Rookie Jake Faria tops Boston’s Chris Sale in Rays’ 4-1 win
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: Wilson Ramos homered and drove in three runs against Chris Sale despite the All-Star’s record-setting performance, and rookie Jake Faria remained unbeaten as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Thursday night.
Sale (11-4) struck out 12 while giving up four runs and seven hits in seven innings. He became the first Red Sox pitcher to strike out 10 or more in 12 games before the AllStar break, surpassing Pedro Martinez’s mark of 11 games in 1999.
Ramos hit a two-run homer in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Faria (4-0) gave up a run and four hits while walking four in six innings. The rookie right-hander has pitched at least six innings in each of his six starts and has a 2.11 ERA.
Alex Colome worked the ninth for his 23rd save.
Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4: Chris Taylor singled home the winning run to cap a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, and NL West-leading Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of secondplace Arizona.
Taylor’s bases-loaded single off T.J. McFarland with nobody out eluded the reach of left fielder Ray Fuentes, who was playing shallow to try to cut off the winning run.
Josh Fields (4-0) got the win after a runscoring balk in the top of the ninth.
Fernando Rodney (3-3) issued three straight walks, including one to Logan Forsythe with the bases loaded that left the Dodgers trailing 4-2. Corey Seager tied it with a two-run single.
Braves 5, Nationals 2: Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Mike Foltynewicz quieted Washington’s bats as Atlanta won following an unusually dry rain delay that lasted more than three hours.
Kurt Suzuki’s solo homer in the sixth inning off Gio Gonzalez (7-4) broke a 2-all tie. Freeman’s second RBI double of the game and 1,000th career hit extended the lead during a two-run seventh.
Athletics 7, Mariners 4: Khris Davis hit a three-run homer, Paul Blackburn pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning for his first major league win, and Oakland beat slumping Seattle.
Davis’ 24th homer keyed a four-run fifth inning that put the Athletics in front 7-0. Bruce Maxwell hit a solo homer, his first, to chase starter Sam Gaviglio (3-4).
The only run off Blackburn (1-0) was Mitch Haniger’s homer in the fifth.
Blue Jays 7, Astros 4: Russell Martin homered and matched a season high with three hits, Josh Donaldson broke out of his slump with a go-ahead single and Toronto beat Houston.
Francisco Liriano (5-4) pitched six solid innings and Roberto Osuna converted his 21st consecutive save opportunity as the Blue Jays, who began the night last in the AL East, won their third straight. Houston, which has the best record in the majors at 58-28, had won four in a row and eight of 10.
Brewers 11, Cubs 2: Ryan Braun homered to ignite a seven-run third inning and Milwaukee beat Chicago for its fourth straight victory.
The Brewers opened a 4½-game lead over the second-place Cubs in the NL Central and are guaranteed to hold the top spot at the All-Star break. This was a makeup of a May 20 rainout.
Tigers 6, Giants 2: Anibal Sanchez pitched six strong innings, and Dixon Machado hit his first career home run to lift Detroit over San Francisco.
Sanchez (1-0) earned his first victory since Aug. 23, allowing two runs and five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Machado’s first home run came in the 146th at-bat of his career. The 25-year-old infielder hit a two-run shot in the second that put the Tigers up 4-0.
Indians 11, Padres 2: Edwin Encarnacion homered and matched a career high with four hits, All-Star Jose Ramirez hit a home run and had three RBIs, and Cleveland, playing its third straight game without manager Terry Francona, defeated San Diego.
Francona remained hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic, where he has been undergoing tests to resolve the causes of him becoming light-headed over the past month. The 58-year-old was hospitalized twice last month and doctors admitted him Tuesday, about one week after he began wearing a heart monitor.