NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom was pulled from a second straight start with an arm injury, this time leaving after three perfect innings with right shoulder soreness, but the New York Mets bullpen stepped up to finish a three-hitter in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.

One start after being pulled from a gem against San Diego with flexor tendinitis in his right arm, deGrom went directly down the clubhouse tunnel after finishing the third against the Cubs.

DeGrom said initial tests ruled out a serious issue, but he planned to get imaging and more observation Thursday.

The right-hander struck out eight of the nine batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 0.54.

Sean Reid-Foley (2-0) relieved deGrom and allowed one run over two innings. Anthony Rizzo ended the bid for a combined perfect game or no-hitter by homering with one out in the fourth.

Kevin Pillar opened the scoring with an RBI double off Robert Stock (0-1) in the second and homered in the fifth.

ASTROS 8, RANGERS 4

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve homered twice and made major league history by hitting a leadoff homer one game after belting a walk-off grand slam, leading Houston past Texas.

Altuve connected again with a shot to the train tracks atop left field with two outs in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 8-4 and give him his fifth career multi-homer game. Astros rookie Chas McCormick also hit two home runs on a night when Houston went deep a season-high six times.

Altuve’s leadoff drive was one of a career-worst four homers allowed by Jordan Lyles (2-5) that put the Astros up 5-1 early. McCormick, Martin Maldonado and Myles Straw also connected off Lyles, who began his career in Houston.

Houston starter Zack Greinke (7-2) permitted four hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings.

RED SOX 10, BRAVES 8

ATLANTA (AP) — Christian Arroyo slugged a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning to give Boston the lead and the surging Red Sox beat Atlanta to move within one game of first place.

Boston recovered after blowing a 6-3 lead. Freddie Freeman hit a go-ahead homer for Atlanta in the sixth after Dansby Swanson’s three-run shot tied the game in the fifth.

The Red Sox are one game behind AL East-leading Tampa Bay.

Adam Ottavino gave up a run-scoring double to Ronald Acuna Jr. in the ninth. Acuna was thrown out at third and Ottavino struck out Freeman for his fourth save.

The Red Sox loaded the bases against Shane Greene (0-1) in the seventh. Greene struck out Bobby Dalbec for the second out of the inning before left-hander A.J. Minter gave up Arroyo’s homer.

Yacksel Rios (1-0) recorded one out in the sixth after he was added to the roster before the game.

REDS 2, BREWERS 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tyler Mahle tied his career high with 12 strikeouts, Tucker Barnhart drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the seventh inning, and Cincinnati finished a three-game sweep of Milwaukee.

Cincinnati has won six straight and 11 of 13. The Brewers dropped three straight for the first time in nearly a month and were swept for the third time this season. Milwaukee totaled nine hits and four runs in the series against the Reds.

Mahle (7-2) allowed three hits and a pair of walks over six innings. Brad Brach, Sean Doolittle and Lucas Sims completed the five-hitter, with Sims getting the last four outs for his seventh save.

Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (6-2) struck out six over six innings without walking a batter.

ROCKIES 8, PADRES 7

DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon singled home the winning run in the ninth inning and Colorado shook off a monster homer by Fernando Tatis Jr. to beat stumbling San Diego.

Tatis hit a 477-foot homer, the longest of his career and his NL-leading 21st. He also doubled, but the Padres lost for the 13th time in 17 games.

The teams combined for five home runs and 23 hits and neither starter made it out of the fourth inning.

Trevor Story drew a leadoff walk in the ninth from Austin Adams (2-1), stole second and scored when Blackmon hit a 1-2 pitch into center field.

Carlos Estevez (2-0) walked the first two batters in the ninth and second baseman Brendan Rodgers’ throwing error allowed the Padres to tie it on a sacrifice fly.

ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Ramon Laureano hit a home run and made a homer-robbing catch in his return from the injured list, and Oakland rallied past Los Angeles for its sixth straight win.

Shohei Ohtani homered for the second straight day, giving him 19 for the Angels. He also neatly bunted against the shift for a single and stole his team-leading 10th base, a day before he was scheduled to start on the mound.

Laureano, who missed 17 games with a strained right hip, perfectly timed his jump to reach over the fence and catch Justin Upton’s flyball in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, Laureano connected for his 12th homer, cutting the Angels’ lead to 4-1.

Angels reliever Tony Watson (2-3) faced six batters and didn’t record an out, surrendering six earned runs on five hits and a walk.

Burch Smith (1-0) went 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

WHITE SOX 8,

RAYS 7, 10 INNINGS

CHICAGO (AP) — Yasmani Grandal hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning and Chicago took two of three from Tampa Bay in a matchup of division leaders.

Jose Abreu hit his 12th homer of the season for the White Sox, who’ve won 10 of 13.

Yandy Diaz and Mike Zunino homered for the Rays.

Abreu moved automatic runner Andrew Vaughn to third with a groundout and Grandal brought him home with a sharp liner to the right field wall off Pete Fairbanks (1-1).

Ryan Burr (1-0) worked a scoreless 10th for Chicago.

YANKEES 3, BLUE JAYS 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched eight effective innings, pinch-hitter Gary Sanchez connected for a two-run homer and Aroldis Chapman dodged trouble in the ninth as New York Yankees held off Toronto.

Sanchez’s 10th homer of the season in the seventh gave the Yankees back-to-back wins behind key pinch hits, following Clint Frazier’s go-ahead double in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 6-5 victory.

Chapman allowed hits to the first two batters in the ninth, putting runners at second and third, but escaped for his 14th save. Cole (8-3) held the Blue Jays to four hits.

TIGERS 6, ROYALS 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Willi Castro homered during a three-run rally in the seventh inning and Detroit beat Kansas City for a three-game sweep.

The Royals have lost six in a row and 11 of 12. Kansas City starter Brady Singer was removed after just three innings with tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Tarik Skubal (4-7) allowed three runs on six hits in six innings, striking out seven.

Michael Fulmer earned his fifth save in six chances.

CARDINALS 1, MARLINS 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina grounded an RBI single down the third base line in the ninth inning and St. Louis edged Miami to sweep the season series.

Molina’s eighth career regular season walk-off hit came with one out and sent Miami to its fourth straight loss.

Paul Goldschmidt reached on an error by shortstop Jazz Chisholm Jr. to start the ninth. After Matt Carpenter walked with one out, Molina singled off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (4-6).

The Cardinals went 6-0 against Miami this year for their first season sweep over the Marlins.

Ryan Helsley (4-4) and Andrew Miller combined for two scoreless innings of relief. Cardinals starter Johan Oviedo pitched a career-high seven scoreless innings.