Cotton, Healy carry Athletics past Twins
Jharel Cotton struck out nine in six innings and Ryon Healy hit his fourth home run of the season to lift the Oakland Athletics over the Minnesota Twins, 8-5, yesterday in Minneapolis.
The Red Sox open a three-game series tonight against the host Twins.
Cotton (3-3) gave up three runs and three hits, and Stephen Vogt had two hits and two RBI to help the A’s avoid a three-game sweep. Santiago Casilla struck out Miguel Sano with the bases loaded in the ninth for his fifth save in six tries, Sano’s fourth strikeout of the afternoon.
Kyle Gibson (0-4) gave up four runs, eight hits and three walks in four innings. The Twins removed center fielder Byron Buxton in the sixth inning after he collided with the wall while making a catch.
Rangers 10, Astros 4 — Joey Gallo homered and drove in three runs, Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus also homered and visiting Texas stopped a season-worst four-game skid, trouncing Houston.
After twice giving up leads earlier in the series, the Rangers went ahead 4-0 in the first inning and used the bullpen to help avoid a four-game sweep.
Marwin Gonzalez homered in his fifth straight start for Houston.
White Sox 8, Royals 3 — Derek Holland scattered three hits while pitching into the seventh inning, Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson went deep off Ian Kennedy and visiting Chicago handled Kansas City to split their four-game series.
Holland (3-2) exited with two outs in the seventh after giving up two runs, only one of them earned. He also struck out seven with only one walk.
Mariners 11, Angels 3 — Danny Valencia homered and had four hits, Ariel Miranda pitched seven strong innings and host Seattle beat Los Angeles.
Miranda (3-2) settled in after a rocky second inning, giving up two runs, seven hits and a walk while striking out five for the game.
Indians-Tigers, ppd. — The game between Cleveland and host Detroit was postponed because of bad weather. No makeup date was announced.
National League
Nationals 4, Diamondbacks 2 — Max Scherzer struck out a season-high 11 to bounce back from his worst outing this season, and host Washington doubled up Arizona.
Scherzer (4-2) allowed one run and two hits in seven innings. He also was 2-for-3 at the plate, driving in the Nats’ first run with a second-inning infield single that pitcher Braden Shipley could not pick up with his bare hand. Brewers 5, Cardinals 4 — Jesus Aguilar’s first major league home run broke a seventhinning tie, leading visiting Milwaukee over banged-up St. Louis. Cardinals right fielder Stephen Piscotty
left the game after the second inning with a strained right hamstring and center fielder Dexter Fowler came out following the third with a strained right shoulder.
Reds 4, Pirates 2 — Joey Votto doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored twice, leading Tim Adleman and host Cincinnati topped Pittsburgh.
Adam Duvall drove in Votto both times as the Reds won for the fourth time in five games. Cincinnati is 6-1 against the Pirates this year.
Rockies 3, Padres 2 — Ryan Hanigan’s RBI infield single in the 11th inning lifted visiting Colorado past San Diego.
Hanigan, who had homered earlier in his Rockies’ debut, hit a grounder up the middle that Erick Aybar fielded, but he was unable to flip the ball to Cory Spangenberg at second for a force. That allowed Ian Desmond to score.
Cubs 5, Phillies 4 — Albert Almora Jr. doubled leading off the 13th inning and scored on a throwing error by shortstop Freddy Galvis, giving host Chicago a win over Philadelphia.
Kris Bryant had four hits, Miguel Montero homered and drove in two runs, and Matt Szczur and Addison Russell hit runscoring doubles as the Cubs extended their winning streak to three.
Mets-Braves, ppd. — The game between New York and host Atlanta was postponed because of rain. No makeup date was announced.
Interleague
Rays 5, Marlins 1 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Tim Beckham homered twice in a game for the second time in eight days, driving in four runs to lead Tampa Bay over Miami.
Matt Andriese (2-1) scattered five hits, walked three and struck out eight over seven innings to match his longest outing this season.