Rays in first place with rare sweep
The Tampa Bay Rays completed their first sweep at Yankee Stadium in six years and took over first place in the AL East, getting a three-run homer from Mike Zunino in a 10-5 victory over New York on Thursday.
Zunino homered to left field off Luis Avilan in the sixth inning to give the Rays an 8-4 lead. His second homer in as many games elicited audible cheers from the Rays dugout in the empty stadium.
The Rays became the fifth team in major league history to sweep a series of at least three games at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium on the same trip, according to STATS.
“I’m really impressed with the guys, the way they stayed at it [and] didn’t miss a beat,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “No doubt it was a fun, exciting trip but I think everybody’s ready to get home.”
Gleyber Torres injured his left hamstring running to first base in the third and left the game. The Yankees said Torres was getting further evaluation. New York also said James Paxton is getting an MRI for discomfort in his forearm.
at Padres 8, Rangers 7 (10 innings): Wil Myers scored on a fielding error by center fielder Scott Heineman to lift San Diego, which became the only team in big league history to hit grand slams in four straight games when Eric Hosmer connected.
at White Sox 5, Tigers 0: Lucas Giolito matched his career high of 13 strikeouts in seven dominant innings and hot-hitting Tim Anderson stroked his fourth home run of the series.
at Blue Jays 3-9, Phillies 2-8: Rowdy Tellez homered and hit a go-ahead two-run single in a seven-run sixth inning, and Toronto rallied from a seven-run deficit to sweep a doubleheader.
Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarez was removed from the field on a cart in the opener after taking a 105-mph line drive to the groin area.
Astros 10, at Rockies 8: Abraham Toro homered in the second of two five-run innings by Houston, which extended its major-league best winning streak to eight games.
Indians 2, at Pirates 0: Shane Bieber racked up 11 more strikeouts and Cleveland extended its winning streak to a season-high six games. Bieber has struck out a major league-best 65 in 40 2⁄3 innings.
at Twins 7, Brewers 1: Jose Berrios pitched one-hit ball over six scoreless innings and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer.
Red Sox 7, at Orioles 1: Nathan Eovaldi allowed five hits over seven innings and Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland homered.
at Cardinals 5, Reds 4: Kolten Wong hit a walk-off single to deep center after St. Louis erased a two-run deficit in the ninth.
Reds closer Raisel Iglesias deflected a potential double-play ball with the bases loaded to permit the Cardinals’ first run of the ninth, and then balked to bring home the tying run.
at Athletics 5, Diamondbacks 1: Matt Chapman homered twice and Matt Olson also connected to help Sean Manaea finally earn his first victory of 2020.
Mets at Marlins, postponed
Positive tests force postponements
The New York Mets received two positive tests for COVID-19 in their organization Thursday, Major League Baseball said, prompting the postponement of two games.
The finale of the Mets’ four-game series at Miami was called off an hour before it was scheduled to start Thursday night. Friday’s game between the Mets and New York Yankees at Citi Field was also postponed to allow for additional testing and contact tracing.
Etc.
Miami shortstop Miguel Rojas became the first player sidelined by the team’s coronavirus outbreak to return . ... Cleveland hopes to have manager Terry Francona back in the dugout Friday after Francona had a medical procedure to address a gastrointestinal issue that has bothered him since the spring.