Eduardo Escobar homered for the third straight game, Carlos Carrasco rebounded from a pair of poor starts and the New York Mets topped the Texas Rangers 4-1. Starling Marte went deep for the second consecutive day and Jeff McNeil hit an RBI double to help the NL East leaders take two of three in the interleague series, giving them 15 wins in their last 20 home games. The victory was No. 1,600 as a major league manager for Buck Showalter, who beat one of his former teams to pass Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda for 22nd place. Jonah Heim homered for the Rangers, and Jon Gray took the loss. Carrasco struck out eight and walked one in 5 2/3 innings.
Mets ace Jacob deGrom struck out five of the six batters he faced and threw 18 of 24 pitches for strikes Sunday night in his first minor league rehab start for Class A St. Lucie. The only hiccup for deGrom against the Jupiter Hammerheads in Port St. Lucie, Florida, came when he hit a batter with a pitch. It was the first competitive outing since spring training for deGrom, who has been sidelined all season because of a stress reaction in his right scapula that caused inflammation. The two-time Cy Young Award winner also missed the second half of last season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 7, 2021.
Elsewhere in baseball:
Triston McKenzie shut down New York’s big-bashing lineup over seven superb innings and combined with two relievers on a one-hitter as the Cleveland Guardians salvaged the series finale by edging the Yankees 2-0. Franmil Reyes drove in both Cleveland runs — homering in the fourth and hitting a clutch RBI single in the eighth. McKenzie allowed only a broken-bat single to Josh Donaldson in the fourth. Eli Morgan worked a 1-2-3 in the eighth, and closer Emmanuel Clase got out of a bases-loaded threat in the ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances. The Yankees lost for just the sixth time in 32 games since May 31.
Pitcher Rowan Wick threw Trevor Story’s comebacker down the right-field line for a two-run error with two outs in the 11th inning, and the Boston Red Sox outlasted the Chicago Cubs 4-2 to avoid a three-game sweep. With automatic runner Bobby Dalbec on second, Wick walked Christian Arroyo leading off the 11th. Jarren Durran struck out and Rafael Devers flied out before Story hit a soft hopper that Wick threw well over first base. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts left in the seventh inning with a left thigh laceration after he was hurt when Willson Contreras was caught stealing second.
Zack Wheeler threw seven innings of four-hit, no-run ball and Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto slugged home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies powered their way past the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0. The Phillies won two of three games in the series against one of the teams they are chasing for a National League wild-card spot. Since Rob Thomson took over as interim manager following the firing of Joe Girardi on June 3, Philadelphia has gone 20-9 and made up five games on the Cardinals in the wild-card standings. The teams will meet up for four games next weekend in St. Louis.
Shane Baz pitched six innings for his first win of the season, Harold Ramírez and Randy Arozarena hit two-run home runs and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3. Ji-Man Choi had a solo home run for the Rays in the six-run, seven-hit fifth inning — their biggest inning of the season. All of the damage came against Blue Jays right-handers Ross Stripling and Trent Thornton. Tampa Bay lost the first two games of this five-game series, matching a season-worst four-game losing streak, then won the final three. Baz allowed one run and seven hits to win for the first time in his five big-league starts in 2022.
Brian Anderson hit a go-ahead infield single in the 10th inning that sent the Miami Marlins a 7-4 victory Sunday at the Washington Nationals. The loss may have come at an even greater cost for the Nationals after star outfielder Juan Soto exited with a left calf injury injury. Soto flexed and pointed to the leg after making a throw in right field in the third and exited after being involved in a rundown in the fourth. Soto went to get an MRI on the calf. The Marlins have won 11 of 12 games against the Nationals this season.
GOLF
J.T. Poston completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic for his second PGA Tour title and a spot in the British Open. Three strokes ahead entering the day at TPC Deere Run, Poston closed with a 2-under 69 for a three-stroke margin over fellow British Open qualifiers Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo. Poston finished at 21-under 263. He opened with rounds of 62, 65 and 67. Bezuidenhout shot a 66, and Grillo had a 69. Christopher Gotterup, the former Rutgers player in the field on a sponsor exemption, had a 66 to tie for fourth at 17 under with Scott Stallings.
NASCAR
Tyler Reddick raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, continuing the season-long trend of first-time winners on road courses. Each of the first three road-course races this year has had a first-time winner, with Reddick breaking through at Road America after Ross Chastain won at the Circuit of the Americas and Daniel Suárez at Sonoma. The Richard Childress Racing driver won by 3.304 seconds over defending race champion Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports. All the other drivers were over 21 seconds behind Reddick.
TENNIS
Novak Djokovic found himself locked in a tight fourth-round match at Wimbledon against a wild-card entry making his Grand Slam tournament debut. They were even at a set apiece after about 1 1/2 hours of play. But Djokovic soon was in control and ended up winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday night. There have been many surprises and new faces at this tournament. Djokovic just keeps winning and is moving closer to a fourth consecutive title at Wimbledon and seventh overall. He also is seeking a 21st major championship overall. This was the first time that Wimbledon is a planned 14-day tournament with play scheduled for the middle Sunday.
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