{"id":661662,"date":"2026-05-24T04:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/661662\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T04:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:11:08","slug":"christian-walkers-2-homers-powers-astros-past-cubs-3-0-as-chicago-drops-7th-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/661662\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Walker\u2019s 2 homers powers Astros past Cubs 3-0 as Chicago drops 7th straight"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Christian Walker<\/a> homered twice with three RBIs, and the Houston Astros<\/a> beat Chicago 3-0 Saturday to extend the Cubs\u2019 losing streak to seven, their longest skid in four years.<\/p>\n

Kai-Wei Teng<\/a> (3-3) allowed two hits in six innings, struck out six and walked three as the Astros won their second straight and third in four games. Three relievers followed, with Bryan King<\/a> working around a ninth-inning single to finish a three-hitter for his sixth save.<\/p>\n

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Chicago\u2019s losing streak is its longest since a nine-game slide from July 7-16, 2022. The Cubs, who have lost 11 of 13, also had a pair of 10-game winning streaks this season.<\/p>\n

Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez<\/a> left the game in the middle of an at-bat in the sixth inning with a back spasm.<\/p>\n

Walker hit a two-run homer in the first and added his 13th homer in the fourth, both against Colin Rea<\/a> (4-3).<\/p>\n

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner<\/a> made a between-the-legs flip to first baseman Michael Busch<\/a> to retire C\u00e9sar Salazar<\/a> on a fifth-inning drag bunt. The two-time Gold Glove winner made a bare-hand pickup before tossing to Busch, who reached high to his left.<\/p>\n

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Chicago benched Ian Happ<\/a>, in a 1-for-24 slide, and started Michael Conforto<\/a>, who went 0 for 2.<\/p>\n

CARDINALS 8, REDS 1, 1ST GAME<\/p>\n

REDS 7, CARDINALS 6, 11 INNINGS, 2ND GAME<\/p>\n

CINCINNATI (AP) \u2014 Bryan Torres<\/a> hit a two-run homer and also singled in his major league debut at age 28, helping St. Louis<\/a> beat Cincinnati in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.<\/p>\n

Spencer Steer<\/a> scored the winning run in the 11th inning with a headfirst slide on Blake Dunn<\/a>\u2019s one-hopper to shortstop, and the Cincinnati outlasted St. Louis to split their day-night doubleheader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elly De La Cruz<\/a> hit a three-run homer and Nathaniel Lowe<\/a> launched a two-run shot as Cincinnati took a 5-1 lead in the fifth.<\/p>\n

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But the Cardinals scored twice in the ninth and tied it 6-all on a two-out RBI single by Jordan Walker<\/a>, who started the comeback with a three-run homer in the sixth.<\/p>\n

Steer was the automatic runner in the 11th and he advanced from second to third on a sacrifice bunt by P.J. Higgins. After a walk to Dane Myers<\/a> put runners at the corners, Dunn sent a one-hopper up the middle.<\/p>\n

With the infield playing in, strong-armed shortstop Masyn Winn<\/a> made a lunging stop to his left and a spinning throw to the plate, where catcher Yohel Pozo<\/a> scooped the ball on a short hop. But he couldn\u2019t get his tag back down in time to get Steer, and a replay review upheld the safe call.<\/p>\n

Dunn was credited with an RBI on a fielder\u2019s choice. He also prevented the go-ahead run from scoring in the top of the inning with a sliding catch<\/a> in shallow right field.<\/p>\n

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BLUE JAYS 5, PIRATES 2<\/p>\n

TORONTO (AP) \u2014 George Springer<\/a> hit his 65th leadoff home run and Toronto sent Paul Skenes<\/a> to losses in consecutive starts for the first time this season, beating Pittsburgh<\/a> for its fourth straight win and seventh in 10 games.<\/p>\n

Skenes (6-4), the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four runs and a career-high nine hits and one walk in five-plus innings with two strikeouts, just his second time with fewer than five this season. His ERA rose to 3.00.<\/p>\n

Skenes left after giving up four straight hits in the sixth. In his previous outing, against Philadelphia<\/a> on May 17, Skenes tied his big league high by giving up five runs .<\/p>\n

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Tyler Heineman<\/a> also homered for the defending AL champions, his first since last July 19.<\/p>\n

Patrick Corbin<\/a> (2-1) allowed one run and five hits in six innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. Jeff Hoffman<\/a> struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save in eight chances.<\/p>\n

MARLINS 4, METS<\/a> 1<\/p>\n

MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Max Meyer<\/a> threw seven shutout innings of one-hit ball, Liam Hicks<\/a> homered twice and Miami beat punchless New York.<\/p>\n

Owen Caissie<\/a> drove in two runs with a double for the Marlins, who have allowed only one run and three hits in each of the first two games of the series. Otto L\u00f3pez<\/a> doubled in the third and leads the majors with 69 hits.<\/p>\n

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Mark Vientos<\/a>\u2019 opposite-field single to right in the second was the only hit off Meyer (5-0), the third overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft. The right-hander struck out eight, walked three and hit a batter with a pitch while lowering his ERA to 2.52.<\/p>\n

He has permitted just two runs over 25 innings in his last four home starts.<\/p>\n

TWINS 4, RED SOX<\/a> 2<\/p>\n

BOSTON (AP) \u2014 Trevor Larnach<\/a> matched his career-high with four hits, Taj Bradley<\/a> allowed one run over five innings in his return from a chest muscle injury and Minnesota<\/a> beat Boston for its ninth win in 13 games.<\/p>\n

Benches and bullpens cleared briefly in the fourth inning after Boston\u2019s Willson Contreras<\/a> collided with catcher Victor Caratini<\/a> when he was tagged out trying to score after running through a late stop sign from third base coach Chad Epperson. No punches were thrown.<\/p>\n

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Larnach had three singles and a double.<\/p>\n

Boston had five hits and dropped to 2-20 when scoring two runs or fewer.<\/p>\n

NATIONALS 2, BRAVES 0<\/p>\n

ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Jake Irvin<\/a> held the Braves hitless over five innings before leaving with an injury, and Washington defeated Atlanta with a combined one-hitter.<\/p>\n

Michael Harris led off the seventh with a clean single to center against Brad Lord<\/a> for the Braves\u2019 only hit. A call that was overturned \u2014 and then disputed \u2014 put two runners on for Atlanta, but Ozzie Albies<\/a> popped out, Dominic Smith<\/a> flied out and Austin Riley<\/a> fanned to preserve the shutout.<\/p>\n

Lord worked three innings before Richard Lovelady<\/a> turned in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.<\/p>\n

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Dylan Crews<\/a> and Jorbit Vivas<\/a> homered off starter Grant Holmes<\/a> for the only runs of a game that was delayed 41 minutes in the middle of the second by rain.<\/p>\n

It was an unlikely performance by Irvin (2-4), who had not earned a win since his first start<\/a> on March 29. He bent over and grimaced after his final out in the fifth, went back out in the sixth for warmups, but was lifted without throwing another official pitch.<\/p>\n

GIANTS 10, WHITE SOX<\/a> 3<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 Harrison Bader<\/a> hit a grand slam for the second time in six days, and San Francisco beat Chicago.<\/p>\n

Casey Schmitt<\/a> homered and drove in three runs, and Willy Adames<\/a> also went deep to help the Giants end a four-game skid. Luis Arraez<\/a>, Matt Chapman<\/a> and Daniel Susac<\/a> each had two hits.<\/p>\n

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The Giants totaled 12 runs in their previous four games before putting together a pair of big innings Saturday.<\/p>\n

Bader had the biggest hit with his third career slam as part of San Francisco\u2019s six-run fifth. The 31-year-old outfielder, who also had a grand slam against the Athletics<\/a> on Monday, later reached on an infield single.<\/p>\n

Schmitt hit his 10th home run of the season earlier in the fifth as the Giants took a six-run lead.<\/p>\n

Miguel Vargas<\/a> and Tristan Peters<\/a> had two hits apiece for the White Sox.<\/p>\n

Matt Gage<\/a> (4-1), the second of four Giants pitchers, got all four of his outs on strikeouts to earn the win.<\/p>\n

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ROYALS 5, MARINERS<\/a> 0<\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) \u2014 Stephen Kolek<\/a> threw a complete-game shutout and Carter Jensen<\/a> had two RBIs and Kansas shut out Seattle<\/a> to end a four-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

Kolek (3-0) allowed a walk, four hits and struck out two. He only needed 108 pitches to go all nine innings in a game that lasted only 2:06. The 108 pitches were four more than his previous career high.<\/p>\n

It was Kolek\u2019s second career shutout in 23 starts and the seventh complete game and fourth shutout in the major leagues this season. Kolek\u2019s other shutout was a five-hitter in a 21-0 win at Colorado<\/a> on May 10 of last season while pitching for San Diego<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Kolek joined Chris Archer<\/a> and Mike Montgomery<\/a> as the only pitchers to debut since 2010 with two shutouts in their first 23 career starts.<\/p>\n

The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Maikel Garcia<\/a> led off with a double and scored on a fielder\u2019s choice grounder by Vinnie Pasquantino<\/a>. Jensen had a RBI grounder and Pasquantino later scored on Jac Caglianone<\/a>\u2019s single.<\/p>\n

PHILLIES<\/a> 3, GUARDIANS 0<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Zack Wheeler<\/a> pitched six shutout innings and Bryson Stott<\/a> hit a two-run single as Philadelphia defeated Cleveland<\/a>, ending its seven-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

After the start was delayed nearly two hours by rain, Wheeler (4-0) allowed just two hits and struck out six while running his scoreless streak to 13 innings.<\/p>\n

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Phillies left-hander Cristopher S\u00e1nchez tossed eight sharp innings Friday against Cleveland, extending his shutout streak to 37 2\/3 innings over his last five outings.<\/p>\n

The resurgent Phillies have won all six of Wheeler\u2019s starts this season since the right-hander returned from surgery last September for a blood clot<\/a> discovered in his right shoulder.<\/p>\n

Stott broke a scoreless tie in the fourth with a two-out, two-run single. That gave him 20 RBIs this month, most in the National League.<\/p>\n

Bryce Harper<\/a> had his sixth three-hit game of the season \u2014 fourth in May \u2014 and scored twice. A trio of Philadelphia relievers finished the three-hitter, with Jhoan Duran<\/a> earning his ninth save as the Phillies (26-26) snapped a three-game skid.<\/p>\n

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DODGERS<\/a> 11, BREWERS<\/a> 3<\/p>\n

MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> homered<\/a> and matched a career high with six RBIs, and Los Angeles<\/a>\u2019 bullpen extended its streak of scoreless innings to 36 in the Dodgers\u2019 victory over Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the longest shutout streak for a Dodgers bullpen since at least 1901. According to Sportradar, it\u2019s the longest by any major league bullpen since September 2017, when Cleveland relievers threw 39 straight scoreless innings.<\/p>\n

Alex Vesia<\/a>, Kyle Hurt<\/a>, Tanner Scott<\/a> and Jonathan Hern\u00e1ndez each pitched an inning in relief of starter Roki Sasaki<\/a> (3-3). Only one of Milwaukee\u2019s five hits came in the final seven innings.<\/p>\n

The last time the Dodgers bullpen allowed a run was in a 6-2 loss<\/a> to the San Francisco Giants<\/a> on May 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Christian Walker homered twice with three RBIs, and the Houston Astros beat Chicago 3-0 Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[19293,142455,289535,51575,9893,248333,289534,7845,28629,142454,71312,93721,157,289536,109685,852,99199,3832,61863,238935,289113,4279,4287,7849,7952,370,33292,26057,373,25916,25926,91508,52757,37882,18699,47670,220792,228330,58326,3031,39705,59685,12945,178481,5463,36366,48449,4291,95307,213007,23560,90190,4293,76813,209291,6429,363,58545,25922,91507,67649,18700,101535,10000,2085,8894,7383,28624,109905,8972,7155,2329,1839,38177,99,7645,273020,248770,8967,4289,79537,265212,99763,34194,153012,74261,36362,7648,4292,158744,30936,61187],"class_list":["post-661662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alex-vesia","tag-austin-riley","tag-blake-dunn","tag-brad-lord","tag-brewers","tag-bryan-king","tag-bryan-torres","tag-bryce-harper","tag-bryson-stott","tag-carter-jensen","tag-casey-schmitt","tag-cesar-salazar","tag-chicago","tag-chris-archer","tag-christian-walker","tag-cleveland","tag-colin-rea","tag-colorado","tag-dane-myers","tag-daniel-susac","tag-day-night-doubleheader","tag-dodgers","tag-dominic-smith","tag-dylan-crews","tag-elly-de-la-cruz","tag-george-springer","tag-grant-holmes","tag-harrison-bader","tag-houston-astros","tag-ian-happ","tag-jac-caglianone","tag-jake-irvin","tag-jeff-hoffman","tag-jhoan-duran","tag-jorbit-vivas","tag-jordan-walker","tag-kai-wei-teng","tag-kyle-hurt","tag-liam-hicks","tag-los-angeles","tag-losing-streak","tag-luis-arraez","tag-maikel-garcia","tag-major-league-debut","tag-mariners","tag-mark-vientos","tag-masyn-winn","tag-matt-chapman","tag-matt-gage","tag-max-meyer","tag-mets","tag-michael-busch","tag-michael-conforto","tag-miguel-vargas","tag-mike-montgomery","tag-minnesota","tag-mlb","tag-nathaniel-lowe","tag-nico-hoerner","tag-otto-lopez","tag-owen-caissie","tag-ozzie-albies","tag-patrick-corbin","tag-paul-skenes","tag-philadelphia","tag-phillies","tag-pittsburgh","tag-red-sox","tag-richard-lovelady","tag-roki-sasaki","tag-san-diego","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-seattle","tag-spencer-steer","tag-sports","tag-st-louis","tag-stephen-kolek","tag-taj-bradley","tag-tanner-scott","tag-teoscar-hernandez","tag-the-athletics","tag-trevor-larnach","tag-tristan-peters","tag-tyler-heineman","tag-victor-caratini","tag-vinnie-pasquantino","tag-white-sox","tag-willson-contreras","tag-willy-adames","tag-yohel-pozo","tag-yordan-alvarez","tag-zack-wheeler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}