>>Cardinals Roll Mets
Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs and Noah Syndergaard hit a home run with Dexter Fowler's help, but he struggled on the mound as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Sunday.
Syndergaard (1-2) allowed six runs, four earned, on eight hits in five innings, but his most memorable play came while batting in the fourth. He hit a deep flyball to center that Fowler leaped for on the warning track even though it was well below the fence. The ball deflected off Fowler's glove and over the wall for Syndergaard's fifth career homer and first since Aug. 16, 2016, at Arizona.
It was one of four homers on the day for the Mets, but that wasn't enough for Syndergaard, who has allowed at least five runs in his last two starts after not having given up five in a game since April 30, 2017, at Washington.
Dakota Hudson (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits in five innings, striking out five, for his first career victory as a starter. He went 4-1 in 26 appearances, all in relief, as a rookie last season.
Jordan Hicks pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in six chances. His last fastball measured 104.2 mph, the hardest in baseball this season. Hicks reached 105.1 mph last year, tied with Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman for the fastest pitch ever.
Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto also homered for New York, which lost two of three at St. Louis.
Kolten Wong's RBI single in the second tied the game at 1-1, and he advanced to second after Brandon Nimmo's throw to the plate wasn't cut off. Hudson reached on an error to load the bases, and Goldschmidt singled two batters later to make it 3-1.
The Cardinals went ahead 5-1 on Molina's RBI groundout and Fowler's run-scoring double in the fourth.
Jack Flaherty (1-1, 5.00) starts against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Flaherty is 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA in seven career starts against Milwaukee.
>>Cubs Edge DBacks
David Bote hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs used a terrific performance by Tyler Chatwood to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 on Sunday.
Led by Chatwood's six sparkling innings, Chicago carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth. But Jarrod Dyson hit a tying drive to right off Pedro Strop (1-1) with one out.
The Cubs then got right to work against Archie Bradley (1-2) in the bottom half. Javier Baez led off with a double up the first base line and went to third when Adam Jones bobbled the ball in right.
After Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch, Bote hit a liner right through the drawn-in Arizona infield for Chicago's fifth win in six games. Bote hit two game-ending homers during his rookie season, including a memorable grand slam against Washington, and closed out another win with a bases-loaded walk.
The Diamondbacks managed just two singles before Dyson's third homer . Dyson was the only Arizona runner to reach second safely all day long.
Following an off day, Jose Quintana (2-1, 3.43 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. Kenta Maeda (3-1, 3.80 ERA) pitches for Los Angeles.
>>Tigers Down White Sox
Daniel Norris earned his first victory in two years, striking out six batters in five innings to beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Sunday.
Norris (1-0) allowed two hits and walked one, earning his first victory since Sept. 28, 2017, and Gordon Beckham homered against his former team as the Tigers won two of three in the series.
Norris took Matt Moore's spot in the rotation after his season-ending knee surgery. Acquired from Toronto in a 2015 trade for David Price, Norris threw 79 pitches, 56 for strikes.
Chad Greene had a perfect ninth inning to earn his league-leading 10th save in 10 tries for the Tigers, closing all of their wins. His 10 saves are the most for a Tigers pitcher before the end of April in franchise history.
In his Tigers debut, first baseman Brandon Dixon had an RBI single in the second inning, scoring Jeimer Candelario, who tripled.
Miguel Cabrera brought home a hustling Nick Castellanos with a fourth-inning single as the Tigers base-runner scored after Eloy Jimenez's throw was a little off the mark from left field.
Castellanos reached on an error by center fielder Leury Garcia to lead off the sixth inning and scored on a Niko Goodrum double.
Beckham added a towering solo home run in the seventh inning.
Tigers reliever Buck Farmer retired all four batters he faced, including three on strikeouts, but the White Sox had a two-out, three-run rally off Blaine Hardy and Victor Alcantara in the eighth. Ryan Cordell, Yolmer Sanchez, Leury Garcia and Tim Anderson all singled to pull within 4-3.
White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (1-3) had a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings, but allowed seven hits and two earned runs.
On Monday, Manny Banuelos (1-0, 3.48) will make his first start since Sept. 6, 2015 when he was with Atlanta. He'll oppose RHP David Hess (1-3, 5.57) in the opener of a three-game series in Baltimore.
