Stanton’s blast powers Yankees over Rangers
NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton hit the hardest homer ever measured by Major League Baseball’s Statcast system, Neil Walker hit two more home runs and the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 on Thursday night.
Stanton’s 28th homer was measured at 121.7 mph, the fastest long ball tracked by Statcast since the system was introduced in 2015. Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks also went deep, helping the Yankees win their fourth straight since a five-game skid.
J.A. Happ (12-6) pitched six effective innings in his return from hand, foot and mouth disease. Happ was acquired from Toronto last month and has won both his starts with New York. He allowed three runs, four hits, a walk and struck out nine Thursday.
BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 5
In Toronto, Mookie Betts homered for Boston in the ninth inning to complete his first career cycle, and Blue Jays held on to beat the Red Sox.
Betts is the 21st Red Sox player to hit for the cycle and the first in the major leagues this season. He singled and scored in the first inning, tripled in the second and doubled in the fourth against starter Ryan Borucki (2-2). After walking in the sixth, Betts hit his 27th homer in the ninth off Ken Giles.
DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 5
In Denver, Chris Taylor and Brian Dozier homered off closer Wade Davis in the ninth inning and Los Angeles exploited Colorado’s shaky bullpen to beat the Rockies.
Taylor lined the first pitch he saw from Davis (1-6) — a knuckle-curve — into the left-center bleachers to make it 6-5. Two batters later, Dozier followed with a two-run shot to cap off another late-inning, flipflopping game at Coors Field.
Caleb Ferguson (3-1) threw 1⅔ innings for the win, and Scott Alexander got his second save.
The Rockies bullpen surrendered five homers and seven runs as the Dodgers pulled into a first-place tie with idle Arizona in the NL West.
MARINERS 8, ASTROS 6
In Houston, Mitch Haniger homered while Seattle jumped on Justin Verlander for six runs in two innings, and the Mariners beat the Astros.
Haniger, Denard Span and Jean Segura combined for 10 hits and seven RBIs with a homer each off Verlander. Verlander (11-7) was ejected for arguing a balk call after setting a season high for runs allowed and missing a chance for his 200th career victory.
INDIANS 5, MINNESOTA 4
In Cleveland, Michael Brantley’s ninth-inning single gave the Indians their second straight walk-off victory over the Twins.
Brantley grounded a 2-1 pitch off Addison Reed (1-6) past the diving Miguel Sano at first base to score Greg Allen. Francisco Lindor’s three-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday gave Cleveland a 5-2 victory. Brantley’s hit set off another celebration as he was mobbed by his teammates.
PADRES 8, BREWERS 4
In Milwaukee, Hunter Renfroe hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning, his fourth straight game with a home run, and San Diego rallied to beat the Brewers.
Down 4-2 entering the ninth, San Diego came back against relievers Corey Knebel and Joakim Soria.
Knebel (2-3) walked the bases loaded and allowed a run-scoring infield single to Travis Jankowski before Soria entered to try to escape the jam. Soria retired Eric Hosmer before Renfroe hammered a 1-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers.
NATIONALS 6, BRAVES 3
In Washington, Gio Gonzalez pitched seven strong innings for his first victory since May 28 to help the Nationals split a four-game series with Atlanta.
Gonzalez (7-8) snapped a personal seven-game losing streak and had gone 11 consecutive starts without a victory. He allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three. Nick Markakis’ solo homer to lead off the second was the lone run he allowed.
RAYS 5, ORIOLES 4
In St. Petersburg, Fla., Jake Bauers drove in two of his three runs with a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.