Smoak’s HR helps Blue Jays hand Tigers 11th loss in a row
NEW YORK (AP) Chris Sale pitched his latest Bronx gem, Rafael Devers went 5 for 5 with a first-inning grand slam and the Boston Red Sox held the New York Yankees to two hits during an 11-0 rout Saturday night to take back baseball's best record.
Sale (8-4) allowed only Giancarlo Stanton's clean single over seven innings, striking out 11. He has a 1.73 career ERA against the Yankees, best among pitchers with at least 10 starts against them since 1920. His ERA at Yankee Stadium is 1.86, second only to Seattle's Felix Hernandez among pitchers with five starts.
Boston is a major league-leading 56-28, just ahead of the Yankees at 53-27. New York held the majors' best mark by percentage points after winning Friday's series opener 8-1.
Yankee Stadium hosted a season-high sellout of 47,125, and the crowd gave starter Sonny Gray (5-6) an earful after he gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 0-4 with a 9.35 ERA against Boston since being acquired by New York from Oakland last season.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Bartolo Colon overcame a sluggish start to earn his 245th major league win and match Dennis Martinez for the most by a pitcher from Latin America when Texas beat Chicago.
Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua homered for the Rangers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and clinched their fifth consecutive series. Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.
The 45-year-old Colon (5-5) was done after Matt Davidson led off the sixth with a homer to center field that pulled the White Sox to 5-3.
Colon already had the most wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic, having surpassed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for that distinction with his 244th victory at Kansas City on June 18, six days before a loss at Minnesota. Colon won in his first start at home since June 6 to match Martinez, who is from Nicaragua.
White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
GIANTS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX (AP) - Dereck Rodriguez blanked the Diamondbacks into the seventh inning and San Francisco made it two wins in a row at Arizona.
Brandon Crawford, Andrew McCutchen and Joe Panik homered on another rough night for Shelby Miller (0-2), who struggled in his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Panik's homer, off reliever Jimmie Sherfy in the eighth, was his first since April 3, a span of 162 at-bats.
Ty Blach and Cory Gearrin completed San Francisco's 10th shutout of the season.
The Giants have won nine of 11 to pull into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for second in the NL West, 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks. San Francisco can complete a three-game road sweep on Sunday.
Rodriguez (3-1), the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan ''Pudge'' Rodriguez, dominated in his sixth major league start. He allowed six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked two.
SEATTLE (AP) - Ryon Healy had four hits, including a homer, and drove in three runs to lead Seattle over Kansas City.
Felix Hernandez (8-6) gave up four consecutive hits, including a three-run homer by Mike Moustakas, to start the game. But the right-hander settled down to pitch four scoreless innings after that, helping the Mariners to a season-best sixth consecutive win.
Edwin Diaz worked a perfect ninth for his 31st save. The Mariners (53-31) are 22 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.
Jason Hammels (2-10) lost his fifth straight, allowing six runs and 13 hits in six innings.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Wil Myers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, and rookie Joey Lucchesi threw five scoreless innings to send San Diego past Pittsburgh.
The Padres had to hold on after closer Brad Hand allowed two runs in the ninth before earning his 23rd save. Hand gave up doubles by Elias Diaz and Austin Meadows, and a triple by Gregory Polanco. The reliever then got Jordy Mercer to fly out to shallow right field, pinch-hitter Jose Osuna to foul out to right and struck out Starling Marte.
Myers, limited to 19 games this season due to injuries, homered off Trevor Williams (6-6) in the third, his second. Myers then chased the San Diegan with a two-run double to give the Padres a 4-0 lead in the fifth.
San Diego won for just the third time in 13 games.
Lucchesi (4-3) won for the first time since April 28. He was making his third start since missing five weeks with a strained right hip. The left-hander allowed one hit while striking out five and walking four.
TORONTO (AP) - Justin Smoak led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run and Toronto handed Detroit its 11th straight loss.
Smoak connected against reliever Joe Jimenez (3-1) for his 11th homer of the season.
Seyunghwan Oh (4-2) worked one inning for the win. Randal Grichuk also homered for the Blue Jays, who have won 10 of 11 at home.
John Hicks hit a solo homer in the Detroit second off Sam Gaviglio and Nick Castellanos made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the third, his 12th.
Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer to cap Toronto's three-run fifth that tied the score.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Wilson Ramos drove in four runs in the first two innings against Justin Verlander, and Tampa Bay won for the seventh time in eight games.
Matt Duffy finished with three hits, including two in the first two innings, to help the Rays move to .500 (41-41) for the first time since June 1. Tampa Bay has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five straight games for only the second time in franchise history.
Ramos gave the Rays the lead with a two-run double in the first, and made it 5-0 with a two-run single in the second.
Alex Bregman got the Astros on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth off Vidal Nuno (2-0).
Verlander (9-4) gave up a season-high five runs in a season-low five innings, giving up nine hits while striking out eight.
Sergio Romo pitched ninth for his seventh save in 11 opportunities.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Hit on his pitching arm by a line drive, Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez made a dazzling throw with his left hand, and Philadelphia overcame an injury to its starting pitcher to bea Washington.
Velasquez was struck in the forearm by Adam Eaton's liner in the second inning. He dropped his glove, hustled to retrieve the ball as it deflected toward third base, and unleashed a strong throw with his opposite arm that nipped the speedy Eaton at first for the final out.
Velasquez then dropped to the ground, writhing in pain and was pulled from the game with a bruise.
Victor Arano (1-0) followed with two scoreless innings of relief. Rookie Seranthony Dominguez pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save in his eighth chances.
Odubel Herrera homered and Jorge Alfaro and Aaron Altherr had RBI doubles for the Phillies. Anthony Rendon homered for the Nationals.
Jeremy Hellickson (2-1), back after being sidelined since June 4 with a right hamstring strain, allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
ROCKIES 3, DODGERS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) - German Marquez pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and Ian Desmond homered to help Colorado beat Los Angeles.
Marquez (6-8) retired his first 15 batters before Enrique Hernandez connected for a home run off the left-field foul pole leading off the sixth. The right-hander struck out nine and walked none after entering with a 5.53 ERA, third-worst among qualified National League starters.
Adam Ottavino pitched the ninth for his second save.
The Rockies closed out June with consecutive victories over the Dodgers after getting swept by Los Angeles in a three-game series at Coors Field to begin the month. Colorado finished June with an 11-16 record.
Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda (5-5) gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits over seven innings and lost for the first time in four June starts.
MIAMI (AP) - Brian Anderson hit a two-run homer off Jacob deGrom and Miami climbed out of last place in the NL East.
For the second game in a row, a Marlins pitcher beat the Mets while making his first major league start. Pablo Lopez (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings in his big league debut.
The Mets (32-48) lost for the 10th time in 11 games and fell into last place for the first time this year. They finished 5-21 this month for the worst June in franchise history, and they've plummeted from 10 games over .500 to 15 under at an earlier date than any team in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Meanwhile, the rebuilding Marlins (34-50) went 14-14 in June, their best month this season.
DeGrom (5-4), who departed after six innings trailing 3-2, fell to 1-4 in his past five starts.
Drew Steckenrider pitched a perfect eighth, and Kyle Barraclough earned his eighth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
CHICAGO (AP) - Minnesota's Eddie Rosario, Bobby Wilson and Max Kepler all left early because of heat illness on a scorching afternoon at Wrigley Field in the Cubs' win.
Rosario homered in the top of the fifth inning, then was pulled from left field shortly after fielding a hit by Anthony Rizzo in the bottom half. The Cubs said it was 96 degrees at the time with a heat index of 107 - that's a calculation of how hot it actually feels, with the humidity factored in.
Jason Heyward had four of the Cubs' 20 hits, Ben Zobrist had three RBIs and Chicago had a pair of five-run innings. The Cubs rallied from 3-0 and 7-4 deficits and have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since April 2003.
Albert Almora Jr. had three hits and drove in two runs as the Cubs won their third in a row.
With the score tied 9-9, Chicago broke it open with a five-run seventh with Heyward's bloop single with the bases loaded off reliever Trevor Hildenberger (1-2) giving the Cubs the lead.
Justin Wilson (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Journeyman Edwin Jackson earned his first win with Oakland, pitching neatly into the seventh inning as the Athletics got their season-high sixth straight victory.
Matt Olson, Dustin Fowler and Josh Phegley homered to help the A's win for the 12th time in 14 games. They've won seven straight against Cleveland and nine of their last 10 against the Indians in Oakland.
Jackson (1-0), who signed a minor league contract with the A's on June 6 and is now with his record-tying 13th major league team, gave up only two hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The A's trailed 2-0 going into the sixth, when Franklin Barreto became their first baserunner with a leadoff double against Adam Plutko (4-2). Phegley followed with his second home run and Oakland took a 3-2 lead when Fowler scored from first on Mark Canha's double.
Francisco Lindor hit his 20th homer and Jose Ramirez hit his 24th in the Cleveland fourth.
The A's broke the game open in the eighth, when Fowler and Olson homered in a four-run inning.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Albert Pujols' RBI double highlighted a five-run eighth inning and Los Angeles handed Baltimore its seventh straight loss.
Playing their 3,000th game under manager Mike Scioscia, the Angels trailed 2-1 before using three hits, three walks and a hit batter to take control against the free-falling Orioles.
After Mychal Givens (0-6) issued a pair of one-out walks, Pujols tied it with his 632nd career double, tying David Ortiz for 10th place on the all-time list. An intentional walk followed, and the go-ahead run scored when Chris Young hit into a force play at third base.
Tanner Scott hit Martin Maldonado with a pitch to force in a run, and David Fletcher capped the uprising with a two-run single.
The major league-worst Orioles have five losing streaks of at least six games, are 0-15 against the AL West and have lost 17 of 18 at home.
Justin Anderson (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the win.
CINCINNATI (AP) - Reliever Michael Lorenzen hit the second grand slam by a Reds pitcher in a week, and Cincinnati snapped a seven game losing streak.
Lorenzen's pinch-hit grand slam off Jacob Barnes in the seventh inning completed an eight-run rally - Cincinnati's biggest of the season. Lorenzen's fifth career homer drew a curtain call from the crowd of 24,640.
The reliever has homered in his last three at-bats. He also connected Friday during Milwaukee's 8-2 win.
Tyler Mahle struck out a career-high 12 batters in 5 2/3 innings, three shy of the Reds' rookie record. David Hernandez (3-0) pitched the top of the seventh.
The Reds fanned 18 batters, a club record for a nine-inning game.
Mike Zagurski (0-1) took the loss in his first major league appearance since 2013.
Eric Thames hit his 14th home run in 22 career games against Cincinnati.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nick Markakis hit a grand slam, Max Fried took a shutout into the seventh inning and Atlanta beat St. Louis.
The Braves have won the first two games of the three-game set. The Cardinals have dropped three in a row.
Fried (1-2) stymied the Cardinals on 101 pitches before being pulled with two outs in the seventh. Recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to start the game, he struck out 11, allowed four singles and walked three.
Luke Weaver (4-7) went 4 2/3 innings, giving up 10 runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five. He gave up homers to Markakis in his final inning and a two-run shot to Ronald Acuna Jr. in the second.
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