Yanks lose cool, game
Brett Gardner lost his cool and the New York Yankees lost their nine-game winning streak, beaten by the Blue Jays 8-2 last night in Toronto.
Teoscar Hernandez homered twice, Danny Jansen hit a three-run blast and Randal Grichuk added a two-run shot. Toronto connected three times off homer-prone lefty J.A. Happ (9-7).
Blue Jays rookie Bo Bichette went hitless for the first time in his 12-game career, ending a major league record streak that saw him hit at least one double in nine consecutive games. Instead of contributing with his bat, the 21-yearold shortstop bailed the Blue Jays out with his glove, making a run-saving catch on Did Gregorius’ basesloaded liner to end the fifth.
Bichette walked and scored in the first, grounded out in the third and fourth and struck out in the seventh. His average dropped from .408 to .385.
Gardner was ejected and had to be restrained from going after home plate umpire Chris Segal in the fourth.
Segal called Cameron Maybin out on a third strike that appeared to miss low but was lifted into the strike zone by catcher Danny Jansen. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, bench coach Josh Bard and Gardner protested from the dugout before Segal ejected Gardner following another low strike during Mike Tauchman’s at-bat.
A’s 7, White Sox 0 — Mike Fiers tossed seven innings of three-hit ball to extend his career-best winning streak to nine games, leading visiting Oakland past Chicago.
Fiers (11-3) improved to 9-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 starts dating to his no-hitter on May 7 against Cincinnati. Chad Pinder lined a tworun homer, and Matt Chapman and Stephen Piscotty each hit solo shots to help power the A’s to their eighth win in their last 11 games.
Astros 3, Orioles 2 — Wade Miley pitched impressively against his former team, Jose Altuve hit a pivotal RBI triple in the seventh inning and Houston beat host Baltimore for its seventh straight victory.
Alex Bregman drove in a run and scored for the Astros, who have won 17-of-20 to open a 10-game lead over Oakland in the AL West.
Before the game, O’s first baseman Chris Davis said he reached a “breaking point” when he charged at manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout on Wednesday night, and expressed his regret during a lengthy conversation with Hyde yesterday.
“It happened. Brandon and I have talked,” Davis said. “I knew right after it happened we were going to be fine, and we are.”
Tigers 5, Royals 2 — Edwin Jackson pitched neatly into the seventh inning in his return to the Tigers, overcoming an inside-the-park home run to lead off the game and beating Kansas City in Detroit.
The Tigers, who topped Kansas City a day earlier, posted back-to-back wins at home for the first time since they swept the Royals in their first home series of the season. Detroit, which has the worst record in the majors, hadn’t won two straight anywhere since a three-game winning streak in Baltimore and Atlanta from May 28-31.
National League
Mets 7, Nationals 6 — Todd Frazier clobbered a tying, three-run homer and Michael Conforto then lined a game-ending single as host New York stormed back in the ninth inning to stun Washington for its seventh straight win.
Trailing 6-3, the Mets rallied against closer Sean Doolittle to win for the 14th time in 15 games at pulsating Citi Field. The Nationals hold the top spot in the NL wild card race, the Mets are 1½ games behind them.
Mets rookie Pete Alonso homered in his fourth straight game, hitting his 38th of the season off Stephen Strasburg. J.D. Davis also connected.
Strasburg struck out six in seven innings, setting a Nationals/Expos franchise record with 1,625.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 2 — Paul Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Marcell Ozuna followed with a two-run homer, and host St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
Goldschmidt’s single went under the glove of Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman, scoring Dexter Fowler to break a 2-2 tie. Five pitches later, Ozuna drove a 99 mph fastball from Richard Rodriguez (3-5) into the left field bullpen for his second homer in two games.
Braves 8, Marlins 4 — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a pair of tworun homers, and Julio Teheran extended his scoreless streak against Miami this season to 24 innings before allowing a run in the seventh to help visiting Atlanta win.
Acuña homered for the fourth game in a row in the fifth inning, and homered again in the ninth to increase his season total to 32. Ozzie Albies went 4-for-5 and hit his 18th homer.
Teheran (7-7) pitched seven innings, struck out seven, hit a sacrifice fly and departed with a 6-1 lead.
Reds 5, Cubs 2 — Trevor Bauer (10-8) fanned 11 batters in his Cincinnati home debut, and Aristides Aquino homered again as Yasiel Puig’s replacement, leading the Reds over Chicago.
The Reds’ biggest July trade paid off both ways against the NL Central leaders. Cincinnati got Bauer from the Indians as part of a three-team deal last week, sending Puig — one of their hottest hitters at midseason — to Cleveland.
Elsewhere in baseball — Twins DH Nelson Cruz was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a ruptured tendon in his left wrist.