AROUND THE HORN
Blue Jays: Cavan Biggio had three hits, including his first career home run, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had four hits and homered for the third straight game as the Blue Jays beat the Padres 10-1 to avoid a threegame sweep. Toronto’s Justin Smoak hit two home runs, a two-run blast off Luis Perdomo in the fifth and a three-run drive off Adam Warren in the eighth. With his Hall of Fame father Craig watching from the stands, Biggio got his first hit with a ground-ball single through the right side in the second. He hit a solo home run into the fourth deck off lefthander Matt Wisler in the fourth, then added an RBI single in Toronto’s four-run fifth.
Red Sox: Rafael Devers homered off Justin Verlander, and the Red Sox took advantage of two errors by the Astros to avoid a series sweep with a 4-1 victory. The Astros lost for just the fifth time in 22 games and finished the regular season 4-2 against the Red Sox, who beat them 4-1 in the ALCS last season on the way to a World Series championship. Devers’ solo shot to center field in the fourth gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Verlander (8-2) permitted three runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking none. He got his 2,800th career strikeout in the fourth against Michael Chavis and finished his day five strikeouts shy of Cy Young’s 2,806 for 21st alltime.
Brewers: Brandon Woodruff allowed a solo homer but was otherwise perfect over eight innings, Christian Yelich hit his NLleading 21st home run and the Brewers went deep five times in a 9-1 victory over the Phillies. Woodruff (7-1) retired his first 15 batters before Andrew Knapp opened the sixth with his first homer. Ben Gamel had two homers for the Brewers, and Hernan Perez and Yasmani Grandal also went deep.
Padres: Rookie RHP Chris Paddack was scratched from his start against the Blue Jays because of a stiff neck and is expected to throw Wednesday instead. Padres manager Andy Green said the neck issue is “nothing serious” and Paddack should be ready to start at Yankee Stadium this week. Paddack is 4-2 with a 1.93 ERA in nine starts.
Athletics: Matt Chapman homered for the second consecutive day, Josh Phegley also went deep and had three RBIs, and the streaking Athletics won their ninth straight, beating the Mariners 7-1 to complete a three-game sweep. The A’s streak is their longest of the season but comes with a caveat. Their game against Detroit on May 19 was suspended due to weather and won’t be resumed until Sept. 6. Oakland has won six consecutive games since the postponement.