Yankees keep bats going to defeat the Orioles 12-4
NEW YORK — Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and the thundering New York Yankees picked up right where they left off the previous night, steamrolling past the Baltimore Orioles 12-4 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
Gardner homered twice from the leadoff spot and had his first four RBIs of the season. Austin Romine, the No. 9 batter, also went deep and knocked in five runs.
Judge, not to be outdone, clocked his latest colossal homer and scored four times as New York won its 14th in 17 games to boost the American League's best record to 15-7. Righthander Michael Pineda (3-1) did not allow an earned run in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight.
Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1) got chased with one out in the fourth for the second consecutive start. The veteran right-hander was tagged for a season-high seven runs.
Cubs 7, Red Sox 4
BOSTON — Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer, helping Chicago rebound from a series-opening loss at Boston.
Miguel Montero and Ben Zobrist each connected for a solo shot for the Cubs, who had dropped two in a row. Kris Bryant had two hits and scored twice.
Cubs right-hander John Lackey (2-3) gave up four runs in six innings, snapping his string of losses in three straight starts. He was part of Boston's 2013 World Series title team.
Hanley Ramirez and Andrew Benintendi connected for the Red Sox, who have the majors' fewest homers. Steven Wright (1-3) gave up five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
Mets 5, Nationals 3
WASHINGTON — Michael Conforto hit two home runs and slumping Jose Reyes also connected, leading the Mets to the victory.
The banged-up Mets had lost six in a row when they began this series at Nationals Park against the team with the best record in the majors. Behind their power and bullpen, the Mets beat Washington for the second straight day.
Hansel Robles (4-0) came in to start the sixth and retired five of the six batters he faced, striking out four. Jerry Blevins then took over and fanned Bryce Harper.
Jeurys Familia, pulled Friday night in the ninth while Washington tried to rally, retired three straight hitters to earn his first save of the season.
Washington's Stephen Strasburg (2-1) gave up three runs in seven innings. Harper was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
White Sox 6, Tigers 4, 10 innings
DETROIT — Melky Cabrera led off the 10th inning with a homer against Justin Wilson and Avisail Garcia added an RBI triple, lifting the White Sox to their sixth straight win.
Jose Abreu homered twice in his return to the lineup for Chicago.
Detroit has lost four in a row.
The White Sox held onto a two-run lead in the 10th with David Robertson (1-0) making the most of a chance to pitch a second inning after losing a two-run advantage in the ninth.
Wilson (1-1) hadn't allowed a hit or a run in his first 11 appearances this season until Cabrera hit his first homer of the season.
Indians 4, Marniers 3
CLEVELAND — Danny Salazar got off to a rocky start, and then combined with two Cleveland relievers to hold Seattle hitless over the final eight innings.
Salazar (2-2) gave up a double to Robinson Cano in the first, followed by homers on successive pitches to Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager.
Salazar struck out six in 6 1/3 innings. Andrew Miller struck out four in 1 2/3 innings and Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Jose Ramirez and Lonnie Chisenhall each had two RBIs in Cleveland's four-run first off Yovani Gallardo (1-3).
Cleveland has won eight of 11. Seattle's three-game winning streak ended.
Blue Jays 4, Rays 1
TORONTO — Justin Smoak had three hits, including a two-run homer, and the Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak.
Smoak went 3 for 3 and scored twice.
Toronto's Francisco Liriano (2-2) allowed one run and four hits in five-plus innings. Roberto Osuna got three outs finished for his second save.
Tampa Bay right-hander Matt Andriese (1-1) gave up four runs in seven innings.
Rays outfielder Steven Souza left in the seventh after being hit on the back of the left hand by a pitch. X-rays were negative and Souza is day to day.
Braves 11, Brewers 3
MILWAUKEE — Matt Kemp homered three times and drove in five runs, helping the surging Atlanta Braves pound the Milwaukee Brewers.
Atlanta collected a season-high 20 hits in its fourth straight victory. Dansby Swanson also homered, and Jaime Garcia (11) pitched six innings for his first win with the Braves after spending the first eight years of his career in St. Louis.
Kemp connected in the fifth, seventh and eighth for his first game with three homers. He became the first Braves player to accomplish the feat since Mark Teixeira in 2008.
Milwaukee right-hander Jimmy Nelson allowed five runs and 11 hits in five innings. Jonathan Villar had two hits for the Brewers, and Keon Broxton scored two runs.
Garcia walked five, but yielded just two runs and three hits. The veteran left-hander was particularly effective against the middle of Milwaukee's lineup - holding Eric Thames, Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw hitless.
Kemp gave Atlanta a 5-1 lead with a drive to right with two outs in the fifth after Freddie Freeman's broken-bat single against a shifted defense. He homered down the left-field line in the seventh and tacked on another two-run shot in the eighth.
Swanson also hit a two-run shot in the seventh off Milwaukee's beleaguered bullpen.
Pirates 4, Marlins 0
MIAMI — Ivan Nova pitched a three-hitter and the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins.
Nova (3-2) struck out seven and did not walk a batter in the 95-pitch masterpiece. It was his fifth complete game in 16 starts with Pittsburgh since being acquired from the New York Yankees last August.
He retired 11 in a row at one point in handing Miami its fourth straight loss.
Rangers 6, Angels 3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Carlos Gomez's seventh-inning home run gave him his second career cycle and Yu Darvish allowed two runs in six innings while throwing 125 pitches as the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels.
Rougned Odor hit a two-out, two-run homer in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie.
Gomez needed only four at-bats for his first cycle since May 7, 2008, with the Minnesota Twins. He doubled in the first inning, singled in the third and tripled in the fifth off starter Jesse Chavez (2-4). He hit a first-pitch fastball from Jose Valdez onto the hill behind center field in the seventh for a two-run homer.
Darvish (3-2) allowed one earned run, three hits and four walks while striking out 10. He fell five pitches short of his major league high, thrown as a rookie in 2013.