Jays extend streak on Pillar’s walk-off HR

Kevin Pillar hit a home run with two outs in the ninth inning Sunday, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 to extend their winning streak to five games.

Pillar, who is Jewish, hit his fifth homer of the season against Edwin Diaz (1-2). Ryan Tepera (3-1) pitched 21/3 perfect innings for the win as the Jays completed a four-game sweep.

Justin Smoak lined his seventh homer of the season in the sixth to elevate Toronto into a 2-1 lead. Jarrod Dyson tied the score when he led off the top of the seventh against Dominic Leone with his first homer of the season.

In other action, Chase Headley hit a tie-breaking, bases-clearing triple with two outs in the seventh inning, lifting the New York Yankees to an 11-6 home victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a doubleheader.

In the nightcap, Alex Bregman hit his first career grand slam, and Houston belted four home runs off Masahiro Tanaka to earn a 10-7 victory over New York to earn a split shortly after former Yankees captain Derek Jeter had his No. 2 retired.

George Springer homered in each of his first two at-bats, and Josh Reddick hit a solo home run as Houston improved to 11-3 in its last 14 games. The Astros (26-12) also are off to their best 38-game start, surpassing the 25-13 mark set by the team two years ago and in 1998.

In another day-night doubleheader, Ty Kelly drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run ninth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in the first game, while Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run homer off the left field foul pole in the eighth inning, and the Nationals took the second contest 6-5.

Also, Adam Wainwright fired seven shutout innings as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Chicago Cubs 5-0 for their eighth win in its last nine games while handing the Clubs their seventh loss in nine games.