MLB roundup: Boston beats Tampa Bay 5-4, moves into 2nd place in AL East
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Christian Vazquez hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Marcus Walden bailed Boston out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Tuesday night to move into second place in the AL East for the first time since the second day of the season.
The defending World Series champions have recovered from a 3-8 start and improved to a season-high 10 games over .500 at 56-46, moving one percentage point ahead of the Rays (57-47), who have lost seven of eight.
Vazquez snapped a 2-2 tie with his second career pinch-homer, a drive into the left-field seats off Colin Poche (2-4).
Boston boosted the lead to 5-2 in the eighth when Andrew Benintendi hit an RBI groundout and Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch from Adam Kolarek with the bases loaded, forcing in a run.
Ji-Man Choi’s had a run-scoring single off Brandon Workman in the ninth. Walden entered with the bases loaded and two outs, walked Tommy Pham on four pitches, then retired Austin Meadows on a game-ending groundout.
Chris Sale (5-9) allowed two runs on Travis d’Arnaud’s third-inning homer and limited the Rays to just three other hits. He struck out 10 over six innings.
Nationals 11, Rockies 1
WASHINGTON – Trea Turner hit his second career cycle, Stephen Strasburg earned his major league-leading 13th win and Washington routed Colorado.
Turner led off the first with homer, singled in the second and tripled in the fifth. After grounding into a double play in the sixth, he doubled home a run during Washington’s eight-run seventh.
Strasburg (13-4) pitched six innings for his sixth straight win. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Colorado rookie Peter Lambert (2-2) gave up three runs and nine hits. He struck out eight with a walk for the Rockies, who have lost seven of eight.
Nationals catcher Yan Gomes had two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth. Strasburg singled his first time up, giving him hits in four straight at-bats.
Yankees 14, Twins 12 (10)
MINNEAPOLIS – Aaron Hicks made a game-saving catch in center field for the final out in the 10th inning, Didi Gregorius had five hits and seven RBIs, and New York beat Minnesota in a game that featured five lead changes or ties in the final three innings.
Gleyber Torres scored Gregorius with an RBI single in the top of the 10th and New York tacked on another run on a wild pitch by Kohl Stewart (2-2). Adam Ottavino walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, and then Chad Green allowed a drive to Max Kepler into the left-center field gap. Hicks ran it down and caught it with a diving, backhanded effort at the warning track, ending the game after 5 hours, 3 minutes.
The madness began with New York’s five-run eighth inning for a 10-9 lead. Mike Tauchman had an RBI double, then Aaron Judge and Gregorius added two-run doubles. The inning ended when Gary Sanchez grounded out and then was pulled with an apparent injury to his right leg.
Aroldis Chapman (3-2) earned the win after blowing his third save in six appearances and his sixth of the season in the ninth inning. He walked the first three batters, and Ehire Adrianza scored a tying run on Jorge Polanco’s sacrifice fly.
Giants 5, Cubs 4 (13)
SAN FRANCISCO – Pablo Sandoval homered with one out in the 13th inning, lifting San Francisco past Chicago.
Sandoval just cleared the left-field fence with his first-pitch drive off Brad Brach (3-3) that went to replay and was upheld to formally finish the 3-hour, 45-minute game.
Sam Coonrod (1-0), San Francisco’s fifth reliever, pitched the 13th for his first career victory.
Madison Bumgarner struck out seven over seven innings in another strong start.
Kris Bryant hit a pair of RBI singles, and Jason Heyward hit a tying single for the Cubs, who have lost 10 of the last 14 in San Francisco.
Mets 5, Padres 2
NEW YORK – Robinson Cano hit three home runs, leading Jason Vargas and New York over San Diego.
The 36-year-old Cano drove in all five runs and went 4 for 4. Vargas pitched one-hit ball for six shutout innings.
Cano homered three times in a game for the first time in his career. It was just the third three-homer game ever by a Mets player at home – Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis both did it in July 2015.
After singling in the first, Cano hit a two-run homer off Chris Paddack (6-5) in the sixth and a two-run shot in the seventh off Logan Allen.
Vargas (5-5) put on a pitching clinic. He permitted only a single by Eric Hosmer in the fifth, struck out eight and walked three.
Edwin Diaz relieved with two on in the ninth and got his 22nd save in 26 chances.
Cardinals 4, Pirates 3
PITTSBURGH – Paul Goldschmidt homered for the second straight night, Jose Martinez added his 10th home run and Dakota Hudson rebounded from a shaky start to lead St. Louis past Pittsburgh.
Goldschmidt delivered a two-run drive in the third inning off Chris Archer (3-7). Martinez put St. Louis in front with a solo shot leading off the fifth, and Hudson and two relievers shut down the Pirates after spotting Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.
Hudson (10-4) surrendered a Starling Marte homer and then settled down. The 24-year-old rookie worked 6 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and three walks. Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Miller retired the last eight Pittsburgh batters, with Miller throwing a perfect ninth for his third save.
Pittsburgh fell to 2-9 since over its last 11 games, with four of the losses to St. Louis.
Blue Jays 2, Indians 1
TORONTO – Justin Smoak tied the game with a homer in the ninth inning and knocked in the winning run with a two-out single in the 10th as Toronto beat Cleveland.
Smoak got the winning hit off lefty Tyler Olson (1-1), scoring Eric Sogard.
Toronto’s Ken Giles (2-2) pitched one inning and earned the win.
The Indians carried a three-hitter into the ninth before Smoak spoiled the shutout bid, homering with a one-out off closer Brad Hand, who squandered a save opportunity for the second time in 29 chances.
Adam Cimber got the first two outs in the 10th inning. Olson came on and walked Sogard, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sogard moved to third on an infield single by Freddy Galvis and scored when Smoak singled off the glove of a diving Jose Ramirez at third base.
Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez allowed one run and five hits in five innings.
Royals 5, Braves 4
ATLANTA – Lucas Duda delivered Kansas City’s first pinch-hit homer of the season to break a tie in the eighth inning, and the Royals beat NL East-leading Atlanta.
Alex Gordon also homered for the Royals and drove in two runs.
Starters Dallas Keuchel of Atlanta and Danny Duffy of Kansas City went six strong innings with double-digit strikeouts but didn’t factor in the decision. Keuchel allowed just three hits and struck out 12. Duffy surrendered one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts.
Ian Kennedy gave up three straight singles to start the ninth but bounced back for his 18th save.
Ronald Acuna extended his career-best on-base streak to 28 games when he was hit by a pitch in the third.
Reds 14, Brewers 6
MILWAUKEE – Eugenio Suarez hit his third two-run home run in two games and Cincinnati battered Zach Davies for seven runs in a rout of Milwaukee.
Jesse Winker and Joey Votto hit two-run homers and pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin had a three-run triple as Cincinnati beat the Brewers for the fifth straight time.
Davies (8-3) allowed six earned runs and nine hits in four-plus innings.
Tanner Roark (6-6) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings.
Manny Pina hit a three-run home run and had four RBIs for the Brewers.
Orioles 7, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX – Dwight Smith Jr. hit a three-run home run, Dylan Bundy pitched six solid innings and Baltimore beat Arizona.
Renato Nunez and Anthony Santander also homered for the Orioles.
Bundy (5-11) allowed two runs, four hits and three walks while striking out five for his second win in three starts.
Baltimore has won four of six.
T.J. McFarland struck out six in 2 2/3 innings of relief work for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three of four and fell three games out of the second National League wild card.
The Orioles tagged Merrill Kelly (7-10) for three runs in the second inning and four more in the third, chasing the Diamondbacks starter after 2 1/3 innings.
Rangers 7, Mariners 2
SEATTLE – Rougned Odor homered twice, Nomar Mazara reached the third deck with an impressive shot and Texas ended an eight-game skid with a win over Seattle.
Shin-Soo Choo led off the game by homering on Tommy Milone’s first pitch, and the Rangers went on to snap the fourth-longest losing streak in the majors this year. Seattle has lost three of four.
Milone (1-5) pitched through the sixth inning, giving up nine hits and striking out five.
Long reliever Pedro Payano (1-0) struck out seven and gave up one run and three hits in five innings following opener Brett Martin. It was his first major league win in his second appearance.
Omar Narvaez and J.P. Crawford had run-scoring hits for Seattle.
Marlins 5, White Sox 1
CHICAGO – Caleb Smith retired his first 17 batters and cruised through seven innings of two-hit ball, and Miami beat Chicago.
Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer to cap Miami’s four-run fourth inning against Dylan Covey (1-6). Harold Ramirez added a solo shot in the fifth as the NL-worst Marlins ended a four-game skid.
Smith (6-4) worked perfectly through a depleted White Sox lineup before walking Adam Engel and Leury Garcia with two outs in the sixth. Jon Jay followed by grounding a single to right for Chicago’s first hit and only run. Smith struck out nine – including five straight over the fifth and sixth innings.
Covey allowed five runs and six hits through six innings.
Relievers Nick Anderson and Jarlin Garcia each tossed a perfect inning to close it out.
Athletics 4, Astros 3 (11)
HOUSTON – Matt Olson hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning and Ramon Laureano added a ground-rule RBI double with one out in the 11th, giving Oakland a win over Houston.
It was tied at 3-3 when Olson singled off Collin McHugh (3-5) with one out in the 11th, before Mark Canha walked. Laureano then hit a ball to left field that rolled to the wall and lodged between the padding and the ground. Both runners scored by the time Josh Reddick got the ball and threw it in. But the play was reviewed and Canha was returned to third base because the ball was lodged under the wall.
Oakland starter Mike Fiers allowed six hits and two runs in 7 2/3 innings but did not factor into the decision. Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) struck out two in two perfect innings for the win.
Houston starter Miley struck out six and walked two in a season-high eight-plus innings.
Phillies 3, Tigers 2 (15)
DETROIT– Scott Kingery tripled to lead off the 15th inning and scored on a single by Rhys Hoskins as Philadelphia outlasted Detroit.
Kingery, who had struck out four times, hit a drive to deep right off Daniel Stumpf (1-1) to start the winning rally. Hoskins followed with a clean single to right.
Detroit nearly won it in the 14th against Jose Alvarez (1-2), but left fielder Brad Miller threw Nicholas Castellanos out at the plate when he was trying to score on Brandon Dixon’s one-out single.
Roman Quinn hit a two-run homer for Philadelphia. Castellanos tied it with an RBI double in the sixth for Detroit, which got an unearned run in the first.