BOSTON — Alex Rodriguez tied Willie Mays for fourth place in major league history with his 660th home run, breaking an eighth-inning tie with a pinch-hit shot that sent the New York Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
BOSTON — Alex Rodriguez tied Willie Mays for fourth place in major league history with his 660th home run, breaking an eighth-inning tie with a pinch-hit shot that sent the New York Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi left Rodriguez out of the starting lineup to rest him but sent him up to bat for Garrett Jones with one out in the eighth.
Rodriguez ran the count to 3-0, then lined a fastball from Junichi Tazawa (0-1) into the left-field seats above the Green Monster — his first career homer as a pinch hitter — and jogged around the bases to boos from the crowd at Fenway Park, where he made his major league debut with Seattle in 1994.
The Yankees’ reaction was a bit subdued for a teammate who was suspended all last season for his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. Players stayed in the dugout, applauding. But when A-Rod arrived, Girardi gave him a high-five and teammates shook his hand and enthusiastically patted him on the back.
ROYALS 4, TIGERS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Young pitched five no-hit innings and the Detroit Tigers didn’t break through until the eighth.
Young, making his first start of the year after five relief appearances, struck out nine and walked three before exiting with his pitch count reaching 81.
Young (2-0) walked the bases full with one out in the fourth, but recovered to strike out J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes on seven pitches to end the inning.
Ryan Madson pitched two perfect innings after Young was pulled.
Kendrys Morales drove in three of the Royals’ runs
Left-hander Kyle Lobstein (2-2) took the loss, yielding four runs on 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings.
GIANTS 3, ANGELS 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Pinch hitter Joe Panik singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the San Francisco Giants past the Los Angeles Angels.
Angel Pagan had two hits and drove in a run for the Giants, who have won seven of 11 since ending an eight-game losing streak.
David Freese hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Erick Aybar with the tying run in the top of the eighth. Aybar reached on a Matt Duffy fielding error.
Buster Posey beat out an infield single to open the ninth, Justin Maxwell sacrificed pinch runner Gregor Blanco to second and walks to Andrew Susac, who singled to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in the seventh, and Brandon Crawford loaded the bases for Panik, who singled sharply up the middle against Joe Smith (0-1).
Santiago Casilla (2-0) recorded the final five outs for the win.
CUBS 1, BREWERS 0
CHICAGO — Jon Lester pitched seven scoreless innings for his first victory with Chicago and Addison Russell hit his first career home run.
Lester (1-2) allowed just three hits, struck out four and walked one in his best outing of the season. The left-hander received a standing ovation when he lifted in the top of the eighth inning.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon decided to go with reliever Pedro Strop to face switch-hitter Elian Herrera.
Strop pitched a perfect eighth inning and Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six chances.
INDIANS 9, BLUE JAYS 4
CLEVELAND — Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer and Brett Hayes added a three-run shot, leading the Cleveland Indians.
Josh Donaldson and Jason Kipnis hit home runs in the first, which was just the beginning of the offensive outburst.
The Indians finished April with a 7-14 record, the worst in the American League. The win raised their home mark to 3-8 and was just their second victory in 10 games against a left-handed starter.
Carlos Carrasco (3-2), making his first start at Progressive Field since being hit in the face by a line drive on April 14, allowed four runs in six innings.
RAYS 2, ORIOLES 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Colome and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Baltimore in a relocated home game for the Orioles.
The three-game series was moved from Camden Yards to Tropicana Field this week after violence broke out in Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody after suffering a spinal cord injury.
The announced crowd was 9,945. The Rays are averaging 17,545 in home attendance this season.
Colome (1-0), reinstated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, allowed three hits and struck out six over five innings in his season debut. The right-hander was hospitalized during spring training with pneumonia.
METS 4, NATIONALS 0
NEW YORK — Matt Harvey outpitched Max Scherzer, barely, and the New York Mets backed their ace with a lot of fancy fielding before breaking away from the Washington Nationals.
Michael Cuddyer homered early as the Mets stopped their longest losing streak of the year at three. Daniel Murphy added a three-run double in the eighth inning when left fielder Jayson Werth mistakenly broke in and then slipped trying to recover.
The Nationals, who had won 15 of their last 16 at Citi Field, were denied a season-high four-game winning string.
Harvey (5-0) became the first five-game winner in the majors, giving up five hits and striking out three in seven innings.
Scherzer (1-3) fanned 10, and also allowed five hits in seven innings. But Cuddyer tagged him for a drive in the fourth, leaving Scherzer with only one win in five starts despite a 1.26 ERA.
ATHLETICS 7, RANGERS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mark Canha started and ended Oakland’s seven-run rally in the eighth inning, and the Athletics beat the Texas Rangers.
Canha led off the inning with a home run. Brett Lawrie’s two-out, two-run double gave the Athletics a 6-5 lead. Canha then singled to score Lawrie.
The Rangers have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.
In the eighth, Stephen Vogt singled in a run, and Josh Reddick hit a two-run single off Roman Mendez (0-1).
Closer Neftali Feliz gave up the hits by Lawrie and Canha.
Dan Otero (2-1) picked up the win. Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth for his second save in three opportunities.
Texas had led 5-0.
TWINS 1, WHITE SOX 0
MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Gibson pitched eight strong innings and the Minnesota Twins scored on a wild pitch to beat the Chicago White Sox.
Torii Hunter and Kennys Vargas each had two hits for Minnesota, which has won five of its last seven. Glen Perkins pitched a tense ninth inning for his seventh save.
Chicago had runners on second and third with two outs in its last at-bat, but Tyler Flowers struck out looking.
Jose Quintana (1-2) allowed six hits and one earned run in seven innings for the White Sox, whose offensive woes continued. Chicago has scored four runs in its past three games. Adam LaRoche had two hits.
Gibson (2-2) gave up just four hits, struck out four and walked one.
ASTROS 4, MARINERS 3
HOUSTON — Evan Gattis, Jake Marisnick and George Springer all homered to lead the Houston Astros to a victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Josh Fields (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win, striking out four of the five batters he faced. Luke Gregorson gave up solo homers to Nelson Cruz and Logan Morrison in the ninth, but finished up for his fifth save.
After posting their best April record since 1986 at 15-7, the Astros won their first game of May for their eighth straight win and 12th in their last 13.
Gattis hit a two-run homer off Roenis Elias (0-1) in the first inning, and Marisnick’s solo shot made it 3-0 in the second.
Robinson Cano had an RBI double in the top of the third to get the Mariners on the scoreboard, but Springer regained Houston’s three-run lead with his solo homer in the eighth.
BRAVES 4, REDS 3
ATLANTA — Mike Foltynewicz won his first career start and drove in two runs with his first career hit to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds.
Kelly Johnson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning for a 4-3 lead, Atlanta’s first of the game, and the Braves snapped a three-game losing streak. Atlanta also won for the third time in 11 games.
Foltynewicz (1-0), recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Gwinnett, settled down after a rough, 28-pitch first inning. The right-hander allowed six hits, three walks and three runs — two earned — with two strikeouts in five innings.
Anthony DeSclafani (2-2) had his worst outing in five starts for the Reds, allowing four hits, four runs and five walks with five strikeouts in five innings. DeSclafani began the game with just six walks allowed in 26 innings.
The Reds had won three of four.
DODGERS 8, DIAMONDBACK 0
LOS ANGELES — Prized rookie Joc Pederson hit his first career grand slam, Andre Ethier and Justin Turner added solo shots and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-0 on Friday night.
Carlos Frias (2-0) came out of the Dodgers’ bullpen to make a spot start for Brandon McCarthy, who had season-ending Tommy John surgery on Thursday. The 25-year-old rookie struck out three and walked one over 5 1-3 sharp innings in his third big league start.
Harmless singles by Yasmany Tomas in the second and Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth were Arizona’s only hits until the sixth, when Danny Dorn pinch-hit for pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (2-2) and led off with a single for his first hit in four major league at-bats.
MARLINS 4, PHILLIES 3
MIAMI — Giancarlo Stanton scored from first base on Marcell Ozuna’s double in the ninth, and the Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was Ozuna’s third double and fourth hit of the night, bouncing off the wall in left-center. Stanton never broke stride and just beat Carlos Ruiz’s tag, the safe call getting reviewed and ultimately upheld to seal Miami’s eighth win in its last nine games.
Stanton led off the ninth with a full-count walk off Ken Giles (1-1), and Ozuna followed with the hit that capped the first 4-for-4 night of his career.
Dee Gordon had three more hits and raised his average to .423 for the Marlins.
Steve Cishek (1-1) gave up a two-out triple in the ninth to Cody Asche, but escaped by getting Carlos Ruiz to ground out and keep the game tied.
CARDINALS 2, PIRATES 1, 10 INNINGS
ST. LOUIS — Matt Adams hit a bases-loaded single with two outs in the 10th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Jon Jay started the winning rally with a two-out single off Rob Scahill (0-2). Matt Carpenter followed with a double down the left-field line, and Matt Holliday was intentionally walked. Adams then laced a 1-1 pitch to left field.
Randy Choate (1-0) struck out Gregory Polanco with two on for the win.
Pittsburgh right-hander A.J. Burnett allowed two hits over six shutout innings and drove in the first run of the game. He struck out seven and walked three in a 97-pitch outing.
Burnett also passed Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax to move into 42nd place on the career strikeout list with 2,397.
PADRES 14, ROCKIES 3
SAN DIEGO — Ian Kennedy pitched six solid innings and the San Diego Padres broke a three-game losing streak.
Kennedy (1-1), who was rocked for eight runs in his previous outing, rebounded with a solid performance. Kennedy allowed two runs on four hits in winning for the sixth time 10 decisions against the Rockies.
It was the Padres’ second victory in nine games as they return to .500. Friday marked the second time they scored more than four runs in a contest over that span.
San Diego’s Yangervis Solarte had four RBIs and two hits. Derek Norris had three RBIs and three hits. Justin Upton had three hits and two RBIs and Yonder Alonso added three hits and one RBI.
Colorado’s Eddie Butler (2-2) worked four innings and was charged with five runs, four hits and two walks. He struck out three.