Sale continue to shine as Red Sox beat Jays

Rays 10, Orioles 3

TORONTO — Chris Sale's latest gem got the Red Sox to the midway point with their best record of the season.

Sale pitched seven shutout innings to win his third straight decision, Xander Bogaerts had three RBIs and Boston beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 on Saturday.

Sale (11-3) struck out 11, boosting his major league-leading total to 166. He's 2-0 with 24 strikeouts in 15 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays this season, beating them twice north of the border.

First-place Boston (46-35) is 11 games above .500 for the first time, and Sale expects better things in the second half.

Mookie Betts walked three times and scored three runs for the Red Sox, who have won five of six. Hanley Ramirez had three hits. Sale has struck out 11 or more five times in his 17 starts. Blaine Boyer pitched the eighth and Robby Scott gave up Steve Pearce's solo home run in the ninth.

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-out, two run double in the first and Pedroia did the same in the second. Bogaerts had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and added a two-run single off Lucas Harrell in the ninth.

The Red Sox stole three bases, with Deven Marrero and Betts executing a double steal in the second. Boston is 12-0 this season when stealing multiple bases, and has won 13 such games going back to last season.

Blue Jays left-hander Francisco Liriano (4-4) allowed five runs in six innings. Liriano has not won consecutive starts this season.'

Last-place Toronto has lost seven of nine. They're 2-6 in their past eight at home.

The Blue Jays put runners at second and third with one out in the sixth, but Sale got Troy Tulowitzki to bounce back to the mound, then retired Pearce on a pop fly to first.

Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin stayed in the game after being hit on the helmet by a pitch from Boyer in the eighth. Martin also got hit on the foot by Sale in the sixth.

Toronto's Josh Donaldson struck out four times, the fourth time in his career he's done so. He last did it in 2015.

Royals 11, Twins 6, 1st game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The bottom of the lineup came up big for the Kansas City Royals.

Brandon Moss, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon went a combined 6 for 12 with three home runs, seven RBIs and scored six runs as the Royals rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins in the opener a day-night doubleheader.

Mike Moustakas tied his career high with his 22nd home run and matched Jermaine Dye in 2000 for the club record before the All-Star Game. Moustakas bats sixth and for the first time in the Royals' history the 6-7-8-9 batters homered in the same game.

Escobar hit a two-run homer in the fourth, while Moss connected on an estimated 474-foot shot to straightaway center in the fourth.

Gordon's three-run homer in the seventh with Moss and Escobar aboard gave the Royals a cushion.

Salvador Perez hit a two-out, two-run single in a three-run seventh to snap a 6-all tie against Tyler Duffy (0-2). Ramon Torres, who also had three hits, doubled in Whit Merrifield with the first run of the inning.

Mike Minor (4-1), the fourth of six Kansas City pitchers, picked up the victory, permitting one run and striking out four in two innings.

Luke Farrell's big league debut ended after 2 2/3 innings. The son of Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell retired only eight of the 18 Twins batters he faced, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks.

The 26-year-old right-hander walked Brian Dozier and Robbie Grossman with the bases loaded in the second.

With the blessing of Boston general manager Dave Dombrowski, John Farrell left the Red Sox in Toronto and flew to Kansas City to watch his youngest son make his major league debut.

Boston bench coach Gary DiSarcina served as acting manager for the Red Sox on Saturday.

Miguel Sano homered leading off a three-run third for the Twins that gave them a 5-1 lead. Jorge Polanco's two-out double in the sixth gave Minnesota a 6-5 advantage.

Royals left-hander Matt Strahm was removed in the fourth with left knee inflammation.

Twins starter Jose Berrios yielded five runs on nine hits, including three homers, in five innings.

Tigers 7, Indians 4

DETROIT — Nicholas Castellanos tripled to break a seventhinning tie and the Detroit Tigers went on to beat the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader.

J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera homered for Detroit. With the score tied at 4 in the seventh and Martinez on first, Castellanos hit his fifth triple of the season off the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center.

Bryan Shaw (2-3) intentionally walked Victor Martinez, putting runners on the corners, but Mikie Mahtook flared an RBI single to left to make it 6-4. James McCann's single brought home Victor Martinez to give the Tigers a three-run lead.

Anibal Sanchez was not involved in the decision after allowing three runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Sanchez, who was sent to Triple-A Toledo on May 19 with a 9.00 ERA, has allowed seven runs in three starts since rejoining the team on June 19.

Indians starter Josh Tomlin ran into trouble in the second, but centerfielder Bradley Zimmer made a diving catch to rob Mahtook of an RBI hit. Tomlin hit James McCann to load the bases with two outs, but Jose Iglesias bounced into a force at second.

The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kipnis, but the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back homers by J.D. Martinez and Cabrera.

Iglesias made it 4-1 in the fourth with a two-run double just beyond Zimmer's glove.

Sanchez continued to keep the Indians off balance with a wide variety of pitches. In a fifth-inning strikeout of Yan Gomes, he started the at-bat with a 92-mph fastball, then threw curveballs of 64 and 70 mph.

Lonnie Chisenhall's seventh-inning single made it 4-2 and ended Sanchez's game. He received a standing ovation and tipped his hat to the crowd. Carlos Santana, though, hit Daniel Stumpf's 3-2 fastball into the right-field stands for a game-tying homer.

Shane Greene (2-2) finished the inning and picked up the victory after Castellanos' triple. Justin Wilson pitched the ninth for his eighth save.

Rangers 10, White Sox 4

CHICAGO — Cole Hamels overcame a shaky start to win for the first time since April, and the Texas Rangers hit three home runs in a victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Hamels (3-0) allowed two runs and two hits in 6 2/3 innings for his first win since April 26. He retired 19 straight batters after giving up a double and a homer and hitting a batter with a pitch in the first inning of his second start since returning from a strained right oblique.

Elvis Andrus, Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor homered for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

White Sox starter Derek Holland (5-8) didn't fare as well in his first game against his former team. Holland, who spent his first eight seasons with the Rangers and was on their 2010 and 2011 AL championship squads, allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 in his last seven starts.

Andrus' 11th home run followed Delino DeShields' RBI double to put Texas ahead in a three-run fifth.

Napoli smacked his 15th home run, a two-run shot, in the sixth. Hamels struck out six and walked none. The left-hander was sharper than in his previous start, when he allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings against Cleveland after missing two months.

Left-hander Alex Claudio replaced Hamels and allowed a tworun double in the seventh before finishing up.

Odor hit his 14th home run and Nomar Mazara had a threerun triple in the Rangers' four-run eighth.

Chicago slugger Jose Abreu homered for the second straight home game after hitting his first 13 home runs on the road to set a club record.

The White Sox have lost six of nine.

BALTIMORE — Logan Morrison homered twice, Wilson Ramos hit a three-run drive and Tampa Bay beat Dylan Bundy and Baltimore.

Steven Souza had a solo shot for the Rays, who have 23 home runs in their last 12 games. Morrison, who connected in the first inning and again in the third, has 24 for the season — a career high.

Jake Odorizzi (5-3) was the beneficiary of Tampa Bay's 14-hit attack, which included four doubles. The right-hander pitched five innings, allowing at least three earned runs for the sixth start in a row. He also yielded a home run in his 12th successive appearance, a club record.

The Rays will seek to complete a threegame sweep today. They are already assured their first series win against Baltimore after going 0-5-1 since April 2016.

Bundy (8-7) allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings. He struck out seven.