Sox pound Royals for fifth straight win
Benintendi leads offense with a homer and four runs scored
Kansas City, Mo. Andrew Benintendi homered, doubled, walked a career-high four times and scored four runs, and the Boston Red Sox routed the Kansas City Royals 15-4 on Saturday night.
Mookie Betts had four hits, raising his American League-leading average to .343. Ten Red Sox players had RBIS as they scored a season high in runs. They scored 11 runs after the sixth inning.
Benintendi became the first Boston player to walk four times and homer in a game since David Ortiz in 2007. He also drove in two runs.
Xander Bogaerts had three RBIS for the Red Sox, who have won five straight and 12 of their past 15. twins 5, Orioles 4: Kyle Gibson recovered from a rough start to throw seven innings, and Max Kepler homered in his second straight game to lead Minnesota past Baltimore. Bobby Wilson went 2-for-3 with three RBIS for the Twins, who won their third in a row.
Cubs 8, reds 7: Javier
Baez homered and had four hits — including a game-tying infield single in the eighth — and Chicago rallied from a five-run deficit. Anthony Rizzo’s RBI groundout capped a four-run eighth inning for Chicago, which has come from behind in each of its last eight wins.
Phillies 3, Pirates 2: Nick Williams, Scott Kingery and Jorge Alfaro drove in runs on consecutive at-bats in the seventh inning to help Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh and extend the first-place Phillies’ winning streak to six games.
Cardinals 3, Giants 2: Carlos Martinez pitched seven effective innings for his third consecutive win. Martinez allowed one run on six hits with three strikeouts and did not walk a batter for the third time this season. The right-hander also drove in the Cardinals’ first run with an RBI double in the third.
Braves 5, Brewers 1: Anibal Sanchez pitched effectively into the seventh and Freddie Freeman added three hits, lifting slumping Atlanta. Sanchez (4-2) retired 19 in a row at one point to help snap Atlanta’s season high four-game skid.
astros 12, White sox 6: Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman each homered and Charlie Morton won his 11th as the Astros beat Chicago for their fifth straight win.
tigers 7, rangers 2: Nicholas Castellanos homered as part of a seven-run first inning for Detroit, and the Tigers cruised to a victory over Texas. Cole Hamels (4-8) retired only two batters for the Rangers in his shortest start since 2010.
rockies 5, mariners 1: Noel Cuevas hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning among his three hits to lead Colorado. Carlos Gonzalez added a double and a run-scoring single for the Rockies, who have won five in a row.
athletics 6, Indians 3 (11): Stephen Piscotty hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the 11th inning and Oakland rallied for a victory over Cleveland. Matt Chapman, who had a career-high four hits, scored later in the frame on Jonathan Lucroy’s grounder to complete the A’s comeback victory and make a winner out of closer Blake Treinen (5-1).
Dodgers 3, angels 1: Ross Stripling pitched another gem and Justin Turner drove in two runs to lead Los Angeles.
Nationals 18, marlins 4: Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs and Max Scherzer won for the first time since June 5.
Note: Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano apologized to his teammates, the organization and the fans for his 80-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug agreement. Cano tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic that can be used to mask performanceenhancing drugs. Cano said it was prescribed to him in the Dominican Republic to address a medical issue.