Rays back in first
José Alvarado stepped onto the Yankee Stadium mound, 18 hours after walking off with a look of disgust when he wasted a two-run, ninth-inning lead.
Luke Voit, whose home run started the previous night’s meltdown, singled leading off the 11th.
Not this time. Alvarado struck out Aaron Hicks and retired Gary Sánchez on a game-ending double play that gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 win yesterday in New York and regained the AL East lead for the Rays. Alvarado slapped his glove and pitching hand together twice, raised both arms to the heavens and smacked his hands together again.
“He was ready. He was telling me before, ‘I want the ball. I want the ball. I want to come in. I want to respond from yesterday,’” said left fielder Austin Meadows, who threw out Hicks at the plate in the sixth, then homered off Luis Cessa (0-1) in the 11th,
Tampa Bay had been alone in first place for 47 straight days, the third-longest streak in team history, before New York scored three times in the ninth against Alvarado for a 4-3 win in the series opener and a half-game AL East lead.
White Sox 4, Blue Jays 1 — Lucas Giolito threw five solid innings, Leury Garcia homered and host Chicagobeat Toronto in a game stopped after 4½ innings because of rain.
Giolito (5-1) struck out the side in the top of the fifth before play was halted. The game was called after a wait of three hours.
Yonder Alonso had two singles and two RBI for the White Sox.
Ryan Feierabend (0-1) allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings for Toronto in his first start in the majors since 2008. He struck out two and walked one.
Indians 4, Orioles 1 — Adam Plutko, making his first appearance of the season, allowed one run in six innings— a solo homer by Trey Mancini for his team’s only hit— and host Cleveland defeated Baltimore.
Plutko, called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game, struck out four, walked two and was pulled after throwing 83 pitches.
Cleveland used three relievers to finish it. Oliver Perez struck out three of the four hitters he faced. Adam Cimber retired a batter in the eighth, but a fielding error by third baseman Jose Ramirez and a walk put two runners on.
Brad Hand struck out Jonathan Villar to end the inning and worked the ninth for his 12th save.
Athletics 4, Tigers 1 — Daniel Mengden pitched seven impressive innings and Nick Hundley and Chad Pinder homered to lift visiting Oakland to its 15th straight win over Detroit.
If the A’s beat the Tigers today, they would tie a franchise record for their longest winning streak against one team. Oakland won 16 in a row over the New York Yankees from 1989-91.
National League
Phillies 2, Rockies 1 — Bryce Harper homered over the batter’s eye in center field, Aaron Nola tied his career high with 12 strikeouts while pitching into the seventh inning and host Philadelphia defeated Colorado.
Harper also doubled for the NL East-leading Phillies.
Tony Wolters had an RBI triple for Colorado, which has lost three straight.
Nola (4-0) allowed one run on eight hits while walking one. The righthander looked more like the pitcher who finished third in the NL Cy Young voting last season and not the one who has struggled for much of 2019 (4.47 ERA).
Hector Neris retired six straight batters in the final two innings for his seventh save in as many chances.
Braves 4, Brewers 3 — Freddie Freeman led off the 10th inning with a home run into the right-field seats, lifting host Atlanta to a walkoff win over Milwaukee.
The Braves recovered to win their fourth straight game after Luke Jackson blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth.
Freeman pulled a fastball from Josh Hader (0-3) for his 10th homer. Jacob Webb (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th for Atlanta.
Braves rookie left fielder Austin Riley continued his hot start in his first week in the majors by hitting a goahead, two-run homer in the sixth for a 3-2 lead.
Nationals 5, Cubs 2 — Chicago manager Joe Maddon protested his team’s loss to host Washington after twice coming out to complain about Nationals closer Sean Doolittle’s delivery.
After eight solid innings by Stephen Strasburg, Doolittle pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances, but Maddon thought he was using an illegal delivery.
Juan Soto had two hits and drove in three runs for Washington.
Reds 4, Dodgers 0 — Jesse Winker’s homer ended the Dodgers’ stretch of scoreless pitching, and Yasiel Puig singled home a pair of runs, leading host Cincinnati to a victory that snapped Los Angeles’ four-game winning streak.
The Reds beat the Dodgers for the first time in five games this season, including LA’s three-game sweep in April. The Dodgers are 34-23 at Great American Ball Park, the second-best mark by an NL team behind the Mets.
Marlins 2, Mets 0 — Starter Pablo Lopez gave up a double on his first pitch, then combined with Miami’s bullpen to hold visiting New York hitless the rest of the way.
The Marlins, with the worst record in the majors, beat the Mets for the second straight day.
The Mets lost their fourth in a row and fell a seasonworst four games under .500. After getting held to one hit, the loss is certain to ramp up speculation that manager Mickey Callaway’s job is in jeopardy.
Interleague
Cardinals 8, Rangers 2 — In Arlington, Texas, Paul DeJong homered and had a season-high four RBI, Matt Carpenter’s opposite-field double off the top of the outfield wall ignited a decisive inning, and St. Louis beat Texas for the first time since the 2011 World Series.
Carpenter was initially given a two-run homer in the fifth after his drive hit the wide pad atop the 14foot left field wall, bounced up and then came back down into the field of play. That was changed to an RBI double on replay review. It was still the first run in a five-run outburst.