Rays thwart Yankees
Mallex Smith hit a tworun homer, rookie Brandon Lowe got his first two major league hits and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Yankees 6-1 last night in New York.
Kevin Kiermaier, who was mired in a 4-for-46 slump in August, had two hits, scored a run and drove in one for the Rays, who have won seven of their past nine games against New York.
Today, the Rays will have an opportunity to win their first series at Yankee Stadium since 2014. Tomorrow, they will begin a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The Yankees wasted their best chance in the fourth inning when Tampa Bay starter Jake Faria left the game with runners on first and second and one out.
Chaz Roe came in and hit Neil Walker to load the bases. He struck out Austin Romine and escaped the inning when a replay challenge overturned Ronald Torreyes’ single into an inning-ending groundout.
Reliever Ryan Yarbrough (11-5) then entered and was credited with the win after shutting down the Yankees over four scoreless innings. He allowed only two hits and struck out three.
Tampa Bay took advantage of an ineffective Luis Cessa (1-3), who was recalled from Triple A before the game to make a start in place of an injured CC Sabathia.
Mariners 2, Athletics 0 — Light-hitting Dee Gordon homered off Yusmeiro Petit in the 12th inning to break a scoreless tie and visiting Seattle beat Athletics to avoid a three-game sweep.
Jean Segura had four hits to help the M’s close within 21⁄2 games of the A’s for the second AL wild card spot.
The Mariners placed ace James Paxton on the disabled list with a forearm bruise, one day after the left-hander was struck by a line drive.
White Sox 6, Tigers 5 — Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson each hit two-run home runs and visiting Chicago beat Detroit to win the three-game series.
Abreu and Davidson combined for six hits and drove in five of Chicago’s runs.
Carlos Rodon (4-3) improved to 3-0 in his last seven starts, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk in eight innings.
National League
Braves 5, Marlins 2 — Slugging rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. was hit by a pitch before he could go deep again, but Dansby Swanson filled the power void for host Atlanta, hitting a tworun homer that led to a win over Miami.
Acuna, who had hit leadoff homers in the last three games and homered in five straight games overall, didn’t get a chance to extend the streak. Jose Urena plunked him on the left elbow with a fastball on his first pitch of the day, triggering a melee.
Benches and bullpens for both teams emptied onto the field twice after the pitch. No punches were thrown. Urena and Braves manager Brian Snitker were ejected.
Acuna left the game in the second inning. He took his position in left field and then walked off the field.
Cubs 8, Brewers 4 — Anthony Rizzo homered, drove in three runs and stole two bases in his return to the cleanup spot, and host Chicago restored its threegame lead in the NL Central by topping Milwaukee.
Kyle Hendricks (9-9) struck out eight in six-plus innings on his bobblehead day, providing a lift for the Cubs after Jon Lester and Jose Quintana struggled in recent starts.
Interleague
Indians 4, Reds 3 — Melky Cabrera lofted a go-ahead two-run homer into the left-field seats in the sixth inning, and visiting Cleveland rallied to beat Cincinnati, extending its winning streak to five games.
The Indians held the Reds scoreless after a three-run first. In the sixth, Cody Reed (0-1) walked Yonder Alonso before allowing Cabrera’s third homer of the season.
Twins 6, Pirates 4 — In Minneapolis, Logan Forsythe had three RBI, the bullpen tossed 51⁄3 shutout innings and Minnesota beat Pittsburgh.
Oliver Drake, Gabriel Moya (3-0), Tyler Duffey and Taylor Rogers scattered five hits and struck out three before Trevor Hildenberger picked up his third save in four chances.
Mets 16, Orioles 5 — Kevin Plawecki hit his first career grand slam during a nine-run sixth inning, Brandon Nimmo went 5-for-5 with three RBI and visiting New York breezed past Baltimore.