Springer dash, drive send Cole, Astros over Bosox
HOUSTON » George Springer dashed home from second base on a wild pitch by Chris Sale, then homered off the Boston ace to send the Houston Astros over the Red Sox 7-3 Friday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.
Springer finished with three hits, and Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis homered late to boost the Astros.
Mitch Moreland and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers off Gerrit Cole (6-1) to start the fourth inning and get within 4-3. Moreland’s homer was a towering shot to straightaway center field that hit the “H” in the Astros’ logo on the wall, while Martinez hit his major league-leading 19th homer.
Springer’s sprint put the Astros ahead in the first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Sale threw a hard slider that Correa swinging for strike three. But the ball bounced off catcher Sandy Leon’s glove and caromed toward the first base dugout, and Springer hustled home on the wild pitch.
Springer hit his 12th home run in the third as Houston built a 4-1 lead.
Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who has played just three games this season, sat out for the second straight game because of soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. WHITE SOX 8, BREWERS 3 » Tim Anderson’s go-ahead triple drove in two runs as Chicago scored three times in the sixth inning and went on to defeat Milwaukee. ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 0 » Matt Olson slugged two homers and drove in a career-high five runs, Frankie Montas pitched a career-best eight innings and Oakland Athletics pounded out a victory over Kansas City.
Dustin Fowler also homered twice and had four RBIs for Oakland, which leads the majors with 51 road home runs in 28 games. YANKEES 4, ORIOLES 1 » Sonny Gray pitched six sharp innings, Aaron Judge homered and New York breezed past punchless Baltimore.
Rookie Gleyber Torres had two hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who have won three straight to move a season-high 19 games over .500 (36-17). TIGERS 5, BLUE JAYS 2 » Nicholas Castellanos homered and had three hits, Miguel Cabrera got a hit in his return from the disabled list and Detroit beat Toronto. PIRATES 4, CARDINALS 0 » Jameson Taillon pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and Pittsburgh beat St. Louis for its second win in the past seven games. CUBS 7, METS 4 » Schwarber entered as Kyle a defensive replacement in the sixth inning and wound up homering and driving in four runs as Chicago rallied against a beleaguered Mets bullpen to defeat New York. BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 0 » Mike Foltynewicz pitched a two-hitter for his first career complete game, Dansby Swanson broke the game open with a three-run homer in the seventh and Atlanta beat Washington.
Foltynewicz (5-3) retired 20 straight batters before issuing a leadoff walk in the eighth.