Stanton, Yanks blast Rangers
Giancarlo Stanton hit the hardest homer ever measured by Major League Baseball’s Statcast system, Neil Walker hit two more home runs and the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 last night in New York.
Stanton’s 28th homer was measured at 121.7 mph, the fastest long ball tracked by Statcast since the system was introduced in 2015. Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks also went deep, helping the Yankees win their fourth straight since a fivegame skid that included a four-game sweep by the AL East-leading Red Sox.
J.A. Happ (12-6) pitched six effective innings in his return from hand, foot and mouth disease. Happ was acquired from Toronto last month and has won both his starts with New York. He allowed three runs, four hits, a walk and struck out nine.
Hicks kicked off New York’s homer barrage after a questionable decision from Texas manager Jeff Banister.
Rookie Ariel Jurado (22) got Stanton to hit into a double play in the first inning, but Banister ordered an intentional walk to Didi Gregorius. Hicks followed with a shot to right field for a 2-0 lead.
Haap struck out the side in the first after hitting ShinSoo Choo to start the first of a four-game series against Texas. The 35-year-old retired the next five before once again nailing Choo with a pitch in the third before Rougned Odor flew out to end the inning.
Jurickson Profar hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, and Choo added a two-run double in the fifth to make it 5-3.
Stanton hit his lined shot out to left in the fifth inning, and Walker’s home run in the sixth made it 7-3.
Indians 5, Twins 4 — Michael Brantley’s ninth-inning single gave host Cleveland its second straight walkoff victory against Minnesota.
Brantley grounded a 2-1 pitch off Addison Reed (1-6) past a diving Miguel Sano at first base to score Greg Allen, giving Cleveland another dramatic win.
Francisco Lindor’s threerun homer in the ninth inning Wednesday gave Cleveland a 5-2 victory. Brantley’s hit set off another celebration as he was mobbed by his teammates after rounding first base.
Allen started the rally with a single off Reed and stole second with Lindor batting. Lindor’s groundout to first moved Allen to third.
Andrew Miller (2-3) struck out a batter in the ninth. The left-hander made his fourth appearance since missing two months because of an inflamed right knee.
Rays 5, Orioles 4 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Jake Bauers drove in two of his three runs with a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.
Bauers’ decisive hit off Cody Carroll (0-1) came in the Rays’ franchise-record tying sixth consecutive one-run game. Tampa Bay has played 49 (22-27) onerun games overall, tops in the majors.
The Orioles (35-80) open a four-game series tonight against the AL Eastleading Red Sox, who can eliminate Baltimore from contention for the division title with one win.
National League
Nationals 6, Braves 3 — Gio Gonzalez pitched seven strong innings and earned his first victory since May 28 to help host Washington defeat Atlanta to secure a four-game split.
The Nationals moved within 51⁄2 games of idle Philadelphia in the National League East. The Braves fell a game behind the Phillies.
Gonzalez (7-8) snapped a personal seven-game losing streak and had gone 11 consecutive starts without a victory. He allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three. Nick Markakis’ solo homer to lead off the second was the lone run he allowed.
Atlanta starter Anibal Sanchez pitched two scoreless innings but left after getting hit in the left calf by a grounder from Michael Taylor.
Washington outfielder Bryce Harper was scratched from the lineup with right knee soreness.
Padres 8, Brewers 4 — Hunter Renfroe hit a goahead grand slam in the ninth inning, his fourth straight game with a home run, and visiting San Diego rallied for a victory over Milwaukee.
The Padres trailed 4-2 entering the ninth, but rallied against Brewers relievers Corey Knebel and Joakim Soria.
Knebel walked the bases loaded and allowed a runscoring infield single to Travis Jankowski before Soria entered to try to escape the jam.