Sale shines as Red Sox down Blue Jays
TORONTO — Chris Sale pitched seven shutout innings to win his third straight decision, Xander Bogaerts had three RBIs and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 on Saturday.
Sale (11-3) struck out 11, boosting his major league-leading total to 166. He’s 2-0 with 24 strikeouts in 15 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays this season.
Blaine Boyer pitched the eighth and Robby Scott gave up Steve Pearce’s solo home run in the ninth.
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-out, two run double in the first and Dustin Pedroia did the same in the second. Bogaerts had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and added a two-run single off Lucas Harrell in the ninth.
Mookie Betts walked three times and scored three runs for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who have won five of six. Hanley Ramirez had three hits.
Tigers 7, Indians 4
DETROIT — Nicholas Castellanos tripled to break a seventh-inning tie and the Detroit Tigers went on to beat the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader.
J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera homered for Detroit.
With the score tied at 4 in the seventh and Martinez on first, Castellanos hit his fifth triple of the season off the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center.
Bryan Shaw (2-3) intentionally walked Victor Martinez, putting runners on the corners, but Mikie Mahtook flared an RBI single to left to make it 6-4. James McCann’s single brought home Victor Martinez to give the Tigers a three-run lead.
Rangers 10, White Sox 4
CHICAGO — Cole Hamels overcame a shaky start to win for the first time since April, and the Texas Rangers hit three home runs Saturday in a victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Hamels (3-0) allowed two runs and two hits while striking out six in 6 2/3 innings for his first win since April 26. He retired 19 straight batters after giving up a double and a homer and hitting a batter with a pitch in the first inning of his second start since returning from a strained right oblique.
Elvis Andrus, Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor homered for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
White Sox starter Derek Holland (5-8) didn’t fare as well in his first game against his former team. Holland, who spent his first eight seasons with the Rangers and was on their 2010 and 2011 AL championship squads, allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 in his last seven starts.
Royals 11, Twins 6
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Moustakas hit his 22nd home run and Alex Gordon connected for a three-run shot as the Kansas City Royals rallied from a four-run deficit in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Moustakas tied his season high for home runs and matched Jermaine Dye in 2000 for the club record before the All-Star Game.
Alcides Escobar and Brandon Moss, with an estimated 474-foot drive to straightaway center, also homered for the Royals.
Gordon’s homer with Moss, who had three hits, and Escobar aboard in the eighth gave the Royals a cushion.
Salvador Perez hit a two-out, two-run single in a three-run seventh to snap a 6-all tie against Tyler Duffy (0-2). Ramon Torres, who also had three hits, doubled in Whit Merrifield with the first run of the inning.
Reds 5, Cubs 3
CINCINNATI — Right-hander Jackson Stephens lasted five innings in his major league debut and drove in the go-ahead runs with a bases-loaded single, leading the Cincinnati Reds over the struggling Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs’ fourth loss in five games dropped them to 40-41, well off their pace from a year ago (51-30) when they were on their way to an NL Central title and a World Series championship.
Stephens (1-0) gave up a solo homer by Jon Jay and a two-run shot by Willson Contreras. He was called up to help the Reds fill an opening in the rotation created by Brandon Finnegan’s arm injury.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, Stephens singled up the middle off Eddie Butler (4-3) for two runs and a 4-3 lead, smacking his hands together as he reached base with his first major league hit. He gave up six hits and struck out eight in five innings.
Brewers 8, Marlins 4
MILWAUKEE — Domingo Santana hit a two-run homer off Giancarlo Stanton’s glove, sparking a seven-run second inning that lifted the Milwaukee Brewers over the Miami Marlins.
Santana tied it with a home run to right off Tom Koehler (1-3), who walked Travis Shaw to start the second. Stanton jumped and got the tip of his mitt on the ball, but it bounced off and fell into the seats. Stanton put his hands on his head as Santana circled the bases.
Shaw had a two-run single later in the inning. Brewers starter Zach Davies drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, Stephen Vogt drew a bases-load walk and Jonathan Villar added a run-scoring single as Milwaukee sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning.
Davies (9-4) struggled a bit with his control early but retired his last 10 batters. He gave up four runs and five hits over six innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
Braves 4, Athletics 3
OAKLAND, Calif. — Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking double off closer Santiago Casilla in the ninth inning to drive in Danny Santana —
one of two unearned runs scored by Atlanta — and the Braves held on to beat the Oakland Athletics.
Santana had two hits and two runs and Matt Adams added a sacrifice fly in his return to the lineup as Atlanta won its second straight in this interleague series. The Braves have won 10 of 14 overall.
Atlanta led 3-1 behind knuckleballer R.A. Dickey before Khris Davis hit a tying two-run home run off Arodys Vizcaino in the eighth.
After Johan Camargo struck out swinging against Casilla (13) to open the ninth, Santana reached base on Oakland shortstop Franklin Barreto’s second error of the game. Santana stole second then scored when Swanson doubled down the left-field line,
Swanson also had an RBI double in the seventh.
Sam Freeman (1-0) retired two batters for the win. Jim Johnson pitched the ninth for his 18th save.