Best of MLB: Cardinals Rout Nationals to Avoid Sweep

WASHINGTON -- Mike Leake outpitched 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, Stephen Piscotty homered and had five RBIs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Leake (1-1) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked none over seven shutout innings. The right-hander allowed hits to the first two batters, then picked off a runner before getting 19 straight outs. The streak ended when Daniel Murphy singled with two outs in the seventh.

By that time, St. Louis had taken a 3-0 lead against Scherzer, who yielded only one earned run. He did, however, throw three wild pitches -- two in the third inning -- after tossing only two all last year while going 20-7.

Scherzer (1-1) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out 10, the 50th time in his career he reached double figures in strikeouts.

Piscotty hit RBI singles in the first and fifth innings before launching a three-run drive in the ninth off Joe Blanton. The five RBIs tied a career high (see full recap).

Inciarte hits 2 HRs, Braves end 5-game skid, top Marlins
MIAMI -- Ender Inciarte hit two home runs and Tyler Flowers had a go-ahead single in the ninth inning Wednesday night to help the Atlanta Braves break a five-game losing streak by rallying past the Miami Marlins 5-4.

Miami's Giancarlo Stanton hit a pair of two-run homers, his first of the year. Freddie Freeman hit his third homer for the Braves.

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The Braves went 2-6 on a season-opening trip before heading home to open their new ballpark Friday. They can only hope for the kind of success they've had at Marlins Park, where they're 32-15.

Atlanta also hopes for a glitch-free day at SunTrust Park in the opener against San Diego. The retractable roof at Marlins Park couldn't prevent a 27-minute delay in the fourth inning during a thunderstorm, which caused several banks of lights to go out (see full recap).

Rookie lefty Garrett stays perfect as Reds sweep Pirates
PITTSBURGH  -- Reds rookie Amir Garrett threw another gem, taking a shutout into the seventh inning and leading Cincinnati over the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-2 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.

Garrett (2-0), the former St. John's basketball player, blanked the Pirates until David Freese hit a two-run homer.

Garrett gave up five hits, walked none and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. In his major league debut last week, the 24-year-old lefty pitched six scoreless innings to win at St. Louis.

Jose Peraza, Eugenio Suarez and Tucker Barnhart each had three of the 15 hits for the Reds, who didn't homer for the first time this season. Peraza had a two-run double to cap a four-run fourth against Ivan Nova (1-1) that broke a scoreless tie.

The Pirates were outscored 21-5 in the series and were hitless in 23 at-bats with runners in scoring position (see full recap).

Montgomery impresses in debut as Yanks rally past Rays
NEW YORK -- Jordan Montgomery showed power and poise in his major league debut after allowing Rickie Weeks' two-run homer in the first inning, and the New York Yankees rallied past the sloppy Tampa Bay 8-4 Wednesday to get back to .500.

New York's Brett Gardner and Weeks both left the game after a collision at first base in the sixth inning. Running hard on a comebacker, Gardner slammed into Weeks, who had not played first in the major leagues before this season and stayed in the baseline as he reached for reliever Xavier Cedeno's poor throw. Both fell to the field as Chase Headley came home with the go-ahead run.

Gardner was diagnosed with a bruised jaw and a strained neck, and Weeks with neck and right shoulder soreness.

New York rebounded from a 3-0, fifth-inning deficit and won its third straight after a 1-4 start. Aaron Judge homered for the third straight game, a long drive to center, and had three RBIs. Errors by shortstop Tim Beckham and Cedeno led to four unearned runs.

A 24-year-old left-hander, Montgomery earned the fifth-starter's job over a group that included Luis Cessa, Chad Green and Bryan Mitchell. Montgomery opened with strikeouts of Steven Souza Jr. and Kevin Kiermaier, then walked Evan Longoria and allowed Weeks' long home run to left (see full recap).

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