Sale makes shaky return to Chicago
CHICAGO: Chris Sale made a shaky return to his former home, but Deven Marrero hit two of Boston’s season-high six home runs and the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 13-7 on Tuesday night.
Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr, Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland also went deep. The Red Sox won for the seventh time in nine games after an anticipated duel between aces never materialised.
Sale (6-2) got a warm reception from the crowd and a rude welcome from his old team. The five-time All-Star gave up six runs and 10 hits — both season highs — over five innings in his first appearance against the White Sox.
Chicago left-hander Jose Quintana (2-7) got pounded for seven runs and 10 hits in 2-2/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since he lasted one inning against the New York Yankees on Sept 2, 2013.
In Anaheim, Albert Pujols hit his 599th career homer during the Angels’ nine-run third inning as Los Angeles routed Atlanta 9-3.
Pujols moved to the brink of his latest milestone with a three-run shot off Bartolo Colon (2-6) early in Los Angeles’ biggest inning of the season.
The 37-year-old slugger has homered in back-to-back games for the first time this year. He can become the ninth player in baseball history, and fourth-youngest, to reach 600 homers with his next shot.
Parker Bridwell (1-0) earned his first major league win, pitching six-hit ball into the seventh inning.
Matt Kemp and Tyler Flowers homered for Atlanta.
In St Louis, Chase Utley, Logan Forsythe and Chris Taylor combined to reach base 11 times and totaled six runs, helping the Dodgers rally past the Cardinals 9-4 for their sixth straight win.
Utley finished a homer shy of the cycle. Forsythe reached five times, including three walks, and Taylor reached three times.
Adrian Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly and Utley’s RBI double started the Dodgers comeback in the third. Enrique Hernandez tied it at 3 with a single, and Paul DeJong’s throwing error on the same play scored Utley to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
Brandon Morrow (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Michael Wacha (2-3) needed 77 pitches to get through three innings, the shortest outing for a St Louis starter this season. The Cardinals have dropped 10 of 13.
In San Francisco, Gio Gonzalez pitched into the seventh inning to win for the first time since April 27 as Washington beat San Francisco 6-3.
Daniel Murphy and Trea Turner had three hits apiece for the NL East leaders, who won their fourth in five games. Jayson Werth added two hits and a bases-loaded walk, and Michael A Taylor had two RBIs.