Betts hits slam, Bosox rout Yankees for 9th win in row

Nova pitches hot Pirates past Cubs 8-5 in Wrigley opener

Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants is tagged out at home plate by Alex Avila #5 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the

sixth inning at AT&T Park on April 10. (AFP) BOSTON, April 11, (AP): Mookie Betts hit a grand slam on a monster night, leading Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees 14-1 Tuesday for their ninth straight victory.

Betts went 4 for 4, scoring five runs and driving in four. His third career slam capped a nine-run burst in the sixth inning that turned the first matchup of the season between the AL East rivals into a rout.

Sale (1-0) allowed one run in six innings, striking out eight. Luis Severino (2-1) gave up five runs in five innings.

Aaron Judge had three hits for the Yankees, including his third home run of the season.

Giants 5, Diamondbacks 4 In San Francisco, Andrew McCutchen hit a bases-loaded single for his second walk-off of San Francisco’s homestand.

McCutchen lined the first pitch he got from Jorge De La Rosa (0-1) for a clean single into left-center, his 10th career game-ending hit. His previous walk-off was just last Saturday, when he hit a three-run homer to sink the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 14th inning.

Kelby Tomlinson walked to start the ninth against De La Rosa, who allowed Gorkys Hernandez’s sacrifice before intentionally walking Austin Jackson to bring up Brandon Belt. Belt walked to load the bases for McCutchen.

Blue Jays 2, Orioles 1 In Baltimore, Aaron Sanchez lost his no-hit bid when Baltimore’s Tim Beckham led off the eighth inning with a sharp grounder through the legs of third baseman Josh Donaldson, and Curtis Granderson hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth to carry Toronto.

Seeking to throw the second no-hitter in Blue Jays history — Dave Stieb did it in 1990 — Sanchez (1-1) gave up three hits in the eighth. Granderson hit his first homer for the Blue Jays, connecting off Darren O’Day (0-1).

Roberto Osuna closed for his fifth save. He became the youngest player in major league history (23 years, 62 days) with 100 career saves.

Mets 8, Marlins 6 In Miami, Yoenis Cespedes snapped a slump with a two-run double to break a tie in the ninth inning, giving New York the best 10-game start in franchise history.

The Mets (9-1) earned their seventh consecutive victory, their longest winning streak in two years. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a pair of solo homers for New York, which blew a three-run lead and then came from behind.

For the second night in a row, the teams drew the smallest crowd in the seven-season history of Marlins Park. Attendance was 6,516. Cardinals 5, Brewers 3, 11 Innings

In St Louis, Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run with no outs in the 11th inning to lift St. Louis.

Carpenter turned around a pitch from J.J. Hoover (0-1) for the third game-ending homer of his career. It capped a night in which St. Louis rallied from one-run deficits in the ninth and 10th innings.

Domingo Santana singled in Eric Thames to put Milwaukee ahead 2-1 in the ninth inning, but Tommy Pham scored from second on a pair of wild pitches by Jacob Barnes to tie it in the bottom of the inning.

After Orlando Arcia singled in a run in the top of the 10th, Greg Garcia made it 3-3 with his own RBI single a half-inning later.

Pirates 8, Cubs 5 In Chicago, Ivan Nova pitched seven solid innings, Francisco Cervelli hit a three-run homer and Pittsburgh ruined Chicago’s home opener.

Not even the presence of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old chaplain of the Loyola basketball team, could help the Cubs. She threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field.

Corey Dickerson had three hits and two RBIs and Starling Marte also connected as Pittsburgh won for the fourth time in five games. The Pirates’ 8-2 record is their best 10-game start since 1992.

Felipe Vazquez got four outs for his first save in a new jersey after he legally changed his surname to match that of his sister, Prescilla. He was known as Felipe Rivero, and he apologized on Twitter on Monday to fans who bought gear with his old name.

Dodgers 4, Athletics 0 In Los Angeles, Hyun-Jin Ryu cruised through six innings of one-hit ball and Corey Seager hit one of three Dodgers homers.

Ryu (1-0) rebounded from a rocky

Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Fenway Park

on April 10, in Boston, Massachusetts. (AFP)

season debut to shut down Oakland. He struck out eight and walked one, handing off to the bullpen after just 90 pitches. Ryu also walked and singled in two plate appearances.

Chris Taylor and Seager hit back-toback homers off Sean Manaea (1-2) in the first inning, and Matt Kemp later added his first homer since returning to Los Angeles in a December trade with Atlanta.

Nationals 4, Braves 1 In Washington, Stephen Strasburg threw eight scoreless innings and Ryan Zimmerman had a two-run triple for Washington.

Strasburg (2-1) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight, at one point retiring 12 in a row. He didn’t allow a runner past second base.

Ryan Madson allowed a two-out RBI double in the ninth to Dansby Swanson, but escaped the jam to earn his first save.

Brian Goodwin’s two-out single knocked in an unearned run off starter Mike Foltynewicz (1-1) in the fourth, and the Nationals added another run in the sixth when reliever Shane Carle overthrew first on Strasburg’s sacrifice attempt.

Indians 2, Tigers 1 In Cleveland, Roberto Perez hit a leadoff home run in the eighth inning against reliever Alex Wilson, lifting Cleveland over Detroit.

The Indians beat the Tigers for the ninth straight time.

Andrew Miller (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. Cody Allen worked the ninth for his third save.

Wilson (0-2) came in to start the eighth and quickly fell behind Perez.

Angels 11, Rangers 1 In Arlington, Texas, Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons each homered, and Albert Pujols had two more hits in his push to 3,000 for Los Angeles, which is 9-3 for the first time since 1982.

Angels rookie two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth after not playing in the series opener Monday night. Ohtani will DH in the series finale Wednesday.

Trout’s fourth home of the season was a 441-foot solo drive that hit high above the Angels bullpen in left-center in the second inning. Simmons led off the next inning with his first homer to make it 5-1 against Martin Perez (1-1).

Padres 5, Rockies 2 In Denver, Joey Lucchesi got his first major league win thanks to a goahead three-run homer from Hunter Renfroe in the seventh inning.

Lucchesi (1-0) shut down Colorado in his third career start. He struck out eight and allowed just two unearned runs before leaving two batters into the seventh.

Austin Hedges also homered, Jose Pirela had three hits and Brad Hand pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

Phillies 6, Reds 1 In Philadelphia, Aaron Nola pitched eight stellar innings and Scott Kingery hit a grand slam.

Nola (1-0) gave up three hits while striking out six and walking three as Philadelphia won for the fourth time in five games. The Reds have lost three in a row.

Kingery connected with one out in the eighth off Tanner Rainey, who was making his big league debut. It was the second career homer for Kingery — he helped the Phillies beat the Reds 6-5 on Monday night by going deep.

Twins 4, Astros 1 In Minneapolis, Jake Odorizzi grinded through six innings for his first win with Minnesota, and leadoff man Brian Dozier walked a career-high four times.

Odorizzi (1-0) struggled with control on another cold night in Minnesota

Cleveland Indians’ Roberto Perez hits a solo home run off Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Alex Wilson in the eighth inning of a baseball game on

April 10, in Cleveland. (AP)

but eventually settled in during his first home start since being acquired from Tampa Bay in February. He allowed a run on five walks and five hits.

Minnesota took advantage of Dallas Keuchel’s control problems to scratch across three runs in the first two innings. Keuchel (0-2) gave up three runs, five hits and four walks in four innings. He struck out six and left after 101 pitches.

Mariners 8, Royals 3 In Kansas City, Mo., Felix Hernandez pitched into the sixth inning, Guillermo Heredia homered and Seattle bounced back from a blowout loss to rout Kansas City.

Hernandez (2-1), who was shelled his last time out in San Francisco, allowed three runs, six hits and a walk in 5-2/3 innings. His only big mistake came in the fourth, when Mike Moustakas turned on a 2-1 pitch and sent a two-run homer screaming into the right-field fountains.

Rays 6, White Sox 5 In Chicago, Blake Snell pitched one-hit ball and struck out 10 through six innings and Tampa Bay kept Chicago winless at home this season.

The White Sox dropped to 0-5 at Guaranteed Rate Field. They have never lost their first six at home in franchise history dating to 1901.