Boston beats Tampa Bay 5-4, slides into 2nd place in AL East

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s taken nearly four months, but the Boston Red Sox are back in second place in the AL East.

Christian Vázquez hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Marcus Walden bailed the defending World Series champions out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, and the Red Sox held off the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Tuesday night to climb into second for the first time since the second day of the season.

The Red Sox, who have recovered from a 3-8 start, improved to a season-high 10 games over .500 at 56-46, moving one percentage point ahead of the Rays (57-47), who have lost seven of eight.

“It seems like it’s been an eternity to get to 10, but we know where we’re at now,” manager Alex Cora said.

“It seemed early in the season that those guys were way ahead of us,” Cora added. “It’s something that we learned, that we can catch up with people.”

The Red Sox had not been in second place since they were 1-1 after play on March 29, tied with Tampa Bay and Toronto. They are two games behind Oakland for the second AL wild-card berth.

“We’ve still got some work to do,” said pitcher Chris Sale, who has dropped his ERA from 4.24 to 4.00 in his last two starts. “I don’t think you exhale yet. You just keep your foot on the gas.”

With the score 2-2, Vázquez hit his second career pinch-homer, a drive into the left-field seats off Colin Poche (2-4).

Boston boosted the lead to 5-2 in the eighth when Andrew Benintendi hit an RBI groundout and Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch from Adam Kolarek with the bases loaded, forcing in a run.

Ji-Man Choi’s had a run-scoring single off Brandon Workman in the ninth. Walden entered with the bases loaded and two outs, walked Tommy Pham on four pitches, then retired Austin Meadows on a game-ending groundout.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash didn’t take solace in his team hanging in the game until the final out.

“If you asked me that two weeks ago, I probably would have been more encouraged,” Cash said. “We need to win. So, get the big hit, make the big pitch. We’re just not doing it right now. So no, there’s not too much encouragement right there.”

Tampa Bay led the AL East from after play on March 30 through mid-May. After a 14-4 start, they are 43-43 since April 18 and 30-35 against teams currently .500 or better.

NATIONALS 11, ROCKIES 1

WASHINGTON — Trea Turner hit his second career cycle, Stephen Strasburg earned his major league-leading 13th win and Washington routed Colorado.

Turner led off the first with homer, singled in the second and tripled in the fifth. After grounding into a double play in the sixth, he doubled home a run during Washington’s eight-run seventh.

Strasburg (13-4) pitched six innings for his sixth straight win. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Colorado rookie Peter Lambert (2-2) gave up three runs and nine hits. He struck out eight with a walk for the Rockies, who have lost seven of eight.

Nationals catcher Yan Gomes had two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth. Strasburg singled his first time up, giving him hits in four straight at-bats.

YANKEES 14, TWINS 12, 10 INNINGS

MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Hicks made a game-saving catch in center field for the final out in the 10th inning, Didi Gregorius had five hits and seven RBIs, and New York beat Minnesota in a game that featured five lead changes or ties in the final three innings.

Gleyber Torres scored Gregorius with an RBI single in the top of the 10th and New York tacked on another run on a wild pitch by Kohl Stewart (2-2). Adam Ottavino walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, and then Chad Green allowed a drive to Max Kepler into the left-center field gap. Hicks ran it down and caught it with a diving, backhanded effort at the warning track, ending the game after 5 hours, 3 minutes.

ANGELS 5, DODGERS 4

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kole Calhoun had a homer and two doubles before he threw out Cody Bellinger at the plate to end the Angels’ Freeway Series victory over the Dodgers.

Mike Trout hit a tiebreaking homer and also made a perfect 260-foot throw to get Max Muncy at the plate earlier in the game, but the Angels needed another huge defensive play to win for the eighth time in 11 games.

Angels closer Hansel Robles got his 15th save despite allowing his first run since June 23.

GIANTS 5, CUBS 4, 13 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval homered with one out in the 13th inning, lifting San Francisco past Chicago.

Sandoval just cleared the left-field fence with his first-pitch drive off Brad Brach (3-3) that went to replay and was upheld to formally finish the 3-hour, 45-minute game.

Sam Coonrod (1-0), San Francisco’s fifth reliever, pitched the 13th for his first career victory.

Madison Bumgarner struck out seven over seven innings in another strong start.

Kris Bryant hit a pair of RBI singles, and Jason Heyward hit a tying single for the Cubs, who have lost 10 of the last 14 in San Francisco.

METS 5, PADRES 2

NEW YORK — Robinson Canó hit three home runs, leading Jason Vargas and New York over San Diego.

The 36-year-old Canó drove in all five runs and went 4 for 4. Vargas pitched one-hit ball for six shutout innings.

Canó homered three times in a game for the first time in his career. It was just the third three-homer game ever by a Mets player at home — Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis both did it in July 2015.

CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 3

PITTSBURGH — Paul Goldschmidt homered for the second straight night, José Martínez added his 10th home run and Dakota Hudson rebounded from a shaky start to lead St. Louis past Pittsburgh.

Goldschmidt delivered a two-run drive in the third inning off Chris Archer (3-7). Martínez put St. Louis in front with a solo shot leading off the fifth, and Hudson and two relievers shut down the Pirates after spotting Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.

BLUE JAYS 2, INDIANS 1

TORONTO — Justin Smoak tied the game with a homer in the ninth inning and knocked in the winning run with a two-out single in the 10th as Toronto beat Cleveland.

Smoak got the winning hit off lefty Tyler Olson (1-1), scoring Eric Sogard.

Toronto’s Ken Giles (2-2) pitched one inning and earned the win.

The Indians carried a three-hitter into the ninth before Smoak spoiled the shutout bid, homering with a one-out off closer Brad Hand, who squandered a save opportunity for the second time in 29 chances.

ROYALS 5, BRAVES 4

ATLANTA — Lucas Duda delivered Kansas City’s first pinch-hit homer of the season to break a tie in the eighth inning, and the Royals beat NL East-leading Atlanta.

Alex Gordon also homered for the Royals and drove in two runs.

Starters Dallas Keuchel of Atlanta and Danny Duffy of Kansas City went six strong innings with double-digit strikeouts but didn’t factor in the decision. Keuchel allowed just three hits and struck out 12. Duffy surrendered one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts.

REDS 14, BREWERS 6

MILWAUKEE — Eugenio Suárez hit his third two-run home run in two games and Cincinnati battered Zach Davies for seven runs in a rout of Milwaukee.

Jesse Winker and Joey Votto hit two-run homers and pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin had a three-run triple as Cincinnati beat the Brewers for the fifth straight time.

Davies (8-3) allowed six earned runs and nine hits in four-plus innings.

Tanner Roark (6-6) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings.

Manny Piña hit a three-run home run and had four RBIs for the Brewers.

ORIOLES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX — Dwight Smith Jr. hit a three-run home run, Dylan Bundy pitched six solid innings and Baltimore beat Arizona.

Renato Núñez and Anthony Santander also homered for the Orioles.

Bundy (5-11) allowed two runs, four hits and three walks while striking out five for his second win in three starts.

Baltimore has won four of six.

T.J. McFarland struck out six in 2 2/3 innings of relief work for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three of four and fell three games out of the second National League wild card.

RANGERS 7, MARINERS 2

SEATTLE — Rougned Odor homered twice, Nomar Mazara reached the third deck with an impressive shot and Texas ended an eight-game skid with a win over Seattle.

Shin-Soo Choo led off the game by homering on Tommy Milone’s first pitch, and the Rangers went on to snap the fourth-longest losing streak in the majors this year. Seattle has lost three of four.

Milone (1-5) pitched through the sixth inning, giving up nine hits and striking out five.

MARLINS 5, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO — Caleb Smith retired his first 17 batters and cruised through seven innings of two-hit ball, and Miami beat Chicago.

Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer to cap Miami’s four-run fourth inning against Dylan Covey (1-6). Harold Ramirez added a solo shot in the fifth as the NL-worst Marlins ended a four-game skid.

ATHLETICS 4, ASTROS 3,11 INNINGS

HOUSTON — Matt Olson hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning and Ramon Laureano added a ground-rule RBI double with one out in the 11th, giving Oakland a win over Houston.

It was tied at 3-3 when Olson singled off Collin McHugh (3-5) with one out in the 11th, before Mark Canha walked. Laureano then hit a ball to left field that rolled to the wall and lodged between the padding and the ground. Both runners scored by the time Josh Reddick got the ball and threw it in. But the play was reviewed and Canha was returned to third base because the ball was lodged under the wall.

PHILLIES 3, TIGERS 2, 15 INNINGS

DETROIT — Scott Kingery tripled to lead off the 15th inning and scored on a single by Rhys Hoskins as Philadelphia outlasted Detroit.

Kingery, who had struck out four times, hit a drive to deep right off Daniel Stumpf (1-1) to start the winning rally. Hoskins followed with a clean single to right.

Detroit nearly won it in the 14th against Jose Alvarez (1-2), but left fielder Brad Miller threw Nicholas Castellanos out at the plate when he was trying to score on Brandon Dixon’s one-out single.

Roman Quinn hit a two-run homer for Philadelphia. Castellanos tied it with an RBI double in the sixth for Detroit, which got an unearned run in the first.