Yankees roll past Red Sox, 8-1
BOSTON — Alex Verdugo had a tworun homer and four RBIs in his return to Fenway Park, and Luis Gil struck out six as the MLB-leading New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 8-1 on Friday night.
Verdugo spent four seasons with the Red Sox before being traded to New York in December in a rare deal between the AL East division rivals.
Verdugo hit the first pitch he saw from Boston right-hander Brayan Bello to straightaway center field for his ninth homer of the season, scoring Juan Soto, who reached on a double. The 28-year-old right fielder added an RBI double in the fifth inning and a run-scoring single in the ninth.
Gil (9-1) worked five innings, giving up one run on four hits with four walks.
The 26-year-old righty threw a season-high 104 pitches. In his last nine starts, Gil is 8-0 with a 1.14 ERA, giving up seven earned runs over 55 1/3 innings.
CARDINALS 3, CUBS 0
CHICAGO — Kyle Gibson pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, Pedro Pagés broke a scoreless tie when he led off the eighth with his first career homer.
Pagés, who had just three hits in 28 major league at-bats, gave the Cardinals the lead with a drive to the left-field basket against reliever Hayden Wesneski (2-4). The 25-yearold Venezuelan pointed toward the sky crossing home plate.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 1
WASHINGTON — Lane Thomas homered to highlight a seven-run third inning, and Washington routed Miami in the opener of a three-game series.
MacKenzie Gore struck out 10 over seven innings for Washington, which has won six of seven and improved to 5-0 against Miami this season.
GUARDIANS 3, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO — Will Brennan hit a solo home run and scored twice, Logan Allen pitched five innings for his first career win over Toronto, and Cleveland won for their fourth win in five games.
Brennan and Andrés Giménez had two hits apiece as the Guardians improved to 31-7 when scoring first.
Cleveland has won 11 of its last 16 road games and improved to 23-15 away from home.
BRAVES 7, RAYS 3
ATLANTA — Austin Riley drove in three runs with three hits, including a two-run homer, Marcell Ozuna added a three-run shot and Atlanta’s long-suffering offense offered signs of
recovery in a victory over Tampa Bay.
Chris Sale (9-2) improved to 7-0 at home. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in seven innings.
Riley had a run-scoring double in Atlanta’s five-run first inning and added a two-run homer, only his fourth, in the second.
ASTROS 4, TIGERS 0
HOUSTON — Hunter Brown struck out nine in seven scoreless innings and Mauricio Dubón hit a two-run homer as Houston got a big sixth inning for a win over Detroit.
Brown (3-5) allowed five hits, Bryan Abreu pitched a scoreless eighth and Josh Hader struck out one in the ninth to complete the shutout.
METS 2, PADRES 1
NEW YORK — J.D. Martinez hit a two-run double, Edwin Díaz converted his first save chance since coming off the injured list and New York held off San Diego.
Making his second appearance in two nights since returning from a right shoulder impingement, Díaz pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning.
He gave up a leadoff single and a stolen base, then struck out slugger Manny Machado looking at a 100 mph fastball.
REDS 6, BREWERS 5
MILWAUKEE — TJ Friedl went 3 for 5 with a homer and Cincinnati withstood a five-error performance and a ninth-inning comeback attempt to beat Milwaukee.
Jeimer Candelario also went deep for the Reds, who won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. William Contreras hit a solo shot for the NL
Central-leading Brewers.
TWINS 6, ATHLETICS 5
MINNEAPOLIS — Max Kepler hit a tying home run in the sixth inning and a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give Minnesota a victory over Oakland.
Kepler singled to right off Scott Alexander, driving in Austin Martin from second for Minnesota’s third straight victory. It was the second big hit of the game for Minnesota’s right fielder, who tied it 4 in the sixth off Oakland starter Mitch Spence.
PHILLIES 5, ORIOLES 3, 11 INN.
BALTIMORE — Alec Bohm hit a tworun double in the top of the 11th inning shortly after a 71-minute rain delay, and Philadelphia outlasted Baltimore.
With one out in the 11th and the automatic runner on second, the Orioles intentionally walked Bryce Harper. Bohm followed with a drive to left-center off Jacob Webb (1-4) that scored both runners.
PIRATES 5, ROCKIES 2
DENVER — Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen homered, Luis Ortiz worked five solid innings of relief and Pittsburgh beat Colorado.
Ortiz (3-2) came on for opener Carmen Mlodzinski in the second inning and scattered seven hits in his five innings.
Ortiz was backed up by the long ball, with a big shot coming in the seventh off the bat of Suwinski, whose two-run blast off starter Ryan Feltner (1-6) gave Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead.
Charlie Blackmon homered and doubled twice for Colorado, which has the third-worst record in the major leagues at 24-45.