Yankees win, but lose Ellsbury to concussion
NEW YORK — Helped by a great firstinning catch that forced center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury from the game with a concussion and sprained neck, Luis Severino won for the first time in a month and led the New York Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
On the first pitch of the game, Ellsbury sprinted 107 feet and raised his glove above his head to catch Alcides Escobar’s fly. Ellsbury’s head jarred into the wall as the ball landed in his glove, and he crumpled to the field. After being checked by manager Joe Girardi and head athletic trainer Steve Donohue, he remained in the game but was replaced by Aaron Hicks starting the second.
Didi Gregorius homered against Jason Hammel (1-6) leading off the third inning.
Severino (3-2) allowed four hits and struck out seven over eight innings. Dellin Betances struck out the side in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
• Cardinals 6, Dodgers 1 — At Los Angeles: Mike Leake allowed four hits over eight innings and St. Louis beat Los Angeles.
Jedd Gyorko had three hits and drew a walk in the two-run second inning that gave the Cardinals the lead for good.
Yadier Molina hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Molina’s streak ties Kolten Wong for the Cardinals’ longest this season.
• Diamondbacks 8, White Sox 6 — At Phoenix: Jake Lamb homered off a left-hander for only the second time this season, five Diamondbacks drove in at least one run and Arizona completed a three-game sweep and won for the eighth time in nine games.
The Diamondbacks scored six runs in the fifth inning, chasing starter Jose Quintana (2-6) and building a six-run lead, but they had to hold off a White Sox rally.
Jose Abreu and Leury Garcia homered for the White Sox, who were swept for the second time on a 3-7 road trip. The Los Angeles Angels did it to start the trip.
• Twins 4, Orioles 3 — At Baltimore: Jose Berrios took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, Kennys Vargas drove in two runs and Minnesota completed its first three-game sweep in Baltimore since 1996.
Eduardo Escobar had two hits and an RBI for the first-place Twins, who have won six of seven and are a major league best 14-5 on the road.
• Blue Jays 8, Brewers 4 — At Milwaukee: Ryan Goins hit his first career grand slam, one of four homers for Toronto as it swept two-game interleague series and won three straight to finish a seven-game trip.
Kevin Pillar, Devon Travis and Jose Bautista hit solo shots for the Blue Jays, who have homered in four straight games. Bautista’s towering shot caromed off the Miller Lite sign high above the center-field wall 400 feet from the plate.
• Nationals 5, Mariners 1 — At Washington: Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer for his eighth of the season and Tanner Roark allowed a run over seven innings to lead Washington.
Rendon has three homers and eight RBIs in the Nationals’ two victories to open this three-game series.
• Red Sox 9, Rangers 4 — At Boston: Dustin Pedroia waved home the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch, then singled in two more during Boston’s sevenrun seventh inning as the Red Sox won their third straight.
Chris Sale (5-2) struck out six, falling short in his attempt to become the first pitcher in baseball’s modern era to strike out at least 10 batters in nine straight games in one season. He allowed three earned runs, six hits and a walk in 7 1/3 innings and received more runs of support in the seventh inning alone than in any previous game this season.
• Pirates 12, Braves 5, 10 innings — At Atlanta: Gift Ngoepe doubled to drive in Andrew McCutchen for the go-ahead run before Pittsburgh Pirates hit three straight homers during a seven-run 10th inning to beat Atlanta.
Pittsburgh’s Jose Osuna hit a basesloaded, two-run single off Jose Ramirez in the ninth to tie it at 5.
• Rays 5, Angels 2 — At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Steven Souza Jr. homered twice to rally Tampa Bay past Los Angeles.
Colby Rasmus also went deep for the Rays and Erasmo Ramirez pitched six strong innings in his third start of the season.
• Rockies 7, Phillies 2 — At Philadelphia: Tyler Chatwood allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings, Carlos Gonzalez homered and Colorado beat Philadelphia.
Chatwood befuddled the Phillies, striking out a season-high eight batters and only allowing a single by Andrew Knapp in the fifth inning. It was the third time Chatwood (4-6) earned a win in his career while allowing just one hit.
• Tigers 6, Astros 3 — At Houston: Jose Iglesias finished a triple shy of the cycle, Ian Kinsler had two hits and scored twice, and Detroit snapped a three-game skid.
Iglesias, who scored three runs, doubled to lead off the eighth. He moved to second on a single by Kinsler before scoring on Alex Avila’s RBI grounder off Chris Devenski (3-3) to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Following an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera, Kinsler scored on Victor Martinez RBI grounder.
• Padres 6, Mets 5 — At New York: Hunter Renfroe snapped an eighth-inning tie with a titanic home run, Brad Hand pitched out of a huge jam in the ninth and San Diego rallied for the win.
New York loaded the bases with nobody out against Hand on two singles and a walk. But the left-hander struck out Curtis Granderson and Rene Rivera on breaking balls before Juan Lagares flied out to end it.
• Reds 4, Indians 3 — At Cleveland: Billy Hamilton scored from first base on Zack Cozart’s two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning against closer Cody Allen to lift Cincinnati.
The speedy Hamilton reached after narrowly beating out an apparent gameending double play — he was ruled safe after a replay review, putting runners at first and third for Cozart.