Gardner beats Kimbrel, Yanks rally to top Red Sox again
NEW YORK » Brett Gardner capped a slumpbusting performance with a go-ahead, tworun triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.
Kimbrel (1-2) entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez. ASTROS 4, ATHLETICS 1 » Gerrit Cole struck out nine to raise his major league-leading total to 86, and Houston beat Oakland to complete a three-game sweep. REDS 2, METS 1 » New York wasted a first-inning rally by batting out of turn, and Adam Duvall led off the 10th with a homer to win it for Cincinnati.
New York got off to a rough start in the first, when Wilmer Flores fanned for the second out and Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, following the announced batting order. But the lineup card the Mets turned into the umpires had those two switched in the order and plate umpire Gabe Morales called an out. INDIANS 6, BREWERS 2» Carlos Carrasco struck out 14 in a complete game and Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor homered for Cleveland. CUBS 13, MARLINS 4 » Kris Bryant hit his 100th career homer, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell connected in an eight-run third inning, and Chicago routed Miami. ANGELS 8, ROCKIES 0 » Rene Rivera homered with a sore right hand, Jaime Barria threw efficiently into the sixth inning and the Angels ended Colorado’s six-game winning streak. RANGERS 5, TIGERS 4 » Nomar Mazara led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, giving Texas its first winning home series this season. PIRATES 6, WHITE SOX 5» Colin Moran hit a two-run homer that capped a four-run rally against Nate Jones in the ninth inning, and Pittsburgh sent the White Sox to their fifth straight loss. BRAVES 5, RAYS 2 » Nick Markakis hit a threerun homer and Atlanta set a franchise record for consecutive shutout innings on the road in a win over Tampa Bay.
Wilson Ramos’ two-run single with two outs in the eighth ended a string of 34 straight shutout innings for the Braves, who won for the seventh straight time on the road. That is the longest streak for the Braves in the modern era (after 1900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau, surpassing the 30 consecutive innings by Atlanta’s staff in July 1992.