Arozarena homers, Rays beat struggling Yankees 3-1

NEW YORK — Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer off Nestor Cortes in the first inning and the Tampa Bay staff made it stand up, leading the Rays over the skidding New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night.

Starter Jeffrey Springs (5-3) and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, and the crowd of 41,083 at Yankee Stadium booed their AL East leaders at times.

Tampa Bay got only four hits while winning its fourth straight and closing within nine games of the Yankees, who lost 11 of 13 and were held to three runs or less for the seventh straight game.

New York avoided being blanked in three straight games when Andrew Benintendi tripled in the fifth and scored on a fielding error on a grounder by Miguel Andújar.

Cortes (9-4) allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings. He struck out three, walked none and retired 19 of his final 21 hitters.

Springs got 10 outs on the ground and held New York to one run and two hits in five innings. Jason Adam earned his seventh save.

BRAVES 5, METS 0

ATLANTA — Charlie Morton was dominant on the mound, Matt Olson and Robbie Grossman went deep, and Atlanta blanked NL East-leading New York for its eighth straight win.

Morton (6-5) surrendered three hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings, posting his fourth double-figure strikeout game of the season with 12 Ks as Atlanta pulled within 3 1/2 games of the division leaders.

New York’s 10-game winner Taijuan Walker made an early exit because of back spasms. R.J. Alvarez (0-1), who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game, took over for Walker and surrendered a 413-foot homer to Grossman, the second batter he faced.

Alvarez worked 2 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, three runs and three walks.

PHILLIES 11, REDS 4

CINCINNATI — Rhys Hoskins homered twice and drove in five runs as Philadelphia posted the 10,000th win in franchise history, beating Cincinnati.

Philadelphia became the last of the original eight National League franchises to reach the mark. At 10,000-11,163, the Phillies are the only team among them with a losing record.

Nick Castellanos homered and doubled twice and scored three times. Darick Hall and Garrett Stubbs also homered for the Phillies, who hold the second spot in the wild-card race. Kyle Gibson (8-5) struck out 11 in six innings.

TJ Zeuch (0-2) allowed 11 hits, three of them homers, and six runs in four-plus innings. Cincinnati has lost six of seven.

CARDINALS 5, ROCKIES 4

ST. LOUIS — Paul Goldschmidt and Tommy Edman homered, and St. Louis scored the winning run when Tyler O’Neill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, edging Colorado.

Andrew Knizner and Lars Nootbaar drew walks off Dinelson Lamet (1-2) in the ninth, and Dylan Carlson reached on a bunt single to load the bases before O’Neill was plunked.

José Quintana pitched no-hit ball with two walks for five innings before allowing two runs on four consecutive hits to lead off the sixth, ending his night. Ryan Helsley (7-1) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to lower his ERA to 0.91 in 49 2/3 innings this season.

Charlie Blackmon knocked in a run with a single in the sixth inning and hit a two-run double in the seventh for Colorado. Jose Iglesias knocked in the Rockies’ other run.

ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2

TORONTO — Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman hit back-to-back home runs, Ramón Urías drove in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning and Baltimore beat Toronto for its 10th win in 14 August games.

Dean Kremer (5-4) matched his career high by pitching seven innings, winning for the second time in three starts. He allowed two runs and seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Félix Bautista struck out a pair in the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

Ryan McKenna had an RBI hit as the Orioles (61-55) closed to within one-half game of Toronto (61-54). The Blue Jays hold the third and final spot in the AL wild-card standings, trailing Tampa Bay and Seattle.

The slumping Blue Jays lost for the ninth time in 12 games. Toronto is 4-9 in August. Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah (12-6) allowed four runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking four.

MARLINS 4, PADRES 3

MIAMI — Nick Fortes hit two solo homers and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, leading Miami past San Diego.

Peyton Burdick hit a tiebreaking RBI double that scored Fortes, who had singled against Padres reliever Luis García (4-6) and advanced on a groundout before Burdick’s line drive bounced inside the foul line in right.

Down 3-0, the Padres tied it on Manny Machado’s three-run double in the seventh.

Elieser Hernández (3-6) earned the win in relief, and Dylan Floro picked up his third save.

RED SOX 5, PIRATES 3

PITTSBURGH — Nick Pivetta pitched one-hit ball over seven shutout innings for his first win since June 24, and Boston scored four runs in the first inning on their way to a victory over Pittsburgh.

The Pirates’ only hit off Pivetta came on Ben Gamel’s two-out single in the first inning on a soft liner to left-center. Pivetta (9-9) struck out six and walked three while throwing 99 pitches and retiring his last nine batters. Matt Barnes pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save in five chances.

The first six Red Sox batters reached in the first against Mitch Keller (4-9), who lasted just two innings due to right shoulder fatigue. He was charged with five runs, four earned, while allowing five hits and three walks with one strikeout.

Alex Verdugo, Christian Arroyo and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive RBI singles and Kike Hernandez added a sacrifice fly in the first for Boston.

TWINS 9, ROYALS 0

MINNEAPOLIS — Sonny Gray matched his season high with 10 strikeouts and Gio Urshela had four hits as Minnesota beat Kansas City.

Gilberto Celestino homered and Luis Arraez picked up three more hits to raise his MLB-best batting average to .336. The Twins moved within a game of AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Gray (7-3) equaled the 10 strikeouts he had against Detroit back on May 24. Caleb Thielbar took over for Gray with a 3-0 lead with two on and no outs, and kept the shutout intact.

Zack Greinke (4-8) gave up three runs, only one them earned, in six innings.

TIGERS 4, GUARDIANS 3

CLEVELAND — Rookie Kerry Carpenter homered for the second straight night and Detroit survived a wild ninth inning to defeat Cleveland.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona was ejected for arguing after the umpires ruled Myles Straw struck out with the tying run on third for the second out of the inning. .

Steven Kwan, who was 3 for 3 with a walk, tapped back to Tigers closer Gregory Soto to end the game.

Detroit has won two of three against the AL Central leaders. Garrett Hill (3-3) held Cleveland in check over five innings after allowing a run in the first. Hill gave up four hits, struck out three and retired the last five hitters he faced.

Cleveland starter Zach Plesac (2-11) hasn’t won since June 5. The right-hander allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

BREWERS 5, DODGERS 4, 11 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE — Victor Caratini hit a two-run single off Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel in the 11th inning, rallying Milwaukee past Los Angeles.

A sensational catch by Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor in the 10th kept the game tied. Taylor homered in the seventh to make it 3-all.

Batting with the bases loaded and one out against Kimbrel (3-5), Caratini blooped a hit to right field that scored automatic runner Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe, who had reached on a bunt single.

The Brewers won despite getting just five hits off seven pitchers. The Dodgers have lost two of three since a 12-game winning streak.

Justin Turner’s run-scoring single off Milwaukee reliever Brent Suter (4-4) gave the Dodgers a 4-3 in the top of the 11th.

Christian Yelich hit a solo homer in the fitfth, ending his 0-for-26 slump. It was his first home run since July 2 at Pittsburgh and first at home since May 5.

CUBS 7, NATIONALS 5, 11 INNINGS

WASHINGTON — Patrick Wisdom drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, and Chicago beat Washington.

Wisdom led off the inning with a double down the left-field line against Victor Arano (1-1), scoring automatic runner Willson Contreras. Wisdom then went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s single.

Brandon Hughes (2-1) pitched the 10th for Chicago and Mark Leiter Jr. worked the 11th for his first save.

Luke Voit and Lane Thomas clubbed solo homers in the eighth for Washington, while Franmil Reyes homered and singled for the Cubs.

WHITE SOX 4, ASTROS 3

CHICAGO — Yoán Moncada hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning for the second straight game, and Chicago rallied to beat Houston.

While the showdown between AL Cy Young Award contenders Dylan Cease and Justin Verlander didn’t live up to its billing, the White Sox came away with their fifth straight win and moved within a game of AL Central leader Cleveland.

Moncada hit a tiebreaking two-run single in Monday’s 4-2 win. This time, Chicago had a runner on third when he singled to center against Héctor Neris (4-4) to make it 4-3.

Cease lasted five innings, allowing three runs and six hits. Verlander, tops in the majors in wins and ERA coming in, went seven innings and gave up three runs and eight hits.

Jose Abreu had three hits for Chicago. Jimmy Lambert (1-2) secured his 27th save in 30 chances.

ATHLETICS 5, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Elvis Andrus homered against his former team for the first time, Shea Langeliers doubled on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues and Oakland ended Texas’ three-game win streak and snapped its own nine-game skid.

Andrus, who spent his first 12 years in the majors with the Rangers before a trade to Oakland going into last season, hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning for his 8th of the season.

Sean Murphy hit a 454-foot solo shot in the third. JP Sears (4-0) pitched five scoreless innings as Oakland avoided a second 10-game losing streak this season.

Kohei Arihara (0-1) allowed six hits the first time through the order in his first start for Texas since last September. The Japanese right-hander settled down and tied his career highs of 5 2/3 innings and six strikeouts while allowing eight hits and three runs.

GIANTS 2, DIAMONDBACKS 1

SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Crawford hit a game-ending two-run homer off Ian Kennedy (4-6) after Thairo Estrada’s two-out triple, and San Francisco rallied past Arizona.

Christian Walker homered leading off the fourth inning for the game’s lone run until the final swing by Crawford for his sixth homer.

D-backs ace Merrill Kelly struck out seven with two walks and four hits over seven innings to improve to 6-3 over 14 career starts against the Giants.

John Brebbia (6-1) struck out two in the ninth for the win for San Francisco.

MARINERS 8, ANGELS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Adam Frazier broke up José Suárez’s bid for a perfect game in the sixth and added a two-run triple in the ninth, leading Seattle to a win over Los Angeles.

Ty France had a tying two-run single in a three-run sixth for the Mariners, who have won five of seven.

Suárez (4-5) retired Seattle’s first 16 batters and led 2-0 before Frazier’s one-out infield single in the sixth. The next three Mariners also singled, abruptly ending Suárez’s night. He struck out five in his first five innings.

Rookie Julio Rodríguez added a two-run homer, his 19th of the season, for Seattle. Robbie Ray (9-8) struck out 10 over six innings of six-hit ball for his first win since July 15 and third victory over Los Angeles this season.