NEW YORK -- Noah Syndergaard brought his 100 mph heat and struck out 10, Curtis Granderson homered on Max Scherzer's first pitch, and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 Tuesday night to stop a four-game skid.
Daniel Murphy returned to Citi Field with a major league-best .400 batting average and drew two early standing ovations, then got booed. The former Mets postseason star got one of five hits Syndergaard (4-2) gave up in seven innings.
Michael Conforto also homered as the Mets sent the NL East leaders to their third straight loss. Jeurys Familia worked the ninth for his 13th save in as many chances (see full recap).
Pirates outslug Braves to spoil Snitker's debut
PITTSBURGH -- Gregory Polanco doubled three times and the Pittsburgh Pirates ruined Brian Snitker's debut as interim manager of the Atlanta Braves with a 12-9 victory Tuesday night.
John Jaso, Andrew McCutchen and Francisco Cervelli had three hits each for the Pirates, who led by nine runs early then held on after an extended rally by the Braves. Juan Nicasio (4-3) survived five innings to pick up the win thanks in large part to Pittsburgh's season-high 21 hits. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Mallex Smith hit two homers for the Braves, playing hours after manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired after five-plus seasons with Atlanta languishing in last place in the NL East. Rookie Aaron Blair (0-3) failed to make it out of the second inning as the Braves fell to a major-league worst 9-29 (see full recap).
Gattis, Astors top White Sox in 11 innings
CHICAGO -- Evan Gattis celebrated his return to the majors with a two-run homer in the 11th inning that lifted the Houston Astros over the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Tuesday night.
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Astros rookie Tyler White hit a pair of solo shots for his first multihomer game and capped a three-hit night with a double. Jason Castro and Jose Altuve each drove in a run for Houston.
Gattis, who returned from Double-A Corpus Christi earlier in the day, lined an 0-2 pitch from reliever Matt Albers (1-3) into the left-field bullpen for his second homer this season.
Pat Neshek (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Tony Sipp allowed Adam Eaton's RBI double in the 11th before earning his first save (see full recap).
