LEADING OFF: Thor back in NY, Pérez on a roll, Correa out

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:

___

THOR BACK IN NEW YORK

Noah Syndergaard pitches in New York for the first time since leaving the Mets during the offseason, starting the Los Angeles Angels’ series opener at Yankee Stadium.

Thor became a fan favorite at Citi Field, going 47-31 with a 3.32 ERA from 2015-21 and earning an All-Star selection in 2016. Syndergaard had Tommy John surgery on March 26, 2020, and didn’t return to the Mets until last Sept. 28, when he made the first of a pair of one-inning starts during the season’s final week.

He became a free agent and agreed in November to a $21 million, one-year contract with the Angels. Syndergaard is 4-2 with a 3.08 ERA in seven starts, striking out 27 and walking eight over 38 innings.

Syndergaard is averaging 94.67 mph with his fastball, down from 97.91 mph in 2019.

Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (0-1, 3.30) pitches for the AL-leading Yankees against Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and an Angels team trying to stop a five-game skid. Ohtani is scheduled to start on the mound Thursday night in the series finale.

STINGY STUFF

Texas Rangers left-hander Martín Pérez is on a roll heading into his matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays. Pérez hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any of his last seven starts and leads the majors with a 1.60 ERA. He hasn’t given up a homer all season.

Pérez (3-2) lost his first two starts this year, giving up three earned runs each time. He’s permitted only four earned runs since for a 0.74 ERA over 48 1/3 innings.

His stretch of 59 1/3 innings without yielding a homer is the longest active streak in the majors. That includes all 56 1/3 innings this year and the end of last season when pitching in relief for Boston. Pérez returned to his original big league team when he signed with the Rangers in free agency at the start of spring training.

The last time Pérez started against the Rays, they hit three homers off him at home last July 30 in a 7-3 win over Boston. Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz and Mike Zunino went deep, and the lefty could face all of them again Tuesday night in Texas.

HAPPY AT HOME

Adam Wainwright (5-4, 2.13 ERA) of the St. Louis Cardinals is 6-0 with a 1.73 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances against San Diego during the regular season at Busch Stadium, never allowing a home run in 58 2/3 innings. Left-hander Blake Snell (0-2, 6.00) starts for the Padres.

FLYING HIGH

Bo Bichette and the Blue Jays have scored 35 runs during a five-game winning streak heading into their series opener against the visiting Chicago White Sox. Kevin Gausman (4-3, 2.25 ERA) starts for Toronto against Lucas Giolito (3-1, 2.63) in an excellent pitching matchup.

Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero is nursing a sore left wrist that kept him out of the starting lineup Sunday.

Chicago will be without dynamic shortstop Tim Anderson, who strained his right groin Sunday. Anderson ranks among the league leaders with a .356 batting average.

Also unavailable for the White Sox will be reliever Kendall Graveman, who was placed on the restricted list Monday ahead of the three-game series.

The Canadian government requires a person must have received a second vaccine dose — or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — at least 14 days prior to entering the country.

LET’S PLAY TWO

The Twins and Tigers play a day-night doubleheader in Detroit, but Minnesota star shortstop Carlos Correa will miss the entire series after testing positive for COVID-19.

“He’s under the weather, but nothing above and beyond that,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think resting and hydrating are the most important things for him right now.”

Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton is 0 for 22 with seven strikeouts this season against Detroit.

Kody Clemens, a son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, is likely to make his major league debut for the Tigers after they called him up Monday from Triple-A Toledo. The 26-year-old infielder/outfielder is expected to start in the second game, and Roger Clemens planned to be at Comerica Park.

“He’s scrambling and trying to figure out when he’s going to fly here,” Kody Clemens said after Detroit’s 7-5 win Monday. “He loved it. He was like, `You’re a big leaguer, kid.'”

A third-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft, Clemens was hitting .283 at Toledo with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 45 games. Drafted as a second baseman, he has played first, second, third and left this season.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.