Yanks’ win a Gray matter
Sonny Gray pitched six effective innings, rookie Miguel Andujar hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and the Yankees downed the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3, yesterday in New York to snap a two-game skid.
New York broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth on Andujar’s sacrifice fly, scoring Didi Gregorius with his first RBI of the season.
Austin Romine hit a soft pop to shallow right later in the inning that bounced out of first baseman Chris Davis’ glove, allowing Tyler Austin to score and chasing starter Chris Tillman (0-2).
The day after the Yankees used eight pitchers in an extra-inning marathon, Gray gave his team some muchneeded length. The righty was charged with three runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four.
Gray (1-0) dodged trouble with his final batter thanks to newcomer Jace Peterson, who was signed to a major league contract before the game. With runners on second and third and two outs, Peterson snagged Pedro Alvarez’ hard-hit liner on the run — slamming into the left-field wall after making an acrobatic catch.
Mariners 11, Twins 4 — The temperature on the field hovered around 27 degrees, where Seattle eventually heated up at the plate as Kyle Seager and Guillermo Heredia homered in a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Ryon Healy drove in three runs as the Mariners helped Mike Leake (2-0) win again.
Tigers 6, White Sox 1 — Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs, Michael Fulmer pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and visiting Detroit beat Chicago on a bone-chilling afternoon.
Cabrera had a two-run single in the third and RBI groundout in the fifth after leaving Thursday’s game against Chicago because of left hip flexor tightness.
Both starters struggled with their control on a day when the gametime temperature was 32 degrees.
Royals 1, Indians 0 — Lucas Duda homered off Trevor Bauer for the game’s only run and Ian Kennedy pitched six shutout innings, leading Kansas City to a win over host Cleveland in frigid, football-like weather conditions.
Duda’s shot in the seventh off Bauer (0-1) was one of only three hits by Kansas City and a rare highlight as the teams survived nine innings with the temperature hovering around freezing.
National League
Mets 3, Nationals 2 — Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI double and scored the goahead run in the seventh inning, helping New York come back to beat host Washington for its fourth straight win despite Bryce Harper’s fifth homer.
Dave Martinez was ejected for the first time as a manager as the NL East champions lost their fourth consecutive game to fall to 4-4.
Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 3 — In the coldest home start in franchise history, Jose Martinez homered and drove in four runs as host St. Louis stopped Arizona’s four-game winning streak. It was 37 degrees at gametime with a wind chill of 29.
Cubs 5, Brewers 2 — Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking tworun single during Chicago’s four-run ninth in a comefrom-behind triumph over host Milwaukee.
Happ struck out three more times, running his team-high total to a whopping 17 in seven games, but he came up with a clutch hit in his final at-bat.
Phillies 20, Marlins 1 — Maikel Franco and Aaron Altherr each hit a grand slam, Carlos Santana and Jorge Alfaro also went deep and host Philadelphia routed Miami. Franco finished with six RBI.
Reds 7, Pirates 4 — Eugenio Suarez hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, and visiting Cincinnati cooled off Pittsburgh.