Twins tee off on Cortes, Yanks
Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers each hit home runs in the fifth inning off Nestor Cortes to send the New York left-hander to an early exit, and the Minnesota Twins cruised to an 8-1 victory Wednesday that stopped the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak.
Cortes allowed season highs in hits (seven) and runs (four) in 42⁄3 innings, his shortest appearance of the year that knocked him out of the major league ERA lead. This was the first time in 20 starts that he allowed more than three runs, falling one short of the longest such streak in team history.
Chris Archer (1-2) picked up his first victory for the Twins in his teamleading 11th start, completing five innings with only two hits allowed. He had four walks, but DJ Lemahieu’s sacrifice fly in the fifth was the only damage done by a Yankees lineup that totaled 14 hits the night before.
The eight runs by the Twins were one more than the Yankees allowed combined over the last seven games.
Rookie Jose Miranda had a career-high three hits and matched his previous best with three RBIS, contributing one of the five singles in the fourth inning the Twins used to get Cortes off track. Miranda is 8 for 16 with seven RBIS in his last four starts.
Carlos Correa returned from COVID-19 to give the Twins a big lift, scoring twice, and Buxton reached base three times. Jeffers had the biggest hit of all, a soaring drive to the third deck that greeted Cortes to start the fifth and stopped an 0-for-21 slide.
Dodgers 4, White Sox 1: Tony Gonsolin improved to 7-0, tossing three-hit ball over six innings, and Will Smith and Cody Bellinger homered early to lead Los Angeles over the Chicago White Sox.
Phillies 10, Brewers 0: Aaron Nola pitched eight sharp innings and surging Philadelphia hit four home runs to rout scuffling Milwaukee.
Rays 11, Cardinals 3: Randy Arozarena had three hits and four RBIS against his original team to help Tampa Bay beat St. Louis.
Marlins 2, Nationals 1: Sandy Alcantara pitched nine scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit a game-ending single in the 10th inning and Miami beat Washington.
Braves 13, Athletics 2:
Michael Harris gave Atlanta the lead with a two-run triple in the fifth inning that spoiled Jared Koenig’s major league debut, and the surging Braves beat skidding Oakland.
Mariners 6, Astros 3: Cal Raleigh and Ty France both homered early and Seattle beat the Astros to finally win a series in Houston.
Royals 8, Blue Jays 4: MJ Melendez and Emmanuel Rivera drove in two runs apiece, leading Brady Singer and Kansas City over Toronto to end a three-game losing streak.
Tigers 3, Pirates 1: Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth and Detroit completed a two-game sweep of Pittsburgh.
Notes: The Boston Red Sox placed Kike Hernandez on the 10-day injured list with a right hip flexor strain . ... Wednesday night’s interleague game between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles was postponed by a relentless rain shower that started shortly before the scheduled start and never let up. The ill-fated finale of the two-game series will be made up at 3:05 p.m. on Aug. 18, previously an off day for both teams . ... Shortstop Dansby Swanson beat the Braves in salary arbitration and outfielder Adam Duvall lost to Atlanta, leaving teams with a 6-3 advantage over players this year. Swanson was awarded $10 million rather than the team’s $9.2 million offer by Jeanne Charles, Richard Mcneill and Scott Buccheit, who heard arguments on Tuesday. Duvall was given the Braves’ $9,275,000 offer rather than his $10,275,000 request by Gary Kendellen, Keith Greenberg and Gil Vernon, who listened to arguments on Friday. ... Former Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia will manage the National League team of prospects and retired shortstop Jimmy Rollins will lead the American League group at the All-star Futures Game in Los Angeles on July 17 . ... Fan balloting began Wednesday for the All-star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July
19. A person can submit up to five votes per 24 hours during the first phase of voting, which runs through 2 p.m. on June
30.