Red-hot Rays keep Yankees reeling with 3-1 victory

NEW YORK (AP) — Rich Hill finished May with the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years of a pitcher in his 40s, and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 16th time in 17 games by keeping up their domination of the reeling Yankees with a 3-1 victory Monday.

Hill (4-2), a 41-year-old lefthander who is the oldest player in Rays' history, improved to 3-0 against the Yankees this season. Hill was 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in six May starts.

Miguel Andújar homered in the seventh, just his second since 2018. J.P. Feyereisen, acquired May 21 from Milwaukee for shortstop Willy Adames, finished a five-hitter for his third save.

The AL East-leading Rays (3520) improved to 7-3 against the Yankees this season.

New York (29-25) limped to the season's one-third mark with its fourth straight defeat and sixth in seven games.

Jameson Taillon (1-4) lost to Hill for the second time this year. He allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings.

Manuel Margot hit an RBI double in the third. Austin Meadows homered into the rightfield short porch in the fourth and Randy Arozarena had an RBI single in the fifth.

ASTROS 11, RED SOX 2

HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Tucker had a season-best three hits and tied a career high with four RBIs as Houston handed former bench coach Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox their most lopsided loss of the season.

This was the first time Cora, now managing the Red Sox again, had faced the Astros since being suspended last year for his role in Houston's illegal sign-stealing scheme in 2017.

Cora helped Houston win the 2017 World Series as bench coach, then managed Boston to the 2018 championship. He was let go by the Red Sox following Major League Baseball's investigation into the Astros, then suspended by MLB through the 2020 postseason before getting rehired in Boston last November.

Jose Urquidy (4-2) did his part in ending Boston's three-game winning streak. He yielded three hits and one run, striking out nine in six innings in his return from the injured list.

Urquidy, who had been out since May 12 with shoulder inflammation, won his career-best fourth straight decision.

Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4) allowed a season-high six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings to extend his losing streak to a career-long four games.

Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer and Alex Bregman drove in two runs for Houston.

DODGERS 9, CARDINALS 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor drove in three runs with a tiebreaking double that capped a 14-pitch at-bat in the sixth inning, rallying Los Angeles past St. Louis to snap a three-game skid.

Taylor fouled off nine pitches — four in a row twice — by Genesis Cabrera before delivering the two-out double for a 6-3 lead. Two batters earlier, Cabrera issued a bases-loaded walk to Will Smith that tied the game.

Taylor also homered and doubled, going 3 for 4 with four RBIs and two runs scored.

Trevor Bauer (6-3) allowed four runs — three earned — and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Gavin Lux hit a pair of solo homers for the Dodgers on manager Dave Roberts' 49th birthday.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty exited with left side tightness after five innings. He equaled his season high with nine strikeouts. The right-hander gave up two runs and two hits against his favorite team while growing up in nearby Burbank.

With Flaherty gone, the Dodgers batted around in the sixth. Ryan Helsley (3-3) took the loss.

CUBS 7, PADRES 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Javier Báez and Patrick Wisdom each homered twice, helping Kohl Stewart and Chicago beat San Diego.

Stewart pitched five innings of one-run ball in his first major league win since July 21, 2019, for Minnesota against Oakland. Stewart (1-0) opted out of last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kris Bryant also went deep as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games.

San Diego dropped to 4-4 on its 10-game road trip. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 16th homer and Wil Myers drove in a run, but that was it for the Padres.

Chris Paddack (2-4) allowed five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings in his first loss since April 27. The right-hander struck out six and walked one.

METS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX (AP) — Pete Alonso homered and had four RBIs in his return from the injured list, Jacob deGrom pitched six shutout innings and New York beat Arizona for its fifth straight victory.

Making his second start since coming off the IL, deGrom (4-2) allowed two hits while striking out eight and walking none. He lowered his ERA to 0.71, the lowest for a qualifying starter through May since Phillies left-hander Curt Short was at 0.64 in 1964.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner also had an RBI single for his ninth hit in eight starts this season. He has 84 strikeouts and a 0.53 WHIP in 51 innings.

Alonso hit a two-run single and a two-run homer off starter Merrill Kelly (2-5) for his first four-RBI game since his rookie season in 2019. The big first baseman had been sidelined since May 19 with a sprained right hand.

Mason Williams, just promoted from the minors, made a tough catch at the center-field wall in his Mets debut to stop the Diamondbacks as they tried to rally in the seventh against New York's bullpen.

Kevin Pillar, wearing a protective mask on defense and the bases, came off the bench and singled in an inspirational return to the NL East leaders two weeks after getting hit square in the nose by a 95 mph fastball, causing multiple facial fractures.

Billy McKinney also went deep for New York.

Arizona, which snapped a 13game skid Sunday, has lost 17 of 19. Eduardo Escobar hit his 13th homer for the Diamondbacks.