MLB Capsules: Chris Sale pitches Boston Red Sox past Royals and into first place in AL East
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chris Sale shut down the Kansas City Royals while pitching into the ninth inning, and a rag-tag bunch of Boston Red Sox filling in for injured starters pounded their way to an 8-3 victory Tuesday night that moved them into first place in the A.L. East.
Sale (9-3) gave up a homer to Mike Moustakas in the second and a two-run shot to Jorge Bonifacio in the ninth before departing two outs shy of his second consecutive complete game. He allowed four hits and fanned 10, pushing his major league-leading strikeout total to 146 this season.
More importantly, he got a win after going the distance in a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia last week.
Xander Bogaerts and Sandy Leon each drove in a pair of runs for Boston, which got plenty of production from a lineup missing Pablo Sandoval, Dustin Pedroia and Mitch Moreland to various injuries.
First baseman Sam Travis and third baseman Deven Marrero, recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day, drove in early runs to get the Red Sox off and running. Mookie Betts and Chris Young also had RBIs as the new division leaders kept piling on.
Boston jumped a half-game ahead of the rival New York Yankees, who have lost seven in a row for their longest slide in a single season since April 2007.
Most of Boston’s damage came against Royals youngster Matt Strahm (2-4), who struggled to follow up his dazzling first career start. The left-hander with a delivery eerily similar to Sale was hammered for five runs on seven hits and a walk before leaving with nobody out in the fourth.
PHILLIES 8, CARDINALS 1
PHILADELPHIA – Yadier Molina and Tommy Pham both homered in a seven-run 11th inning to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
Stephen Piscotty had a two-run double off Casey Fien after Edubray Ramos (0-5) started the inning with two walks. Molina and Pham followed with homers as the Cardinals had their biggest output of the season in an inning.
Fien gave up both homers and then a single to Chad Huffman and double to Carpenter before the pitcher was removed. Philadelphia has now lost 12 of its last 13 games.
Kevin Siegrist (1-1) pitched one inning in relief to earn the win.
Mike Leake started the game for St. Louis and allowed one run and three hits in six innings.
Jeremy Hellickson gave up six hits and a run in seven innings. His only blemish was a solo homer for Jedd Gyorko in the second inning.
Philadelphia scored its lone run of the game on a Maikel Franco RBI single after Leake walked the first two batters in the fourth inning.
ROCKIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3
DENVER – Nolan Arenado hit a two-run triple in the eighth inning, and the surging Rockies rallied past the Diamondbacks in the opening game of their N.L. West showdown.
Carlos Gonzalez homered and saved a run with a diving catch of David Peralta’s line drive in the fifth to help Colorado win its sixth straight. The N.L. West leaders extended their advantage over third-place Arizona to two games. Second-place Los Angeles, which began the night trailing the Rockies by a half-game, played late against the New York Mets.
Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt homered for the Diamondbacks, who had won seven straight.
Arizona and Colorado, perhaps baseball’s two biggest surprises this season, both entered on a roll. The Diamondbacks are a major league-best 23-9 since May 15, while the Rockies’ 23-11 mark since then ranks third.
ANGELS 8, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK – Cameron Maybin hit a tiebreaking home run off struggling reliever Tyler Clippard to spark a three-run seventh inning, and the Angels beat New York to extend the Yankees’ losing streak to seven games – their longest in a single season since April 2007.
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 24th home run and Gary Sanchez his 12th as New York climbed back from a 3-0 deficit.
But then Cameron drove the second pitch from Clippard (1-4) into the left-field seats, Kole Calhoun doubled to the right-center gap, Albert Pujols flied out to the center-field warning track and Yunel Escobar hit an RBI triple just over the glove of a leaping Brett Gardner at the left-field wall.
Clippard walked off to boos after allowing runs for the third time in four outings.
NATIONALS 12, MARLINS 3
MIAMI – Bryce Harper started the scoring with a two-run single that extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings to help the Nationals beat the Marlins 12-3 on Tuesday night.
Daniel Murphy had two RBIs and hit his 12th homer for the Nationals. Teammate Stephen Drew had three hits and three RBIs, and Ryan Zimmerman drove in three runs with a double and a single.
The N.L. East leaders went 7 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
Gonzalez (7-1) allowed three runs, struck out eight and won his fourth straight decision. The left-hander, who grew up in nearby Hialeah, improved to 7-3 in 13 starts against his hometown team with an ERA of 2.19.
Marcell Ozuna hit his 19th homer for the Marlins.
RAYS 6, REDS 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Corey Dickerson went deep, Alex Cobb threw seven solid innings and the Rays beat the Reds.
Dickerson had his 29th multihit game of the season with two hits. He drove in Tampa Bay’s first run with a third-inning single, then capped their scoring with his 16th home run in the fourth.
Cobb (6-5) gave up two runs and eight hits while striking out six. Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his 20th save.
Joey Votto hit his 20th home and Eugenio Suarez drove in another run off Colome, but the Reds lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
GIANTS 6, BRAVES 3
ATLANTA – Austin Slater hit a three-run homer after the Braves botched a potential double-play grounder, sparking the Giants to a victory over Atlanta that snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Matt Moore (3-7) pitched seven strong innings for his first win in over a month, and the shaky Giants bullpen protected the lead.
Julio Teheran (6-5) was up 2-0 and cruising toward his first home win since opening night at SunTrust Park, only to be let down by his defense in the eighth inning. The Braves were charged with three errors in all, the biggest coming when shortstop Dansby Swanson dropped a throw trying to turn a double play.
On the very next pitch, Slater lined one into the right-field seats for his second homer of the season. The Giants went on to score five runs in the inning, also taking advantage of throwing errors by reliever Ian Krol and first baseman Matt Adams.
Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 11th save in 15 chances.
PIRATES 7, BREWERS 3
MILWAUKEE – Chad Kuhl got his first victory since April, Andrew McCutchen homered for the fifth time in seven games and the Pirates beat the Brewers.
Jose Osuna’s three-run homer highlighted the Pirates’ six-run first inning. McCutchen’s two-run single and David Freese’s RBI hit accounted for the other runs, all scored before Zach Davies (7-4) recorded a second out.
Kuhl (2-6) went 12 starts without a win after beating Atlanta 6-4 on April 8. The young right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits over five innings, walked two and matched his career high of six strikeouts.
CUBS 4, PADRES 0
CHICAGO – Anthony Rizzo hit another leadoff home run to help Mike Montgomery get his first win of the season in the Cubs’ victory over the Padres.
Rizzo homered on the second pitch from Jhoulys Chacin (6-6) and was the third leading off in seven games since Rizzo was moved to the top of the order by manager Joe Maddon. In those seven games, he is 6 for 6 with a walk to open the first inning.
It also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games and came on the day Rizzo took a call from the league office about a collision at home plate with Padres catcher Austin Hedges the previous night.
Rookie Ian Happ also homered for the Cubs.
Montgomery (1-3) allowed three hits and two walks in six innings, striking out four.
ORIOLES 6, INDIANS 5
BALTIMORE – Manny Machado went 4 for 4, homered twice and drove in four runs to help the Orioles beat Cleveland and end the Indians’ six-game winning streak.
After the Orioles rallied from a 5-2 deficit to pull even, Machado doubled off Bryan Shaw (1-2) in the seventh inning and scored on a double by Adam Jones.
Machado’s first four-hit game since last August lifted his batting average 13 points to .227. He hit a solo homer in the first and tied it with a three-run drive in the fifth.
Miguel Castro (1-0) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to earn his first big league victory.
Brad Brach pitched the ninth for his 13th save, retiring Yan Gomes on a deep fly ball with runners on the corners and two outs.
RANGERS 6, BLUE JAYS 1
ARLINGTON, Texas – Carlos Gomez homered in a four-run first inning, Nick Martinez allowed two hits while taking a shutout into the seventh and the Rangers beat the Blue Jays.
Adrian Beltre had a solo homer in the eighth for his 2,960th career hit as the Rangers (35-35) got back to .500 while the Blue Jays (34-36) dropped to 0-8 this season when trying to reach the break-even mark for the first time.
Toronto beat two-time defending A.L. West champion Texas in a Division Series each of the past two seasons, as the A.L. East winner in 2015 and as a wild-card last year.
Delino DeShields led off for the Rangers with a bunt single and scored on an RBI groundout by Beltre before Gomez’s seventh homer and run-scoring hits from Jonathan Lucroy and Mike Napoli.
Martinez (2-3) got his first win since May 19 at Detroit.
TWINS 9, WHITE SOX 7
MINNEAPOLIS – Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas each hit a long home run to help the Twins bounce back from a demoralizing sweep by beating the White Sox.
Sano hit his 17th homer and Vargas added a three-run shot as the Twins overcame a rough outing from Ervin Santana (9-4), who gave up six runs on 10 hits and struck out six in five innings. Brandon Kintzler pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 21 tries.
Jose Abreu went 4 for 5 with a home run and two doubles, and Avisail Garcia had a homer and two RBIs for the White Sox.
DODGERS 12, METS 0
LOS ANGELES – Corey Seager hit three homers in a game for the second time in his young career and the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep five times in a 12-0 victory over the New York Mets.
Cody Bellinger also had a two-run homer to help the Dodgers win their fifth straight. Bellinger leads the National League with 22 homers in 52 games, including two long balls against the Mets on Monday. The Dodgers have hit nine home runs the past two nights and 27 home runs in their last 10 games.
Seager has 12 home runs on the season. He hit a two-run homer in the first, a solo shot in the fourth and a three-run homer in the fifth. He flied out with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Brandon McCarthy (6-3) pitched four-hit ball through six innings for Los Angeles, and Brock Stewart got his first career save with three hitless innings in his first outing of the season.
Robert Gsellman (5-5) gave up four homers and eight runs over 4 1/3 innings.
ASTROS 8, ATHLETICS 4
OAKLAND, Calif. – George Springer hit a leadoff homer to spark a five-run first inning and the Houston Astros once again made themselves at home in Oakland with an 8-4 victory over the Athletics.
Brian McCann and Yuli Gurriel each added an RBI double, and Alex Bregman hit a two-run single in the first against Sonny Gray (2-3) to give the Astros their eighth straight win at the Coliseum and 13th in the last 14 meetings with the A’s overall.