MLB ROUNDUP: Marlins’ Jean Segura snaps slump to hit walk-off RBI single in 3-2 win over Cubs

First-year Marlins third baseman Jean Segura snapped out of his ongoing slump to hit a game-ending RBI single, lifting Miami to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

Jorge Soler sparked the winning rally with a leadoff single. Michael Rucker (1-1) then plunked Luis Arraez and Avisaíl García before Segura hit a grounder back up the middle and through a drawn-in infield.

‘Every time you put a ”W” on the board is always good,’ Segura said. ‘It’s not about me. It’s about the team winning baseball games and playing good baseball.’

Segura is in his first season with Miami after finalizing a $17 million, two-year contract in January. The veteran infielder entered Friday’s game with a .203 batting average.

‘I don’t remember having a tougher stretch,’ Segura said. ‘At some point, it happens to all major leaguers. I have to continue working hard and do my best to get out of it.’

Segura snapped out of his ongoing slump to hit a game-ending RBI single for the Marlins

Segura is in his first season with Miami after finalizing a $17 million, two-year contract

A.J. Puk (3-0) got three outs for the win. Chicago put two runners on with two out in the top half of the ninth, but Nelson Velázquez bounced into a forceout at second.

Miami improved to 8-0 in one-run games this season. The Marlins also are 3-0 in their teal jerseys this year.

‘We have a lot of winners in our clubhouse,’ Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. ‘They know what winning looks like.’

The Cubs wasted a strong start by Marcus Stroman, who allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Chicago went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled twice and stole two bases for the Marlins. Jesús Luzardo also pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball.

‘We have tremendous confidence in our bullpen and tremendous confidence with our batters as well,’ Luzardo said. ‘It doesn’t matter that we are losing by two, three, five runs. Everyone in the dugout is optimistic we are going to score.’

The Cubs grabbed a 2-1 lead on Eric Hosmer’s pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh. Hosmer drove in Cody Bellinger, who tripled with one out on a line drive to left.

The Marlins tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Arraez walked, advanced to third on García’s single and scored on Segura’s single to left.

‘I feel like I’m starting to catch my stride and as the year progresses, I won’t have those spurts where I kind of lose it with a batter on four pitches,’ Stroman said of his walk to Arraez.

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner singled in the third, extending his on-base streak to 23 games. It is the third longest active streak in the majors.

Chicago jumped in front on Velázquez’s solo shot in the third. Velázquez drove Luzardo’s first pitch over the wall in left for his third homer.

Miami tied in the bottom half when Jesús Sánchez scored from third on a double-play grounder by Jon Berti.

Astros first baseman Jose Abreu (79) is tagged out at home by Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto

PHILLIES 3, ASTROS 1

Aaron Nola pitched eight smooth innings, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday night in a rematch of last year’s World Series.

Nola (2-2) yielded one run and three hits with six strikeouts. The right-hander retired 11 straight during one stretch and then the final 12 batters he faced. Nola had allowed at least three runs in each of his previous five starts this season.

Schwarber hit a solo home run in the first before Jeremy Peña answered in the bottom half with one of his own.

Cristian Pache gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the fifth with an RBI double, and Brandon Marsh added an RBI single in the seventh.

José Alvarado worked the ninth for his fifth save.

Mauricio Dubón’s 20-game hitting streak was snapped for Houston. He went 0 for 4.

Framber Valdez (2-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. The All-Star lefty won Games 2 and 6 of the 2022 World Series as the Astros beat Philadelphia for their second championship. Valdez gave up two runs over 12 1/3 innings in those two starts.

The Astros had a chance to tie it in the fifth with runners on the corners and nobody out, but Jake Meyers hit a slow dribbler to first and José Abreu was thrown out at the plate. Nola retired Rylan Bannon and Martín Maldonado to end the threat.

RAYS 3, WHITE SOX 2

Isaac Paredes had three hits, including a leadoff homer in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the sliding Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Friday night.

Paredes drove Kendall Graveman’s second pitch deep to left for his fourth homer. He also doubled twice and scored twice.

‘Isaac was ready to go. Big day for him,’ Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Rookie Kevin Kelly, the last of five Tampa Bay relievers, got the final out for his first career save. Colin Poche (2-0) got the win after the bullpen surrendered just one hit in the final four innings.

The AL East-leading Rays won for the eighth time in 10 games.

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol (5) argues with home plate umpire Marvin Hudson

Chicago has dropped nine in a row for the franchise’s longest skid since it lost 10 straight games in 2013.

Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn homered for the White Sox. Lucas Giolito was charged with two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Graveman (1-2) has allowed one run in each of his last two appearances.

Brandon Lowe hit a sacrifice fly in the first for Tampa Bay, and Manuel Margot tied it at 2 with a two-out RBI single in the fourth. The first run scored on a fielding gaffe by the White Sox.

‘Mental mistakes against championship-caliber teams,’ Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said. ‘You don’t win like that.’

The Rays improved to 5-0 against the White Sox this season. They swept a three-game series in St. Petersburg last weekend and won the opener of this four-game set on Thursday night.

‘I feel like we’re kind of built to win tough ballgames,’ Cash said. ‘Most of the season, we’re going to have a lot of tough ballgames.’

Vaughn homered in the first off Zach Eflin, and Burger added his seventh in the second inning.

Eflin allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two in five innings.

Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn (pictured) homered for the White Sox in a losing effort

TWINS 8, ROYALS 6

Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Jose Miranda homered as the Minnesota Twins stayed hot at the plate with an 8-6 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Kansas City loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning, but Jorge López struck out Nick Pratto on a full-count pitch for his second save.

Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs for the Royals. Pratto added three singles and two RBIs, and Edward Olivares doubled twice, tripled and scored three runs.

The Twins have scored 33 runs in their last five games after starting the season in an offensive slump. The three homers gave Minnesota 36 on the season, second-most in the American League behind the Rays.

‘The home runs are a big part of it. They really are,’ Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ‘But I think we’ve been pretty consistent in talking about the way that we’ve approached the at-bats and just the way that our at-bats have gone over the past week. That’s what leads into those kinds of really important big swings and guys driving the ball around the ballpark. It’s coming from laying off the pitches we don’t want to swing at, that we might have been swinging at earlier in the year but lately we haven’t.’

After the first pitch was delayed two hours by rain, Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-5) gave up seven runs in four innings.

Twins pitcher Jorge Lopez (48) greets catcher Christian Vazquez (8) after the team’s 8-6 win

RANGERS 5, YANKEES 2

Rangers ace Jacob deGrom retired his first 10 batters, then walked one and was removed after allowing his first hit because of right forearm tightness, his second early exit in three starts.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner exited his start April 17 at Kansas City after four no-hit innings because of right wrist soreness.

played their first game this season without captain Aaron Judge, who had tests on his sore right hip.

Dane Dunning (2-0) allowed two runs and three hits over 3 1/3 innings, and Will Smith worked the ninth for his third save.

Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves scores off a three run home run from teammate Matt Olson in the fifth inning

BRAVES 4, METS 0, 5 INNINGS

Matt Olson hit a three-run homer and Max Fried pitched Atlanta past New York in a game called after five innings because of rain.

Ronald Acuña Jr. had an RBI single in the fifth and Olson followed with a 461-foot drive off David Peterson (1-4) for his first home run against a left-hander this season.

Fried (2-0) allowed three hits and went the distance as the teams played in a steady rain all night. The left-hander did not permit a run for the third straight outing and has allowed just one all season.

Atlanta improved to a major league-best 11-2 on the road and beat the Mets for the seventh time in their last eight meetings dating to last season.

The slumping Mets have lost five of six and were shut out for the fifth time this year.

GUARDIANS 5, RED SOX 2

Shane Bieber (2-1) allowed two runs and four hits over seven innings as Cleveland beat Boston.

The Guardians got back to .500 at 13-13, winning consecutive games for the first time since April 14-15. They are 9-5 on the road.

All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase gave up Jarren Duran’s leadoff double in the ninth before inducing three straight groundouts for his ninth save.

Josh Naylor’s sacrifice fly and Josh Bell’s RBI double opened a 2-0 first-inning lead for Cleveland. Myles Straw hit a run-scoring single in the second.

Nick Pivetta (1-2) gave up four runs in five innings.

Rowdy Tellez hit a tiebreaking single off Aaron Loup (0-2) with two outs in the eighth

BREWERS 2, ANGELS 1

Rowdy Tellez hit a tiebreaking single off Aaron Loup (0-2) with two outs in the eighth inning, and Milwaukee stopped Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak.

Willy Adames had a first-inning home run for the Brewers, and Gio Urshela hit a two-out RBI single in the fourth as part of a 3-for-3 night.

Devin Williams pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save and has nine scoreless innings in nine appearances.

BLUE JAYS 3, MARINERS 2

George Springer hit a tiebreaking single in the sixth inning, Alejandro Kirk launched a solo home run and Toronto beat Seattle to extend its winning streak to five.

The Mariners have lost three straight and seven of 10.

It was the first meeting between the teams since Game 2 of last year’s AL wild-card round, when Seattle overcame an 8-1 deficit to beat the Blue Jays 10-9 and sweep their postseason series.

Cal Raleigh hit a solo homer in the second, snapping Toronto’s streak of 25 scoreless innings. Raleigh also had an RBI single in the third, but the Blue Jays answered with Matt Chapman’s run-scoring double.

Tim Mayza (1-0) pitched one inning and Jordan Romano earned his ninth save in 10 chances. Trevor Gott (0-1) took the loss.

Ketel Marte (pictured) hit an early homer and Josh Rojas drove in three runs in a D-Backs win

DIAMONDBACKS 9, ROCKIES 1

Ketel Marte hit an early homer, Josh Rojas drove in three runs and Arizona sent Colorado to its sixth straight home loss.

Christian Walker had a go-ahead double in a three-run seventh inning, and the Diamondbacks broke open the game with a five-run ninth. The Rockies are a National League-worst 8-19, their worst start since 2005.

Merrill Kelly (2-3) allowed one run and six hits in six innings. Kyle Freeland (2-3) gave up three runs and five hits in six-plus innings.