Jays walk their way to come-from-behind win in the Bronx
NEW YORK Dellin Betances threw a fullcount breaking ball with no bite to Russell Martin that sailed well high and outside, forcing in the go-ahead run with his fourth walk of the eighth inning.
The All-Star reliever swiped at the toss back from catcher Austin Romine as manager Joe Girardi walked to the mound and fans booed on another long afternoon for the New York Yankees.
“The team is fighting. You can’t put the blame on those guys. I’ll take the blame,” Betances said after Wednesday’s 7-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning off Michael Pineda, who also allowed Kevin Pillar’s leadoff homer in the fourth that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-0.
Aaron Judge started a comeback with his major league-leading 29th homer, a two-run homer in the fourth. The Yankees surged ahead 6-5 when Ji-Man Choi hit a tworun homer in the fifth and Didi Gregorius’s two-run double later in the inning chased Marco Estrada, who was pitching on his 33rd birthday.
Judge’s homer tied Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees rookie record , set in 1936, and Choi’s came in his New York debut.
Martin tied the score 6-6 with a seventh-inning homer against Chad Green, then walked to drive in the goahead run in the eighth.
With a runner on first, Roberto Osuna struck out Judge for the final out.
“Our best against their best,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said, “and our best won.”
CUBS 7, RAYS 3
CHICAGO — Jon Jay connected for his third career pinch-hit homer and Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking, two-run single an inning later, helping the Chicago Cubs rally for a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
BREWERS 4, ORIOLES 0
MILWAUKEE — Matt Garza pitched into the seventh inning and Keon Broxton hit a two-run homer to lift Milwaukee to a three-game sweep of Baltimore.
ASTROS 10, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA — George Springer drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez each had three RBIs and streaking Houston beat Atlanta.
PIRATES 5, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA — Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings and drove in his first runs of the season with a tiebreaking two-run single to lead Pittsburgh over Philadelphia.
ATHLETICS 7, WHITE SOX 4
OAKLAND, Calif. — Sonny Gray pitched six mostly sharp innings for Oakland to beat Chicago for the second time in two weeks.
PADRES 6, INDIANS 2
CLEVELAND — Cory Spangenberg hit a two-run homer, Luis Perdomo won his third straight start and San Diego got another rare road win, beating Cleveland as the Indians played again without manager Terry Francona.
Francona missed his second consecutive game as he remains hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic. Francona, who was hospitalized twice last month, has been undergoing tests to determine what has been causing light-headedness and increasing his heart rate recently.
Team president Chris Antonetti said Francona will be away at least “a couple more days” and it’s possible he’ll miss the remainder of the team’s homestand before the break.
GIANTS 5, TIGERS 4
DETROIT — Ty Blach took a shutout into the seventh inning, and San Francisco held off a late Detroit rally.
ANGELS 2, TWINS 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Parker Bridwell tossed six scoreless innings, Kole Calhoun hit his 12th home run and Los Angeles edged Minnesota to avoid a road sweep.
Bridwell (3-1) outpitched All-Star Ervin Santana while scattering four hits and stranding seven runners.
MARLINS 9, CARDINALS 6
ST. LOUIS — Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, his 22nd career multihomer game, and Marcell Ozuna and Justin Bour also went deep as Miami beat St. Louis.
Stanton went 3 for 4 with a walk while driving in four runs.