ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mookie Betts hit his major league-leading 16th homer, Chris Sale struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Sale (5-1) gave up four hits and walked two. He has allowed three runs or fewer in his first 11 starts, the longest stretch by a Boston pitcher to open a season since Pedro Martinez’s 12 in 2001.
Joe Kelly finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel got into a bases-loaded jam before finishing his 14th save in 16 chances when Mallex Smith grounded into a game-ending forceout.
Willy Adames made his big league debut and hit a solo home run off Sale in his second at-bat. The 22-year-old shortstop prospect went 1 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Betts hit a three-run drive in the third off Jake Faria (3-3), who left two batters later because of a strained left oblique.
Two hitters following Faria’s departure, Wilson Ramos was taken out due to a bruised left hand after Austin Pruitt’s 0-2 pitch to Xander Bogaerts bounced and struck the catcher.
BRAVES 3, PHILLIES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ozzie Albies hit his 14th homer and Brandon McCarthy tossed 5 2/3 sharp innings, leading Atlanta to the victory.
McCarthy (5-2) allowed one run and four hits. He is 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA against Philadelphia this season and 1-2 with a 6.60 ERA against the rest of the league.
Vince Velasquez (4-5) gave up two runs — one earned — and fanned nine in 4 2/3 innings. He fell to 0-4 against the Braves.
The NL East’s top two teams have already met 11 times, with Atlanta winning seven games.
Arodys Vizcaino finished with a perfect inning for his ninth save in 11 tries.
INDIANS 10, CUBS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Jose Ramirez hit his 14th homer and the Indians routed the Cubs in their first meeting at Wrigley Field since the 2016 World Series.
The AL Central leaders moved back to .500 with an easy victory against the team that beat them two years ago to end a 108-year championship drought.
Ramirez got the blowout going with his three-run drive in the third. The Indians scored four times in the inning while chasing a wild Tyler Chatwood (3-4).
Trevor Bauer (4-3) went six innings in his second straight scoreless start. The right-hander gave up seven hits and struck out six.
Yonder Alonso had three of Cleveland’s 11 hits, including a three-run double in the fifth.
Chicago’s Ian Happ led off the ninth with a pinch-hit homer against Josh Tomlin.
ASTROS 11, GIANTS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Gerrit Cole struck out eight in six innings, leading Houston to the victory.
Both of the runs off Cole (5-1) scored on a fifth-inning homer by Brandon Crawford, whose sister Amy is married to Cole.
Tony Kemp had two hits and a career-high five RBIs as Houston won for the fifth time in six games.
San Francisco’s Andrew Suarez (1-4) was tagged for five runs and in four-plus innings in his sixth major league start.
RANGERS 6, YANKEES 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas ace Cole Hamels limited the slugging Yankees to four hits over seven innings, and Jurickson Profar and Ronald Guzman homered for the last-place Rangers.
Profar’s three-run homer in the first that just cleared the 8-foot wall in center put the Rangers ahead to stay against Domingo German (0-2). Guzman started the fourth with a liner into the right field seats, making it 6-1 only a few batters before the Yankees starter came out.
Hamels (3-4) struck out seven in his first start in 11 days. The lefty was scratched from his precious turn because of neck stiffness.
Keone Kela worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar hit solo homers off Hamels.
REDS 7, PIRATES 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Matt Harvey pitched six innings of one-run ball for his first victory with Cincinnati, and Scooter Gennett hit his fifth grand slam over the last two seasons.
Harvey (1-2) gave up three hits in his third start for the Reds, who acquired him from the Mets for catcher Devin Mesoraco on May 8.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the first inning with the help of a pair of walks, but Harvey escaped the threat by fanning Colin Moran for the first of his five strikeouts. Moran hit a solo homer in the fourth.
Gennett led the majors with a club-record four grand slams last season. He got his first of this season off Jameson Taillon (2-4), connecting in the fifth inning.
NATIONALS 2, PADRES 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper hit his NL-leading 15th homer for Washington, and Michael Taylor’s one-out double in the ninth scored the game-winning run.
Juan Soto, the youngest player in the majors, reached base in all four at-bats in his second career start. The 19-year-old led off the ninth with his third walk, took second on Wilmer Difo’s groundout and scored on Taylor’s hit off the center-field wall against Matt Strahm (0-2).
Washington’s Sean Doolittle (2-2) struck out the side in the ninth.
Franchy Cordero homered for the Padres.
BREWERS 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jhoulys Chacin and three relievers combined on a three-hitter, sending Milwaukee to the win.
Domingo Santana drove in the only run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for the NL Central leaders. Milwaukee (30-19) moved a season-high 11 games over .500, while the Diamondbacks have lost six in a row and 12 of 13 — scoring just 24 runs in that stretch.
Chacin allowed two hits in five innings. Matt Albers (3-1) got three outs, Josh Hader pitched two innings and Corey Knebel worked the ninth for his third save.
Arizona starter Matt Koch (2-3) permitted three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s Lance Lynn gave up five hits over 6 2/3 innings in his most efficient outing of the season, and Brian Dozier drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.
Lynn (2-4) lowered his jumbo ERA from 7.47 to 6.34 in his ninth start, striking out four and walking one. Dozier’s two-run liner capped a three-run fifth for Minnesota, which won its third straight game.
Detroit’s Matt Boyd (2-4) departed with a left oblique spasm after walking the first two batters of the bottom of the fifth. Boyd gave up two runs.
ROYALS 5, CARDINALS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez homered for Kansas City, helping Jason Hammel to his first victory of the season.
Hammel (1-5) allowed one run and nine hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Gordon added two singles in a 3-for-4 night after entering the game hitless in his previous 14 at-bats. He was in a 4-for-40 skid that dated to May 9.
St. Louis’ Luke Weaver (3-4) struck out eight in seven innings. He yielded three runs and seven hits.
BLUE JAYS 5, ANGELS 3
TORONTO (AP) — Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer, J.A. Happ won his second straight start and Toronto stopped a four-game losing streak.
Morales connected for his fourth homer in the Blue Jays’ five-run first against Garrett Richards (4-3).
Angels outfielder Chris Young misplayed Russell Martin’s first-inning line drive, allowing two runs to score and ending the longest active errorless streak in the major leagues at 236 games.
Los Angeles has lost eight of 11.
Happ (5-2) allowed two runs in seven innings. Tyler Clippard got three outs for his second save in three chances, finishing a four-hitter.
MARLINS 5, METS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Miami’s Caleb Smith pitched neatly into the seventh inning against a Mets lineup that included newcomer Jose Bautista.
Derek Dietrich homered and J.T. Realmuto got three hits as the Marlins, the lowest-scoring team in the majors, ended a three-game skid. The Mets had won four in a row.
Bautista signed with the Mets two days after being cut by Atlanta. He doubled and scored New York’s only run on Tomas Nido’s sacrifice fly.
Smith (3-5) pitched with poise, giving up three hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler struck out nine in six innings. He allowed one earned run and seven hits.
WHITE SOX 3, ORIOLES 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Yolmer Sanchez capped Chicago’s three-run eighth with a tiebreaking RBI single, lifting the White Sox to the victory.
Welington Castillo also had an RBI single and Yoan Moncada added a sacrifice fly as last-place Chicago won for the fourth time in six games. Bruce Rondon (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Nate Jones got three outs for his fourth save.
Mark Trumbo went 4 for 4 with two doubles for Baltimore. Mychal Givens (0-1) got the loss.
(Asscoiated Press)
