MLB: Sale K’s another 10 as White Sox topple Cubs
CHICAGO — Chris Sale dominated into the eighth inning while outpitching Jon Lester, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cubs 5-1 Saturday for their ninth win in 11 games.
Sale (8-4) showed why he was picked to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game, helping the White Sox move into position to sweep the weekend series with their crosstown rivals. Lester’s winless streak reached 10 starts.
The South Siders took a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI triple by rookie Tyler Saladino for his first major league hit and a run-scoring single by Jose Abreu.
They broke open the game with three more in the seventh against Lester (4-8), making the most of third baseman Kris Bryant’s costly throwing error on Avisail Garcia’s grounder.
ROCKIES 3, BRAVES 2
DENVER — Carlos Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded bloop single that dropped between charging center fielder Cameron Maybin and backpedaling shortstop Andrelton Simmons in the ninth inning, driving in the decisive run in the Rockies victory over the Braves.
Misfortune hit the Braves at the outset of the Rockies’ late rally. Reliever Jason Grilli (3-4) tumbled to the ground and suffered a ruptured left Achilles’ tendon as he ran toward first to cover the bag when Drew Stubbs, the first batter he faced, hit a grounder that first baseman Chris Johnson ranged to his right to field.
PADRES 6, RANGERS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas — Yangervis Solarte hit a two-run homer off Texas closer Shawn Tolleson with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Padres rallied to end a season-high six-game losing streak with a victory over the Rangers.
Solarte’s drive down the right-field line handed Tolleson (2-2) his first blown save when he had a chance to be the first pitcher in five years to convert the first 14 chances of his career.
Solarte reached base four times and scored three runs. Former Texas reliever Joaquin Benoit (6-4) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 22nd save.
PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 5
PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen’s two-run home run in the 14th inning capped Pittsburgh’s third rally of the night and the Pirates beat the Cardinals.
McCutchen’s homer to center off Nick Greenwood (0-1) followed Neil Walker’s leadoff single and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games. It was his 12th home run of the season.
Jhonny Peralta’s single off Vance Worley (3-4) in the top of the inning drove in Matt Carpenter and gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.
RED SOX 5, YANKEES 3
BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer, Mookie Betts had a pair of extra-base hits and David Ortiz also had two hits Saturday to help the Red Sox beat the first-place Yankees.
The Red Sox won for the 10th time in 13 games. They remained in last place in the AL East, but they closed to 5 1/2 games out in the division. Boston was 10 games out June 20.
The Yankees had beaten the Red Sox five straight times, including a 5-1 win Friday. But a day after losing the series opener and top starter Clay Buchholz on the same night, the Red Sox got 6 1-3 solid innings from Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2).
ATHLETICS 5, INDIANS 4
CLEVELAND — Billy Butler’s two-run double with the bases loaded broke a tie in the eighth inning and the Athletics beat the Indians.
With two outs, Butler lined an 0-1 pitch from Bryan Shaw over first base to snap a 2-all tie. Right fielder Brandon Moss’ throwing error allowed a third run to score on the play.
Eric O’Flaherty (1-2) pitched 2-3 of an inning. Tyler Clippard, the Athletics’ fifth pitcher, recorded the final four outs for his 17th save.
TWINS 9, TIGERS 5
MINNEAPOLIS — Torii Hunter’s towering two-run homer into the third deck against his former team highlighted a 16-hit afternoon for Minnesota, and the Twins beat the Tigers.
Trevor Plouffe and Eddie Rosario each had three hits and scored twice, and the bottom five batters in the Twins lineup combined for six RBIs and 11 hits in 19 at-bats. Aaron Hicks hit a two-run triple in the third inning that finished Alfredo Simon’s start.
RAYS 3, ASTROS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jake Odorizzi won in his first start in five weeks, Rene Rivera drove in two runs and the Rays beat the sliding Astros.
Odorizzi (5-5) scattered two hits, walked three and struck out five over 5 2-3 innings in his initial appearance since straining his left oblique June 5. Brad Boxberger, the fourth Rays reliever, pitched the ninth for his 22nd save to complete a three-hitter.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings, Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City to snap the Royals’ six-game winning streak.
Buehrle (10-5) limited the Royals to two runs and five hits while improving to 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his past four starts against them.
METS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2
NEW YORK — Matt Harvey pitching seven strong innings and hit his first career home run to lead the Mets to a win over the Diamondbacks.
Lucas Duda homered for the second consecutive game and Ruben Tejada also went deep for the Mets.
After giving up a two-run homer to David Peralta in the first inning, Harvey (8-6) settled into a groove and scattered just four singles over his last six innings.
Jeurys Familia got the last three outs for his 26th save.
MARLINS 14, REDS 3
MIAMI — The Miami Marlins lost All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon to a dislocated left thumb, and they responded with a franchise-record offensive outburst, beating Cincinnati.
Gordon was hurt in the seventh inning sliding headfirst into first base for his third infield hit. He left the game for a pinch runner. The hit was the second of nine straight, a Marlins record, and they scored eight runs in the inning.
NATIONALS 7, ORIOLES 4
BALTIMORE — Bryce Harper and Danny Espinosa homered in a four-run sixth inning, and the Nationals beat the Orioles to end a three-game skid.
Jordan Zimmermann (8-5) won his third straight start despite allowing four runs and nine hits in five innings. He was pitching one day after his wife gave birth to the couple’s second child.
Caleb Joseph and Steve Pearce homered for the Orioles, who have lost nine of 12.
BREWERS 7, DODGERS 1
LOS ANGELES — Rookie Taylor Jungmann tossed a three-hitter, Carlos Gomez drove in five runs and the Brewers beat the Dodgers.
Jungmann (4-1) struck out seven and walked two on 100 pitches to help the Brewers improve to 5-2 in his starts.
Gomez went 2 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout while tying his career high for RBIs, his second five-RBI game in a week.
Brandon Beachy (0-1) gave up three runs and five hits in four innings, struck out two and walked three. The right-hander was making his first start in nearly two years after coming back from two Tommy John surgeries.
MARINERS 5, ANGELS 0
SEATTLE — Hisashi Iwakuma pitched eight strong innings in his second game back from the disabled list and Mark Trumbo had two RBI singles to lead the Mariners to a victory over the Angels.
Iwakuma (1-1) gave up three hits and two walks, and struck out six. He retired the last 13 batters he faced in his longest outing since going eight innings at Philadelphia last Aug. 19.
It was the fourth straight game with at least two hits for Trumbo. He has a seven-game overall hitting streak, and is batting 12 for 22 in that stretch.
GIANTS 8, PHILLIES 5
SAN FRANCISCO — Angel Pagan and Matt Duffy each drove in a pair of runs in the sixth inning and the Giants rallied to beat the Phillies.
Brandon Crawford had three hits and drove in a run for the Giants, who have won three of four after a seven-game losing streak. Duffy, who had four hits in Friday night’s victory, was a home run shy of the cycle for the second straight day.
Josh Osich (1-0) recorded the final out of the sixth and earned his first major league victory. Santiago Casilla got the final out for his 22nd save.
Ryan Howard hit a home run and drove in two and Cody Asche added a two-run shot for the Phillies, who have lost four straight and 14 of 17 overall. Freddy Galvis doubled and tripled and Odubel Herrera had two hits and drove in a run.