Jake McCarthy hit an inside-the-park home run and also doubled, Tomoyuki Sugano tossed six strong innings to outduel Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes and the Colorado Rockies survived a chaotic ninth inning to beat the Pirates 2-1 in Denver on Saturday night.

Sugano (8-4) scattered four hits over six innings and Jaden Hill got the final two outs for his second save.

Spencer Horwitz homered and singled for Pittsburgh, which started the game with back-to-back hits and had just four more the rest of the way for a grand total of six.

Skenes (6-7) was nearly untouchable against the Rockies in Pittsburgh on May 12, taking a no-hitter into the seventh and tossing eight scoreless innings. He wasn’t as dominant Saturday night but allowed just two runs on four hits and fanned eight over six innings.

He was nearly saved from a loss when his team loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Tyler Callihan struck out and Jake Mangum hit a grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros, who couldn’t make a throw to any base.

However, the umpires ruled baserunner Billy Cook interfered with Karros and called him out to end the game.

Horwitz led off the game with a blast into the second deck in right field, his fifth career leadoff home run, but he was upstaged by McCarthy when he led off the bottom of the first.

McCarthy drove a tailing liner to center that got by the diving Mangum. It rolled to the wall where Callihan had trouble picking it up, giving McCarthy time to circle the bases and tie the game.

McCarthy doubled in the third and scored what would be the winning run on TJ Rumfield’s two-out single.

Sugano settled down after Horwitz’s home run and Brandon Lowe’s single that followed to hold down the Pirates. Sugano allowed a one-out double to Mangum in the second and Horwitz’s single in the third but Pittsburgh couldn’t cash in, finishing 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

–Field Level Media

Left-hander Trevor Rogers gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings and Blaze Alexander had a two-run double as the visiting Baltimore Orioles escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Rogers took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Orioles improved to 2-3 on a West Coast road trip that started in Seattle and concludes against the Los Angeles Angels next week.

Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto went six innings as he was unable to reprise his near no-hitter at Baltimore last season. He allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

After missing one game for the birth of his second child, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run in the ninth inning. Edman had a pair of singles for Los Angeles, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

The Orioles jumped in front 1-0 in the second when Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser led off the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. Coby Mayo’s groundout scored Taveras.

Baltimore increased the advantage in the fourth inning. Again they opened an inning with consecutive singles, this time from Samuel Basallo and Taveras. After Mayo walked with one out to load the bases, Alexander hit a two-out double down the third-base line to score a pair of runs for a 3-0 lead.

Rogers cruised into the fifth inning where he gave up his first hit of the game on a two-out single to center from Edman.

Rogers’ only scare came in the seventh inning when he walked Mookie Betts with two outs before Miguel Rojas hit a ball to the base of the center field wall that was caught by Cowser.

The Dodgers pulled within a run in the ninth when Ohtani hit a home run and Edman’s line drive was dropped by Taveras with two outs, allowing a second run to score. Yennier Cano finished off his first save by striking out Kyle Tucker to strand runners on the corners.

–Field Level Media

Wilyer Abreu homered and Connelly Early overcame a shaky first inning to make a quality start as the Boston Red Sox defeated the host Seattle Mariners 5-1 on Saturday night.

The Red Sox have won the first two games of the series and will go for a sweep Sunday afternoon.

Early (6-5), who had lost his previous three starts, went six innings and allowed one run on two hits. The left-hander walked two and struck out seven, one shy of his season high.

Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock and Danny Coulombe each pitched a perfect inning of relief to complete the two-hitter.

The only run Early allowed came in the first inning.

Early walked leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh lined a single to left field. Julio Rodriguez grounded into a forceout before Josh Naylor lined a run-scoring single to center. Rodriguez was caught on the front end of an attempted double steal, and Early struck out former teammate Rob Refsnyder to get out of the jam.

Mariners starter Emerson Hancock (5-4) retired the side in order in each of the first three innings before Anthony Seigler led off the fourth by grounding a single to left. An out later, Abreu went deep to straightaway center field to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

Boston extended its advantage with a three-run sixth, despite hitting just one ball out of the infield.

With one out, Masataka Yoshida lined a single to right and stole second. Abreu walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Willson Contreras reached on a base on balls to load the bases.

That was it for Hancock, as the Mariners brought in lefty Jose A. Ferrer. He got Jarren Duran to ground into a forceout to first baseman Naylor, with Yoshida thrown out at the plate. Duran just beat the throw back to first in an attempt for an inning-ending double play.

Ferrer’s wild pitch scored Abreau and advanced Duran to second and Contreras to third. Caleb Durbin hit a grounder on which shortstop Colt Emerson made a diving stop, but the rookie had no play on the infield single and Contreras scored. Marcelo Mayer then hit a high chopper to second baseman Cole Young, who likewise had no play as another run scored to make it 5-1.

Hancock was charged with five runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander walked two and fanned six.

–Field Level Media