Yankees hit new depths, bow to Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jeffrey Springs pitched neatly into the sixth inning, Christian Bethancourt hit a two-run homer in the seventh, and Tampa Bay moved within five games of the American League East-leading New York Yankees with a 9-0 victory Friday.
It was the first of six games between the teams in a 10-day span as New York saw its once-commanding 15½ game edge continue to evaporate. The Yankees have lost five of six, while the Rays have won four in a row to move a seasonhigh 16 games over .500.
Springs (7-4) allowed four hits and three walks while striking out seven in 5⅔ innings. J.T. Chargois, Colin Poche, Jason Adam and Calvin Faucher capped the five-hitter.
Bethancourt made it 3-0 on his homer off Domingo German (2-3), who allowed three runs — two earned — on six hits in 6⅔ innings. Yu Chang had a two-run infield single, and Manuel Margot drove in two with a single during a six-run eighth against Greg Weissert and Anthony Banda.
■ White Sox 4, Twins 3: At Chicago, Jose Abreu drove in the winning run with a fielder’s choice grounder in the ninth after Minnesota closer Jorge Lopez hit Andrew Vaughn with a pitch, igniting a heated confrontation.
■ Reds 3, Rockies 2: At Cincinnati, Spencer Steer homered in the fifth in his major league debut, doubled in the ninth and scored the winning run on Jonathan India’s chopper through at fiveman infield.
■ Cardinals 8, Cubs 0: At St. Louis, Jordan Montgomery (8-3) pitched six shutout innings, improving to 5-0 with a 1.47 ERA since St. Louis acquired him from the New York Yankees on Aug. 2.
■ Mariners 6, Guardians 1: At Cleveland, Cal Raleigh hit a three-run homer and a solo shot to back Luis Castillo (6-5), who pitched six shutout innings in Seattle’s fifth straight win.
■ Blue Jays 4, Pirates 0: At Pittsburgh, Santiago Espinal hit a two-run double and Bo Bichette a two-run homer to back Alek Manoah (13-7), who pitched 7⅓ shutout innings.
■ Orioles 5, Athletics 2: At Baltimore, top prospect Gunnar Henderson doubled twice in his home debut, and Jorge Mateo hit a two-run single in Baltimore’s three-run eighth.
■ Tigers 5, Royals 4: At Detroit, Ryan Kreidler scored twice in his major league debut, including the go-ahead run on Harold Castro’s pinch single in the Detroit seventh.
■ Giants 13, Phillies 1: At San Francisco, Joc Pederson went 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIS to back Alex Cobb (5-6), who allowed three hits in seven shutout innings.
■ Braves 8, Marlins 1: At Atlanta, Travis d’arnaud hit two of the five homers by Atlanta, which scored six runs off All-star Sandy Alcantara (12-7).
■ Red Sox 9, Rangers 1: At Boston, Kike Hernandez doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored on Connor Wong’s first major league homer.
■ Diamondbacks 2, Brewers 1: At Phoenix, Emmanuel Rivera went 3-for-3 with an RBI double and scored in Arizona’s two-run fifth.
■ Astros 4, Angels 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Jeremy Pena hit a go-ahead RBI double and scored in Houston’s two-run third.
■ Mets 7, Nationals 3: At New York, Pete Alonso hit a tiebreaking homer leading off New York’s four-run sixth.