Christian Arroyo smacked a three-run homer and Martin Perez tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings as the Boston Red Sox notched a 5-1 victory over the host Houston Astros on Thursday to salvage the finale of a four-game series.
Xander Bogaerts broke out of an 0-for-24 slump with a two-run double in the seventh inning as the Red Sox halted the Astros’ four-game winning streak. Bogaerts added an infield single in the ninth.
Perez (4-2) allowed six hits and one walk and struck out four during an 82-pitch effort. The left-hander has won his past four starts. J.D. Martinez had two doubles for the Red Sox.
Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 with a ninth-inning homer for Houston, which outscored Boston 18-4 while winning the first three games of the series. Aledmys Diaz added two hits for the Astros.
Padres 4, Mets 3
Fernando Tatis Jr. broke up a scoreless tie with a two-run homer, his 17th homer of the season, and later scored on Taijuan Walker’s wild pitch to lead San Diego over visiting New York in the opener of a four-game series.
The win was the Padres’ 11th straight at home and snapped a season-long, four-game losing streak. The Mets lost for only the second time in eight games.
The anticipated pitching duel between Walker (4-2) and Padres winner Yu Darvish (6-1) didn’t live up to expectations. Mark Melancon worked out of a two-on, none-out jam in the ninth, picking up his major-league-leading 18th save when Kevin Pillar grounded into a game-ending double play.
Mariners 6, Angels 2
Justus Sheffield allowed just two runs and Jake Fraley hit a three-run home run to propel Seattle over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Justin Upton and Jared Walsh hit solo homers for the Angels in the second inning.
Sheffield blanked the Angels the rest of the way, giving up six hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking three. Kyle Seager’s home run in the seventh put Seattle up 6-2.
Reds 4, Cardinals 2
Jesse Winker hit the decisive two-run homer to power visiting Cincinnati past St. Louis in the first game of a four-game series.
Winker also hit two singles and scored a second run as the Reds won for the third time in their last four games. Reds starting pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez (1-1) allowed two runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in five innings to earn his first big-league victory.
Losing pitcher Adam Wainwright (3-5) allowed three runs on eight hits and three hit batters in seven innings. He struck out four.
Royals 6, Twins 5
Salvador Perez hit two home runs for the second consecutive game as the Royals defeated Minnesota in the first game of a four-game series in Kansas City.
Perez now has 27 home runs in his career against the Twins. Hunter Dozier also homered for the Royals, who won their fourth straight.
Josh Donaldson hit two solo home runs and a double for the Twins. Jorge Polanco went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Pirates 5, Marlins 3
Jacob Stallings’ three-run double in the eighth inning rallied Pittsburgh over visiting Miami.
Bryan Reynolds homered for Pittsburgh, which had lost three straight. Pirates starter Tyler Anderson allowed three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings, with no walks and four strikeouts.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Garrett Cooper each had an RBI single for the Marlins, who have lost six in a row.
Giants 7, Cubs 2
Brandon Crawford broke a fifth-inning tie with a three-run home run and Anthony DeSclafani bounced back from two subpar efforts with six strong innings, delivering San Francisco a victory over visiting Chicago in the opener of a four-game series between National League division leaders.
Crawford, Buster Posey and Alex Dickerson led an 11-hit assault on four Chicago pitchers with two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for the fifth time in their last six games.
Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer (his fifth homer of the season) for the Cubs.
Rockies 11, Rangers 6
Charlie Blackmon homered, doubled, singled and drove in three runs, Garrett Hampson had four hits, and host Colorado handed Texas its 15th straight road loss.
Raimel Tapia had three hits, Joshua Fuentes had two and Austin Gomber threw six shutout innings for Colorado, which has won four straight. Gomber (4-5) gave up three hits and struck out six.
Khris Davis and Jose Trevino homered and Brock Holt had two hits for Texas, which has lost nine in a row overall.
Rays 9, Yankees 2
Austin Meadows hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth inning and added a bases-clearing double in the seventh while Ryan Yarbrough pitched a six-hitter as Tampa Bay tagged New York ace Gerrit Cole for five runs en route to a victory at Yankee Stadium.
Yarbrough (3-3) allowed homers from Brett Gardner and Miguel Andujar. The left-hander ended a streak of 731 games without a complete game for Tampa Bay and became the first Ray to go the distance since Matt Andriese on May 14, 2016.
Three weeks after Cole struck out 12 in eight innings during New York’s 1-0 win at Tampa Bay, he allowed five runs on five hits in five innings. He dropped to 1-5 in 10 career regular-season starts against the Rays.
White Sox 4, Tigers 1
Yoan Moncada, Jake Lamb, Yasmani Grandal and Tim Anderson each hit solo home runs, and Chicago pulled away for a win over visiting Detroit.
Three of the homers traveled 400 feet for the White Sox, who snapped a two-game skid. Chicago improved to 21-9 at home, the best mark in the American League.
Willi Castro hit a solo home run to lead the Tigers, who lost for only the second time in the past six games.
Braves 5, Nationals 1
Dansby Swanson made his 500th career hit a memorable one, a two-run homer that capped a four-run rally and sent Atlanta to a win over visiting Washington.
The shortstop drilled his 10th home run into the left-field bleachers in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games and helping the Braves end a two-game losing streak and split the four-game series with their National League East rivals.
The winning pitcher was Josh Tomlin (3-0), who worked 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing no runs and no hits. Washington starter Patrick Corbin (3-5) sailed through five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the sixth.
Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 4
Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Yelich, Luis Urias and Avisail Garcia each homered as Milwaukee opened its four-game series against visiting Arizona with a win.
Carson Kelly belted a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, whose road losing streak reached 14 games. Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed added four hits apiece, and each drove in a run.
Jon Duplantier (0-1), making his second start of the season, gave up five runs in four-plus innings for Arizona, which has lost 11 of its last 14 games against Milwaukee. Eduardo Escobar extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a pair of singles for the Diamondbacks, who were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
–Field Level Media
