CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Durbin hit a two-run homer to help the surging Boston Red Sox top the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Thursday for their sixth consecutive victory.
Boston finished with just four hits, but Patrick Sandoval and four relievers shut down Chicago while finishing a sweep of the three-game series. The Red Sox improved to 11-2 in their past 13 games, and they have outscored their opponents 35-10 during their win streak.
Sandoval permitted one run and five hits in 4 1/3 innings in his first major league start in more than two years. The left-hander had elbow surgery in June 2024 and then signed an $18.25 million, two-year contract with the Red Sox that December.
Tyron Guerrero (1-1) got five outs after Sandoval departed. Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten each pitched an inning before Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.
Boston’s bullpen surrendered one run and four hits in 9 2/3 innings in the series.
Chicago lost for the sixth time in eight games. White Sox left-hander Anthony Kay (6-4) allowed four hits and walked two in 5 1/3 innings.
METS 7, ROYALS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Tyrone Taylor, who entered when Mark Vientos suffered a fractured right hand after being hit by a pitch, hit the game-tying homer to start a five-run fifth inning, powering New York to a win over Kansas City.
Sean Manaea had his longest start in 21 months for the Mets, who won a series for just the third time since June 1.
Manaea (2-4) allowed six hits, three runs, two earned, and struck out six while completing seven innings for the first time since Oct. 8, 2024, when he earned the win for the Mets in Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Taylor took over in center field for rookie A.J. Ewing, who made his big league debut at second after Brett Baty moved to third when Vientos left following the second inning. Interim manager Andy Green said following the game Vientos will go on the injured list.
Bo Bichette lofted the go-ahead sacrifice fly and Carson Benge and Francisco Alvarez followed with RBI hits against Michael Wacha (5-7).
Juan Soto homered in the seventh. Jared Young added two doubles, including an RBI hit in the second.
ORIOLES 3, CUBS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Jeremiah Jackson hit a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Baltimore to a victory over Chicago.
Tyler O’Neill homered for the Orioles in the second inning, then Baltimore didn’t have another hit until the eighth when Jackson came up.
With the Cubs up 2-1, Tyler Ferguson (0-1) allowed a walk and a hit batter with one out. That set up some managerial chess, with Baltimore sending lefty-swinging Dylan Beavers up to pinch-hit, only for Chicago to replace Ferguson with left-hander Ryan Rolison. Then the Orioles sent up the right-handed Jackson to hit for Beavers.
Jackson sent a drive to the gap in right-center field. Gunnar Henderson scored easily, and Pete Alonso barely beat the throw home with a head-first slide.
Tyler Wells (2-1) won in relief despite allowing an RBI double by Seiya Suzuki in the top of the eighth. Suzuki also homered in the sixth.
Andrew Kittridge worked the ninth for his second save, and Baltimore avoided a three-game sweep. Henderson made an error at shortstop to start the inning, but Nico Hoerner was caught stealing when his slide took him off the base at second.
GUARDIANS 5, TWIS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gavin Williams pitched seven dominant innings, Gabriel Arias, Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit home runs and Cleveland beat Minnesota to avoid a three-game sweep.
Williams (10-4) moved into a tie with Boston’s Sonny Gray for the most victories in the AL with his first win since June 3. He gave up two runs on three hits with a walk, and he tied his season high with 11 strikeouts.
Hunter Gaddis pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Cade Smith earned his 27th save with a perfect ninth.
Twins starter Bailey Ober gave up one run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts in his first appearance since May 30. He was activated from the injured list on Thursday after recovering from right elbow inflammation.
The Twins saw their four-game winning streak snapped but still won seven of their last eight series.
Williams retired the first 13 batters he faced, eight of them by strikeout, before Royce Lewis dropped a soft line drive into short right field for the Twins’ first hit.
YANKEES 12, RAYS 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ben Rice hit two homers and drove in five runs, Austin Wells also went deep and New York beat Tampa Bay to split a four-game series between the AL’s top two teams.
Junior Caminero connected for the Rays, who have a four-game lead over the Yankees in the East.
Both Rice and Caminero will compete in the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia on Monday night.
The injury-riddled Yankees improved to 15-19 without three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge, who will have his injured right rib reimaged next week.
The Yankees won for just the third time in 14 games. They’ve lost seven games in the standings in that span as the Rays have gone 10-4.
Tampa Bay’s pitchers had 45 strikeouts and only two walks in the first three games of the series before New York’s slumping hitters broke out with 14 hits and 12 runs.
BRAVES 10, PIRATES 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski hit a game-sealing grand slam in the ninth inning, Matt Olson hit a first-inning home run while tying the franchise record for consecutive games played and Atlanta defeated Pittsburgh.
The Braves were leading 6-5 when Yastrzemski connected off Dennis Santana for his third career slam.
Olson’s homer was a solo shot and his 25th season, opening the scoring. The first baseman played in his 740th straight game, going back to the start of the 2022 season, and tied the mark set by Dale Murphy from 1982-86.
Atlanta’s Jim Jarvis hit his first career home run, connecting for a two-run blast off Cam Sanders in a three-run fourth inning that extended the lead to 6-2. The rookie shortstop had three hits.
Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez hit back-to-back homers in the third to cut the Braves’ lead to 3-2. Jake Mangum had four hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fourth that brought the Pirates to 6-4 and an RBI double in the sixth that made it a one-run game.
Atlanta’s Bryce Elder allowed four runs in four innings. Mitch Keller (6-7) gave up three runs in three innings to fall to 1-5 with a 7.94 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves.
Dylan Dodd (2-0) pitched a perfect fifth inning for the win.
PHILLIES 1, REDS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jesús Luzardo allowed two hits in seven innings and struck out 11, Justin Crawford’s base hit in the eighth inning drove in the game’s only run and Philadelphia beat Cincinnati in a pitcher’s duel.
Luzardo (8-4) — named to his first All-Star Game as an injury replacement on Tuesday — continued his dominance on the road. The left-hander is 6-0 with a 1.38 ERA this season in 11 starts away from Philadelphia.
Luzardo struck out the side in the third and sixth innings as he had his fourth outing with double-digit strikeouts.
Jhoan Duran gave up a leadoff single to JJ Bleday and hit Spencer Steer with a splitter before striking out Eugenio Suárez and Tyler Stephenson and getting Noelvi Marte to hit into a game-ending grounder for his 23rd save in 24 opportunities.
Cincinnati’s Brady Singer (3-9) was equally as effective the first seven innings, allowing only three hits and striking out five before the right-hander ran into trouble in the eighth. The Reds were held to three hits after hitting five home runs in Wednesday night’s 11-5 victory.
TIGERS 4, ATHLETICS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Eduardo Valencia became the 10th Detroit player to homer in his first career plate appearance, Framber Valdez pitched seven innings and the Tigers beat the Athletics for a series sweep.
Valencia entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh against Hogan Harris and sent a 425-foot shot to center to cap the scoring and help the Tigers seal their third straight series victory. The 26-year-old catcher was called up from Triple-A Toledo on Thursday with fellow catcher Dillon Dingler recovering from a right hand contusion.
Valdez (5-6) had a season-high nine strikeouts, while allowing one run on three hits. Kyle Finnegan worked the eighth, and Kenley Jansen the ninth for his 11th save.
Detroit has won five in a row and is 21-12 since June 1. The Tigers have climbed within 4 1/2 games of first place in the AL Central.
Jake Rogers and Zach McKinstry also homered for Detroit.
Rogers hit his third homer of the year, and second in two games, to left in the third to make it 1-0. McKinstry had a two-run shot to left in the fifth.
Jack Perkins (2-5) allowed three runs on two hits in three inning for the Athletics.
MARLINS 8, MARINERS 4
MIAMI (AP) — Otto Lopez hit a two-run triple to back a strong five-inning outing by Janson Junk and Miami beat Seattle to extend its winning streak to six.
Griffin Conine homered to help Miami complete a three-game sweep.
The Marlins are 52-42 and 10 games above .500 for the first time since completing a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals on June 18, 2023.
Lopez, whose .345 average leads the majors, went 1 for 3 and walked twice. He has a club-record 127 hits before the All-Star break — one more than Luis Arraez had in 2023.
Junk (4-5) allowed two runs — one earned — on three hits in his first start since May 25 after landing on the injured list with right shin bone inflammation. He struck out five and walked four.
Conine hit the first pitch from Bryce Miller (4-3) in the bottom of the second inning to tie it 1-1. Jakob Marsee singled and scored on a two-out double by Liam Hicks for a 2-1 lead.
Lopez’s triple came in a four-run fourth, capped by Kyle Stowers’ RBI single for a 6-1 lead.
BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Bauers hit a three-run home run, Brice Turang added his 13th homer of the season, and Milwaukee used a six-run third inning to rally past St. Louis to claim four of five games in the series.
Milwaukee won four games in a series at St. Louis for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 2008. The NL Central-leading Brewers are 59-34 with one series to go before the All-Star break.
Turang opened the decisive third with an RBI single before Bauers hit his 17th homer of the season into the seats in right, giving Milwaukee a 6-0 lead it never surrendered. Bauers is tied for the MLB lead with seven three-run homers.
Turang hit a solo shot to center in the seventh, extending the lead to 7-4.
Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt each had RBI singles in the second inning to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead, and William Contreras capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly that scored Jackson Chourio in the ninth.
Logan Henderson (3-1) threw 5 1/3 innings in his first start since May 22 after landing on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain. He struck out four and allowed three runs on three hits.
RANGERS 7, ANGELS 6
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Wyatt Langford lined a shot off the wall in left field to bring home Alejandro Osuna in the ninth inning, lifting Texas to a victory over Los Angeles after the Rangers blew a five-run.
Langford struck out three of his first four times up as the designated hitter after getting activated from the 10-day injured list the first day he was eligible after dealing with a left hamstring strain.
Osuna led off the ninth with a single and went to second on pinch-hitter Nicky Lopez’s sacrifice bunt. Langford lined a 1-1 fastball from former Texas closer Kirby Yates (0-4) over Jose Siri’s head for the winning single.
Jo Adell had a tying pinch-hit single to cap a five-run seventh a night after homering twice in the Angels’ 13-1 victory.
Cole Winn (4-2) got Adell on a sharp liner to center field to end the ninth with the potential go-ahead run at third after replacing All-Star closer Jacob Latz, who went 1 2/3 innings in his first outing in nine days.
Nathan Eovaldi struck out a season-high 10 for Texas but didn’t get a win in a fifth consecutive start, which would have given him 10 victories this season. He exited with no outs in the seventh after Dezner Guzman reached on catcher’s interference, Logan O’Hoppe walked and Wade Meckler’s single scored Guzman.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nolan Arenado homered and moved closer to 2,000 hits, and Merrill Kelly combined with two relievers on a three-hitter for Arizona, who beat San Diego to split a four-game series.
The Diamondbacks and Padres are jockeying for second place in the NL West, well behind the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona popped back into a tie with San Diego, 14 1/2 games behind the idle Dodgers.
Arenado homered to left field off Yuki Matsui with two outs in the sixth, his 11th of the season and 364th of his 14-year career. He’s six shy of becoming the sixth active player to reach 2,000 hits. He’s in his first season with Arizona after spending five with St. Louis and his first eight with Colorado.
The Southern California native has 17 homers at Petco Park, the most by a visiting player. He’s reached base safely in 25 of his last 26 games at the downtown ballpark since Sept. 1, 2018.
GIANTS 8, ROCKIES 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Casey Schmitt, Bryce Eldridge and Willy Adames homered to back rookie Carson Whisenhunt and San Francisco beat Colorado to start a four-game series.
Whisenhunt (2-0) allowed two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings in his second start this season and the seventh of his career. He struck out four and walked four, throwing 57 of 87 pitches for strikes.
JT Brubacker retired all four batters he faced before Erik Miller struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Caleb Kilian fanned two in the ninth to finish.
Schmitt hit his 18th homer — a two-out shot off Ryan Feltner (3-3) for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. He had an RBI double after a two-out bases-empty single by Luis Arraez to ignite a four-run eighth against reliever TJ Shook. Rafael Devers added a ground-rule RBI double in front of Adames’ 15th homer to cap the rally.
Eldridge became the first Giant this season to hit a home run into McCovey Cove, tying it 2-2 in the fourth with his eighth of the season.
