Sliding Yankees pull injured Cole
Marcus Semien homered again and Alejandro Kirk went deep twice as the surging Toronto Blue Jays beat the skidding Yankees, 5-1, on Tuesday night after New York ace Gerrit Cole exited early with a hamstring injury.
Cole (14-7) was pulled in the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness after allowing a sacrifice fly to Reese McGuire that gave the visiting Blue Jays a 3-1 lead. After the throw from center fielder Aaron Judge deflected off his glove, Cole motioned to the dugout and was checked out by trainer Tim Lentych.
Cole allowed three runs, two earned, and five hits in 3⅔ innings. After striking out 15 on Wednesday against the Angels, he threw 70 pitches as Toronto put together several long at-bats against the star right-hander.
Semien extended his career high with his 38th homer and seventh against the Yankees this year when he connected off Albert Abreu to open the fifth for a 4-1 lead. It was the sixth homer in six games for Semien, whose previous career best was 33 for Oakland in 2019.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Cole was not headed for an MRI and the right-hander said it was too early to determine if he would miss his next scheduled start. “I want to make sure that I am good if I’m good or if I need a few extra days,” Cole said.
The Blue Jays moved within 2½ games of the Yankees for the first AL wild card.
Other games
Reds 4, Cubs 3: Wade Miley pitched seven effective innings and Nick Castellanos homered as visiting Cincinnati got a sorely needed victory by topping Chicago. Cincinnati had dropped seven of nine to lose ground in the NL playoff race. The Reds began the day one game back of San Diego for the second wild card.
Brewers 10, Phillies 0: Eric Lauer allowed four hits in seven innings to lead host Milwaukee past Philadelphia. Avisaíl García hit a two-run homer in his return to the lineup and Eduardo Escobar knocked in three runs as the Brewers maintained their franchise-record 11-game lead in the NL Central on the Cincinnati
Reds. Kolten Wong and Christian Yelich added two RBI each.
Dodgers 7, Cardinals 2: Albert Pujols rewarded an adoring crowd by hitting a home run in his return to Busch Stadium, sending Los Angeles past St. Louis. Justin Turner hit two home runs and Will Smith also homered for the playoff- contending Dodger. The Dodgers used nine different pitchers in the win.
Braves 8, Nationals 5: Ozzie Albies hit a tiebreaking, two- run homer off Ryne Harper in the seventh and Adam Duvall took Paolo Espino deep with an early three-run shot as host Atlanta beat Washington. Albies had four RBIs and went deep for the fourth game in a row.
Mets 9, Marlins 4: Pete Alonso hit two home runs, including the 100th of his career, and visiting New York beat Miami to give Carlos Carrasco his first win with the team. Alonso launched a tworun homer in the first inning for No. 100 and later added a solo shot. The 26-year-old slugger reached the milestone in his 347th game, the second fastest in major league history. Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard did it in 325 games.
Rays 12, Red Sox 7: Nelson Cruz homered twice and, at 41 years old, became the oldest player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season, powering visiting Tampa Bay past Boston. Mike Zunino also homered twice and Jordan Luplow connected for the team with the best record in the American League and the highest-scoring club in the majors.
Twins 3, Indians 0: Hours after manager Rocco Baldelli’s wife gave birth, Brent Rooker homered as he awaited a call from home for an arriving baby as visiting Minnesota beat Cleveland, spoiling Indians starter Aaron Civale’s return from injury. John Gant ( 5- 9) pitched five solid innings to get his first win since joining the Twins, who beat the Indians for the sixth time in seven games.
Orioles 7, Royals 3: Cedric Mullins homered for the third consecutive game and host Baltimore beat Kansas City. . DJ Stewart and Austin Hays also connected for Baltimore, which evened the four-game series at one apiece.