Indians rolling
Jose Ramirez hit two more home runs — giving him five in the past three games — and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Tuesday night for their 13th consecutive victory, the longest run by a major league team this season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE INDIANS 9, WHITE SOX 4
CHICAGO — Jose Ramirez hit two more home runs, Austin Jackson also connected and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Tuesday night for their 13th consecutive victory, the longest run by a major league team this season.
Danny Salazar got just two outs in his return from right elbow inflammation, but Cleveland’s deep bullpen took over from there. Seven relievers combined for 81/3 scoreless innings as the Indians moved within one of their franchise-record 14game winning streak last year.
Jackson and Ramirez hit back-toback home runs during Cleveland’s three-run first against David Holmberg (2-4). Ramirez added another solo shot in the second, and the AL Central leaders went ahead to stay on Greg Allen’s tiebreaking, tworun double in the third. Yan Gomes tacked on a three-run shot in the ninth.
Ramirez has five home runs in his past three games. He is batting .500 (17 for 34) with 7 home runs and 9 RBI on Cleveland’s 11-game road trip.
Matt Davidson hit a 3-run drive for last-place Chicago, which has dropped 6 of 8. Top prospect Yoan Moncada went 1 for 5 in his return from a bruised right shin.
Davidson’s 24th home run chased Salazar and gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead in the first. It was the first time the Indians had trailed since they were down by one against the New York Yankees on Aug. 28.
Cleveland responded with Ramirez’s 25th of the season and then a clutch hit by Allen in the
third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Allen hit a liner into the corner in left to give the Indians a 6-4 lead.
Dan Otero (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. The White Sox put two on in the eighth, but Bryan Shaw struck out Yolmer Sanchez to end the inning. TIGERS 13, ROYALS 2 JaCoby Jones and John Hicks hit two home runs and Detroit had six home runs in all in a victory over visiting Kansas City. Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez threw only five pitches and was knocked out of the game in the first inning after getting hit by Whit Merrifield’s single in the right leg. RAYS 2, TWINS 1 Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in front of a tiny home crowd, and host Tampa Bay beat Minnesota. Lucas Duda homered and drove in both runs for the Rays, who improved to .500 on the season and got within two games of Minnesota for the second AL wild card. NATIONAL LEAGUE PIRATES 4, CUBS 3 Max Moroff and David Freese delivered RBI singles off Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh rallied past visiting Chicago. The Cubs left eight men on base to drop their third consecutive game. REDS 9, BREWERS 3 Robert Stephenson escaped threats while pitching into the seventh, and Scooter Gennett homered during host Cincinnati’s five-run rally in the bottom of the inning, sending the Reds to a victory over Milwaukee. PHILLIES 9, METS 1 Ben Lively homered and drove in four runs off Mets ace Jacob deGrom, and also pitched seven strong innings to lead visiting Philadelphia over New York. DeGrom (14-9) struck out the side in the first, but wound up allowing a career-worst 9 runs — 6 of them earned — and 10 hits in 32/3 innings. NATIONALSpitched six 2, innings MARLINSto help 1 WashingtonStephen Strasburg to a victory over host Miami. Daniel Murphy hit his 22nd home run and Pedro Severino also drove in a run for the Nationals. Strasburg (12-4) allowed a single in each of his six innings, but was able to keep the Marlins from getting into scoring position. ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 6 Trevor Story homered, Nolan Arenado picked up his major league lead-tying 112th RBI with a double as part of a four-run sixth and Colorado beat visiting San Francisco. The Rockies held off a late rally by the Giants to increase their lead to 21/2 games over Milwaukee for the second National League wild-card spot.