Red Sox stay hot by clobbering Yankees
Strasburg propels Nats past Brave Mets improve to 9-1 Jays edge Orioles Angels crush Rangers
Chris Sale shut down the Yankees’ vaunted lineup with eight strikeouts over six one-run innings, and Mookie Betts clubbed a grand slam to punctuate the Boston Red Sox’s 14-1 rout of visiting New York on Tuesday night.
Betts (4-for-4) scored a career-high five runs, Hanley Ramirez (2-for-2) added three RBIs while J.D. Martinez (1-for-5) and Andrew Benintendi (2-for-3) had two RBIs apiece as the Red Sox earned their major-league-leading ninth straight victory.
Boston (9-1) became the 40th team in major league history to win nine of its first 10 games, not losing since a season-opening 6-4 setback at Tampa Bay, a game that Boston dropped after leading 4-0 in the eighth inning.
Aaron Judge (3-for-4) hit his third homer of the year for the Yankees, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Giancarlo Stanton (2-for-4) struck out twice in his rivalry debut, bringing his season whiff total to a league-high 22.
Nationals 4, Braves 1
Stephen Strasburg threw eight scoreless innings, and Ryan Zimmerman hit a tworun triple in the first to give Washington all the offense it needed to defeat visiting Atlanta.
Strasburg (2-1) gave up three hits and struck out eight while walking two. In addition, he singled, walked and reached on an error while bunting. Ryan Madson earned his first save of the season by getting the final two outs in the ninth.
Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (1-1) gave up three hits in the first inning, and he wound up yielding three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks. He fanned three.
Mets 8, Marlins 6
Yoenis Cespedes grounded a two-run, ninth-inning double down the third base line to lead New York to a comeback win over host Miami.
The Mets have won seven games in a row and lead the National League East. They have started the season by taking four straight series, including this one over the last-place Marlins.
Mets switch hitter Asdrubal Cabrera also homered twice, once from each side of the plate. Teammate Wilmer Flores pulled an RBI double and a solo homer. Miami was led by Justin Bour, who hit a pair of two-run homers, both to the opposite field.
Blue Jays 2, Orioles 1
Curtis Granderson hit a tie-breaking homer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning after Toronto teammate Aaron Sanchez lost his no-hit bid in the eighth, and the visiting Blue Jays edged Baltimore.
Granderson broke a 1-1 tie by lifting a 1-2 fastball from Darren O’Day (0-1) over the scoreboard in right field. It was his 25th career homer in the ninth inning or later.
Granderson’s first homer as a Blue Jay occurred after Sanchez (1-1) lost his no-hit bid on the first pitch of the eighth by allowing a double to Tim Beckham. Sanchez allowed one run on three hits in eight innings while striking out four and working around five walks.
Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the season, the 100th save of his career, becoming the youngest pitcher ever to reach the milestone.
Angels 11, Rangers 1
Los Angeles (9-3) matched the best start in team history with a road victory over Texas.
The Angels scored nine runs and had 13 hits through just four innings, cruising the rest of the way in support of Tyler Skaggs (2-0). Seven Los Angeles players had at least two hits. Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons homered for the Angels.
Rangers starter Martin Perez (1-1) was on the wrong side of much of that offense, giving up eight runs on nine hits and four walks in three-plus innings.
Cardinals 5, Brewers 3 (11)
Matt Carpenter cracked a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning as St. Louis outlasted visiting Milwaukee.
Carpenter pulled a 1-1 curveball just over the wall in right for his second homer of the season and his third career walk-off blast. Dominic Leone (1-2) pitched a clean inning for the victory as St. Louis twice rallied to get itself in position to win before finally ending the 4-hour, 2-minute marathon.
Each team scored a run in the 10th on a two-out RBI single. Orlando Arcia put the Brewers ahead in their half of the inning, but Greg Garcia answered back with a looper into right that scored Yairo Munoz.
Pirates 8, Cubs 5
Felipe Vazquez entered with the bases loaded and a five-run lead in the eighth inning, and he notched his fourth save, helping Pittsburgh spoil Chicago’s home opener.
Vazquez, who changed his surname from Rivero on Monday, gave up a twostrike single to Jason Heyward before striking out Javier Baez to end the eighth. Baez hit a pair of solo homers off Ivan Nova, his second regular-season multi-homer game.
Francisco Cervelli hit a three-run homer and Nova (1-1) pitched seven effective innings as the Pirates improved to 8-2 for their best 10-game start since 1992. The Pirates also moved to 4-0 on the road for the first time since 2003.