Yankees seal consecutive eighth win
NEW YORK: Jordan Montgomery took a shut-out into the seventh inning for his first major league win while Matt Holliday homered in his return to the line-up as the New York Yankees romped to their eighth consecutive victory by beating the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Monday night.
Holliday put the Yankees ahead with a titanic three-run shot in a five-run third inning and Aaron Judge added a two-run homer that chased Derek Holland (1-2) with the score 7-0 in the fifth. New York have rebounded from a 1-4 start with their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in June 2012.
Making his second career start, Montgomery (1-0) immediately found himself in a first-inning jam. But the 24-year-old lefty calmly pitched his way out of it by retiring cleanup hitter Jose Abreu and streaking Avisail Garcia with runners at second and third.
Aroldis Chapman closed out for his fourth save.
In Chicago, Eric Thames homered in his club record-tying fifth straight game as Milwaukee beat Chicago 6-3.
Milwaukee never trailed after Thames hit an opposite-field homer to snap a 3-3 tie in the third inning. Jeromy Burnitz was the other Brewer to homer in five straight games in August of 1997.
Ryan Braun and Jeff Bandy also went deep for the Brewers, the only team to hit as many as three homers in a game off Chicago starter John Lackey (1-2) last season.
Brewers starter Chase Anderson (2-0) pitched five innings of three-run, seven-hit ball to pick up the victory.
In Atlanta, Dansby Swanson hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning as the Braves, boosted by Freddie Freeman’s two home runs, beat San Diego 5-4 for a four-game sweep in their first series at SunTrust Park.
Swanson’s bases-loaded hit fell just in front of diving left fielder Allen Cordoba. The Braves have followed a five-game losing streak with five straight wins. Jim Johnson (2-0) pitched the ninth. Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out single in the Braves ninth off closer Brandon Maurer (0-1). With two outs, pinch runner Chase d’Arnaud advanced to third on Emilio Bonifacio’s bloop single in front of Cordoba’s dive.
An intentional walk to Ender Inciarte loaded the bases for Swanson, whose first career game-ending hit again fell beyond the reach of a charging Cordoba.
In Boston, Andrew Benintendi hit a goahead, two-run single as Boston scored three unearned runs following a dropped throw by second baseman Brad Miller to beat Tampa Bay 4-3 in the annual Patriots’ Day game.