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Major League Baseball roundup: Betts, Sale notch milestones in Red Sox win

[July 07, 2018] Mookie Betts clubbed his 100th career home run, Chris Sale struck out 12 over six innings of one-run ball in his 100th win and the Boston Red Sox routed the host Kansas City Royals 10-5 on Friday night.

Betts' solo blast to lead off the game was his 22nd of the season and his 16th career leadoff blast, extending his own franchise record. He joined Ted Williams, Jim Rice and Tony Conigliaro as the only players to hit 100 homers with the Red Sox before the age of 26.

Sale (9-4) allowed five hits and walked one while lowering his season ERA to 2.36.

J.D. Martinez added a two-run shot for his major-league-leading 27th homer, and Xander Bogaerts also hit a two-run homer for Boston. Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer for the Royals, who suffered their seventh loss in a row.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2

Justin Smoak hit a three-run home run to cap a five-run second inning as Toronto beat visiting New York.

Yangervis Solarte had three hits and a walk for the Blue Jays, and Smoak had two hits and a walk in the opener of a three-game series.

Yankees starter Sonny Gray (5-7) allowed five runs, six hits and two walks in two innings, his shortest outing of the season. He also had two wild pitches, a hit batter and four strikeouts.

Angels 3, Dodgers 2

Down to their last out, the host Angels pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen to pull out an improbable win.

Shohei Ohtani worked a full-count walk and broke for second on Jansen's first pitch to David Fletcher. Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal double-clutched, then threw the ball into center field for an error, Ohtani going to third. Fletcher lined a single to left field to score Ohtani and tie the game at 2-2.

Ian Kinsler followed with a blooper to shallow right field, where Yasiel Puig bobbled the ball. Fletcher raced around third but initially was held by third base coach Dino Ebel. Puig's throw, however, bounced past Grandal, allowing Fletcher to score the winning run.

Astros 11, White Sox 4

Lance McCullers Jr. recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts and Houston extended its winning streak to four games with a rout of visiting Chicago.

McCullers (10-3) posted his fourth consecutive winning decision by dominating the White Sox throughout, save for a sudden spurt of vulnerability in the sixth inning. He gave up three hits and did not issue a walk over seven innings, picking up 16 swings and misses on his 58 curveballs.

The White Sox did not record their first hit until there was one out in the sixth. Center fielder Adam Engel reached on an opposite-field single to right, preceding singles from Yoan Moncada and Yolmer Sanchez, the latter of which plated Engel and cut the Houston lead to 3-1 at the time.

Indians 10, Athletics 4

Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion each drove in three runs and Carlos Carrasco struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings as Cleveland defeated visiting Oakland.

The Indians won their eighth consecutive home game and have now won seven of their last eight games at Progressive Field against the A's.

Oakland's Dustin Fowler led off the game with a home run, his sixth, and Matt Olson added a home run to lead off the second inning, his 19th, but the A's squandered their early 2-0 lead. The A's lost for just the second time in their last 10 games.

Nationals 3, Marlins 2

Mark Reynolds hit a pinch-hit, walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Washington a win over visiting Miami.

Reynolds led off the ninth, batting for winning pitcher Sean Doolittle (3-2), and worked the count to 3-1 against Kyle Barraclough (0-3). Then, Reynolds crushed a pitch to left-center that gave the Nationals the victory.

Both starters got no-decisions but did plenty of work. For the Nationals, Gio Gonzalez allowed two runs in five innings but needed to throw 114 pitches. Miami's Dan Straily threw 111 pitches in six innings as he gave up two runs.

Phillies 17, Pirates 5

Odubel Herrera and Andrew Knapp each homered, and visiting Philadelphia hammered Pittsburgh in a 4-hour, 30-minute affair that tied the National League record for longest nine-inning game. It was also the longest nine-inning game in the history of each franchise.

Herrera had four RBIs, Knapp and Carlos Santana added three each and Scott Kingery had four of the Phillies' 18 hits.

The Pirates have lost four straight -- by a combined score of 48-13 -- and five of their last six.

Brewers 5, Braves 4

Milwaukee got home runs from Tyler Saladino and Jesus Aguilar in a five-run third inning and hung on to beat visiting Atlanta to extend its winning streak to five games.

Saladino hit a two-run homer, his fourth, and Aguilar delivered a three-run shot, his 20th, in the rally against Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz (6-5).

Corey Knebel worked a scoreless ninth inning and earned his 11th save. He allowed a one-out hit to Dansby Swanson, but the shortstop was thrown out by Manny Pina while trying to steal second.

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Jul 6, 2018; Chicago, IL, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Jose Peraza (9) hits a single against the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Mets 5, Rays 1

Jose Bautista crushed a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning to lift New York to victory over visiting Tampa Bay.

Todd Frazier led off the ninth by working a walk against Chaz Roe (1-2). Devin Mesoraco followed with a single, after which Amed Rosario advanced both runners with a bunt. After pinch hitter Dominic Smith grounded out to Roe, Brandon Nimmo was intentionally walked to bring up Bautista, who homered well into the left field seats on Roe's next pitch for his first career walk-off homer.

The Mets have won two straight -- only their third winning streak of two games or more since a nine-game winning streak ended Apr. 13. The Rays have lost two straight and three of four.

Twins 6, Orioles 2

Max Kepler hit a two-run homer and Lance Lynn gave up one run over six innings to pick up his sixth win of the season and lead host Minnesota past Baltimore.

Joe Mauer, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver each had two hits for Minnesota, which won consecutive games for the first time since June 20.

Manny Machado had two hits, a walk and scored a run; Caleb Joseph had three hits and scored a run; and Mark Trumbo and Tim Beckham each had two hits for Baltimore, which lost its fourth straight game and 11th of 12.

Tigers 3, Rangers 1

Jordan Zimmermann struck out a season-high 11 batters and James McCann smashed a two-run homer as Detroit edged visiting Texas.

Zimmermann (4-0) was masterful, limiting the high-powered Rangers to one run on four hits over eight innings without allowing a walk. Joe Jimenez, filling in as the closer with Shane Greene on the 10-day disabled list, got the last three outs to record his third save.

Shin-Soo Choo had two hits, including a leadoff homer, to provide the lone Rangers' run. Choo stretched his on-base streak to 45 games, longest in the majors this season.

Reds 3, Cubs 2

Tyler Mahle pitched a career-high 6 2/3 effective innings as Cincinnati held on to win at Chicago.

Mahle (7-6) limited Chicago to a run on five hits. He beat the Cubs for the second time this season and won his fourth straight decision.

Chicago saw its season-high six-game winning streak snapped and had its seven-game home winning streak stopped.

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 1

Zack Godley and three relievers held visiting San Diego to one run on five hits, and Arizona scored twice in the bottom of the sixth without a run-scoring hit for its second win in its last eight games.

Godley (10-6) held the Padres to one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings. Brad Boxberger recorded his 21st save for Arizona.

Padres starter Joey Lucchesi (4-4) walked Godley opening the bottom of the sixth after allowing only one hit and two baserunners over the first five scoreless innings. The Diamondbacks would load the bases, scoring runs on a hit by pitch and RBI groundout.

Rockies 7, Mariners 1

German Marquez pitched six strong innings as Colorado defeated host Seattle in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Marquez (7-8) allowed one run -- a solo homer by Denard Span with two outs in the sixth inning -- on five hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five to continue his road mastery. The right-hander is 5-3 with a 2.62 ERA away from Coors Field.

Charlie Blackmon hit a solo homer and catcher Tony Wolters, the No. 9 batter in the Colorado order, had two triples and three RBIs as the Rockies won their fourth in a row and seventh in their past eight games.

Giants 3, Cardinals 2

Andrew McCutchen broke a seventh-inning tie with an RBI single, sending San Francisco to a win over visiting St. Louis.

After Alen Hanson sacrificed Hunter Pence, who had a pinch-hit single, to second, the Cardinals intentionally walked Buster Posey, setting the stage for McCutchen's difference-making hit to left field.

Reyes Moronta (5-1), who came on to strike out Harrison Bader to end the seventh with the potential go-ahead run on third base, was credited with the win. Left-hander Tony Watson pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning before Will Smith needed just nine pitches in the ninth to record his third save.

--Field Level Media

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