The New York Yankees' bullpen were terrific down the stretch to deliver a 6-5 win in the first game of their series against heated rivals the Boston Red Sox.
Played at Boston's Fenway Park, the Yankees threatened to blow the Red Sox away in the third inning when Josh Donaldson crushed a 429-foot grand slam to sntach a 4-0 lead. Aaron Hicks then followed it up with his own solo home run from the very next pitch.
But the Red Sox showed fight in the bottom of the third inning, with Rafael Devers connecting on his fifth career home run against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, and his 18th blast of the season, with a two-run, 434-foot shot to center-field.
The Yankees were able to add one more insurance run in the fifth inning through a Jose Trevino double, but the Red Sox answered straight back in the bottom of the frame once again.
After a double to Franchy Cordero and a walk to Kevin Plawecki, Devers came through again, this time with a 425-foot homer to straight center-field to score three runs, making it six career homers off Cole and 19 for the season.
The rest of the game featured spectacular pitching out of both bullpens, with the Yankees trio of Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes combining to allow no hits and one walk from the final three frames, while Red Sox arms Matt Strahm, John Schreiber, Ryan Brasier and Austin Davis combined to allow one hit and no walks in the last four innings.
Cole was credited with the win, despite it not being his best performance, finishing with six complete innings for five earned runs, with all five runs coming off the bat of Devers.
The Yankees also got the job done without the help of AL MVP favourite Aaron Judge, who missed with a lower-back complaint, as well as Anthony Rizzo, who is fifth in the league in home runs (22), eight behind Judge's league-lead (30).
Ohtani and Trout struggle as Rutchsman goes deep
Superstar Los Angeles Angels duo Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout finished a combined zero-for-seven from the plate as their side went down 4-1 on the road against the Baltimore Orioles.
The loss is the Angels' fifth from their past six games as another potential AL MVP season from Ohtani appears likely to end without a playoff berth unless things turn around drastically, now fourth in their division and 17 games behind the Houston Astros.
Baltimore was buoyed by top prospect Adley Rutchsman hitting his first career home run at Camden Yards – which the Orioles fans will be hoping was the first of many.
Rookie Strider shines in Braves loss
Atlanta Braves rookie starting pitcher Spencer Strider continues to make his case for NL Rookie of the Year after striking out a career-high 12 batters in his side's 3-2 extra-inning loss to the St Louis Cardinals.
Incredibly, the first nine outs Strider recorded were all strikeouts, and he would make it through six complete innings, allowing no runs from two hits and two walks in 100 pitches. It was the first time in Braves history that a pitcher has recorded each of his first nine outs via strikeout.
The scores were tied at 1-1 after nine innings, and after each side brought home a run in the 10th, the Cardinals were able to score another in the 11th off a Dylan Carlson infield-single, with Packy Naughton collecting the save.
Carlson finished three-for-three at the plate after being brought in as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.
MLB: Red-hot Phillies beat Rangers for club's best 50-game start
Edmundo Sosa hit a three-run homer and Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto had solo shots as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Texas Rangers 11-4 for the best 50-game start in franchise history on Wednesday.
Realmuto finished with three RBIs and Alec Bohm had a two-run double to extend the lead to 10-3 in the sixth inning. He is tied for the National League lead with 46 RBIs.
The major league-leading Phillies (36-14) are just the 26th team in NL history to win at least 36 of their first 50 games played. The 1988 Atlanta Braves were the last team to get off to such a start. Only 17 teams in AL history have reached that mark. The last was the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who went on to 116 wins.
Philadelphia has won five straight and 17 of its last 20 games overall and 17 of 19 at home.
Realmuto’s home run in the third snapped a 2-2 tie and his two-run single in the sixth made it 8-3.
Corey Seager and Leody Taveras homered for the defending World Series champion Rangers, who have lost four straight and nine of 11 to drop two games under .500.
Streaking Indians beat Mets
Johnathan Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run with his first major league hit and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for their sixth consecutive win, 6-3 over the New York Mets.
Rodriguez, playing in his second game since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus two days earlier, snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning with a grounder through the right side of the infield.
Cleveland, which trailed 3-0 heading into the sixth, moved into a tie for the second-best record in the majors at 33-17.
Jose Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo had RBI doubles in the eighth after Andres Gimenez hit a tying, three-run homer in the sixth off starter Jose Quintana.
The Mets got home runs from Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Harrison Bader but have lost eight of 10 to fall to a season-high seven games under .500 (21-28).
Royals’ Ragans dominates Tigers
Cole Ragans pitched one-hit ball over six innings and struck out a career-high 12 to lead the Kansas City Royals to their sixth straight win, 8-3 over the Detroit Tigers.
Ragans walked three but held the Tigers hitless until Riley Greene’s two-out single in the sixth to win for the fourth time in five decisions.
Freddy Fermin drove in three runs, Bobby Witt Jr. added two hits and two RBIs and Nelson Velazquez homered as the Royals won their first series against the Tigers since September 2002. It was Kansas City’s first sweep of Detroit since July 2021.
Tarik Skubal allowed four runs on six hits over five innings to end his 14-game unbeaten streak dating to Aug. 29.
Detroit has lost four straight to fall a season-worst three games under .500.
MLB: Phillies' Suarez strikes out 10 to win ninth straight start
Ranger Suarez struck out 10 to become the majors’ first nine-game winner and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 on Tuesday.
Suarez allowed one run on five hits over seven innings with two walks. Since a no-decision in his first start of the season, the left-hander is 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his last nine starts.
Suarez is the first pitcher to go undefeated with a sub-1.50 ERA and at least 65 strikeouts over his first 10 appearances of a season.
Jeff Hoffman gave up Corey Seager’s home run in the eighth but Matt Strahm retired Nathaniel Lowe on a sharp line drive to left with two runners on to end the inning and preserve Philadelphia’s 3-2 lead.
Jose Alvarado pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Bryce Harper hit his 11th home run and Alec Bohm drove in a pair of runs – his NL-best 44th – as the Phillies won for the ninth time in 11 games to improve the best record in the majors to 35-14.
The Rangers have lost eight of 10 to drop under .500 (24-25) for the first time this season.
Witt leads streaking Royals
Bobby Witt Jr. hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs as the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five with a 10-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers.
Witt hit a 468-foot, three-run homer in the second inning off Casey Mize and added a solo shot leading off the sixth. He also had an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third.
Kansas City had six extra-base hits and have had at least one in all 50 games this season, one game shy of the franchise record set in 1978.
Maikel Garcia tied a career high with four hits and scored three runs. He extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Guardians edge Mets to stay hot
Jose Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and the Cleveland Guardians held on for their fifth straight victory, 7-6 over the New York Mets.
David Fry added his first career pinch-hit home run as the Guardians won their sixth in a row at home and improved the majors’ fourth-best record to 32-17.
Ramirez has driven in 34 runs in his last 34 games to take over the American League lead with 44.
Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte hit two-run homers and Mark Vientos had a solo blast for the Mets, who have lost the first two games of the series to drop to 3-9 since May 10.
Nick Sandlin got two outs in the fifth in relief of starter Xzavion Curry for the win and Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his MLB-best 15th save in 18 chances.
MLB: Phillies' Suarez strikes out 10 to win 9th straight start
Ranger Suarez struck out 10 to become the majors’ first nine-game winner and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 on Tuesday.
Suarez allowed one run on five hits over seven innings with two walks. Since a no-decision in his first start of the season, the left-hander is 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his last nine starts.
Suarez is the first pitcher to go undefeated with a sub-1.50 ERA and at least 65 strikeouts over his first 10 appearances of a season.
Jeff Hoffman gave up Corey Seager’s home run in the eighth but Matt Strahm retired Nathaniel Lowe on a sharp line drive to left with two runners on to end the inning and preserve Philadelphia’s 3-2 lead.
Jose Alvarado pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Bryce Harper hit his 11th home run and Alec Bohm drove in a pair of runs – his NL-best 44th - as the Phillies won for the ninth time in 11 games to improve the best record in the majors to 35-14.
The Rangers have lost eight of 10 to drop under .500 (24-25) for the first time this season.
Witt leads streaking Royals
Bobby Witt Jr. hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs as the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five with a 10-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers.
Witt hit a 468-foot, three-run homer in the second inning off Casey Mize and added a solo shot leading off the sixth. He also had an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third.
Kansas City had six extra-base hits and has at least one in all 50 games this season, one game shy of the franchise record set in 1978.
Maikel Garcia tied a career high with four hits and scored three runs. He extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Guardians edge Mets to stay hot
Jose Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and the Cleveland Guardians held on for their fifth straight victory, 7-6 over the New York Mets.
David Fry added his first career pinch-hit home run as the Guardians won their sixth in a row at home and improved the majors’ fourth-best record to 32-17.
Ramirez has driven in 34 runs in his last 34 games to take over the American League lead with 44.
Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte hit two-run homers and Mark Vientos had a solo blast for the Mets, who have lost the first two games of the series to drop to 3-9 since May 10.
Nick Sandlin got two outs in the fifth in relief of starter Xzavion Curry for the win and Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his MLB-best 15th save in 18 chances.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
