Rays shut out O’s in AL East heavyweight bout
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings to become the AL’s third 11-game winner, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Friday night in a matchup of the top teams in the American League.
Baltimore, which won 4-3 in 10 innings on Thursday night in the opener of the four-game set, leads the AL East with a .608 winning percentage compared to Tampa Bay’s .604. The Orioles trailed the Rays by 61⁄2 games at the beginning of July.
Eflin (11-5) allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked one, improving to 10-1 in 11 starts at home. The right-hander joined teammate Shane McClanahan and Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi with 11 victories.
“It was nice to get back on track,” Eflin said. ”It feels really, really good. We had a good time postgame in the clubhouse. We’ll take that momentum into tomorrow.”
Eflin threw 63 of his 87 pitches for strikes. After Colin Poche struck out the side in the eighth, Pete Fairbanks finished the two-hitter for his 11th save in 12 chances.
“We just didn’t get anything going,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “It just wasn’t our night offensively.”
Former Tiger Isaac Paredes and Jose Siri homered for the Rays, who stopped a five-game skid and improved to 4-12 in July.
Paredes made it 2-0 on his solo homer off Kyle Bradish (6-5) in the sixth.
“It was a great feeling to hit a home run against the team that obviously we’re fighting for the division,” Paredes said through a translator.
Bradish, coming off consecutive wins in which didn’t allow a run over 13 1/3 innings, gave up two runs and six hits in six innings.
Baltimore lost for just the third time in 13 games, and had a season-high six-game road win streak end.
Siri connected for his team-leading 20th homer on the first pitch from new Baltimore reliever Shintaro Fujinami to start the seventh.
Fujinami, acquired from Oakland on Wednesday, retired his next three batters in his Orioles debut.
More Friday games
Cubs 4, Cardinals 3:
Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer, and the host Cubs stopped St. Louis’ six-game win streak. Bellinger capped Chicago’s four-run third inning with a 400-foot drive to right against Jack Flaherty. He finished with three hits in another strong performance at the plate. All-Star left-hander Justin Steele (10-3) struck out a season-high nine in 61⁄3 innings for Chicago, bouncing back from a lackluster performance against Boston. He allowed two runs and six hits. Miles Mastrobouni lined his first big league homer for the Cubs, and Mike Tauchman added an RBI double.
Guardians 6, Phillies 5: Bryce Harper flashed some glove with a stunning catch in his first career start at first base, but the host Guardians ended Philadelphia’s interleague winning streak at 12 games. José Ramírez had four hits and David Fry drove in two runs for Cleveland. J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run homer and Bryson Stott had a solo shot for Philadelphia, which squandered some early scoring chances and lost for just the fourth time in its last 19 road games. The two-time MVP looked like a seasoned first baseman while judging and catching a foul ball before tumbling into an empty photographer’s pit in the third inning. Harper raced under Amed Rosario’s high popup before grabbing it and falling uninjured.
Nationals 5, Giants 3: CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas homered and rookie Jake Irvin struck out a career-high nine for the host Nationals. J.D. Davis and Joc Pederson homered for the Giants, who have dropped three in a row since a sevengame winning streak that spanned the All-Star break. Abrams has thrived since moving into the leadoff spot on July 7 and is hitting .415 (17 for 41) in Washington’s last 10 games. He homered off Alex Wood (4-4) with two outs in the second for his ninth of the season. He also doubled to lead off the fifth, chasing Wood.
Rockies 6, Marlins 1: Ex-Tiger C.J. Cron and Jurickson Profar hit two-run homers and Peter Lambert pitched five shutout innings for the visiting Rockies, handing the Marlins their seventh straight loss since the All-Star break. Lambert (2-1) struck out three while giving up three hits and a walk, returning from a three-week stint in the minors aimed at converting him into a starter after struggling as a reliever. Entering the All-Star break, the Marlins held the National League’s top wild-card spot, but their losing streak has dropped them percentage points behind Philadelphia for the race for a postseason bid.
Yankees 5, Royals 4: Billy McKinney hit a three-run homer and made two key catches in center field as the host Yankees got a much-needed win. Franchy Cordero homered for the second straight game and Gleyber Torres also went deep for the Yankees, who stopped a four-game slide and won for only the third time in 12 games since July 4. Torres extended his hitting streak to 11 games. The Yankees hit three homers for the fourth time since Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium on June 3. Michael Massey hit a three-run shot in the fourth for Kansas City and a solo shot in the eighth. It was his first career multihomer game.