NEW YORK — DJ LeMahieu homered and hit an RBI double off the wall against Chris Sale, sending the surging New York Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Aaron Hicks broke a third-inning tie with a two-run single, and J.A. Happ (5-3) pitched well against Boston again to win his fourth consecutive decision overall. New York got four shutout innings from its deep and dominant bullpen, handing the defending World Series champions their third loss in a row. Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman each worked an inning to finish the five-hitter. Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 16th save.
Despite a rash of injuries, the Yankees hold a 1½-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay — and a widening gap on the Red Sox. New York has won all three meetings between the longtime rivals this season, beating Sale (1-7) twice and outscoring Boston 17-4. New York has won nine of 11 overall and is 31-10 since a 6-9 start.
Rafael Devers homered early for the third-place Red Sox, who fell 8½ games back in the division. That’s the furthest they’ve been behind the Yankees since finishing the 2015 season nine games in the dust.
PIRATES 9, BREWERS 4
PITTSBURGH — Josh Bell finished off his historic May with two more hits, Starling Marte added three hits and scored three times and the Pirates pounced on struggling Milwaukee starter Jhoulys Chacin.
Bell went 2 for 5 and drove in a run in front of a crowd that included fans in the right-field seats wearing “Bellieve” T-shirts as part of a promotion that doubled as an All-Star Game push for the 26-year-old first baseman. Bell’s two singles gave him 94 total bases in May, the most by any player in any month in the franchise’s 138-year history. Bell hit .389 in May with 12 home runs, 12 doubles and 31 RBIs.
REDS 9, NATIONALS 3
CINCINNATI — Curt Casali hit a three-run homer off Patrick Corbin, who had one of the worst starts of his career, and the Reds beat Washington to end the Nationals’ streak of eight straight wins at Great American Ball Park.
TWINS 5, RAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Eddie Rosario hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Adam Kolarek in the ninth inning after a pair of batters were hit by pitches, and Minnesota beat Tampa Bay in a matchup of two of the major leagues’ hottest teams.
ROCKIES 13, BLUE JAYS 6
DENVER — Trevor Story hit a pair of two-run homers as part of a career-high seven-RBI night and the Colorado Rockies beat the slumping Toronto Blue Jays for their sixth straight win.
It was the 13th career multi-homer game for Story, who also had a three-run double, walked and scored four times. Nolan Arenado added three hits, including two doubles, and three RBIs.
ORIOLES 9, GIANTS 5
BALTIMORE — Dwight Smith’s first career grand slam capped a six-run outburst in the first inning and the Orioles outslugged the San Francisco Giants.
Trey Mancini and Renato Núñez also homered for the Orioles, who overcame a five-run, first-inning deficit and improved to 8-21 at home as the teams met at Camden Yards for the first time since 2004. Núñez has homered in seven of his last 11 games and has a team-leading 14 homers this season.
WHITE SOX 2, INDIANS 1
CHICAGO — Dylan Covey pitched six effective innings for his first win since August, and the White Sox beat sloppy Cleveland for their season-high fifth straight win.
Charlie Tilson hit a two-run double to get Chicago’s offense rolling. Tilson, Yoán Moncada, Yonder Alonso and Yolmer Sánchez each had two hits. The win moved the White Sox into a second-place tie in the AL Central with Cleveland.
TIGERS 8, BRAVES 2
ATLANTA — Niko Goodrum homered twice and had a career-high five hits, Nicholas Castellanos and Grayson Greiner also went deep, and the Detroit Tigers romped past the Braves.
Spencer Turnbull (3-4) pitched into the seventh inning, allowing just five hits and one earned run in dealing the Braves their third straight loss at SunTrust Park.
RANGERS 6, ROYALS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas — Joey Gallo’s first career grand slam capped a six-run, sixth-inning outburst as the Rangers rallied past the Kansas City Royals.
Gallo’s home run, his team leading 16th of the season, sailed 457 feet.
Ariel Jurado (2-2) won for the first time in three major league starts this season. He allowed two runs on five hits and three walks and had career highs in strikeouts (six) and pitches (101).
CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1, 10 INNINGS
ST. LOUIS — Matt Carpenter hit a game-ending single against an unusual defensive alignment in the 10th to lead the Cardinals past the Chicago Cubs.
The Cardinals won back-to-back games for the first time since April 30-May 1 and avoided the worst winning percentage for May in franchise history by going 9-18 (.333). They went 8-18 in May 1980.
Kolten Wong helped set up Carpenter’s clutch swing with a one-out double off Mike Montgomery (1-1) for the team’s lone extra-base hit. Dillon Maples then came in and walked Harrison Bader and Jedd Gyorko to load the bases. Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in Steve Cishek to face Carpenter, and put four players on the right side of the infield. But Carpenter drove in Wong with a fly ball that found the grass in the left field corner.
MARINERS 4, ANGELS 3
SEATTLE — Jay Bruce hit his 300th career home run, Tom Murphy had a two-run shot and an RBI double, and the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels.
Bruce’s seventh-inning homer to center field provided the insurance run the Mariners needed to preserve the narrow victory, snapping a three-game losing streak. Bruce became the eighth active player with 300 home runs and 300 doubles, achieved in 1,557 games. That list includes teammate Edwin Encarnacion (a late scratch due to a dental procedure) and the Angels’ Albert Pujols.
The win snapped the Angels’ three-game winning streak and wasted a fairly strong start by the Angels’ Tyler Skaggs (4-5), who gave up just five hits but made a handful of costly mistakes while giving up four runs in seven innings.
PADRES 5, MARLINS 2
SAN DIEGO — Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe and Ian Kinsler homered, and left-hander Joey Lucchesi combined with two relievers on a four-hitter for his first victory in six starts to lead the Padres past the Miami Marlins.
Lucchesi (4-3) hadn’t won since beating Cincinnati at home on April 21. He retired his first seven batters before allowing a double by Miguel Rojas in the third. He then retired eight straight before allowing a home run by pinch-hitter Rosell Herrera with one out in the sixth. Lucchesi struck out five and walked one.
DODGERS 6, PHILLIES 3
LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Enriquè Hernàndez homered, powering Los Angeles past Philadelphia in the opener of a series matching the National League’s best teams.
The West-leading Dodgers improved to a major league-best 23-7 at home and have won 11 of their last 15 at Chavez Ravine against the East-leading Phillies. The Dodgers’ 39 victories lead the NL. Los Angeles rapped out 12 hits while limiting the Phillies to five, including two in the ninth.
Kenta Maeda (7-2) allowed two runs and three hits in six innings and won his fourth straight start. He struck out six and walked none. Kenley Jansen earned his 17th save.
Muncy and Seager belted two-run shots and Pederson had a solo homer off Jake Arrieta (5-5), who gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings, striking out three and walking one.
Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins combined to go 2 for 12. McCutchen homered to lead off the fourth.
ASTROS 3, ATHLETICS 2
OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Fisher hit a tiebreaking homer to lead off the eighth inning for his first long ball of the season and the short-handed Houston Astros rallied to beat the Athletics.
The Astros trailed the A’s 2-0 heading into the seventh inning on a night they were missing injured stars Jose Altuvé, Carlos Correa and George Springer. But Josh Reddick started the comeback with a solo homer and Tony Kemp tied the game with a double. That set the stage for Fisher, who sent a drive out to center field against Lou Trivino (2-2) on the first pitch of the eighth to hand the A’s their third straight loss following a 10-game winning streak.
Héctor Rondón (3-1) pitched out of a jam in the seventh with help from a diving stop at shortstop by defensive replacement Jack Mayfield that held Ramón Laureano at third base with the infield drawn in. Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances.
Houston’s Josh Reddick snapped an 0-for-15 rut with a solo homer.
METS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX — Carlos Gómez snapped a tie with a pinch-hit double during New York’s bizarre two-run eighth inning, sending the Mets past the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Todd Frazier and Adeiny Hechavarria sparked New York’s winning rally with consecutive two-out singles off Matt Andriese (3-4), putting runners on first and third. Pinch hitter J.D. Davis then hit a chopper toward the mound that bounced off Andriese’s glove as he reached up. Marte could not handle the ball cleanly as the tying run scored. Gómez followed with a grounder inside the bag at third that drove in Hechavarría, but the ball boy stationed down the line — Arizona uses seniors dubbed “Golden Glovers” — fielded the ball thinking it was foul, and Davis was not permitted to score.