Yankees extend winning streak to 8 with rout of Orioles
BALTIMORE — Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka each hit two home runs, and the Yankees’ long-ball outburst against the Baltimore Orioles reached historical proportions Wednesday night in a 14-2 blowout that extended New York’s winning streak to eight games.
Urshela had a pair of two-run drives, and Higashioka totaled five RBIs with his two shots. It was the first career multihomer game for both players.
The Yankees have 11 players with multihomer games against Baltimore this season, breaking the record of 10 set by San Francisco against the Dodgers in 1958.
Cameron Maybin also went deep for the Yankees, who tied a major league record with 16 home runs in a three-game series. New York has hit 52 homers against the Orioles this season, breaking its own major league mark of 48 against the Kansas City Athletics in 1956.
The frustration of being dominated in this lopsided three-game series reached a boiling point for the last-place Orioles in the middle of the fifth inning. After manager Brandon Hyde leaned over and said something to Chris Davis, the first baseman lurched in Hyde’s direction and had to be restrained by teammate Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long.
James Paxton (7-6) allowed one run (a homer by Trey Mancini) over 6 2/3 innings to help the Yankees roll to their 15th straight victory at Camden Yards and 12th in a row overall against the Orioles.
John Means (8-7) took the loss.
Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1
LOS ANGELES — Russell Martin drove a two-run, two-out single up the middle for the Dodgers’ 10th walk-off win of the season, and Los Angeles swept St. Louis.
Casey Sadler (2-0) pitched the ninth for Los Angeles, which avoided its first shutout loss since May 18 in dramatic fashion for its fifth straight win.
Dustin May threw 5 2/3 innings of five-hit ball in a strong second career start for the Dodgers, who called up the redheaded power pitcher last week. May had seven strikeouts and held his own with Jack Flaherty, but remained winless in the big leagues.
St. Louis’ bullpen couldn’t come through for Flaherty, who struck out 10 with just one walk.
Braves 11, Twins 7
MINNEAPOLIS — Ozzie Albies homered twice in his second straight four-hit game, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman both went deep, and Atlanta beat Minnesota.
Max Fried (13-4) used a season-high 10 strikeouts to win his fourth consecutive start, pitching into the sixth inning.
The terrific trio at the top of the lineup provided more than sufficient support, with Acuña, Albies and Freeman combining for eight hits and five RBIs in 15 at-bats.
Charlie Culberson went 4 for 5 with two RBIs, Johan Camargo drove in three runs, and the Braves reached double-digit runs for the second straight day. This was the fifth time in three weeks the Twins allowed 10-plus runs.
Miguel Sanó hit a three-run homer in a fourrun ninth for the first-place Twins.
Astros 14, Rockies 3
HOUSTON — Yuli Gurriel drove in a team record-tying eight runs, Gerrit Cole won his
10th straight decision and Houston routed Colorado.
Gurriel hit a three-run homer in the first inning, a sacrifice fly in the third, a three-run double in the fourth and an RBI grounder in the sixth. He tied Houston’s RBI record set by J.R. Towles in 2007 against St. Louis.
Cole (14-5) struck out 10 in six innings. He allowed three hits and two runs to make Houston’s starters 16-1 in their last 19 starts.
The Astros swept the four-game interleague season series from Colorado. Trevor Story hit his 26th homer and Nolan Arenado added his
25th for the Rockies, who lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Cubs 10, Athletics 1
CHICAGO — Ian Happ hit his second career grand slam, José Quintana tossed two-hit ball through seven innings to win his sixth straight and Chicago routed Oakland.
Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer, Victor