Blue Jays stop Yankees; New York fan hits Yank
Cubs sweep Giants; Pirates topple LA
NEW YORK — Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista each hit a long home run, and the Toronto Blue Jays earned their eighth straight victory by beating the New York Yankees 2-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep that tightened the AL East race.
Marco Estrada tossed threehit ball into the seventh inning against the suddenly slumping Yankees, outpitching Masahiro Tanaka during Toronto’s second consecutive shutout.
In a series that featured the top two offenses in the majors, New York mustered only one run and went scoreless over the final 26 innings. Not since 1999 had the Yankees been blanked in two straight games.
With their 11th win in 12 games, the streaking Blue Jays pulled within 1 games of the first-place Yankees. It was the first time since May 2003 that Toronto swept New York in a series of at least three games.
On an agitating afternoon for the Yankees, Brett Gardner was hit in the back of the head by Bautista’s home run ball when a fan in the left-field stands threw it back onto the field.
“I just wore it. Didn’t even turn around,” Gardner said. “It wasn’t like it was coming from the second row.”
Gardner said he had a little bump on his crown.
“I’ve got a hard head, so it’s all good,” he joked. “It’s over with. Glad I didn’t get hurt.”
Fans all across the majors often throw back home-run balls hit into the stands by opponents.
“Hit him right in the head, and that’s kind of disappointing. I know it’s kind of tradition to throw it back, but at least aim away from the players if you’re going to do it, please,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Said New York first baseman Mark Teixeira, cracking up a pack of reporters: “Tell the fans, you know, you can insult but you cannot assault. We know you’re upset; we lost three in a row; we’re sorry, but just keep it to insults, not assaults.”
INDIANS 8, TWINS 1: In
Cleveland, Corey Kluber pitched a three-hitter for his third complete game of the season, leading the Indians over Minnesota.
Kluber (7-12) didn’t allow a hit until Joe Mauer’s twoout single in the seventh. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner struck out 10 and walked one in his sixth career complete game.
RED SOX 7, TIGERS 2: In Detroit, Jackie Bradley Jr. homered and drove in a career-high five runs, and Boston beat the Tigers.
Bradley walked with the bases loaded in the second, homered in the seventh and tripled home three more runs in the eighth.
ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 4: In Kansas City, Mo., Alex Rios beat the tag at the plate on a grounder in the eighth inning and the Royals edged the White Sox for a three-game sweep.
MARINERS 4, RANGERS 2: In Seattle, streaking Nelson Cruz hit his 33rd home run and Felix Hernandez earned his 14th win, leading the Mariners. Cruz tied Angels star Mike Trout for most homers in the majors this season.
ATHLETICS 5, ASTROS 4: In Oakland, Calif., Danny Valencia homered in the fourth inning and singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Athletics.
ANGELS 5, ORIOLES 4 (11): In Anaheim, Calif., David Murphy’s bases-loaded single in the 11th inning sent the Angels over Baltimore.
RAYS 4, METS 3: In St. Petersburg, Fla., rookie Richie Shaffer hit a tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning as Tampa Bay rallied from an early three-run deficit.
PIRATES 13, DODGERS 6: In Pittsburgh, Jung Ho Kang’s three-run homer capped a nine-run seventh inning and Andrew McCutchen homered and drove in four runs as the Pirates rallied.
Kang greeted Joel Peralta with his ninth homer of the season. Jim Johnson (3-4) was charged with eight runs in ⅔ of an inning.
CUBS 2, GIANTS 0: In Chicago, Jake Arrieta pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning, and the Cubs beat San Francisco for a four-game sweep of the defending world champions.
Arrieta also tripled and scored in the second as the
Cubs won for the 10th time in 11 games.
ROCKIES 6, NATIONALS 4: In Washington, DJ LeMahieu hit a tie-breaking two-run single off Drew Storen with two outs in the eighth inning, leading Colorado.
BREWERS 5, CARDINALS
4: In Milwaukee, Khris Davis hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the eighth inning off recent teammate Jonathan Broxton, and the Brewers ended the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak.
PHILLIES 5, PADRES 3: In San Diego, Jerome Williams stifled San Diego over seven innings and Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep.
MARLINS 4, BRAVES 1: In Atlanta, Brad Hand threw seven strong innings and drove in two runs with sacrifice bunts as Miami ended a six-game losing streak.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, REDS
3 (10): In Phoenix, Arizona waited for the umpires to sort out a wild ending after baserunning follies on the final play, and wound up beating Cincinnati in 10 innings.
Arizona loaded the bases with one out in the 10th and Chris Owings lined a ball over center fielder Billy Hamilton’s head. As the Diamondbacks celebrated in the middle of the diamond, the Reds retrieved the ball — a stadium worker tossed it back — and began tagging the bases. The Reds claimed Arizona runners didn’t properly advance to touch the bags before leaving the field, and should be called out on force plays.