Sale slices up Guardians in top matchup

Chris Sale shook off a homer on the seventh pitch of the game and Marcell Ozuna kept up his torrid start with two more RBIs, leading the Braves past the Guardians, 6-2, in Atlanta on Friday night in the opener of a series matching MLB’s two best teams.

The reigning NL East champion Braves won for the 10th time in 11 games to improve to 18-6, pushing them a game ahead of the AL-leading Guardians (18-8).

Sale (3-1) surrendered a homer to the very first hitter, Steven Kwan, whose 389-foot shot down the right-field line bounced around in the Chop House restaurant.

That was pretty much it against Sale, who gave up only one more hit while going seven innings for his third straight start. He walked one, struck out six and threw 67 of 95 pitches for strikes.

Brewers nip Yankees in extras

Joey Ortiz hit a run-scoring single in the 11th inning and finished with a homer and four RBIs to lead the Brewers to a 7-6 win over the Yankees in Milwaukee. Owen Miller, inserted as a pinch runner for former Yankee Gary Sánchez at second to start the 11th inning, advanced to third on a fly ball to right field by Brice Turang. Ortiz then singled through the legs of third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, driving in the winning run.

White Sox rip Rays for fourth win

Light-hitting Martín Maldonado hit a three-run homer, Eloy Jiménez added a two-run shot, and the MLB-worst White Sox snapped a seven-game losing streak with their fourth win of the season, a 9-4 victory over the Rays in Chicago. The nine runs were a season high for Chicago, which at 4-22 is off to the worst start in franchise history through 26 games. Tommy Pham started in center field and had two singles in his White Sox debut after being recalled from Triple A Charlotte.

Ohtani, Dodgers blast Blue Jays

Shohei Ohtani responded to boos from the Toronto crowd by hitting his seventh home run, Max Muncy and Will Smith also went deep and the Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games with a 12-2 rout of the Blue Jays in Toronto. Smith had four hits and three RBIs as the Dodgers won in their first trip to Canada since 2016.

Rooker delivers for A’s

Brent Rooker doubled in the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning to cap a late comeback that carried the Athletics past the Orioles, 3-2, in Baltimore. After Oakland rallied from a 2-1 deficit to pull even in the ninth against Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel, Rooker put the A’s in front with a two-out liner into the left-field corner off Jacob Webb (0-1).

Orioles send down Holliday

Highly touted prospect Jackson Holliday has been optioned to the minor leagues by the Orioles after starting his big league career with a disappointing thud. Holliday was promoted from Triple A on April 10 amid plenty of fanfare, but the 20year-old second baseman managed only two hits — both singles — and two walks in 36 plate appearances. He struck out 18 times and was batting just .059 with one RBI and a .111 on-base percentage.

Martinez debuts for Mets

Six-time All-Star J.D. Martinez joined the Mets, more than a month after he signed and hopeful the back woes that delayed his debut are a thing of the past. Martinez batted fifth against the Cardinals, going 2 for 4 with an RBI double in a 4-2 defeat . . . Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen left his start against the Mariners after feeling tightness in his right hamstring . . . The Marlins placed opening day starter Jesús Luzardo on the 15-day IL because of left elbow tightness. Luzardo is 0-2 with a 6.58 ERA in five starts . . . Brewers lefthander Wade Miley needs Tommy John surgery. The 37-year-old made just two starts this season.