Story’s homer starts Red Sox in 4-0 win over Rays
BOSTON — Trevor Story hit a solo homer, Kutter Crawford pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-hit relief and the Boston Red Sox won their eighth straight Fourth of July game, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Monday.
Franchy Cordero added an RBI single for the Red Sox, who won their second consecutive game and improved to 9-16 against AL East rivals.
Tampa Bay had its three-game winning streak halted. The Rays had just two hits, both singles.
Crawford (2-2) struck out eight and walked one, and John Schreiber got five outs for his third save. Josh Fleming (2-4) gave up four runs in five innings of relief.
BRAVES 6, CARDINALS 3
ATLANTA — Dansby Swanson hit a three-run double in a five-run second inning and Atlanta held off St. Louis in a game delayed more than 2 1/2 hours by rain.
The Cardinals loaded the bases for a couple of big hitters in the ninth, but Will Smith struck out Nolan Arenado and retired Albert Pujols on a grounder back to the mound for his fifth save.
Matt Olson had two RBI singles for the Braves, driving in Swanson both times.
Swanson’s bases-loaded double was the big hit against Dakota Hudson (6-5) in the second. Swanson also doubled and scored in the first.
The Braves remained 3 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East. The Cardinals fell three games behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
Atlanta reliever Jesse Chavez (2-1) gave up homers to rookies Juan Yepez and Conner Capel in the sixth. Capel’s homer was the first of his career.
TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 1, 1ST GAME
TIGERS 5, GUARDIANS 3, 2ND GAME
DETROIT — Jonathan Schoop singled twice to cap a six-hit day, Eric Haase homered and Tyler Alexander pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief as Detroit completed a sweep of Cleveland in a day-night doubleheader.
Schoop, who entered the day hitting .191, had four singles in four at-bats and scored two runs to help the Tigers win the opener.
In the nightcap, Detroit starter Alex Faedo was pulled with right hip soreness in the fourth before Alexander (2-3) took over.
Joe Jimenez retired the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Trevor Stephan (3-3) took the loss.
In the opener, Garrett Hill won his major league debut by pitching six impressive innings and Miguel Cabrera delivered a key two-run single.
Hill (1-0) allowed just two hits, including a home run by Josh Naylor. He struck out three and walked one. Andrew Chafin, Michael Fulmer and Gregory Soto combined for three hitless innings of relief.
The two hits matched the fewest for Guardians batters this season (June 18 at the Dodgers) and fewest allowed by Detroit pitchers (June 1 against Minnesota).
ORIOLES 7, RANGERS 6
BALTIMORE — Jorge Mateo limped to first base when Matt Moore (3-1) hit him near the left knee with the bases loaded in the 10th.
Rookie Adley Rutschman tied the score against Joe Barlow with a two-out RBI double in the ninth that hit off the right-field wall.
Baltimore got its sixth walkoff win and reached the season’s midpoint at 37-44, a vast improvement from 27-54 at the halfway point last year. Bryan Baker (3-3) struck out two in a hitless 10th.
MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON — Bryan De La Cruz hit a two-run homer off the foul pole in the 10th, a drive off Tanner Rainey (1-3).
Miami beat the Nationals for the 12th time in 13 games this year, including seven in a row. They extended their winning streak to five.
Jimmy Yacabonis (1-1) got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth, and Dylan Floro got his second save in as many days — his first two this season.
ASTROS 7, ROYALS 6
HOUSTON — Yordan Álvarez his 24th homer, a tiebreaking, two-out drive off Scott Barlow (2-2) in the ninth as Houston overcame a 5-0 fourth-inning deficit and won its seventh straight.
Kyle Tucker sparked a three-run eighth with a two-run single, and Houston won for the 15th time in 18 games.
Ryne Stanek (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 2
MILWAUKEE — Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer off Scott Effross (1-4) with two outs in the 10th after striking out in his four previous at-bats.
Brad Boxberger (3-1) struck out out Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. to escape a bases-loaded jam in the 10th.
Seiya Suzuki, playing for the first time since May 26 after recovering from a sprained left ring finger, hit a go-ahead, inside-the-park homer in the ninth. The drive against Josh Hader ricocheted off an angled portion of the wall, bounced past center fielder Jonathan Davis and rolled along the warning track back toward right.
David Robertson forced in the tying run with a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk to Christian Yelich in the bottom half.
MARINERS 8, PADRES 2
SAN DIEGO — Prized rookie Julio Rodriguez hit a monster two-run homer, Cal Raleigh drove in four runs and Chris Flexen pitched Seattle past San Diego.
The Mariners won their third straight and sixth in seven games. The Padres lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
Flexen (5-8) permitted four hits in 6 2/3 innings before three relievers finished off the slumping Padres. Trent Grisham hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
Rodriguez connected off Sean Manaea (3-4) in the fourth to make it 4-0. It was his 15th homer this season and 12th in his last 40 games. He became the first player in big league history with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in his first 81 games.
METS 7, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor homered to lead New York over Cincinnati.
Taijuan Walker (7-2) struck out nine in six innings as the Mets won their second straight after losing four of five. The NL East leaders improved to 50-30, and ace right-hander Max Scherzer returns Tuesday night after being sidelined since May 18 by a strained left oblique muscle.
Nick Senzel and Brandon Drury homered for last-place Cincinnati, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Reds rookie Hunter Greene (3-10) was tagged for six runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Walker allowed three runs and four hits. Seth Lugo pitched the ninth for his third save.
DIAMONDACKS 8, GIANTS 3
PHOENIX — Madison Bumgarner beat his former team and Arizona sent San Francisco to its fifth straight loss.
Last season, the Giants went 17-2 against Arizona in winning the NL West title. But in the first of their 19 meetings this year, Bumgarner (4-8) and the Diamondbacks prevailed.
Bumgarner, now in his third season with Arizona after helping the Giants win three World Series championships, allowed three runs in five innings.
Carlos Rodón (7-5) gave up four runs in five innings, striking out seven.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 3, 10 INNINGS
CHICAGO — Luis Arraez had three hits, including a tiebreaking single in Minnesota’s four-run 10th inning against Chicago.
Arraez’s leadoff grounder against Joe Kelly (0-2) drove in pinch-runner Gilberto Celestino. Jorge Polanco added a sacrifice fly, and Alex Kirilloff made it 6-2 with a two-run single.
Kelly hurt himself with consecutive walks. Chicago manager Tony La Russa was ejected by plate umpire David Rackley as the 10th inning fell apart for the White Sox.
Chicago also ran itself into a triple play with an embarrassing baserunning display in the seventh.
The AL Central contenders faced off hours after a gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago, killing at least six people. The White Sox talked to Major League Baseball about postponing the game, but it went on as scheduled.
The postgame fireworks show was canceled, and a moment of silence was observed before the first pitch.
Emilio Pagán (3-3) got three outs for the win. Jhoan Duran allowed AJ Pollock’s RBI single in the 10th before closing it out.
Arraez hiked his major league-leading batting average to .348. Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer for the first-place Twins.
José Abreu homered for the White Sox.
ATHLETICS 5, BLUE JAYS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Vogt hit a home run and a sacrifice fly, treating his family to a big performance after they just arrived for the summer, and Oakland defeated Toronto.
Ramón Laureano also went deep and Elvis Andrus had an early two-run double to back Cole Irvin’s gem for the A’s, who drew a season-high 24,403 fans on a Fourth of July fireworks night.
Irvin (3-6) retired his first 11 batters and didn’t issue a walk over a season-best eight innings to earn his first win in nine starts since returning from the injured list May 22. He had been 0-5 during that stretch, with four straight losses.
Alek Manoah (9-3) was tagged for five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
DODGERS 5, ROCKIES 3
LOS ANGELES — Trayce Thompson hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth inning, when the Dodgers finally broke though against Kyle Freeland, and Los Angeles beat Colorado.
Julio Urías (7-6) won his fourth consecutive start, allowing one run in six innings. The left-hander struck out seven and walked one to beat the Rockies at Dodger Stadium for the first time.
The Rockies scored twice in the ninth and had runners at the corners before falling short.
Reyes Moronta gave up a leadoff homer to C.J. Cron. Two outs later, pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon delivered an RBI single before Yency Almonte struck out Connor Joe for his second career save. The other one came in 2020 with Colorado.
Los Angeles closer Craig Kimbrel is still sore after taking a line drive off his back. He’ll get the next couple of days off.
Mookie Betts added an RBI single in the fifth and Trea Turner had an RBI double in the seventh as the Dodgers earned their eighth straight victory on the Fourth of July. Justin Turner finished with three hits.
Freeland (4-6) kept the Dodgers off the bases until the fifth. He gave up four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
