Gardner’s walk-off lifts Yankees, 5-4
NEW YORK — Brett Gardner hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning to give the New York Yankees their sixth straight victory, 5-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
With the game tied at 4, Chase Headley started the ninth with a leadoff walk off Brad Boxberger (2-3). Pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second and Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch. Adeiny Hechavarria and Tim Beckham miscommunicated on a grounder for the second time in the series to load the bases, prompting a pitching change.
Gardner, who homered in the 11th inning to give the Yankees a 6-5 victory on Thursday, calmly stroked Dan Jennings’ 0-1 fastball up the middle for his second game-winning hit of the series.
Headley and Gary Sanchez homered for New York, which moved a game up on the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Tampa Bay fell four games behind New York in the division and three behind Kansas City for the second AL Wild Card.
Lucas Duda, acquired from the New York Mets on Thursday, homered for the second consecutive game for Tampa Bay, this one a solo shot that tied it at 4 in the eighth inning. Duda also had a sacrifice fly. Peter Bourjos and Steven Souza Jr. also homered for the Rays, who dropped their sixth consecutive game at Yankee Stadium.
Aroldis Chapman (4-1) worked around a pair of baserunners in the ninth to earn the victory. Chapman threw 11 of his
13 pitches over 100 mph.
Headley’s pinch-hit, two-run homer gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead in the sixth and spoiled Blake Snell’s bid for his first win of the season. The left-hander, who allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings, hasn’t won since Sept. 22, 2016.
In his second career start, Caleb Smith allowed a pair of runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Dodgers 2, Giants 1
LOS ANGELES — Corey Seager had three hits, Cody Bellinger drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants for their seventh straight victory.
Rich Hill (8-4) pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning as the major league-leading Dodgers won for the 38th time in 44 games. At 73-31, they are 42 games over .500 for the first time since finishing 102-60 in 1974.
Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for his 26th save in 27 opportunities, striking out Jae-Gyun Hwang with runners on first and second for the final out. The closer also allowed a leadoff single to Miguel Gomez, but he was promptly erased when Hunter Pence bounced into a double play.
Seager doubled in the first and third innings, scoring each time on a Bellinger single. Seager also singled in the fifth for his 29th multihit game this season.
Angels 6, Blue Jays 5
TORONTO — Cliff Pennington drove in the tiebreaking run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Angels downed the Toronto Blue Jays.
Trailing 5-3 against Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna (3-1), the Angels took the lead with a three-run ninth. Kole Calhoun hit a one-out single, Martin Maldonado was hit by a pitch, Ben Revere hit an RBI double, and pinch-runner Kaleb Cowart scored on a wild pitch, sending Revere to third. Revere scored the go-ahead run on Pennington’s sacrifice fly to shallow center.
Los Angeles won for the 13th time in its past 17 games at Rogers Centre.
The blown save was Osuna’s fifth of the season. Three of those blown saves came before April 28.
Troy Scribner (1-0) worked two innings to earn the win in his major league debut and Bud Norris finished for his 16th save in 18 chances, putting runners at first and second before getting Jose Bautista to ground into a double play.
Mariners 3, Mets 2
SEATTLE — Yovani Gallardo took a shutout into the sixth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Mets, ending Jacob deGrom’s eight-start winning streak.
Gallardo (5-7), banished to the bullpen in mid-June, allowed one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings in his second outing since returning to the rotation. He struck out two and walked two, flashing back to the form when he won 72 games over five seasons with Milwaukee.
Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his 19th save, despite allowing an RBI single by Michael Conforto.
De Grom (12-4), bidding to become the first Mets pitcher to win nine consecutive starts in a single season, allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, needing 109 pitches. He gave up a two-run single to Jarrod Dyson in the second and an unearned run in the third.