Gleyber Torres hits slam, Yankees beat Red Sox 4-2
NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres hit a first-inning grand slam, left-hander James Paxton cruised after that and the New York Yankees three-hit the Boston Red Sox in a 4-2 victory Friday night.
Boston has lost five straight for the first time since 2015 and dropped 11 ½ games behind first-place New York in the AL East.
Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer during yet another rocky first inning by Paxton, but Torres bailed him out with his slam off Eduardo Rodriguez (13-5). Paxton (6-6) struck out the side in the second and completed six innings on 100 pitches, allowing two hits and two runs with six strikeouts.
New York earned its major league-leading 35th comeback win.
Yankees relievers Tommy Kahnle and Zack Britton pitched a scoreless inning each, and Aroldis Chapman was perfect in the ninth for his 28th save.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Freddy Galvis had a home run among his three hits, Brandon Drury also went deep and the Toronto beat Baltimore for its season-high fifth straight victory.
Galvis hit his 17th homer in the fourth inning off Aaron Brooks (2-5) and Drury connected in the sixth for a 4-0 lead. Toronto has seven home runs in the first two games of the series and a major league-leading 81 since June 16.
Chris Davis homered for the Orioles in this matchup between the last two teams in the AL East standings.
Five pitchers combined to limit Baltimore to two runs in a second straight game. Wilmer Font served as the opener, Nick Kingham (3-1) worked three innings and Derek Law got the last six outs for his first save.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Yasiel Puig drove in his first two runs for Cleveland and Mike Clevinger won his fifth straight by beating Los Angeles.
Puig had RBI singles in the first and second, helping Cleveland take an early 6-1 lead.
Clevinger (6-2) gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings — a solo homer to Mike Trout in the first. The right-hander allowed three hits and struck out eight.
Roberto Perez hit his 19th home run of the season in the third.
Taylor Cole (1-2) made his fifth start of the season. The right-hander allowed four runs and retired one batter before being replaced.
CHICAGO (AP) — Javier Báez homered and drove in three runs, and Chicago dealt Milwaukee its fourth loss in five games.
José Quintana pitched into the seventh inning and Jason Heyward also went deep for Chicago.
Báez had two doubles and scored twice. Quintana (9-7) also singled in a run as he won his fifth straight decision. He allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five.
Three Cubs relievers finished with three scoreless innings.
Ryan Braun hit a solo shot and doubled for Milwaukee. Zach Davies (8-5) allowed four runs in four innings.
Christian Yelich went 0 for 4, ending his career-best 19-game hitting streak.
ATLANTA (AP) — Joey Votto homered and drove in three runs, Alex Wood pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Cincinnati beat NL East-leading Atlanta.
Wood (1-0) was sharp in his second start since returning from a season-long back injury, allowing five baserunners and solo homers to Austin Riley in the fifth and Ronald Acuña Jr. in the sixth. Wood struck out five.
Raisel Iglesias earned his 21st save in 24 chances.
Atlanta starter Kevin Gausman (3-7) struggled in his second straight start, giving up five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Starling Marte’s three-run homer in the seventh inning broke open a tight game and Pittsburgh snapped New York’s seven-game winning streak.
The Pirates led 5-4 when Marte turned on a pitch from Tyler Bashlor and sent it into the seats in left field for his 19th home run of season.
Melky Cabrera hit a two-run double during Pittsburgh’s five-run fourth inning against Steven Matz (6-7). José Osuna had two hits and an RBI for the Pirates.
Trevor Williams (4-4) overcame a shaky start to pick up his first victory since May 10.
Pete Alonzo, Robinson Cano and Amed Rosario all had two hits apiece for the Mets.
