J.T. Realmuto, Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Alec Bohm homered in support of Jesus Luzardo as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies topped the Kansas City Royals 6-1 in Saturday’s opener of a three-game set.

Luzardo (7-4) allowed one run and four hits in six innings, as the left-hander struck out nine without issuing a walk. Kyle Schwarber, one of five Phillies named to the All-Star team earlier Saturday, notched three hits in a supporting effort.

Kansas City starter Michael Wacha (5-6) allowed four runs in six innings, issuing eight hits and a walk while striking out seven. Nick Loftin drove in the only run for the Royals, who have lost eight of their last nine games.

The Phillies loaded the bases against Wacha in the first inning, but the veteran right-hander escaped the jam. He then faced minimal resistance in the second and third innings before Philadelphia opened the scoring in the fourth.

With a runner on first and one out, Realmuto sent a 1-0 sinker into the seats in left field. Two pitches later, Wacha’s 1-0 offering to Rincones ended up in the bullpen in right.

Kansas City got a run back in the bottom half, when Lane Thomas doubled with one out and later scored on Loftin’s infield hit.

Bohm countered with a leadoff homer in the sixth as the visitors went ahead 4-1.

Wacha gave way to Lucas Erceg to begin the seventh. The right-hander allowed a one-out single to Trea Turner and then walked Schwarber before a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners. Erceg then uncorked a wild pitch which extended the Phillies’ lead to 5-1..

Meanwhile, Luzardo ended his night with a 1-2-3 sixth before Jonathan Bowlan struck out three of the four hitters he faced in the seventh.

Rincones’ eighth-inning RBI double tacked on an insurance run for Philadelphia before Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza each logged a perfect frame to close the game out.

–Field Level Media

Eli White homered and drove in four runs to spark the Atlanta Braves to a 14-3 win over the visiting New York Mets on Saturday.

The Braves have won the first two games of the four-game series. New York has lost 12 of its last 14 and fell 17 games behind Atlanta in the National League East.

White was 2-for-2, hit one of the Braves’ five home runs and matched his career high with four RBIs. Also going deep were Mauricio Dubon, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Riley, who ended a 36-game homerless streak, and Michael Harris II, who homered off position player Luis Torrens.

Chris Sale (9-6) pitched five innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three, matching his season low.

Rookie JR Ritchie closed the game with three scoreless innings, striking out four, to earn his first save.

New York starter Sean Manaea (1-4) allowed six runs on six hits and one walk, striking out four over five innings.

The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when White hit a solo homer, his fourth, into the Mets bullpen. Manaea had not allowed a home run since White tagged him for one in New York on June 13.

Atlanta added four runs in the third. Michael Harris II drove home a run with a bases-loaded single. White followed with a shallow popup that glanced off the glove of center fielder Tyrone Taylor, who nearly collided with shortstop Francisco Lindor, and into left field, clearing the bases.

The Braves upped the lead to 6-0 when Dubon hit a solo homer, his ninth.

Taylor helped atone for his earlier gaffe with a solo homer, his fourth, in the fifth.

The Mets knocked Sale out of the game in the sixth. Mark Vientos hit a two-run homer, his 11th, and had two runners on base with no outs when Sale was lifted in favor of Dylan Lee. The left-handed reliever struck out the next three batters to end the threat.

–Field Level Media

Carla Leite scored a team-high 20 points as the expansion Portland Fire defeated the host Seattle Storm 77-72 Saturday night in the first meeting between the WNBA’s Pacific Northwest rivals at Climate Pledge Arena.

Bridget Carleton scored 14 points and Megan Gustafson added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Fire (9-12), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Portland’s Emily Engstler and Frieda Buhner combined for 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Dominique Malonga led the Storm (5-17) with 22 points. Natisha Hiedeman scored 15 and rookie Awa Fam added 12. Seattle remained winless in 12 games against Western Conference foes.

Fam made a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6:29 remaining to pull the Storm within 61-58. The Fire answered with a 5-0 run, capped by Carleton’s three-point play, to maintain command.

Malonga made two free throws with 2:39 left as Seattle again pulled within three, but Carleton made a driving, second-chance layup after an offensive rebound by Gustafson with 1:48 left. Gustafson sank a lay-in and free throw with 1:04 to go to put Portland up 71-63.

Malonga made a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, but Portland clinched the victory at the free-throw line.

The Fire made 36.8% of their field-goal attempts (25 of 68), but were just 4 of 25 from 3-point range. The Storm shot 33.8% (24 of 71) from the floor and were 8 of 29 from distance. Portland outrebounded Seattle 47-31 despite a size disadvantage inside.

After leading by two at the half, the Fire began pulling away late in the third.

Gustafson’s 3-pointer broke a 38-all tie with 6:01 left in the quarter to give Portland the lead for good. Buhner scored seven points in a 9-3 run to put the Fire up by seven and they took a 54-47 lead into the fourth.

The Fire opened the second quarter with an 8-0 streak as Leite converted a three-point play and Engstler added a 3-pointer and a driving layup to pull Portland within 20-18. The teams traded the lead until late layups by Engstler and Barker broke a tie and helped the Fire take a 32-30 lead at the intermission.

Hiedeman scored nine points in the first as the Storm took a 20-10 lead. Portland shot just 2 for 16 in the opening quarter, including missing all eight of its 3-point attempts.

–Field Level Media