Gray leads Reds past the Marlins
Sonny Gray pitched onehit ball through seven scoreless innings, Tyler Naquin and Joey Votto homered in the fifth, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Miami Marlins, 5-3, Friday night.
Gray (5-6) had a 7.22 ERA over his previous six starts but was efficient against Miami. He needed eight pitches in each of the first two innings, then worked out of a basesloaded jam in the fourth, whiffing Lewis Brinson on three pitches to end the threat.
The right-hander retired Miami in order in five of his seven innings and exited after throwing 89 pitches. He struck out five.
“Maybe as good as he’s been all year,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Just in complete command.”
Bell said sitting Gray after the seventh was done for no other reason than to help preserve his arm for the season’s stretch run.
“Sonny, he’s always going to give you a chance to win,” Naquin said. “Sonny keeps a good pace and just goes out there and pounds the strike zone and gets outs. You give him a little bit of a cushion, and he just gets quicker and gets better as the day goes on.”
Naquin hit a one-out shot in the fifth before righthander Elieser Hernandez plunked Nick Castellanos, who had an RBI double in the first. Votto then blasted the next pitch 432 feet into the seats in right- center field.
“He’s locked in,” Bell said of Votto, who hit a three-run homer on Thursday and now has 28. “It’s a difficult game, even for Joey, but he’s playing with confidence and freedom. He’s enjoying being at the plate.”
Other games
Braves 3, Orioles 0: Max Fried (11-7) allowed four hits in his first career nineinning complete game, and visiting NL East-leading Atlanta matched a modernera, single- season franchise record with their 11th consecutive road win. The previous time that happened was in 1956, when the team was based in Milwaukee. It was the Orioles’ 16th consecutive defeat.
Yankees 10, Twins 2: Luke Voit backed his recent demand for playing time with a homer, four hits and four RBIs, and surging New York beat visiting Minnesota for its season-high eighth win in a row. Voit tied a career high with his third fourhit game. The burst came three days after the 2020 major league home run leader implored manager Aaron Boone to keep him in the lineup.
Royals 6, Cubs 2: Salvador Perez hit two of visiting Kansas City’s five home runs in the Royals’ victory against Chicago. Emmanuel Rivera hit his first career homer, and Andrew Benitendi and Cam Gallagher also connected.
Red Sox 6, Rangers 0: Chris Sale pitched five shutout innings in his second outing since Tommy John surgery to help host Boston beat Texas and bounce back after the Yankees swept the Red Sox and knocked them into third place. Xander Bogaerts homered and the Red Sox, who led the division on July 30, pounded out six doubles after returning to Fenway Park in third and out of playoff position.
Tigers 4, Blue Jays 1: Pinch-hitter Harold Castro singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and visiting Detroit beat Toronto. Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera remained at 499 career home runs after going 0 for 5 with three strikeouts.
Indians 9, Angels 1: Franmil Reyes hit a towering three-run homer and tied his career high with five RBIs, powering Cleveland to a rout of visiting Los Angeles.
White Sox 7, Rays 5: Tim Anderson had a game-tying homer in the ninth and a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th as visiting Chicago beat Tampa Bay in a matchup of AL division leaders.