Boston full steam ahead toward 100-win season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If the Boston Red Sox keep getting this kind of pitching and hitting, their first 100win season in more than seven decades seems a lock.
Rick Porcello matched his victory total from last year, pitching seven effective innings, and Andrew Benintendi had four hits and scored twice as the Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-4 on Sunday.
The Red Sox hit .385 in sweeping the three-game series. Boston has won six straight and 13 of 16 and owns the best record in the majors at 62-29.
“One through nine, they’re all great hitters,” loser Heath Fillmyer (0-1) said after his first bigleague start. “That’s probably why they’re in the position they are this year.”
The Red Sox haven’t won 100 games since 1946.
Porcello (11-3), who was 11-17 in 2017, allowed three runs on nine hits before leaving after 111 pitches. He struck out nine, matching his season high, and walked one. Craig Kimbrel got the final two outs for his 27th save in 29 chances. ATHLETICS 6, INDIANS 0: In Cleveland, Brett Anderson came off the disabled list and pitched effectively into the sixth inning before turning things over to Oakland’s outstanding bullpen as the Athletics downed Cleveland.
Anderson (1-2) had been sidelined with a shoulder strain, one of several injuries to the A’s starting staff. But the left-hander looked sharp in his first start since May 18, limiting the Indians to three hits and leaving with a 4-0 lead.
Stephen Piscotty hit a two-run homer off rookie Shane Bieber (4-1), and Jed Lowrie had a solo shot as Oakland won for the 10th time in 12 games. MARINERS 6, ROCKIES 4: In Seattle, Ryon Healy homered and tied a career high with five RBIs, leading Seattle to a win over Colorado.
Healy, who had a two-run double in the first inning, put Seattle ahead for good with his three-run homer — his 18th home run of the season — in the sixth inning. ANGELS 4, DODGERS 3: In Anaheim, Calif., Shohei Ohtani’s pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning sent Andrew Heaney and the host Angels to a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Heaney allowed three hits and tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in seven innings to help the Angels take two of three at home in the Freeway Series. He gave up a three-run homer to Yasiel Puig, who later left with an oblique injury. BREWERS 10, BRAVES 3: In Milwaukee, Jesus Aguilar homered twice and Hernan Perez added a three-run shot as Milwaukee beat Atlanta.
Aguilar hit a solo drive in the seventh and a threerun shot in the eighth. He moved into a tie with Colorado’s Nolan Arenado for the NL lead with 22 homers. YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 1 (10): In Toronto, Brett Gardner hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the 10th inning as New York beat Toronto for its fourth win in five games.
Former Yankees reliever Tyler Clippard (4-3) hit New York’s Greg Bird to begin the 10th, and Tyler Wade came on to pinch run. Austin Romine sacrificed to advance Wade to second, and Gardner followed with
a single to left. CUBS 6, REDS 5 (10): In Chicago, David Bote drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning, lifting Chicago to a victory over Cincinnati.
Javier Baez had two hits and two RBIs for Chicago, which has won its last nine games in comeback fashion. ASTROS 2, WHITE SOX 1: In Houston, Dallas Keuchel pitched seven strong innings, Jose Altuve hit a homer and Houston manufactured the go-ahead run in the seventh to complete a four-game sweep of Chicago.
Altuve’s solo shot put Houston up 1-0 in the fourth. GIANTS 13, CARDINALS 8: In San Francisco, Pablo Sandoval homered and had five RBIs to back an uneven start by Madison Bumgarner as San Francisco defeated St. Louis.
Andrew McCutchen and Alen Hanson each added three hits for the Giants. MARLINS 10, NATIONALS 2: In Washington, J.T. Realmuto had a career-high five hits and drove in three runs, and Martin Prado got four hits as Miami defeated Washington to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Nationals.
Miami piled up a seasonhigh 22 hits, the first 19 of which were singles, and salvaged the finale of a fourgame series. PIRATES 4, PHILLIES 1: In Pittsburgh, Nick Kingham (3-4) pitched six solid innings and had two RBIs, helping Pittsburgh avoid a three-game sweep with a win against Philadelphia. PADRES 4, DIAMONDBACKS
3 (16): In Phoenix, Wil Myers hit a home run with one out in the top of the 16th inning to lift San Diego over Arizona.
RAYS 9, METS 0: In New York, Nathan Eovaldi took a perfect game into the seventh inning and C.J. Cron hit an early three-run homer as Tampa Bay routed New York.
Eovaldi retired his first 18 batters before Brandon Nimmo lined a clean single to right field leading off the seventh. RANGERS 3, TIGERS 0: In Detroit, Austin BibensDirkx pitched impressively into the sixth inning as Texas blanked Detroit. TWINS 10, ORIOLES 1: In Minneapolis, Jake Odorizzi pitched six scoreless innings and Mitch Garver, Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier homered as Minnesota beat Baltimore.