BoSox top Yanks behind Eovaldi

BOSTON — Nathan Eovaldi pitched eight dominant innings, and closer Craig Kimbrel held on during a shaky ninth to help the Boston Red Sox beat the second-place Yankees for the third game in a row and expand their lead in the AL East to season-high 8½ games with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.

One night after Rick Porcello threw an 86-pitch, one-hit complete game, Eovaldi shut out the Yankees on three hits in sending them to their season-high fourth straight loss.

“It's been a lot of fun pitching with these guys behind me,” Eovaldi said. “We've been able to score runs early in the ballgame, which makes it a little easier pitching.”

Down to their last strike, the Yankees rallied against Kimbrel on back-to-back doubles by Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius. A pair of walks loaded the bases before Greg Bird hit a routine flyball for the final out.

J.D. Martinez hit his big league-leading 33rd home run and Mitch Moreland also connected against Chance Adams, who made his debut in the majors.

Eovaldi struck out four and walked one. He has pitched 15 shutout innings since he was acquired from Tampa Bay last month for a minor league pitcher.

INDIANS 3, ANGELS 0: Corey Kluber pitched a threehitter for his first shutout this season, and new arrival Leonys Martin homered again for Cleveland, leading a win over visiting Los Angeles. Martin has two homers in just three games since coming to Cleveland in a trade with Detroit.

REDS 7, NATIONALS 1: Phillip Ervin hit a three-run homer, Brandon Dixon had a solo shot, and visiting Cincinnati snapped a three-game losing streak in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

CUBS 5, PADRES 4: Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo homered in a five-run second inning, and Chicago hung on from there to beat visiting San Diego.

WHITE SOX 2, RAYS 1: Tim Anderson scored when Matt Duffy committed a throwing error on Leury Garcia's two-strike bunt in the ninth inning, and visiting Chicago won its third straight.

METS 3, BRAVES 0: Kevin Gausman was outpitched in his Atlanta debut by a Zack Wheeler, leading to his team losing a five-game winning streak in a road loss.