Resurgent Indians sweep woeful Yankees
NEW YORK: Trevor Bauer and Ryan Merritt shut down the Yankees’ offence, leading the Cleveland Indians to a doubleheader sweep that damaged New York’s chances to win the AL East.
Bauer (14-8) won his career-best seventh straight decision, Jose Ramirez tied his bigleague high with four hits and the Indians took advantage of Gary Sanchez’s passed ball in a two-run first inning that stood up for a 2-1 win in Wednesday’s opener.
Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single in a four-run first inning against rookie Jordan Montgomery (7-7) in the second game, and Edwin Encarnacion, Yan Gomes and Francisco Lindor added home runs in a 9-4 blowout that completed a three-game series sweep and extended the Indians’ winning streak to seven games.
Defending AL champion Cleveland has won 16 of 20, opening a 7½-game lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central and moving a season-high 20 games over .500 at 76-56.
Cody Allen struck out three of four batters for his 22nd save in 25 chances.
Jaime Garcia (1-2) gave up two runs, six hits and three walks in five-plus innings.
Merritt (2-0) began 16 of 22 batters with strikes, allowing one run and five hits in 5-1/3 innings.
In Anaheim, Mike Trout went 4-for-4 with a homer and scored four times in his return to the line-up, Albert Pujols connected twice and Cliff Pennington hit a goahead grand slam in the seventh inning to rally Los Angeles past Oakland 10-8.
Pujols drove in four runs and scored three. His two homers moved him into a tie with Jim Thome for seventh place on the career list at 612.
Trout had a triple and two singles for the Angels, who erased a five-run deficit and won their third straight. They remained a game behind Minnesota for the second AL wildcard.
In Baltimore, Welington Castillo went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Jonathan Schoop singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Baltimore beat Seattle 8-7 for their season-high seventh straight victory.
Schoop, Trey Mancini and Craig Gentry also homered for the Orioles, who completed their first three-game sweep of Seattle since 2012. In this one, Baltimore fell behind 6-2 in the third inning before coming back.
Mitch Haniger homered and hit two doubles for Seattle, which completed an arduous 12-game East Coast trip with five straight defeats. After winning two of three in Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Mariners went 1-2 at Yankee Stadium and came up empty against the sizzling Orioles.
In Washington, Stephen Strasburg tossed a complete game six-hitter and also homered, Wilmer Difo added a home run and Washington beat Miami 4-0 to complete a three-game sweep.
The Nationals, which have won four in a row, extended their lead in the NL East to 15 games over the Marlins. Miami, which had won 13 of 16 prior to arriving in Washington, had not dropped three in a row since July 14-16.
The Marlins had no answer for Strasburg (11-4), who struck out eight. Strasburg threw 110 pitches. It was Strasburg’s second complete game in 179 starts and his first since Aug 11, 2013, against Philadelphia.
In Toronto, Mitch Moreland had a pinchhit homer and drove in four runs, Hanley Ramirez added a solo blast and Boston beat Toronto 7-1 to complete a threegame sweep.
Rick Porcello (9-15) allowed one run in 6-2/3 innings as the AL East-leading Red Sox moved 5½ games ahead of the sinking Yankees. New York and Boston begin a four-game series at Yankee Stadium this morning (Thai time).