Voit’s sacrifice fly strengthens Yankees’ hold on playoff berth
Luke Voit hit a game-ending sacrifice fly leading off the 10th inning, and the New York Yankees beat Baltimore 2-1 Saturday to open a 4 1/2-game lead over the Orioles for the American League’s eighth and final playoff berth.
With DJ Lemahieu starting the inning as the automatic runner on second, Hunter Harvey (0-2) bounced a wild pitch that advanced Lemahieu. Baltimore brought the field in.
Voit, hitting in shadows, worked the count to 2-2, fouled off three pitches and hit a fly ball to center fielder Cedric Mullins for his 37th RBI. Lemahieu scored without a throw.
WHITE SOX 14, TIGERS 0 >> José Abreu hit a pair of three-run home runs and matched a career high with seven RBIS as t Chicago beat for its eighth straight win against the Tigers.
RAYS 5, RED SOX 4 >> Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows homered as AL East-leading Tampa Bay got the win. Lowe hit a solo shot, his 12th of the season, off Marcus Walden (0-2) in the seventh for a 5-4 lead.
PHILLIES 12, MARLINS 6 >> Bryce Harper homered, doubled and reached base five times, leading Philadelphia to the victory. Harper, who snapped a 1-for-10 funk, also singled and walked twice as the Phillies evened their seven-game series with Miami at 2-2.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 2 >> Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer off Josh Hader in the ninth inning as Chicago topped Milwaukee Brewers. NL Central-leading Chicago had gone scoreless for 17 straight innings before breaking through against Hader, who hadn’t allowed a homer all season long.
BLUES JAYS 3, METS 2 >> Bo Bichette singled and scored in a successful return to the Toronto lineup and Alejandro Kirk also got a hit and scored in his big league debut Toronto beat New York. as the Blue Jays beat the New York Mets 3-2.
TWINS’ ROMO SUSPENDED >> Minnesota Twins reliever Sergio Romo was suspended for one game by Major League Baseball on Saturday for jawing with Indians star Francisco Lindor. Romo and Lindor also were fined for the incident, which occurred during Minnesota’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
YANKEES EXECUTIVE NEWMAN DIES >> Mark Newman, a key front office executive for the New York Yankees during their run of five World Series titles from 1996 through 2009, was found dead at his home in Tampa, Flor
Manager Bob Melvin is confident that Daulton Jefferies will have a much better outing the next time he starts for the A’s — whenever that might be.
That’s probably an easy call considering the first one didn’t last very long.
In his major league debut, Jefferies, 25, allowed two firstinning home runs — both off of changeups — and lasted just two innings as the Texas Rangers beat the A’s 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The A’s rebounded to capture the nightcap, scoring seven runs in the second inning and getting a solid performance from Chris Bassitt to help earn a 10-1 win.
Bassitt had eight strikeouts in six innings in the win as the A’s played their first two games since they announced early Saturday that third baseman Matt Chapman would need surgery on his right hip and miss the rest of the season.
Jefferies, Oakland’s 2019 minor league pitcher of the year, struggled with his location in the early going and gave up a three-run home run to Rougned Odor and a tworun homer to Ronald Guzman — both with two outs. He also walked two batters — something he rarely did in 26 minor league games last year — and threw 36 pitches in the first inning.
Catcher Jonah Heim and Matt Olson each both drove in one run for the A’s, who were playing their first game since announcing earlier Saturday that Chapman would need surgery on his right hip and miss the rest of the season.
Jefferies pitched a scoreless second inning but was replaced by right-handed reliever Jordan Weems in the bottom of the third with the
A’s trailing 5-1. Jefferies, who had Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2017, threw 53 pitches, 34 for strikes. He also had one strikeout.
“With his injury history, we didn’t want him throwing 40 pitches in the first, so we were prepared to potentially make a move,” Melvin said. “But at least he gave us a couple innings and then settled down after that. He’ll be better next time.”
The question now is whether Jefferies will stick around the A’s or be reassigned back to the minor league camp. He was officially recalled Saturday as the A’s 29th player for the doubleheader, one player more over the limit. Although the A’s are in a busy stretch with five games in the next four days, they already have Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo, Mike Minor, Sean Manaea, Mike Fiers and Chris Bassitt on their starting staff.
Jefferies, the former Cal pitcher, was drafted 37th overall by the A’s in 2016. A biceps injury during spring training in February set Jefferies back after a promising 2019 in which he struck out 93 batters in 79 innings and walking only nine.
Weems pitched three perfect innings, recording five strikeouts. Weems returned to the active roster in midaugust after he dealt with a strained right lat, and has since not allowed an earned run in three appearances.
Lou Trivino pitched a scoreless sixth inning, allowing the A’s to use only three pitchers in the second game of a fourgame series that wraps up today. The A’s also have a double-header Monday in Seattle against the Mariners, then wrap up the trip with single games against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“When you’re in a stretch like this, obviously you’re looking at trying to keep as many guys available as you can, so Jordan saved us,” Melvin said.
• In the second game, the A’s sent 13 batters to the plate in a second inning that lasted roughly 40 minutes. In the rally, Sean Murphy had a tworun single and Ramon Laureano, Marcus Semien, Tommy La Stella, Matt Olson and Khris Davis all had one RBI each.
Semien added a three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning, his sixth of the season, as the A’s improved to 7-4 this month.