the win. Falter surrendered four runs on eight hits in four innings. Colin Holderman allowed a run in the ninth before securing his second career save.

Atlanta's Matt Olson hit his 40th homer and Orlando Arcia also went deep. Marcell Ozuna hit an RBI double and Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr. added run-scoring singles for the Braves, who squandered a four-run lead for the second straight game.

Guardians 4, Blue Jays 3

Cleveland warded off a seventh-inning rally to back 5 2/3 strong innings from Noah Syndergaard en route to a victory over visiting Toronto.

Brayan Rocchio ripped a pair of RBI doubles for the Guardians, who were able to salvage a split of the four-game series. Syndergaard (2-5) allowed one run on six hits while walking two and striking out five to earn his first victory as a member of the Guardians.

George Springer doubled and singled and Merrifield also finished with a pair of hits for the Blue Jays, who lost for just the second time in their last seven games.

Tigers 3, Twins 0

Reese Olson recorded his second career win after tossing six strong innings, lifting Detroit to a shutout victory over visiting Minnesota.

Riley Greene hit a solo home run and Zach McKinstry had a two-run double to pace the Tigers to their third straight win. Olson (2-5) gave up two hits and walked three batters while recording eight strikeouts.

The American League Central-leading Twins were limited to two hits. Minnesota starter Kenta Maeda (3-7) gave up just three hits in six innings, but one of them was Greene's homer.

Red Sox 2, Royals 0

James Paxton tossed 5 1/3 innings and combined with four Boston relievers to blank visiting Kansas City.

Paxton (7-3) allowed six hits, struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Relievers John Schreiber, Josh Winckowski, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen helped preserve the shutout. Alex Verdugo (sacrifice fly) and Adam Duvall (double) had the game's only RBIs.

Maikel Garcia had two hits for the Royals. His single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 14 games. The Royals had one hit in each of the first seven innings -- and seven hits in the game -- but were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.