Yanks continue HR barrage
Torrid Torres keys sweep of Baltimore
Gleyber Torres hit three more home runs, including a pair of three-run drives in the night game that gave him 13 of New York’s record 59 long balls against Baltimore this season, and the Yankees completed a doubleheader sweep with an 11-8 win last night at home that stretched their winning streak against the Orioles to 14 games.
Gio Urshela had six hits in the twinbill, including a 461foot homer as the Yankees won the opener 8-5, and raised his average to .332 with 18 homers and 63 RBI.
AL East-leading New York hit seven homers and has five doubleheader sweeps to go along with one split. The Yankees improved to 15-2 against Baltimore with two games left and have won 12 of their past 14 overall.
Torres set a big league record with his fifth multihomer game against a team in a season, breaking a tie with Ralph Kiner (1947), Gus Zernial (1951) and Roy Sievers (1955). His 26 homers are two more than his total as a rookie last year, and the 13 against Baltimore matched Roger Maris in 1961 against Cleveland for the secondmost against one team in a season by a Yankees player, one behind Lou Gehrig’s total in 1936 vs. Cleveland.
When Torres came to the plate with runners on first and second in the eighth, Baltimore intentionally walked him.
Didi Gregorius hit a threerun homer in the first inning of the day game and had four RBI. Urshela, Torres and Cameron Maybin added solo shots, all off Gabriel Ynoa (1-7).
Brett Gardner hit a threerun triple off Ty Blach (0-1) in the first inning of the night game and Mike Ford had a solo homer. Torres greeted Evan Phillips with a home run that opened an 8-3 lead in the fifth, then hit another long ball against Tom Eshelman in the sixth to make it 11-3.
Blue Jays 19, Rangers 4 — Brandon Drury hit his first career grand slam, Justin Smoak had a two-run homer among his three extra-base hits, and host Toronto routed Texas.
Bo Bichette had the first four-hit game of his career and Randal Grichuk had three hits, including a solo homer as the Blue Jays won for the 10th time in 15 games.
Drury had five RBI, while Smoak and Grichuk each had four.
The Blue Jays set season highs in runs and hits (21) against six Rangers pitchers, including catcher Jeff Mathis, who gave up a tworun home run to Danny Jansen in the eighth.
Astros-White Sox, ppd. — Zack Greinke’s second start with Houston was postponed by rain in Chicago. The teams will play a traditional doubleheader today.
National League
Nationals 7, Reds 6 — Trea Turner and Matt Adams homered, Erick Fedde pitched well after allowing a solo shot on the game’s first pitch and depleted Washington held on to edge visiting Cincinnati.
Washington led 7-2 but blew most of that advantage before Sean Doolittle got his 27th save in 32 chances. He entered in the ninth with a 7-4 lead, but the struggling lefty closer’s first pitch of the evening became Phillip Ervin’s pinch-hit homer. The next batter singled, and came around on Joey Votto’s two-out double off the wall in left. Doolittle finally ended things on Josh VanMe-ter’s foul pop to third baseman Anthony Rendon.
The Nationals opened a six-game homestand without three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, left fielder Juan Soto or first baseman Ryan Zimmerman — all injured — while second baseman Brian Dozier was ill and limited to pinch-hitting duty.
Elsewhere in baseball — The Arizona Diamondbacks purchased the contract of outfielder Josh Rojas from Triple-A Reno, and designated ex-Red Sox Blake
Swihart for assignment. Rojas was acquired last month in the deal that sent Greinke to the Astros.