Cortes turns in another stellar start for Yankees

Nestor Cortes took a three-hit shutout into the ninth and the visiting New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 Thursday night.

Cortes (4-1) won his third straight start, striking out five and walking one in eight-plus innings. The 27-year-old left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.70, retiring 14 in a row during one stretch. He threw a career-high 109 pitches.

Cortes has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 18 straight starts.

Wandy Peralta relieved after Wander Franco’s leadoff single in the ninth and allowed Manuel Margot’s run-scoring infield hit and Isaac Paredes’ RBI grounder before finishing a six-hitter.

Aaron Judge had a pair of RBIs to raise his total to 36.

TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 3 » Miguel Cabrera hit a game-ending single in the ninth inning for his third hit, lifting Detroit over Cleveland.

Jonathan Schoop hit a one-out double, advanced on a wild pitch from Trevor Stephan (2-2) and scored on Cabrera’s 3,029th hit. REDS 20, CUBS 5 » Kyle Farmer homered twice and Cincinnati enjoyed an eight-run third inning in a rout of visiting Chicago.

Farmer went 4 for 4 and matched a career high with five RBIs.

The Reds shellacked the Cubs for 20 hits in their first 20-run game since pounding eight home runs in a 22-3 blowout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 4, 1999.

The offensive explosion was enough to end the six-game personal losing streak of Cincinnati rookie starter Hunter Greene (2-6). The right-hander battled through five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three home runs. He walked two and struck out six.

Justin Steele (1-5) failed to retire any of the five batters he faced in the third, getting knocked from the game when Tyler Stephenson drove home two runs with a single that snapped a 3-3 tie.

Steele was charged with seven runs on seven hits and two walks.

The Reds added five more in the eighth off Andrelton Simmons, who made his pitching debut as a positional player.

RED SOX 16, WHITE SOX 7 » Trevor Story kept up his hot hitting with a three-run homer and four RBIs, and Boston defeated host Chicago.

Story has seven homers and 21 RBIs in his last seven games, raising his season totals to nine homers and 32 RBIs.

PHILLIES 4, BRAVES 1 » Aaron Nola (2-4) struck out 10 while pitching shutout ball into the ninth inning for his first victory since opening day, leading Philadelphia at Atlanta.

The Phillies had lost each of Nola’s last eight starts, but he had a 3.69 ERA in that stretch. He did little wrong Thursday, allowing one run and five hits in 8 1/3 innings.