Yanks fly high on Bird’s back
Greg Bird reached base three times in his longawaited return to the Yankees’ lineup and Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in four runs, leading Sonny Gray and New York over the Seattle Mariners, 6-3, yesterday in the Bronx.
Bird singled, walked twice and scored in his first game since May 1. Hobbled by ankle and foot problems, the young first baseman could provide a spark.
Ellsbury hit a three-run homer and an RBI single. Relegated to a role of a fourth outfielder during an injury-slowed season, he connected off Yovani Gallardo in a matchup of playoff contenders.
Gray went seven innings and allowed one run on three hits, including a homer by Carlos Ruiz.
Blue Jays 10, Twins 9 — Josh Donaldson had three hits, including a two-run home run, Kendrys Morales added a solo shot and host Toronto withstood a late rally to beat Minnesota.
Max Kepler hit a grand slam and Eduardo Escobar had a two-run shot for the Twins, who entered with a half-game lead over Seattle for the second AL wild card.
Minnesota lost for the 11th time in 13 meetings with the Blue Jays.
Indians 4, Royals. 0 — Mike Clevinger pitched six sharp innings and rookie Bradley Zimmer made a sensational catch in center field before ending Jason Hammel’s bid for a perfect game, leading host Cleveland over Kansas City.
Edwin Encarnacion and Carlos Santana also connected as the defending AL champions moved a seasonhigh 16 games over .500.
Before the game, the Royals placed left-hander Danny Duffy on the 10-day disabled list with a sore elbow.
Athletics 8, Rangers 3 — Chad Pinder homered twice to help host Oakland end Cole Hamels’ five-game win streak by beating Texas.
Tigers 6, White Sox 3 — Justin Upton and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back homers in Detroit’s threerun third inning in a rainy victory in Chicago.
Interleague
Cardinals 6, Rays 4 — Tommy Pham hit a walkoff two-run homer in the ninth as host St. Louis rallied to beat Tampa Bay.
National League
Nationals 9, Mets 4 — Adrian Sanchez drove in three runs, including soon after he took a pitch to the chest, and made a diving defensive play to help host Washington beat New York.
Before the game, the Mets placed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring and activated infielder Jose Reyes.
Cubs 17, Phillies 2 — Anthony Rizzo and Tommy La Stella each homered twice, Kyle Hendricks pitched seven strong innings and visiting Chicago routed Philadelphia despite another home run from Rhys Hoskins, his MLB record 10th in his first 17 games.
Brewers 3, Dodgers 0 — Zach Davies pitched seven dominant innings for his second scoreless start against Los Angeles this season, and Orlando Arcia hit a two-run homer to power visiting Milwaukee.
Rockies 7, Braves 6 — Charlie Blackmon hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth off to power Colorado past host Atlanta.
Pirates 1, Reds 0 — Gerrit Cole ended his career-long futility against host Cincinnati by hitting a solo homer, pitching seven innings to leading Pittsburgh to the shutout win.
Marlins 2, Padres 1 — Miguel Rojas hit a one-out sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and host Miami edges San Diego to win for the 12th time in the past 15 games.
Diamondbacks 2, Giants 1 — In Phoenix, A.J. Pollock and J.D. Martinez homered off Madison Bumgarner, and that was enough as Arizona slipped past San Francisco.