Judge’s single grabs 12th straight victory
The surging New York Yankees keep coming up with timely hits, defensive gems or key pitches to pull off close wins — and now they have their best unbeaten run in nearly 60 years because of all those little things.
Aaron Judge hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning, Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third consecutive game and the Yankees beat the Athletics 7-6 on Thursday night in Oakland, Calif., for their 12th straight victory.
Aroldis Chapman closed it out for his 300th career save, becoming the 31st pitcher to reach the milestone. Jonathan Loaisiga (9-4) struck out two over two innings for the win.
Joey Gallo crushed a three-run drive in the third for a 6-0 lead before Oakland came back, tying it on Josh Harrison’s homer in the fifth.
Red Sox 12, Twins 2: At Boston, Red Sox ace Chris Sale joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three immaculate innings, Bobby Dalbec homered twice and Boston beat visiting Minnesota.
Dalbec drove in seven runs and Rafael Devers hit his 30th homer, a two-run shot during a five-run sixth that helped the Red Sox put away the Twins and seal Sale’s third victory in as many starts since his return from Tommy John surgery.
“Today was probably the best my mechanics have been start-to-finish. I really felt like I was staying on top of the baseball. I really kind of found it out in the bullpen before the game,” Sale said.
Sale (3-0) pitched 5 1-3 innings, striking out eight and allowing two runs on two hits. Willians Astudillo’s two-run homer in the fifth accounted for the only runs the Twins managed off Sale.
Astudillo ended up pitching, too, moving over from third base to start the bottom of the eighth and giving the Twins’ actual relievers a breather on a hot night with a flight home still to go.
Dalbec’s three-run homer in the second off of John Gant (4-8) gave Sale some early cushion and started an offensive outburst for the struggling Red Sox, who outhit the Twins 9-3 and drew eight walks.
Giants 3, Mets 2: At New York, Kris Bryant launched an early two-run homer, pinch-hitter Darin Ruf broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single and San Francisco beat the plummeting Mets for a three-game sweep.
Just before the game, the Giants learned second baseman Donovan Solano tested positive for COVID19. He will be sidelined at least 10 days and must quarantine in New York.
“I think a day like today is a good test of the toughness of our team,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I’m proud of the toughness after the way this day began.”
Pete Alonso clocked a two-run homer off the Citi Field restaurant windows beyond the left-field foul pole, but the Mets finished 2-11 in a pivotal stretch of games against the Giants and Dodgers — the top two teams in baseball.