Red Sox maintain July 4th magic; Astros win their seventh in a row
Trevor Story hit a solo homer, Kutter Crawford pitched 5 innings of two-hit relief and the host Boston Red Sox won their eighth straight Fourth of July game, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Monday.
Franchy Cordero added an RBI single for the Red Sox, who won their second straight game and improved to just 9-16 against AL East rivals.
“Kutter gave us a lot, helped us out a lot in the pen there,” Story said.
“He looked great.”
With a handful of its players wearing long sleeves with stars and stripes on a warm, sunny day, Boston matched its franchise record for consecutive July 4 wins, accomplished from 1901-04 and 1936-39, when teams played doubleheaders.
Tampa Bay saw its three-game winning streak halted and lost a road series opener for the eighth straight time. The Rays had just two hits, both singles.
“Kutter Crawford, we’ve seen him twice now and he’s pitched really well against us,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Big fastball, threw the breaking ball and had the cutter as well.”
Story put the Red Sox ahead in the fourth, driving a changeup from Josh Fleming (2-4) into the back of Boston’s bullpen for his 13th homer.
Boston went with a bullpen game because scheduled starter Michael Wacha was scratched Sunday with what manager Alex Cora called a dead arm. The Red Sox started Austin Davis for two hitless innings before using two more relievers.
Crawford (2-2) struck out eight and walked one and John Schreiber got five outs for his third save.
Boston opened a stretch of 27 games against teams with winning records. In addition to the Rays, Boston faces the Yankees, Houston, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Toronto during the run.
Astros 7, Royals 6: Yordan Alvarez homered with two outs in the ninth inning, and host Houston notched its seventh straight win.
AL West-leading Houston
erased a five-run deficit on the way to its 15th victory in its past 18 games.
Ryne Stanek (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
The Astros also won in their last at-bat Sunday, using Jeremy Peña’s tiebreaking two-run homer with two out in the ninth to post a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Andrew Benintendi had three hits and two RBI for Kansas City. MJ Melendez hit two solo homers.
Orioles 7, Rangers 6: Jorge Mateo limped to first base when Matt Moore hit him near the left knee with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to cap a come-from-behind win for the host Orioles.
Baltimore rookie Adley Rutschman, who began the day in an 0-for-18 skid, tied the score against Joe Barlow with a two-out RBI double in the ninth that hit off the right-field wall.
Rougned Odor led off the bottom of the 10th with a bunt single off Moore that advanced automatic runner Austin Hays to third, and Moore intentionally walked Ramón Urías to load the bases. Moore then hit Mateo with his next pitch, a 93.5 mph fastball.
Tigers 4, Guardians Garrett Hill won his major league debut by pitching six impressive innings, Miguel Cabrera delivered a two-run single and the host Tigers won the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
The Guardians played their third doubleheader in seven days and their seventh this season.
A 26th-round draft choice by the Tigers in 2018, Hill allowed just two hits, including a home run by Josh Naylor. He struck out three and walked one.
“I’ve tried to get to this level and live out my dream,” Hill said. “I was pleased with all of it. I was able to stay super calm. I was happy with my preparation and everything.”
Hill drew attention last year after pitching in the Arizona League Fall Stars Game. The 26-year-old right-hander was a combined 4-2 with a 3.23 ERA in a combined 15 starts at Triple-A and Double-A this season.
Back in 2005, another
Tigers rookie pitcher also made his big-league debut on the Fourth of July against Cleveland — that day, Justin Verlander took the loss.
Hill is the first Tigers pitcher to have allowed two or fewer hits in his MLB debut in six innings or more.
“Give the kid credit,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “He threw strikes. He got his fastball, I don’t want to say by us, but stayed off the barrel a lot.”
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Brewers 5, Cubs 2: Victor Caratini hit a threerun homer with two outs in the 10th inning to give host Milwaukee the win.
Caratini’s big hit followed an eventful ninth inning that featured an inside-the-park homer by Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki and a two-out, basesloaded walk by Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich.
The score was 1-all in the ninth when Suzuki, activated from the injured list earlier in the day, hit a drive off Josh Hader that ricocheted off an angled portion of the center-field wall, bounced past center fielder Jonathan Davis and rolled along the warning track.
ELSEWHERE
Tribute in Atlanta: The Braves paid tribute to their longtime public address announcer, Casey Motter, in a ceremony before the team’s first home game since Motter’s death. Following a video tribute to Motter, a moment of silence was observed in his memory before the game against
St. Louis. Motter, 53, was the Braves’ public address announcer since 2007. He became known as the voice of Truist Park, which opened as the team’s new home in 2017 after a move from Turner Field.
Game goes on in Chicago:
The Chicago White Sox talked to Major League Baseball about postponing Monday’s home game against the Minnesota Twins after a gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago, killing at least six people. After speaking with MLB and local authorities, the game began on time. The postgame fireworks show was canceled.