Red Sox beat Verlander, Astros 4-1 to avoid 3-game sweep
HOUSTON (AP) — Rafael Devers homered off Justin Verlander, and the Boston Red Sox took advantage of two errors by the Houston Astros to avoid a series sweep with a 4-1 victory Sunday.
Eduardo Rodriguez (5-3) held Houston to one run and four hits in six innings, improving to 5-1 in his last eight starts.
The Astros lost for just the fifth time in 22 games and finished the regular season 4-2 against the Red Sox, who beat them 4-1 in the ALCS last season on the way to a World Series championship.
Devers’ solo shot in the fourth gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. It was Devers’ seventh homer of the season and fourth in six games.
Marcus Walden earned his second major league save and first this season.
Verlander (8-2) permitted three runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out six.
ATHLETICS 7, MARINERS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Chapman homered for the second consecutive day, Josh Phegley also went deep and had three RBIs, and the streaking Oakland Athletics won their ninth straight, beating Seattle to complete a three-game sweep.
Brett Anderson allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings to win after being forced out of his previous start with a cervical strain. Anderson (6-3) struck out four and walked four, but got the Mariners to hit into double plays in three straight innings.
Seattle’s Jay Bruce hit his 300th career double in the second and his 299th homer in the seventh. Bruce needs one home run to become the eighth active player with 300 doubles and 300 homers.
Mike Leake (3-6) took the loss.
ROYALS 8, YANKEES 7, 10 INNINGS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield got a fortunate hop on an RBI single in the 10th inning, and Kansas City beat New York despite blowing a six-run lead.
Merrifield hit a sharp, two-out grounder toward third baseman Gio Urshela with speedster Billy Hamilton at second. The ball skipped over Urshela’s head, giving Hamilton time to race home. Hamilton had walked against Jonathan Holder (3-2) and stole second.
Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler homered on back-to-back pitches in the fifth inning and Martin Maldonado and Ryan O’Hearn also went deep as Kansas City hit four home runs in a game for the first time this season. New York’s Aaron Hicks tied it in the ninth with a two-run single off Ian Kennedy as the Yankees scored three runs with two outs to make it 7-all.
Kevin McCarthy (2-1) threw a scoreless 10th to earn the win.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Justin Turner had five hits after taking a day off, Joc Pederson homered during a six-run sixth inning that featured consecutive bases-loaded plunkings and Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh to complete a three-game sweep.
Matt Beaty had four RBIs and Corey Seager drove in two for the Dodgers, who got five innings of three-run ball from Kenta Maeda (6-2) in his return from the injured list. Los Angeles has won nine of 11.
Chris Archer (1-5) lost his fifth straight start. He allowed six walks and six hits over five innings of four-run ball, striking out three while throwing 105 pitches.
Montana DuRapau drilled Kiké Hernandez with a 3-2 pitch to put the Dodgers up 7-3 in the sixth. Dovydas Neverauskas relieved and plunked Austin Barnes, then gave up two more runs.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Woodruff allowed a solo homer but was otherwise perfect over eight innings, Christian Yelich hit his NL-leading 21st home run and Milwaukee connected five times against Philadelphia.
Woodruff (7-1) retired his first 15 batters before Andrew Knapp opened the sixth with his first homer. Woodruff struck out a career-high 10, fanning the final batter in each of his innings while matching a career high with 24 outs — a mark he set in his previous outing against Atlanta.
Ben Gamel had two homers for the Brewers, and Hernán Pérez and Yasmani Grandal also went yard. Matt Albers finished with a perfect ninth.
Zach Eflin (5-5) allowed three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Austin Meadows led off the game with a home run and was 4 for 4 with three RBIs, leading Tampa Bay over reeling Cleveland.
Tampa Bay (31-19) is a season-high 12 games over .500 after taking three of four in the series. The Indians (26-26) fell to .500 for the first time since April 4, when they were 3-3. Cleveland has dropped six of seven and finished 4-7 on its longest homestand of the season.
Jalen Beeks (4-0), who took over after Ryne Stanek got the first five outs, gave up two hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cleveland scored twice in the ninth to cut into a 6-1 lead, but José Alvarado struck out Oscar Mercado and retired Carlos Santana with two on for his sixth save.
Trevor Bauer (4-4) allowed four runs in six innings and hasn’t won since April 30.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Odorizzi permitted one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler each hit a three-run homer as Minnesota completed a sweep of Chicago.
Odorizzi (7-2) won his seventh straight decision and finished without allowing a run for the fifth time in his past six starts. He combined with four relievers for Minnesota’s sixth shutout of the season.
The Twins have won 11 of their past 12 games and swept a series for the seventh time this year. They swept eight series all of last season.
Rosario hit his 16th home run, second in the American League to Houston’s George Springer, to cap a four-run third against starter Dylan Covey. Kepler’s 12th home run came in the seventh, traveling an estimated 429 feet off the new wall of juniper bushes in center field.
Minnesota has a major league-best 104 home runs this season and has the top home run differential at plus-43.
Covey (0-4) allowed four runs in six innings.
CHICAGO (AP) — Nick Senzel had three hits, scored four times and cut down a runner at the plate, helping Tanner Roark and the Reds beat the Cubs.
Led by Senzel, the top third of Cincinnati’s lineup collected seven of the team’s season-high 17 hits. Joey Votto singled twice in his third consecutive multihit game, and Eugenio Suárez finished with two hits and three RBIs.
The last-place Reds also got five scoreless innings from Roark (4-3) in the rubber game of their weekend set against the NL Central leaders. Cincinnati lost 14 of its previous 19 series against Chicago.
The Cubs were hurt by a shaky performance by José Quintana (4-4), and their decidedly dreary afternoon got even worse when Kris Bryant departed with an injury after colliding with center fielder Jason Heyward in the sixth inning.
TORONTO (AP) — Cavan Biggio had three hits, including his first career home run, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had four hits and homered for the third straight game, and the Blue Jays beat San Diego.
Toronto’s Justin Smoak hit two home runs, a two-run shot off Luis Perdomo in the fifth inning and a three-run drive off Adam Warren in the eighth.
With his Hall of Fame father Craig watching from the stands, Biggio got his first hit with a ground single through the right side in the second. He hit a solo home run into the fourth deck off left-hander Matt Wisler in the fourth, then added an RBI single in Toronto’s four-run fifth.
Marcus Stroman (3-6) pitched five innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season.
Robbie Erlin (0-1) allowed one run and three hits in two innings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Zack Wheeler pitched into the eighth inning, Todd Frazier delivered a clever push bunt and New York kept up a run of comebacks by beating Detroit for its sixth win in seven games.
Adeiny Hechavarria’s three-run homer off rookie starter Spencer Turnbull (2-4) helped the Mets rally from an early 3-0 deficit and reach the .500 mark. New York has trailed in all but one of these recent victories, with each of them coming at Citi Field.
Nicholas Castellanos homered and drove in three runs for the Tigers, who have lost 11 of 12.
Wheeler (4-3) retired 13 batters in a row and singled twice, boosting his batting average to .308.
Edwin Diaz escaped a jam in the ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Howie Kendrick hit his eighth homer, drove in three runs and finished with three hits as Washington beat Miami.
Brian Dozier doubled in two during Washington’s four-run rally with two outs in the third inning against Caleb Smith (3-2), who had his shortest outing of the season.
The Nationals have won the first three games against NL-worst Miami in a four-game series that wraps Monday. They entered on a five-game losing streak.
Erick Fedde (1-0) worked five scoreless innings for his first win since Sept. 11 last year. He made his second start in place of injured Anibal Sanchez.
Michael A. Taylor had an RBI double in the sixth and Anthony Rendon added a two-run triple.
DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado homered for the third straight game, pitcher German Marquez tripled and drove in three runs, and Colorado scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally past Baltimore.
Ian Desmond drew a bases-loaded walk from Mychal Givens to tie it, and Tony Wolters hit a sacrifice fly to score pinch-running pitcher Jeff Hoffman with the winning run.
Wolters had three hits for the Rockies, who took two of three in the interleague series — a rare Baltimore visit to Coors Field. The major league-worst Orioles (16-37) have dropped eight of nine and haven’t won a series since April 22-24 against the White Sox.
Trey Mancini gave Baltimore a 7-6 lead with a two-run triple in the eighth off winner Scott Oberg (3-0).
Paul Fry (0-2) took the loss.
Baltimore scored three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to rally from a 5-1 deficit.
ANAHEIM (AP) — Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun scored on wild pitches in a six-run seventh inning that gave Los Angeles a comeback win over Texas.
Trout hit a solo shot in the first, his 12th home run of the year. He was 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBIs.
Shohei Ohtani tied it at 5 in the seventh with a sacrifice fly off reliever Jeffrey Springs (2-1). Trout and Calhoun then scored on wild pitches in consecutive plate appearances. Luis Rengifo had a two-run single during the rally.
With runners at the corners, pinch-hitter Nomar Mazara grounded out against Justin Anderson to end it. Anderson allowed an RBI double to Shin-Soo Choo but earned his first save of the season.
Choo and Hunter Pence each hit a solo homer for Texas.
Andrew Heaney pitched well in his season debut for Los Angeles. Heaney, bothered by elbow inflammation in spring training, struck out 10 and allowed two hits — both home runs — in five innings.
David Fletcher had three hits for the Angels. Luis Garcia (1-1) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ketel Marte homered for the third time in three games, Eduardo Escobar had three hits and Arizona completed a sweep of San Francisco, tying a franchise record for scoring in a three-game series.
Mike Yastrzemski, the 23-year-old grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, had the first three hits of his career for the Giants, who lost their fifth straight and finished a 1-6 homestand.
The Diamondbacks outscored the Giants 34-8 in the series, matching a club mark they set at home in September 2016 against Colorado.
Marte went deep in the first inning off Shaun Anderson (0-1), who gave up six runs — four earned — and nine hits with two wild pitches in five innings.
Luke Weaver (4-3) pitched five-plus innings of six-hit ball for the win. He struck out six and gave up one run before exiting with right forearm tightness.
