Aug 19, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) congratulates relief pitcher Dellin Betances (68) after defeating the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
BOSTON — CC Sabathia came off the disabled list and outpitched Chris Sale and became the American League’s all-time leading left-hander in strikeouts in leading the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.
Sabathia (10-5, 3-0 against Boston) passed Mickey Lolich with his 2,680th career strikeout en route to working six innings and allowing two hits. He has yielded two runs in 20 innings against the first-place Red Sox, who saw their lead in the American League East drop to four games over New York.
Tyler Austin crashed a three-run homer in his first career at-bat against Sale (14-5) in the second inning and Todd Frazier hit his second homer in as many nights for the Yankees. Boston lost for only the third time in its last 16 games.
Dodgers 3, Tigers 0
DETROIT — Recently returned Adrian Gonzalez lined a single to right that scored new acquisition Curtis Granderson from second with two outs in the seventh inning, breaking a scoreless tie and starting Los Angeles on its way to victory over Detroit.
Los Angeles’ latest win streak stands at six games with 21 wins in its last 24 games and 52 victories out of its last 61 to achieve baseball’s best record at 87-34. Yasmani Grandal hit his 16th home run of the season in the ninth to make it 3-0.
Ross Stripling (3-4) earned the victory with two scoreless relief innings. Brandon Morrow pitched the eighth and Kenley Jansen earned his 33rd save for working the ninth.
Angels 5, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE — Mike Trout and Luis Valbuena each homered twice in the first four innings as Los Angeles defeated Baltimore.
Trout’s first-inning homer gave the 26-year-old 25 for the season. He became the third player in history to hit 25 homers six times before his age 26 season. Eddie Mathews and Frank Robinson are the others.
Angels starter JC Ramirez (11-10) dodged some trouble in the early innings as the Orioles put runners in scoring position in the first and third but came away allowing only one run. He went 5 2/3 innings before leaving with right forearm irritation in the sixth.
Indians 5, Royals 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined on a seven-hitter as Cleveland beat skidding Kansas City.
The Indians have outscored the Royals 15-1 in the first two games of this series. Bauer (12-8) gave up seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. Shaw and Allen did not allow a baserunner.
Jason Vargas (14-7), who has only two wins since June 30 after being named to the All-Star Game, yielded four runs, six hits and three walks while striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings. Kansas City is 6-12 in August.
Astros 3, Athletics 0
HOUSTON — Collin McHugh worked six shutout innings and a reconfigured bullpen closed out Houston’s victory over Oakland.
McHugh (1-2) earned his first victory on the season in his sixth start after missing three-plus months with an elbow injury. It was a bit of a rocky road for McHugh, who retired the side in order only once and relied on grounders and his defense to eliminate baserunners.
The Astros turned three double plays behind McHugh, who allowed six hits and walked one batter while striking out three, and six overall.
Marwin Gonzalez delivered a two-run single in the fourth inning and Alex Bregman homered in the ninth — his second in two days.
Cubs 4, Blue Jays 3
CHICAGO — Javier Baez drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the sixth inning and Chicago hung on to beat Toronto.
Ian Happ scored on Baez’s single up the middle after drawing a walk and advancing on a groundout. On Friday, Baez drove in three runs in the Cubs’ 7-4 series-opening victory over the Blue Jays.
Happ also homered and had an RBI single for Chicago. Cubs starter Jose Quintana (4-2) struck out eight and allowed two runs, four hits and two walks (one intentional) in six innings.
Twins 5, Diamondbacks 0
MINNEAPOLIS — Jose Berrios posted seven scoreless innings, and Minnesota exploded for five runs in the fourth inning against Zack Greinke to beat Arizona.
Joe Mauer had three hits, a walk and an RBI for the Twins, and Brian Dozier added a pair of hits as Minnesota maintained a spot as one of the American League wild-card teams with their third straight victory.
Berrios (11-5) allowed two hits and struck out seven batters, lowering his ERA to 3.99 in a strong sophomore season. Greinke (14-6) lasted only four innings, giving up five runs (four earned), seven hits and a season high-tying four walks. He struck out four.
Pirates 6, Cardinals 4
PITTSBURGH — Starling Marte was 3-for-5 with one of three Pittsburgh homers and Chad Kuhl didn’t let a long rain delay bother him as the Pirates snapped a six-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh pounded out 12 hits and rode a five-run second inning. Kuhl (6-8) retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced after the delay, with only one hit. Overall, he gave up one run on three hits, with six strikeouts and one walk, in five innings.
St. Louis’ Michael Wacha (9-6) got rocked after he pitched a perfect first and was out of the game after four innings. He gave up five runs and seven hits, including two homers, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Mets 8, Marlins 1
NEW YORK — Wilmer Flores and Kevin Plawecki each hit two-run homers during a seven-run sixth inning as New York snapped a five-game losing streak.
Rookie Dominic Smith hit his first Citi Field homer for the Mets, who benefited from three Miami errors in the sixth inning. New York’s Rafael Montero (2-8) allowed one run, six hits and three walks while striking out five in six innings.
Marcell Ozuna had three singles, including an RBI in the sixth that broke a scoreless tie, for the Marlins, who equaled a team record by hitting into five double plays. The five double plays induced by the Mets also tied a team mark.
Mariners 7, Rays 6
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mitch Haniger’s grand slam got Seattle an early lead en route to its fourth straight victory.
The Mariners had a 7-2 lead in the sixth inning and held off a rally from Tampa Bay, which had scored nine runs in its previous 10 home games. The Rays have dropped four in a row and 12 of their last 15 as they fade from the American League wild-card chase.
Logan Morrison had a pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the ninth — his 29th of the season — to get Tampa Bay within a run. Edwin Diaz regrouped to strike out Kevin Kiermaier and pinch hitter Corey Dickerson hit a weak ground ball as he recorded his 27th save.
Reds 11, Braves 8
ATLANTA — Scott Schebler broke out of a 2-for-40 slump and Scooter Gennett hit his third grand slam of the season as Cincinnati opened up a seven-run lead and held off Atlanta.
Schebler was 3 for 4 with double, walk, two runs scored and a RBI in his first start since late July after coming off the disabled list the day before and drawing a walk as a pinch hitter. Gennett’s slam, his 21st homer of the year, gave him five RBIs for the game.
The Braves lost despite three homers, the last a three-run pinch shot by Matt Adams in the ninth inning off Blake Wood. Atlanta got the tying run to the plate, but Michael Lorenzen got Matt Kemp, just off the disabled list, to bounce into a force at third base to end the game.
