Dylan Cease came within three outs of becoming the first Toronto Blue Jay in 36 years to throw a no-hitter, striking out 11 in a 10-0 road victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

Kazuma Okamoto capped a five-run first inning with a grand slam and center fielder Daulton Varsho prevented an extra-base hit by the Giants’ Bryce Eldridge with a leaping catch on the center field warning track in the eighth, helping Cease’s cause.

The All-Star right-hander, who walked three, saw his no-hit bid end when Heliot Ramos singled to lead off the ninth inning. Cease was removed after that pitch, his 118th of the night.

Daulton Varsho and Nathan Lukes each had two hits and two runs for Toronto, which won the last two games of the three-game series. Giants starter Logan Webb (5-7) allowed five runs on seven hits in seven innings.

Braves 3, Pirates 0

Joey Bart’s eighth-inning two-run homer led Atlanta to a victory at Pittsburgh.

Bart’s blast off Pirates reliever Dennis Santana (2-4) scored Mike Yastrzemski, who hit a two-out double to start the rally. The homer broke a scoreless tie and helped the Braves snap their three-game skid and Pittsburgh’s three-game winning streak.

Braves reliever Dylan Dodd (1-0) threw one inning, and Raisel Iglesias handled the ninth for his 18th save. Pirates starter Jared Jones exited after six perfect innings. It was Jones’ longest and best start since returning on May 29 from right UCL surgery. Due to a strict pitch count, Jones was lifted after 77 pitches.

Cubs 9, Orioles 7

Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two of Chicago’s five home runs and the visiting Cubs held on to beat Baltimore for their third win in a row.

Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly hit back-to-back solo blasts for the Cubs in the fifth, and two batters later, Crow-Armstrong went deep. Crow-Armstrong hit a solo shot in the third inning, and Seiya Suzuki added a three-run homer in the seventh.

Tyler O’Neill hit two home runs across the final three innings for the Orioles, who took their third consecutive defeat. Pete Alonso and Coby Mayo also homered.

Rays 3, Yankees 0

Jonathan Aranda drove in all three runs as Tampa Bay blanked New York in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Aranda knocked in single runs in the third, fifth and seventh innings. Yandy Diaz was 4-for-4 with a double and a run. Over 6 1/3 innings, Rays starter Shane McClanahan (8-5) permitted just four hits. Bryan Baker logged three strikeouts in the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

Jasson Dominguez went 2-for-4, but the Yankees were shut out for the sixth time. Gerrit Cole (3-4) went 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits.

Reds 11, Phillies 5

Sal Stewart hit two of five homers blasted by Cincinnati, which downed visiting Philadelphia.

The Reds had a five-run fourth in which they belted four home runs, including three straight from Elly De La Cruz, Stewart and JJ Bleday. All-Star Chase Burns (11-1) labored through five innings of three-run ball to take the major league lead in wins among starting pitchers.

The Phillies were tagged for double-digit runs for the second time in three games while taking their third loss in four contests. Kyle Schwarber unloaded his big-league-leading 32nd home run in the ninth.

Tigers 6, Athletics 1

Spencer Torkelson blasted a three-run homer, Troy Melton struck out a career-high nine batters, and streaking Detroit rolled past the struggling Athletics.

Jake Rogers came off the Tigers’ bench and contributed two hits, including a two-run homer, while scoring twice. Riley Greene added two hits and drove in a run. Melton allowed one run, which was unearned, and four hits in 5 1/3 innings as Detroit won for the seventh time in eight games.

A’s starter Jeffrey Springs gave up six runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer had three hits for the Athletics, who have lost five straight and nine of their past 10.

Nationals 8, Astros 2

Foster Griffin pitched seven strong innings, Luis Garcia Jr. had three hits including a three-run homer and Washington beat visiting Houston.

CJ Abrams also homered for the Nationals, who took two of three in the series. James Wood drew three walks and scored twice. Griffin (10-2) gave up a run on five hits and struck out nine.

Isaac Paredes and Zach Dezenzo each had two hits for the Astros. Spencer Arrighetti (7-5) permitted eight runs on seven hits and six walks in four-plus innings.

Marlins 2, Mariners 0

Kyle Stowers homered and Tyler Phillips (2-3) pitched five scoreless innings, leading host Miami to a win over Seattle.

Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards each went 2-for-4 to aid the Marlins’ offense, which totaled eight hits, including one triple and three doubles. Rookie right fielder Owen Caissie was removed from the game in the first inning due to right calf tightness.

Seattle starter George Kirby (7-8) took the loss despite turning in a quality start. He struck out seven in six innings, allowing eight hits, no walks and two runs.

Mets 6, Royals 2

Brett Baty delivered a two-RBI single during a five-run eighth inning for host New York in a victory over Kansas City.

A.J. Ewing hit a leadoff homer and finished with two hits for the Mets, who have won three of four. Brooks Raley (3-3), the third of four New York pitchers, allowed one hit a scoreless top of the eighth.

Salvador Perez tied the game with a run-scoring single in the sixth for the Royals, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Kansas City reliever Alex Lange (0-4) surrendered five runs while getting just two outs.

Red Sox 5, White Sox 0

Jake Bennett and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout and Tsung-Che Cheng had a pair of RBI singles as visiting Boston beat Chicago.

The Red Sox won for the 10th time in 12 games while improving to 5-0 on a nine-game road trip, though Anthony Seigler (right trap contusion) and Willson Contreras (left foot contusion) exited in the third inning. Bennett (4-3) yielded four hits in seven innings.

Luisangel Acuna singled twice for the White Sox, who have lost five of seven. Davis Martin (9-4) gave up five runs on six hits in four innings.

Cardinals 5, Brewers 1

Michael McGreevy tossed a season-high 6 1/3 innings to get his first win in two months for St. Louis, which snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Milwaukee.

Pitching on his 26th birthday, McGreevy (4-7) gave up one run on five hits. Alec Burleson and Jose Fermin homered for the Cardinals. Burleson went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Cooper Pratt and Garrett Mitchell each had two hits for the Brewers, whose four-game winning streak ended. Kyle Harrison (8-2) allowed three runs on four hits in four innings.

Angels 13, Rangers 1

Jo Adell hit two homers and drove in a career-high five runs as Los Angeles snapped a seven-game losing streak with a rout of Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Vaughn Grissom had four hits and four RBIs and Mike Trout homered in his return off the injured list for the Angels. Samy Natera Jr. (1-0) picked up his first major league victory, striking out five in two perfect innings.

Kyle Higashioka homered for the Rangers, who finished with three hits. MacKenzie Gore (5-8) allowed seven runs on nine hits in five innings.

Twins 6, Guardians 5

Alan Roden delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in his season debut, lifting Minnesota past Cleveland in Minneapolis.

Roden finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs one day after Minnesota promoted him from Triple-A Saint Paul. Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Twins, who increased their winning streak to four games. Yoendrys Gomez (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief.

Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in three runs for the Guardians, who took their fourth loss in a row. Rhys Hoskins added a solo home run. Cleveland reliever Matt Festa (2-2) allowed one run on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Dodgers 4, Rockies 3

Mookie Betts delivered a go-ahead single in the eighth inning and Kyle Tucker drove in two runs as Los Angeles pulled off a victory over visiting Colorado.

Roki Sasaki allowed three runs over six innings as the Dodgers managed to win two of three in the series despite having early leads erased in all three games. Edgardo Henriquez (4-0) recorded one out to earn the victory, and Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 13th save.

In his first career start and second appearance, Colorado’s Gabriel Hughes allowed three runs over six innings, and he retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced. Kyle Karros and Edouard Julien homered for the Rockies. Antonio Senzatela (8-1) gave up the decisive run in the ninth.

Padres 10, Diamondbacks 4

Luis Campusano homered while Miguel Andujar collected three doubles as San Diego tied its season high for runs in a rout of visiting Arizona.

Michael King (6-7) pitched six solid innings for the Padres, allowing four hits and a run. It marked the first time that San Diego won consecutive games since a four-game stretch from June 22-26. The Padres scored in five consecutive innings, finishing with a total of 13 hits while adding three stolen bases.

Diamondbacks rookie Jose Cabrera (0-2) yielded four runs and four hits over 4 1/3 innings. Tommy Troy cracked a two-run homer in the top of the seventh for Arizona, his fourth of the year.

–Field Level Media

PVISION and 1w became the only teams to sweep two matches through the first two days of the Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup in Paris.

PVISION registered a 2-0 win over Vici Gaming on Wednesday in Group C action, while 1w swept Virtus.pro 2-0 in Group D.

In the other two groups, three teams all have one win and one draw through two matches. BB Team, Team Falcons and Xtreme Gaming share the top spot in Group A, while Aurora Gaming, Nigma Galaxy and Team Liquid are level atop Group B.

The Dota event at the Esports World Cup is the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour, now in its fourth season. The tournament has a $2 million prize pool, with $750,000 and 1,000 club points going to the first-place team.

The format consists of three phases: a group stage (through Sunday) of four groups of six teams competing in a round robin, a survival phase (July 14-15) formatted into a single-elimination bracket that will see four teams advance, then a final playoff stage (July 16-19), which is single elimination.

All matches in Phase 1 are two games, while the matches in Phases 2 and 3 are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

Overall, the Esports World Cup will feature competition in 25 titles and a total prize purse of $45 million. This week’s events also include Valorant, Apex Legends and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Upcoming events will include League of Legends, PUBG, EA Sports FC, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2 and Fortnite.

On Wednesday, PVISION got past Vici Gaming in 31 minutes and 30 minutes, both on red. Ukraine’s Volodymyr “No[o]ne-” Minenko paced PVISION with a 19-4-22 kill-death-assist ratio. Guo “Xm” Hongcheng led all-Chinese Vici Gaming with six kills.

1w downed Virtus.pro in 57 minutes on red and 28 minutes on green. Bulgaria’s Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov compiled a 24-5-32 K-D-A ratio for 1w. Peru’s Enzo “Timado” Gianoli wound up at 10-7-9 for Virtus.pro.

Wednesday results:

Group A

Xtreme Gaming 2, GamerLegion 0

BB Team 2, Poor Rangers 0

Team Falcons 2, Rune Eaters 0

Group B

Nigma Galaxy 1, Aurora Gaming 1

L1 TEAM 1, PTime 1

Team Liquid 2, Level UP 0

Group C

PVISION 2, Vici Gaming 0

MOUZ 2, REKONIX 0

Team Spirit 2, Team Nemesis 0

Group D

1w 2, Virtus.pro 0

LGD Gaming 2, OG 0

Team Yandex 2, IC x Insanity 0

Thursday’s schedule:

Group A

GamerLegion vs. Team Falcons

Poor Rangers vs. Xtreme Gaming

BB Team vs. Rune Eaters

Group B

Nigma Galaxy vs. Team Liquid

L1 TEAM vs. Aurora Gaming

PTime vs. Level UP

Group C

Vici Gaming vs. Team Spirit

MOUZ vs. Team Nemesis

REKONIX vs. PVISION

Group D

LGD Gaming vs. 1w

Virtus.pro vs. Team Yandex

OG vs. IC x Insanity

Dota 2 Esports World Cup group-stage standings (match record W-L-T, map record)

Group A

T1. BB Team, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T1. Team Falcons, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T1. Xtreme Gaming, 1-0-1 (3-1)

4. GamerLegion, 1-1-0 (2-2)

5. Rune Eaters, 0-1-1 (1-3)

6. Poor Rangers, 0-2-0 (0-4)

Group B

T1. Aurora Gaming, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T1. Nigma Galaxy, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T1. Team Liquid, 1-0-1 (3-1)

4. PTime, 0-0-2 (2-2)

5. L1 TEAM, 0-1-1 (1-3)

6. Level UP, 0-2-0 (0-4)

Group C

1. PVISION, 2-0-0 (4-0)

T2. MOUZ, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T2. Team Spirit, 1-0-1 (3-1)

4. Vici Gaming, 1-1-0 (2-2)

T5. REKONIX, 0-2-0 (0-4)

T5. Team Nemesis, 0-2-0 (0-4)

Group D

1. 1w, 2-0-0 (4-0)

T2. LGD Gaming, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T2. Team Yandex, 1-0-1 (3-1)

T4. OG, 0-1-1 (1-3)

T4. Virtus.pro, 0-1-1 (1-3)

6. IC x Insanity, 0-2-0 (0-4)

–Field Level Media

Bryce Elder and fellow right-hander Mitch Keller are seeking answers to their recent woes on the mound.

Their quests will continue on Thursday afternoon when they square off as Keller’s Pittsburgh Pirates host Elder’s Atlanta Braves in the decisive contest of their three-game series.

The Pirates posted a 12-4 victory in the series opener on Tuesday before the Braves responded with a 3-0 win on Wednesday.

Keller (6-6, 5.02 ERA) has gone from being a reliable presence in the middle of the Pittsburgh rotation to major struggles since the end of May. He has a 1-4 record and 7.50 ERA over his past seven starts, allowing 30 earned runs over 36 innings.

Meanwhile, Elder (5-6, 4.01 ERA) started June in solid form but finished the month with three consecutive poor outings.

In the hopes of getting him back on track and perhaps combatting some potential midseason fatigue, the Braves skipped Elder’s spot in the rotation last week against the New York Mets. His velocity dropped in his most recent outing June 27 against the San Francisco Giants, when he allowed five runs on five hits, including two home runs, over four innings in a 5-0 loss.

Over his past three starts, Elder’s ERA has dropped from 2.66 to 4.01, and he has allowed 19 earned runs over 14 innings. He’s allowed five or more earned runs in each of those starts.

The silver lining for Elder could be a rematch with the Pirates.

Although Elder is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against Pittsburgh, his last quality start before his recent struggles came against the Pirates on June 7 in Atlanta. He gave up two runs on two hits, including a home run, and two walks while striking out four over six innings in his team’s 3-2 victory.

“When I have a bad (start), it’s always terrible,” Elder said. “But it’s about getting back on the horse and figuring out how to rattle off six, seven or eight good ones again.”

Keller did not have success the last time he faced the Braves.

He allowed six runs on seven hits, including one home run, and three walks over 4 2/3 innings on June 5 at Atlanta in a 6-3 defeat. He is 1-4 with a 7.85 ERA in eight career starts against the Braves.

In his most recent start, Keller allowed a season-high three home runs and five runs overall on eight hits over six innings Friday in a 9-5 loss at Washington. He has allowed at least five runs in seven starts this season, with five of those times coming within his past seven starts.

“We have to keep working with (Keller),” Pirates manager Don Kelly said, “and get him back to what he’s capable of doing.”

Pittsburgh has won three of Keller’s past seven starts despite his struggles thanks to its offense consistently generating runs. The Pirates were shut out for the eighth time this season on Wednesday but scored five or more runs over their previous six games.

Pittsburgh lost another position player to injury after catcher Endy Rodriguez (left glute strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday. The Pirates recalled catcher Rafael Flores Jr. from Triple-A Indianapolis.

The Braves also made a roster move on Wednesday as they optioned left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled right-handed pitcher Victor Mederos from Triple-A.

–Field Level Media