Red Sox avoid series sweep, snap Astros’ 10-game win streak
BOSTON Michael Chavis pointed to a young boy in the press box, letting him know how impressed he was that a 5-year-old announced his name so well.
BOSTON — Michael Chavis pointed to a young boy in the press box, letting him know how impressed he was that a 5-year-old announced his name so well.
Boston’s rookie sparkplug then stepped to the plate and gave the kid something extra to be excited about.
Chavis homered on the next pitch after acknowledging the boy, Xander Bogaerts hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the Red Sox averted a series sweep against Houston with a 4-3 victory Sunday that snapped the Astros’ 10-game winning streak.
“I heard a kid’s voice and I looked up and I was so surprised,” Chavis said after hitting his eighth homer in 25 major league games. “I was impressed how confident he was. When I was a kid, I don’t think I would have even done it. Right before I got in the box, I thought I should say good job.”
For an inning on Sundays, the Red Sox have kids announce players’ names as they walk up to the plate.
Mookie Betts scored three runs for Boston, which lost the first two games in the first meeting with the Astros since beating them in the 2018 AL Championship Series.
Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer off Chris Sale for Houston, which is 13-4 in May.
“They played better today, they outhit us, but our at-bats against Sale were good,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “We’ll see him again in five days.”
Houston outfielder George Springer, who began the day leading the American League with 17 homers, exited in the fifth with lower back stiffness. He took three big swings in the first inning, striking out. On the last two, Springer appeared to reach briefly for the lower right side of his back. He also struck out swinging his next two times up against Sale.
“My back stiffened up,” Springer said. “Not necessarily ideal. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, I’ll feel better (Monday).”
Hinch said Springer will be re-evaluated in Houston and won’t play Monday night.
In the seventh, Bogaerts’ double off Framber Valdez (1-2) to deep left-center scored Betts scored from first base.
Sale struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and four hits with five walks. In his previous start, he became the first major league pitcher to strike out 17 batters in seven innings.
“It was kind of a weird day,” he said. “I was kind of all over the place. At times I felt like I was right where I wanted to be and other times, I was trying to just throw a strike.”
Marcus Walden (6-0) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Brandon Workman got three outs for his first career save.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, the Red Sox scored twice with two outs against Wade Miley. Chavis homered over the Green Monster. Betts then doubled and scored on Bogaerts’ single, a pop fly that dropped in shallow right field after second baseman Yuli Gurriel drifted out for it and got twisted around.
Correa drove a 94 mph fastball an estimated 448 feet into the center field bleachers, making it 3-1 in the third.
Miley gave up three runs in five innings.
YANKEES 13, RAYS 5
NEW YORK — Brett Gardner homered early, then got two hits during a seven-run burst in the sixth inning fueled by five walks that sent New York past Tampa Bay.
The Yankees took their second straight weekend series from the Rays and moved a half-game in front atop the AL East. Aaron Hicks homered for the first time since returning from a back injury and DJ LeMahieu also connected to help New York win for the 10th time in 13 games.
Kevin Kiermaier and Willy Adames homered on consecutive pitches in the second to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in the third, his third of the series, to make it 5-3.
Adam Ottavino (2-1) struck out Austin Meadows with the bases loaded to end the sixth and keep the score tied at 5. Chance Adams pitched three scoreless innings for his first career save.
Gardner, who hit a two-run homer off Charlie Morton in the second, started the Yankees sixth with an infield hit off the glove of Diego Castillo (0-3). Pinch-hitter Thairo Estrada delivered a three-run double off Casey Sadler, and Gardner capped the inning with an RBI double.
CUBS 6, NATIONALS 5
WASHINGTON — Anthony Rizzo homered, Albert Almora Jr. had three hits and the Chicago Cubs held off the Washington Nationals for a 6-5 victory Sunday night.
Chicago led 6-1 before Washington closed to within a run on a three-run homer by Anthony Rendon in the sixth inning and a solo home run by Howie Kendrick in the seventh.
Kyle Hendricks (4-4) retired the first 11 Washington batters and didn’t allow a hit until Kurt Suzuki’s single leading off the fifth, but finished by giving up four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 ininngs. Hendricks had been masterful in May, allowing just one earned run over his past three starts (25 innings).
Steve Cishek pitched a 2 1/3 scoreless innings for his fourth save as the Cubs took two of three from the Nationals and improved to 10-1-1 in their past 12 series.
Washington starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-3) allowed three runs and four hits with three walks in three innings.
PHILLIES 7, ROCKIES 5
PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper homered for the second straight day and pinch-hitter J.T. Realmuto also went deep to help Philadelphia complete a three-game sweep of Colorado.
Harper’s tiebreaking, two-run shot in the sixth inning wasn’t as prodigious as his 466-foot drive in Saturday’s 2-1 victory, but this 404-footer had plenty of distance to clear the right-center wall for the NL East leaders.
The $330 million slugger also had a single and an RBI groundout.
Ryan McMahon hit two homers, and Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story also went deep. But the Rockies, who dropped 9½ games behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West, have lost four straight.
Realmuto tied it 5-all in the sixth with his first career pinch-hit homer, a two-run shot off Bryan Shaw (2-1). Harper connected against Mike Dunn.
Edgar Garcia (1-0) got one out for his first major league win, and Pat Neshek earned his third save.
Struggling starter Kyle Freeland lasted just 1 2/3 innings for Colorado.
MARLINS 3, METS 0
MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara threw a two-hitter in a pitching duel with Noah Syndergaard, and Miami beat the reeling New York Mets to finish a three-game sweep.
A day after being shut out on just one hit, the Mets lost their fifth in a row. The latest defeat against a team with baseball’s worst record is sure to intensify speculation about the job security of manager Mickey Callaway.
Alcantara (2-4) struck out eight, walked one and needed only 89 pitches for the Marlins’ first complete game shutout since Edinson Volquez tossed a no-hitter against Arizona in June 2017. The 23-year-old righty threw his first complete game in the majors.
Syndergaard (3-4) retired his first 12 batters and allowed two runs in seven innings.
The Mets (20-25) have their longest losing streak of the year and are a season-worst five games under .500. They went 1-5 on their trip and have dropped 16 of their past 20 road games.
The Marlins (13-31), who came into the series with a seven-game losing streak, have their first three-game winning streak of the season. Curtis Granderson homered for their final run in the eighth.
BREWERS 3, BRAVES 2, 10 INNINGS
ATLANTA — Ben Gamel led off the 10th inning with a home run that lifted Milwaukee over Atlanta.
All five runs in the game came on homers.
Gamel’s drive off Wes Parsons (1-2) helped the Brewers end Atlanta’s four-game winning streak. Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura also connected for Milwaukee, which avoided a three-game sweep in a matchup of 2018 NL division winners.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman went deep for the Braves. Freeman has homered in four consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Josh Hader (1-3) pitched two perfect innings after Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff went eight.
DODGERS 8, REDS 3
CINCINNATI — Hyun-Jin Ryu threw seven shutout innings to extend his major league-leading streak to 31, and Cody Bellinger hit his 17th homer as Los Angeles defeated Cincinnati.
Ryu (6-1) had baserunners in each of his first five innings, but none of them got past second and he retired his last eight batters. The left-hander allowed five hits with one walk and five strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 1.52.
Alex Verdugo drove in three runs and Russell Martin added a solo homer for the Dodgers.
Verdugo’s RBI double gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning and they added a run in the third on a fielder’s choice.
Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig crashed into a retaining wall in foul territory while making a catch and later left the game with a sprained right shoulder.
Bellinger’s two-run shot that glanced off the glove of a leaping Nick Senzel in center field made it 4-0 in the seventh.
Jose Peraza and pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich homered in the ninth for the Reds. Tanner Roark (3-3) allowed two runs in five innings.
INDIANS, 10, ORIOLES 0
CLEVELAND — Shane Bieber struck out a career-high 15 in his first major league complete game and Cleveland routed Baltimore.
A day after being held to one hit, the Orioles were overmatched against Bieber (3-2).
The 23-year-old right-hander gave up five hits, didn’t walk anyone and threw 107 pitches. He bounced back from allowing four home runs against the White Sox in his previous start.
Carlos Santana hit an RBI single in the first inning, then led off the third with his seventh home run.
Cleveland took three of four from the Orioles. Baltimore has lost nine of 11 and allowed a major league-high 94 home runs.
Yefry Ramirez (0-2) struggled in his first start of the season, giving up four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.
ATHLETICS 5, TIGERS 3, 7 INNINGS, SUSPENDED
DETROIT — The Oakland Athletics led Detroit in the bottom of the seventh inning when the game was suspended because of rain.
Oakland scored twice in the top of the seventh to take the lead, but the teams were unable to complete the inning before it began to rain hard and the tarp was brought onto the field. The game will resume Sept. 6 before the Tigers play a series in Oakland.
It was the finale of a four-game series that marked Oakland’s only scheduled trip to Detroit this season.
Play was called after a delay of 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Stephen Piscotty hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh, putting Oakland in position for its 16th straight victory over the Tigers — but the A’s will have to wait 3½ months before trying to close it out.
Mike Fiers allowed three runs in six innings for Oakland. Fiers pitched for the Tigers last season before he was traded to the A’s in August.
Detroit was trying to snap a six-game losing streak.
BLUE JAYS 5, WHITE SOX 2
CHICAGO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit another home run, Danny Jansen and Billy McKinney also connected and Toronto beat Chicago.
Guerrero has hit all four of his homers in the last six games. The highly touted 20-year-old didn’t homer in his first 13 games after making his major league debut in late April.
Guerrero’s two-run drive broke a 1-all tie in the eighth inning. Jansen added a two-run homer in the ninth.
José Abreu drove in two runs for the White Sox.
Daniel Hudson (3-1) worked a scoreless seventh. Ken Giles gave up an RBI double to the first batter he faced, then got four outs for his 10th save.
Kelvin Herrera (1-3) took the loss.
RANGERS 5, CARDINALS 4, 10 INNINGS
ARLINGTON, Texas — Nomar Mazara hit a sacrifice fly off reliever Carlos Martinez to cap a two-run rally in the 10th inning that lifted Texas over St. Louis.
Both teams blew leads in the late innings.
Dexter Fowler’s solo homer in the ninth off Rangers reliever Chris Martin made it 3-all. The Cardinals went ahead in the 10th when Harrison Bader doubled off Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul DeJong.
Rougned Odor opened the Texas 10th with a single off Jordan Hicks (1-2). Danny Santana walked and pinch-hitter Willie Calhoun had a tying single.
Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff homer for the Rangers. Santana gave Texas a 3-2 lead in the eighth with a pinch-hit home run.
DeJong drove in three runs for the Cardinals.
ROYALS 5, ANGELS 1
ANAHEIM — Danny Duffy won his third straight start and Kansas City beat Los Angeles to stop a four-game skid.
Hunter Dozier hit a two-run double and Duffy (3-1) allowed five hits in six effective innings. The veteran left-hander from California had about 40 friends and family members in attendance. He struck out five and walked three.
Tyler Skaggs (4-4) permitted four runs — three earned — on 110 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.
MARINERS 7, TWINS 4
SEATTLE — Edwin Encarnacion made several nice plays at first base early in the game, then hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to help Seattle snap Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.
Mitch Haniger and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back homers off Kyle Gibson (4-2) as the Mariners ended a three-game skid, one day after an 18-4 drubbing.
Yusei Kikuchi (3-1) gave up one earned run in six innings, striking out six.
Jorge Polanco had four hits for the Twins.
GIANTS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2, 10 INNINGS
PHOENIX — Pablo Sandoval opened the 10th inning with a pinch-hit homer after shortstop Brandon Crawford made a game-saving stop in the ninth, sending San Francisco past Arizona.
The Diamondbacks appeared to have the game won when Adam Jones hit a grounder into the hole off Sam Dyson (2-0) with a runner on third with two outs in the ninth. Crawford made a spectacular play to save the Giants, diving to his right and hopping up to make a throw that beat Jones by a step.
Sandoval had a pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning of San Francisco’s 8-5 win Saturday night and added another off Yoshihisa Hirano (1-2).
Will Smith struck out the side for his 12th save in 12 opportunities.
PIRATES 6, PADRES 4
SAN DIEGO — Colin Moran hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs, and Joe Musgrove beat his hometown Padres for the second time in two seasons as Pittsburgh won to take three of four from San Diego.
Musgrove (3-4) was the second straight alum of Grossmont High in suburban El Cajon to beat the Padres. Steven Brault won Saturday night in relief of opener Montana DuRapau.
The big right-hander took a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning before the Padres broke out for four runs, the big blow coming on Hunter Renfroe’s three-run homer.
Felipe Vazquez pitched the ninth for his 13th save.
Moran’s homer off rookie Cal Quantrill (0-2) helped stake Musgrove to a 4-0 lead before he threw a pitch. Josh Bell, who homered twice Saturday night, was aboard on an RBI single.
