Taillion stays sharp for surging Yankees

Jameson Taillion pitched two-hit ball over eight innings, following Nestor Cortes to give the Yankees their longest consecutive starts in nine years and leading New York past the host Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0, Friday night.

Gleyber Torres put the Yankees up with a homer in the fourth off Jeffrey Springs (2-2) and Matt Carpenter, in his second game with New York, homered later in the inning.

New York opened a 6½-game lead over the Rays by winning the first two games of the four-game series.

The Yankees won their fourth in a row following a season-worst three-game losing streak and improved to 33-13, the best start in the major leagues since the 2001 Seattle Mariners opened 34-12.

Taillon (5-1) improved to 50 with a 2.20 ERA in his past seven starts, striking out five and walking none while throwing 62 of 93 pitches for strikes.

The 30-year-old right -hander had not gotten an out in the eighth inning since Aug. 7, 2018, for the Pirates at Colorado when he pitched his second complete game.

Other games

Mets 8, Phillies 6: Pete Alonso homered, doubled and drove in four runs, taking over the major league RBI lead and powering New York past visiting Philadelphia.

Cardinals 4, Brewers: Paul Goldschmidt hit a tworun homer in the third inning and St. Louis beat visiting Milwaukee in a NL Central clash. Reliever Drew Herhagen got the win.

Braves 6, Marlins 4: Ozzie Albies’ bloop double in the seventh inning drove in two runs to give Atlanta the lead, and the Braves recovered after blowing an early three-run advantage to beat visiting Miami.

Orioles 12, Red Sox 8: Austin Hays hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth as Baltimore stormed back with 10 runs in the final three innings to beat host Boston.