Yanks sweep Twins
Gary Sanchez hit a threerun homer off Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning, and the Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3, yesterday in New York to complete a four-game sweep and extend their winning streak to six.
New York was held hitless through five innings by Twins starter Kyle Gibson and trailed 3-0 before Aaron Hicks’ sacrifice fly in the seventh. Didi Gregorius grounded to third leading off the ninth and reached second when Miguel Sano’s throw went wide for an error.
Giancarlo Stanton followed with a slow roller gloved by a charging Sano, who did not make a throw as Stanton crossed first with an infield hit.
Sanchez took a strike, then sent a fastball from Rodney (1-2) down the left-field line and into the lower deck, Rodney’s third blown save in five chances. The Yankees finished an 8-2 homestand, outscoring opponents 47-13 during the winning streak. Minnesota, meanwhile, completed an 0-7 trip, its first winless road swing of at least seven games since Aug. 10-16, 2001.
Rays 9, Orioles 5 — C.J. Cron and Wilson Ramos homered and Tampa Bay extended its winning streak to six games — the franchise’s longest since July 2014 — with a win in Baltimore.
The Orioles tied a season-high with 16 hits, including Adam Jones’ fourth home run of the season, but lost again to make it 11-of-12 and 1-5 on the current ninegame homestand. Manny Machado had two hits and earned his team-leading 18th RBI.
Mariners 5, Indians 4 — Andrew Miller’s absence was immediately felt by the Cleveland bullpen when Kyle Seager hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning off Nick Goody that lifted visiting Seattle to victory.
Cleveland overcame a 4-0 deficit with two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings.
With Miller on the disabled list after straining his left hamstring on Wednesday, the AL Central-leading Indians used three relievers in the eighth. The second, Goody (0-1), allowed consecutive doubles to Nelson Cruz and Seager.
Edwin Diaz, the Mariners’ fifth reliever, walked Francisco Lindor with one out in the ninth, then retired Jason Kipnis on a flyout and struck out Jose Ramirez. Diaz leads the major leagues with 11 saves and has not blown any chances. Starter James Paxton matched a career high with 10 strikeouts.
Interleague
Pirates 1, Tigers 0 — Corey Dickerson celebrated his first game-ending home run in the major leagues. Twice.
Dickerson sent an 0-1 slider from Detroit’s Alex Wilson (0-1) just over the 21-foot-high wall in Pittsburgh’s right field. A fan in a black Pirates sweatshirt reached out and caught the ball, and Wilson immediately pointed to ask for a video the initial home-run call. Nearly two minutes later, it was upheld.
Felipe Vazquez (1-0) escaped a bases-loaded, noouts jam in the ninth created by two singles and a walk.
Also yesterday, the Pirates announced Jung Ho Kang has been granted a work visa by the U.S. government and will report to the team’s training complex in Bradenton, Fla.
The 31-year-old third baseman last played for the Pirates in 2016. He was arrested in his home country of South Korea on DUI charges for a third time that December and received an eight-month suspended prison sentence that led to visa issues.
National League
Cardinals 4, Mets 3 — Dexter Fowler’s 13th-inning single capped a comeback from a pair of deficits as host St. Louis edged New York.
St. Louis trailed 2-0 in the seventh and 3-2 in the 10th. Jose Martinez walked with one out in the 13th against Paul Sewald (0-1), took second on a single by Marcell Ozuna and scored when Fowler singled to right for his sixth gameending RBI.
John Gant (1-0), recalled from Triple-A Memphis before the game, pitched three perfect innings of relief for his second big league win.
Cubs 1, Brewers 0 — Kyle Hendricks outpitched Chase Anderson with seven crisp innings, and host Chicago stopped Milwaukee’s eight-game win streak with only a sixth-inning solo homer by Kyle Schwarber.
Hendricks (2-1) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked none in his best outing this season. Anderson (2-2) stayed with him until Schwarber drove a 0-1 pitch over the wall in right for his seventh homer.
The Cubs had seven hits while playing without slugger Kris Bryant, who missed his third straight game after he was beaned during a victory at Colorado last weekend.
Diamondbacks 8, Phillies 2 — Jarrod Dyson, Nick Ahmed and David Peralta homered and Arizona won in Philadelphia, to improve to 17-7, matching 2008 for the best 24-game start in franchise history.
Dyson hit a two-run homer in the first and Chris Owings added an RBI double off Ben Lively (0-2) to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead. Paul Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 with a run scored for Arizona.
Braves 7, Reds 4 — Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies, the two youngest players in the major leagues, both homered and combined for five RBI to lead Atlanta to a win in Cincinnati.
Acuna became the youngest player in the major leagues Wednesday at 20 years, 128 days, and went 1-for-5. He led off the second inning yesterday with a home run five rows deep into the left-field upper deck against Homer Bailey, singled in the sixth and hit a tiebreaking double off Wandy Peralta (1-1) in the eighth following Freddie Freeman’s third double of the game.
Albies, a 21-year-old who made his debut last August, hit a two-run homer in the fifth and added an RBI double in the ninth.