Loaisiga shines in debut for Yankees
Bregman, Astros power past Royals for ninth straight win
NEW YORK — Jonathan Loaisiga pitched threehit ball over five impressive innings to win his major league debut, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 on Friday night.
Didi Gregorius homered off ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi, and Gary Sanchez broke out of a long slump with a three-run double in the eighth. Giancarlo Stanton had a sacrifice fly for New York, which improved the best record in the majors to 45-20.
Jonathan Holder, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Adam Warren each worked an inning to finish the four-hitter.
Loaisiga (1-0) was called up from Double-A Trenton to fill in for injured starter Masahiro Tanaka. The 23-year-old righty, who walked only four batters in 45 minor league innings this year, struggled a little with his command, issuing four walks while striking out six.
ASTROS 7, ROYALS 3: In Kasas City, Mo., Evan Gattis hit a go-ahead grand slam, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa also went deep and Houston beat Kansas City for its ninth consecutive win.
Charlie Morton (8-1) overcame another bout of wildness, at one point walking three straight batters, to last six innings for Houston. He allowed four hits and four walks while striking out nine.
Jakob Junis (5-7) served up all three Houston homers, getting tagged for six runs on seven hits and a walk.
MARLINS 2, ORIOLES 0: In Baltimore, Jose Urena pitched eight innings of three-hit ball, Lewis Brinson tripled twice and Miami beat Baltimore stretch the Orioles’ losing streak to a season-high eight games.
In an interleague matchup between two offensively challenged last-place teams, the Marlins scratched out a couple of runs against Kevin Gausman (3-6) for their fourth win in five games.
BLUE JAYS 6, NATIONALS 5: In Toronto, Yangervis Solarte homered from both sides of the plate, Devon Travis also connected and Toronto beat Washington for its fifth straight home victory.
Justin Smoak broke a 3-3 tie with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and Solarte, batting left-handed, followed with a two-run shot off right-hander Justin Miller. Solarte was batting right-handed when he homered in Toronto’s three-run third, a solo blast off left-hander Gio Gonzalez (6-3).
PADRES 9, BRAVES 3: In Atlanta, Hunter Renfroe hit a go-ahead, two-run single in San Diego’s fiverun seventh inning, Freddy Galvis had a three-run homer and went 5 for 5, and the Padres beat Atlanta.
Freddie Freeman’s 15th homer gave Atlanta a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Jose Pirela hit a two-run homer for San Diego in the first.
BREWERS 13, PHILLIES 2: In Milwaukee, Brent Suter drove in two runs and pitched a season-high seven innings, Christian Yelich, Hernan Perez and Jesus Aguilar homered and Milwaukee beat Jake Arrieta and Philadelphia.
Suter (7-4) allowed one run on six hits to win his fifth start in the last six, including a 12-3 victory over the Phillies six days ago. He pushed the Brewers to 43-27 for the best record in the NL.
TIGERS 4, WHITE SOX 3: In Chicago, John Hicks homered and scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning as Detroit beat Chicago.
Victor Martinez had a two-run double to help the Tigers improve to 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field this season, and 6-1 overall against the White Sox. James McCann had three hits.
CUBS 13, CARDINALS 5: In St. Louis, Kris Bryant ended a 24-game homerless drought, the longest of his career, and Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber also went deep as Chicago routed St. Louis.
Bryant drilled a 448-foot, two-run shot to left field off an ineffective Michael Wacha in the third inning for his first home run since May 14. The 2016 NL MVP capped a six-run fifth with an RBI single and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. His four RBIs were a season high.
ANGELS 8, ATHLETICS 4: In Oakland, Calif., Ian Kinsler homered and drew a bases-loaded walk, Mike Trout had three hits and a sacrifice fly, and Los Angeles beat Oakland to snap a four-game skid.
Tyler Skaggs (6-4) struck out eight over seven strong innings, allowing no earned runs and seven hits with one walk. He improved to 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA in June.
DODGERS 3, GIANTS 2: In Los Angeles, Enrique Hernandez and Matt Kemp hit solo home runs and Yasiel Puig had an RBI double to lift Los Angeles to a win over San Francisco.
Ross Stripling allowed two runs in 6⅔ innings to get the win for LA.
ROCKIES 9, RANGERS 5: In Arlington, Texas, Ian Desmond homered twice and Trevor Story had a pair of RBI hits in his first game near home as Colorado overcame a quick five-run deficit to beat Texas.
It was Desmond’s first game in Texas since the converted shortstop was an All-Star center fielder in his only season with the Rangers in 2016.
TWINS 6, INDIANS 3: In Cleveland, Corey Kluber had a rare rocky performance, lasting just five innings and losing for the first time in seven starts as Kyle Gibson outpitched the Cy Young winner and Brian Dozier hit a two-run homer to lead Minnesota past Cleveland.
Kluber (10-3) allowed a homer on his fourth pitch of the game to Eddie Rosario and was pulled after throwing just 65 pitches by manager Terry Francona. It was the shortest outing this season for the All-Star, who came in 5-0 with a 0.76 ERA against AL Central teams.
PIRATES 3, REDS 2: In Pittsburgh, Chad Kuhl pitched six solid innings to win for the first time in more than a month, and Pittsburgh edged Cincinnati and Matt Harvey.
Kuhl (5-4) gave up two runs, one earned, and six hits while striking out six and walking three. It was his first win since May 6 at Milwaukee, a span of seven starts, though Kuhl allowed no more than three runs in any of his previous four outings.