The Mets extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 15-7 this month as they moved ahead of the Braves in the race for the National League's first wild-card berth. The Braves took their season-high sixth straight loss and fell to 8-12 in July.
Mets starter Kodai Senga (1-0), making his season debut after sustaining a shoulder injury in February, allowed two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 5 1/3 innings. He exited after sustaining a left calf strain and will undergo an MRI exam Saturday.
The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the third against Braves starter Charlie Morton (5-6) and Daysbel Hernandez and scored seven runs.
Red Sox 9, Yankees 7
Masataka Yoshida's two-run single up the middle highlighted a three-run eighth inning that helped Boston to a series-opening victory over visiting New York.
The Red Sox rallied after back-to-back home runs by Aaron Judge and Austin Wells in the seventh gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead in the seventh inning. Judge bashed a go-ahead, three-run shot to deep center.
With the Yankees up 7-6 in the eighth, Boston put two on against reliever Luke Weaver (4-2) before Wilyer Abreu greeted reliever Clay Holmes with a game-tying single. That set up Yoshida for the game-deciding hit.
Guardians 3, Phillies 1
Ben Lively allowed one run and three hits over six innings to fuel visiting Cleveland to a victory over Philadelphia. Lively (9-6), who made his major league debut with the Phillies in 2017, struck out six batters and walked two while snapping a three-start winless streak.
David Fry and Angel Martinez each had an RBI single and Bo Naylor added a run-scoring sacrifice bunt to send Cleveland to its third win in four games.
Philadelphia's Bryson Stott homered to lead off the fifth inning, cutting the hosts' deficit to 3-1. Stott added a single in both the seventh and the ninth for the Phillies, who mustered just six hits and committed two errors en route to losing for the seventh time in 10 games.
Astros 5, Dodgers 0
Framber Valdez pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings while Alex Bregman and Jon Singleton slugged home runs as Houston blanked visiting Los Angeles.
Valdez (9-5) matched his season high of 10 strikeouts and allowed four hits and two walks. Jake Meyers had three hits for the Astros, who won their second game in a row.
Shohei Ohtani and Gavin Lux each collected two hits for the Dodgers, who have lost two of three. Gavin Stone (9-4) permitted four runs in six innings.