Noah Syndergaard threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday, surrendering just two hits and striking out five to lead the New York Mets to a 2-1 win over the visiting Houston Astros at Port St. Lucie, Fla.
It was billed as pitchers' duel, with Syndergaard taking on Houston ace Gerrit Cole, and the game was scoreless through three innings.
Jeff McNeil opened the fourth inning with a single off of Cole, and Robinson Cano followed with a home run to center on an 0-1 pitch. Cole pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up four hits, to go with a walk and four strikeouts, and largely was pleased.
"I wasn't thrilled with the walk," he said. "For the most part it was good. I was challenging the (batters). I got the slider where I wanted it a few times. Got the changeup where I wanted to. Threw some breaking balls behind in the count."
Royals 17, Indians (ss) 7
Alex Gordon and Cam Gallagher each had three hits as Kansas City tallied 21 hits - including three home runs -- to top visiting Cleveland at Surprise, Ariz. Greg Allen had three of the Indians' 11 hits.
Indians (ss) 9, Brewers 3
Hanley Ramirez, trying to win a roster spot, went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead Cleveland over visiting Milwaukee in Goodyear, Ariz. Keston Hiura hit a three-run home run for the Brewers.
Twins 9, Red Sox 5
Brian Navarreto hit a three-run home run in a four-run sixth inning as visiting Minnesota beat Boston at Fort Myers, Fla. Red Sox DH Steve Pearce was 0-for-3 and remains hitless in 11 at-bats this spring.
Athletics 12, Cubs 11
Sean Murphy lined a walk-off two-run double to cap a four-run ninth inning as Oakland beat the visiting Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. Cubs' starter Jon Lester was rocked for seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Nationals 8, Braves 4
Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Adam Eaton (NYSE:ETN) and Brian Dozier each hit a solo home run to lead Washington over visiting Atlanta at West Palm Beach, Fla. The Braves' Ronald Acuna went 3-for-3 to raise his spring average to .429.
Marlins 4, Cardinals 1
Miami pitchers held visiting St. Louis to three hits at Jupiter, Fla. Deven Marrero's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth gave the Marlins a pair of insurance runs.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 4
Baltimore scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat visiting Toronto at Sarasota, Fla. Dwight Smith Jr. was 2-for-2 and scored twice for the Orioles. The Blue Jays had 10 hits on the day but stranded eight runners.
Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 3
David Dahl had three of Colorado's eight hits and scored twice as the Rockies topped visiting the Diamondbacks at Scottsdale, Ariz. Matt Szczur hit his first home run of the spring for Arizona.
--Field Level Media