Pruitt, Rays pick up ground on Indians
Pitcher sharp in his first start in two years to help Tampa Bay gain ground
Austin Pruitt and three relievers combined on a five-hitter, Jesus Aguilar had a three-run homer during a four-run seventh inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 4-0 in a matchup of playoff contenders Friday night.
Pruitt allowed four hits and struck out six over 51/3 innings in his first start since Aug, 28, 2017. Oliver Drake (3-1) gave up one hit in 12/3 innings before Colin Poche and Andrew Kittredge each worked an inning.
Austin Meadows singled off Shane Bieber (12-7) leading off the seventh and went to third on a base hit by Travis d’arnaud. One out later, Avisail Garcia hit an RBI single that ended Bieber’s night. Aguilar made it 4-0 with his three-run blast off Adam Cimber.
Tampa Bay is one game behind Oakland in the race for the second AL wild card.
The Indians have a half-game lead over the Athletics for the first AL wild card and trailed AL Central-leading Minnesota by 4½ games.
Twins 13, Tigers 5: C.J. Cron homered and Jorge Polanco had three hits as Minnesota beat Detroit. The Twins have won five straight, including the first four of a 10-game road trip.
Cubs 7, Brewers 1: Nicholas Castellanos hit a pair of two-run homers, Jose Quintana took a shutout into the sixth inning, and Chicago cruised to its fourth straight win.
Braves 10, White Sox 7: Max Fried pitched six-plus innings and won his sixth straight decision, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and surging Atlanta beat Chicago. Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Ozzie Albies went 4-for-5 to help the NL East-leading Braves, who have won 10 of 12 to stay 51⁄2 games up in the division.
Astros 7, Blue Jays 4: George Springer homered and drove in four runs as Houston beat Toronto, the Astros’ 10th win in 12 games following a five-game losing streak. Springer’s 29th homer was a three-run drive in the fifth inning, a 463-foot shot off the third deck.
Rangers 6, Mariners 3: Rougned Odor snapped an 0-for-28 slump with an early game-tying RBI double, Danny Santana hit his 24th homer and Texas beat Seattle.
Orioles 14, Royals 2: John Means scattered five hits over seven innings and Anthony Santander hit his 14th home run and drove in three runs to lead Baltimore to a victory. Notes: The Reds and Cardinals are set to play back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend after Friday night’s game was postponed because of rain. The teams will now play day-night doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday . ... The Dodgers announced that they have extended the protective netting down both foul lines at Dodger Stadium . ... White Sox outfielder Jon Jay will undergo surgery next week and miss the rest of the season with a right hip injury . ... Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco rejoined the team Friday after a minor league rehab stint and will be reinstated from the 60-day injured list Sunday. The 32-year-old Carrasco hasn’t pitched in the majors since late May when he was diagnosed with leukemia.