A’s even up ’Stros
Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout innings and the Athletics, far behind in the American League West standings earlier this summer, tied Houston for the division lead by beating the Astros, 7-1, yesterday in Oakland, Calif.
Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Josh Phegley and Stephen Piscotty each hit two of Oakland’s team record-tying eight doubles as the A’s won for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics trailed the defending World Series champion Astros by 111⁄2 games on June 24 and were still 10 out on July 10.
Houston has lost 7-of-8 and dropped 12of-19 since owning a six-game lead on July 24. The next day, reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the disabled list, and the star second baseman is still out.
Cahill (5-2) allowed only an infield single by Yuli Gurriel in the second inning. The righty struck out seven, walked one and retired 14 straight batters in one stretch.
Cahill improved to 4-0 over his last six starts, his longest winning streak in five years. He also has won 10 decisions in a row at the Coliseum.
The A’s matched their best record after 123 games since 1992 and are 25 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 14, 2014. They’re now 15-1-2 over their previous 18 series dating to June 15.
Yankees 11, Blue Jays 6 — Giancarlo Stanton hit one of his team’s four homers, Luis Severino struck out eight while pitching into the sixth inning and New York beat visiting Toronto.
Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar and Greg Bird also connected as New York moved 31 games over .500, matching a season high. Andujar had three hits and three RBI, and Gregorius also drove in three runs.
Orioles 4, Indians 2 — Alex Cobb pitched a five-hitter for his first complete game in five years, and Baltimore snapped host Cleveland’s six-game win streak.
Cobb (4-15), the major league leader in losses, struck out three and walked one in his fourth career complete game.
Royals 3, White Sox 1 — Alex Gordon homered and Jorge Bonifacio had a go-ahead RBI single in the decisive sixth inning as Kansas City rallied past host Chicago.
National League
Mets 3, Phillies 1 — Jacob deGrom pitched his first complete game of the season and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.71, weathering a rain delay and leading New York over host Philadelphia.
DeGrom (8-7) kept boosting his NL Cy Young Award credentials and allowed only an unearned run, the result of his own error. He walked none, struck out nine and threw his hardest pitch, a 99 mph fastball, on the next-to-last of his 108 pitches.
Pirates 3, Cubs 1 — Joe Musgrove cruised through seven innings, and Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Chicago.
Musgrove (5-7) allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts. He has gone seven innings and surrendered two runs or fewer in four of his past five starts.
Reds 7, Giants 1 — Matt Harvey took a no-hit try into the sixth inning, Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera backed him with home runs and host Cincinnati dominated Madison Bumgarner and San Francisco.
Scooter Gennett had three hits for the second straight night.
Cardinals 7, Brewers 2 — Marcell Ozuna homered and Miles Mikolas tossed six effective innings to push host St. Louis into the second wild card spot in the NL with a victory over Milwaukee. St. Louis moved a half-game ahead of Milwaukee and within four of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central.