BOSTON (AP) — Alex Verdugo had a two-run 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.
The Yankees (50-22) got a run in the fourth when Giancarlo Stanton led off with a single and Anthony Rizzo walked. After Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play, it appeared Bello got out of the inning on Oswalda Cabrera’s groundball to first baseman Dominic Smith. But, Bello’s error attempting to cover first allowed Stanton to score.
CARDINALS 3, CUBS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — 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 and St. Louis beat Chicago.
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-year-old Venezuelan pointed toward the sky crossing home plate.
Michael Busch singled leading off the bottom half against Ryan Fernandez. Pinch runner Pete Crow-Armstrong stole second and went to third on a ground out but he was thrown out at home by second baseman Nolan Gorman trying to score on Miguel Amaya’s one-out ground ball. JoJo Romero retired pinch hitter Patrick Wisdom on a fly to the left-field corner that Brendan Donovan caught just in front of the ivy.
The Cardinals scored two more runs in the ninth. Iván Herrera blooped an RBI double off a lunging second baseman Nico Hoerner’s glove and Dylan Carlson drove him in with a single.
Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley retired the first two batters in the ninth before walking Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. He then struck out Hoerner for his major league-leading 23rd save in 24 chances.
Gibson (5-2) made it look easy, striking out six and walking one.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
The Marlins, who are an NL-worst 23-46, have lost three in a row and nine of their last 11. Miami fell to 3-21 when facing a left-handed starter.
Gore (6-5) won for the fourth time in five starts, giving up a run on five hits while matching the longest outing of his career.
The Nationals chased Miami starter Shaun Anderson (0-1), who was called up from Triple-A Jacksonville earlier in the day, with seven consecutive hits — many early in the count — to start the third. After Jacob Young’s leadoff single, CJ Abrams had a sharp infield single on the next pitch and Thomas followed with a first-pitch homer to left.
GUARDIANS 3, BLUE JAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — 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.
Allen (7-3) allowed one run and three hits. The 25-year-old left-hander walked three and struck out three.
Toronto has lost two straight and three of its last four. The Blue Jays are 8-29 when scoring three or fewer runs.
Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings, losing for the second time in three starts.
BRAVES 7, RAYS 3
ATLANTA (AP) — 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.
The Braves’ seven runs, all in the first two innings, were their top total for a full game since an 8-3 win at Boston on June 4. It was a much-anticipated bright spot for a struggling lineup.
The Braves’ 3.55 runs per game since May 1 ranked as the second-lowest average in the majors, ahead of only the Chicago White Sox (3.25), in that span.
ASTROS 4, TIGERS 0
HOUSTON (AP) — 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.
The Astros had just one hit on a leadoff double by Altuve when he doubled to left field to start the sixth inning. He scored on a triple by Alex Bregman, which extended his hitting streak to a career-long 15 games.
A sacrifice fly by Yordan Alvarez sent Bregman home to make it 2-0. Yainer Diaz singled with two outs before Dubón homered off Tarik Skubal (8-2) into the seats in left field to push the lead to 4-0.
Skubal gave up six hits and tied a season high with four runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Colt Keith had two hits for the Tigers, who lost for the third time in four games.
METS 2, PADRES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — 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.
Second baseman Jeff McNeil made a nice sliding play on the outfield grass to turn Donovan Solano’s grounder into the second out. With a runner at third, Díaz fell behind 3-1 on Jake Cronenworth but struck him out swinging at a 91 mph slider.
The star closer screamed and pounded his chest in excitement after securing his sixth save this season. Before going on the injured list May 29, he blew three straight save opportunities and four out of five — leaving him with an unsightly 5.40 ERA.
Díaz was reinstated Thursday and worked a perfect ninth to get the win in a 3-2 victory over Miami.
REDS 6, BREWERS 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) — 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.
The Brewers trailed 6-3 when Christian Yelich and Willy Adames opened the ninth inning with back-to-back singles off Alexis Díaz. The Brewers loaded the bases when Rhys Hoskins hit a slow roller that shortstop Elly De La Cruz mishandled for his third error of the night.
After Sal Frelick lined to second for the first out, Joey Ortiz walked to load the bases. Jackson Chourio then singled to right, and pinch runner Jake Bauers attempted to score the tying run from second.
Home plate umpire Will Little initially ruled Bauers safe, but the call was overruled when replays showed Bauers’ left hand hit catcher’s Tyler Stephenson’s glove before touching the plate.
Blake Perkins then popped up a bunt that Díaz caught to convert his 15th save in 17 opportunities.
TWINS 6, ATHLETICS 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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.
The late-game hit was Kepler’s 10th career walk-off plate appearance, tied with Kent Hrbek for third-most in Minnesota history.
Twins closer Jhoan Duran (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the victroy. It was his first multi-inning appearance of the season.
Minnesota tied it in the eighth when Carlos Santana drew a bases-loaded walk against Oakland closer Mason Miller. But Minnesota couldn’t push across another run in the inning.
PHILLIES 5, ORIOLES 3, 11 INNINGS
BALTIMORE (AP) — Alec Bohm hit a two-run 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.
Seranthony Dominguez worked the bottom of the inning for his first save of the season.
The opener of the three-game series between two of baseball’s top teams drew a sellout of 43,987 at Camden Yards, a crowd that included plenty of Phillies fans who apparently made the short trip from the Philadelphia area. It was an electric atmosphere from the start, when Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a home run, and the night only became wilder when each team scored a run in the 10th — with two replay reviews going Baltimore’s way on plays at the plate.
Then the sky opened and the tarp came out between the 10th and 11th. That cleared out a good number of the fans, although those that remained were spirited.
PIRATES 5, ROCKIES 2
DENVER (AP) — 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, ahead of only Miami (23-46) and the Chicago White Sox (18-52).
Feltner left the game with an injury after going to a 3-2 count on Jared Triolo during the next at-bat. He pitched well through six innings despite giving up solo homers to Reynolds in the first and McCutchen in the sixth as Pittsburgh moved out to a 2-1 lead.
