CHICAGO (AP) — Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez homered, Tanner Houck pitched seven solid innings and the Boston Red Sox handed the White Sox their franchise-record 14th straight loss, beating Chicago 14-2 on Thursday night.
The White Sox surpassed a mark set by the 1924 team while extending baseball’s longest slide this season. They are a major league-worst 15-48.
Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela each had four of Boston’s season-high 24 hits. Duran got the rout started with his third career leadoff homer.
Valdez added a three-run drive against White Sox starter Jake Woodford (0-2) in the fourth and Boston scored four in the inning to go up 7-0. Pinch hitter Jamie Westbrook hit his first major league homer in the seventh, and the Red Sox rolled to another easy win after beating Atlanta 9-0 on Wednesday.
Houck (6-5) gave up two runs and three hits, and struck out nine without a walk. The right-hander did not allow a hit until the sixth, when Lenyn Sosa led off with a single and scored on Zach DeLoach’s double. He also gave up a solo homer to Andrew Vaughn in the seventh.
Woodford got tagged for seven runs and 10 hits — matching a career high and setting one — in four innings.
Austin Riley hit a go-ahead RBI single, Marcell Ozuna followed with a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves scored three runs in the eighth inning to rally for a 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night.
BLUE JAYS 6, ORIOLES 5
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run home run, Yusei Kikuchi pitched six innings to snap a seven-start winless streak and Toronto beat Baltimore to split their four-game series.
Adley Rutschman homered from both sides of the plate, but the Orioles lost their second straight game.
Baltimore scored 19 runs in the first 20 innings of this series but only five over the final 16 innings.
Rutschman hit a solo homer off the left-handed Kikuchi (3-5) in the sixth inning and added a two-run blast off righty Zach Pop in the eighth. The homers were his 11th and 12th this season.
Rutschman also homered twice in a 3-2 home loss to Toronto on May 13. Both of those came against Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos.
Kikuchi allowed one run and four hits. He walked one and struck out six.
ROYALS 6, GUARDIANS 5
CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Isbel hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning that scored Adam Frazier and Kansas City beat AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Frazier doubled off Hunter Gaddis (3-2) with two outs and Isbel followed with a liner to right, giving Kansas City a split of the two-game series. The clubs were rained out on Wednesday.
The Royals pulled within four games of Cleveland in the division, winning for the third time in 10 games since May 25. Sam Long (1-1) pitched a scoreless seventh and James McArthur picked up his 12th save in 16 chances.
José Ramírez hit a solo homer and drove in two runs for the Guardians, who have the third-best record in baseball at 40-21, trailing the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees. Cleveland entered the day an MLB-best 21-7 at home.
Isbel was in the lineup for the first time since Sunday, when he sustained a head injury in a collision with teammate Bobby Witt Jr. against San Diego. He also is recovering from small facial fractures after fouling a ball off his face at Tampa Bay on May 25.
MARINERS 2, ATHLETICS 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Bryan Woo and three relievers combined on a two-hit shutout, and Seattle beat Oakland.
Woo, who grew up 10 minutes away from the Coliseum in Alameda, California, allowed two hits and struck out six in six innings. The 24-year-old threw a season-high 85 pitches and didn’t walk a batter while being cheered by friends and family in the stands.
Mitch Garver homered and had an RBI single for the AL West-leading Mariners, who have won nine of 11.
The A’s were shut out for the fifth time this season in their sixth loss in eight games.
Woo (3-0) remained unbeaten after pitching out of a pair of early jams. Oakland got its leadoff batter to third base in the first two innings, but Woo retired the next three batters in order in both frames.
Austin Voth and Mike Baumann retired three batters each. Ryne Stanek, pitching the ninth while closer Andrés Muñoz recovers from a sore back, set the side down in order for his fourth save and completed the Mariners’ sixth shutout of the season.
Garver walked and scored in the third, hit an RBI single off A’s starter JP Sears in the fourth and then homered off T.J. McFarland leading off the ninth.
BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGONT (AP) — Adam Duvall homered in the seventh inning for Atlanta, which has won three of four.
Rookie Mitchell Parker took a no-hitter into the sixth for Washington, which has dropped four in a row and scored just six runs over its last three games.
The Braves took the lead against Washington reliever Hunter Harvey (2-2). Ozzie Albies doubled into the corner in right, then came around when Riley lined a single to center to make it 3-2.
A pitch later, Ozuna ripped Harvey’s slider to deep left-center for his NL-leading 18th home run. Since the start of the 2021 season, Ozuna has hit 14 home runs in 37 games against the Nationals.
Aaron Bummer (2-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for Atlanta and Raisel Iglesias handled the ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.
REDS 8, CUBS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz hit a three-run homer on the anniversary of his major league debut and Cincinnati won a season-high fifth straight game with a victory over Chicago.
TJ Friedl, Jonathan India and Will Benson also drove in runs as the Reds followed a three-game sweep in Colorado with a win over the NL Central rival Cubs in the first of a four-game series.
Hunter Greene (4-2) struck out eight while allowing four runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Three Reds relievers combined to keep the Cubs hitless the rest of the way, with closer Alexis Diaz issuing a walk before striking out three straight batters to end it.
Home runs accounted for all of Chicago’s runs, a two-run, upper-deck blast by Seiya Suzuki in the third inning and a 415-foot, two-run shot to center by Christopher Morel in the sixth.
Cubs starter Javier Assad (4-2) allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.
DODGERS 11, PIRATES 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez homered and Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh to avoid a three-game sweep.
Freeman hit a three-run shot in the first for his eighth home run of the season. Betts added a three-run shot of his own during a six-run fifth inning as Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh for just the sixth time in their last 16 meetings despite a relatively quiet night from Shohei Ohtani, who went 1 for 6 with a run scored.
Ohtani, who homered and singled off Pirates rookie Paul Skenes on Wednesday, is hitting just .225 (14 of 62) since May 29.
Hernandez finished with three hits, including a go-ahead home run in the fifth off Bailey Falter (3-3). Miguel Rojas added three hits and drove in a pair of runs as the high-powered Dodgers generated a little bit of momentum ahead of a three-game interleague series in the Bronx this weekend against the New York Yankees.
Michael Grove (3-2) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of an ineffective Walker Buehler.
ROCKIES 3, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Toglia and Charlie Blackmon each drove in a run and Colorado snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over St. Louis in the first of a four-game series.
Cal Quantrill (5-4) did not give up a run despite walking four and allowing three hits in five innings. Tyler Kinley allowed a single but struck out Nolan Gorman to end the game and pick up his third save this season.
Sonny Gray (7-4) lasted 4 2/3 innings for the Cardinals, who stranded 10 runners and have dropped five of their past seven games after going on a 12-3 run. He allowed just two hits but he walked four and threw two wild pitches. He recorded five strikeouts in throwing 89 pitches.
The Rockies, who had just four hits, went up 1-0 in the third after an inning ending double play call was overturned. Jake Cave, who walked with one out and went to third on a single by Toglia, scored when Blackmon beat the throw to first base.
The Rockies got to Gray in the fifth inning when he allowed a hit and walked three while throwing two wild pitches. Brenton Doyle led off with a single and stole second and third. Cave singled and stole second. Doyle scored on a ground out to first by Toglia with Cave taking third. He came home on a wild pitch by Gray, making it 3-0.
YANKEES 8, TWINS 5
NEW YORK (AP) — Trent Grisham homered and had three RBIs, doubling his totals in both categories, and New York completed a season sweep of Minnesota with a victory for their eighth straight win.
New York slugger Juan Soto was removed with left forearm discomfort following a 56-minute rain delay before the sixth inning.
Gleyber Torres bounced a two-run double inside first base for the Yankees (45-19), who broke a tie with Philadelphia for the best record in the majors. They moved to 25-6 in the last 31 games and extended their longest winning streak since a nine-game run in June 2022.
On deck this weekend, the Yankees renew an old October rivalry when they welcome Shohei Ohtani and the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers to the Bronx for a highly anticipated interleague series loaded with star power.
