(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
Kevin Gausman tied a season high by pitching eight innings for his first win in nearly a month, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered as part of a four-hit showing and the Toronto Blue Jays continued their domination of the host New York Yankees with a 7-1 victory on Friday.
The Blue Jays beat the Yankees for the eighth time in 11 meetings this season. Toronto has won seven of the past eight matchups and moved four games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East.
Gausman (9-10) permitted one run, on a Giancarlo Stanton homer, and five hits. Bo Bichette contributed three hits and two RBIs for Toronto, which has won three in a row.
New York starter Cam Schlittler (2-3) lasted a career-low 1 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits. Stanton finished 2-for-4.
Cubs 11, Nationals 5
Dansby Swanson slammed a three-run homer in a five-run first inning and Chicago dominated visiting Washington in the opener of their three-game series.
Nico Hoerner, Reese McGuire and Ian Happ all homered, with Happ scoring four times as the Cubs won for the third time in four games. Chicago starter Javier Assad (2-1) allowed four runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Luis Garcia Jr. homered and Daylen Lile had two triples, two RBIs and two runs for Washington, which was riding a three-game winning streak. Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin (8-11) lost his fourth straight start after surrendering seven runs and five hits over 3 1/3 innings.
White Sox 7, Tigers 5
Colson Montgomery homered and drove in four runs and visiting Chicago extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Detroit.
Andrew Benintendi supplied a solo homer. Kyle Teel and Will Robertson drove in the other Chicago runs. Shane Smith (5-7) gave up four runs and three hits in five innings. Jordan Leasure collected his seventh save.
Parker Meadows, fresh off the injured list, hit a two-run homer for Detroit. Jack Flaherty gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Braves 4, Mariners 1
Matt Olson sparked a three-run rally with a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as Atlanta opened a three-game series against visiting Seattle with a win.
Ozzie Albies followed Olson’s RBI hit with a run-scoring triple as part of a 3-for-4 night, and Drake Baldwin added an RBI single. Atlanta tallied five of its 10 hits in the decisive eighth inning.
The Mariners have lost four in a row and six of seven on their nine-game trip. Logan Gilbert settled in after the first inning and retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced. He exited after giving up one run on five hits over six innings.
Orioles 2, Dodgers 1
Baltimore rookie Samuel Basallo hit a walk-off solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Orioles beat visiting Los Angeles.
It was the second career homer for Basallo, who gave the Orioles a four-game winning streak. The 21-year-old catcher made his major league debut less than three weeks ago. Yennier Cano (3-6) threw a scoreless ninth as Baltimore’s sixth pitcher.
The blast came off Tanner Scott (1-3), the sixth reliever used by the Dodgers after spot starter Shohei Ohtani threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Freddie Freeman homered for the Dodgers, who lost their fourth game in a row. He finished 2-for-4, the only player in the game with more than one hit.
Mets 5, Reds 4
Edwin Diaz got into and out of a none-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to close out New York’s narrow win over host Cincinnati in the opener of a three-game series between the National League wild-card contenders.
The Mets, who entered Friday with a four-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the race for the last wild card, won for the third time in four games. The Reds fell to an NL-worst 6-13 since Aug. 15 and dropped six games behind the Mets. Cincinnati also slipped under .500 for the first time since it was 32-33 on June 7.
The Mets led 4-0 and 5-1 before the Reds scored three times in the fourth against David Peterson (9-5). Diaz gave up a leadoff single to Ke’Bryan Hayes before walking Matt McLain and TJ Friedl before a pair of strikeouts and groundout to second to end the game.
Rangers 3, Astros 3 (12 innings)
Dustin Harris doubled home Cody Freeman with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift surging Texas to a win over slumping Houston in the opener of a crucial three-game series between the American League West rivals in Arlington, Texas.
Harris, who was called up from Triple-A Round Rock prior to the game after outfielder Adolis Garcia was placed on the injured list, pulled a pitch from Lance McCullers Jr. (2-5) down the right field line that allowed Freeman to sprint to the plate. Texas snapped a two-game losing streak and has won 10 of its last 13 contests.
The Astros dropped their second straight outing and have lost five of their past seven.
Rockies 3, Padres 0
Kyle Freeland retired the first 13 batters he faced and tied a career high with 10 strikeouts as Colorado beat San Diego in Denver.
Freeland (4-14), who did not allow a baserunner until Ramon Laureano doubled in the fifth inning, allowed just two hits in a season-high eight innings. It is the fourth time this season he has not given up an earned run while pitching at least six innings. Hunter Goodman homered among his three hits and reached base four times for Colorado.
Nick Pivetta (13-5) allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings for San Diego.
Diamondbacks 10, Red Sox 5
Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll and Ildemaro Vargas homered and Arizona scored early and late to hold off Boston in Phoenix.
Perdomo, who homered in the first and added three singles, drove in two runs. He leads National League shortstops with a career-high 90 RBIs. Perdomo singled in a run for a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning after the Red Sox rallied for four runs in top of the inning. Carroll followed with a three-run homer off Justin Slaten for the final margin. Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (7-8) gave up four hits and one run in six innings.
Alex Bregman and Romy Gonzalez had two hits apiece for the Red Sox, who had won 10 of their previous 14 games.
Brewers 5, Pirates 2
Quinn Priester delivered a quality start Milwaukee needed, stretching his winning streak to 11 straight decisions with a victory over host Pittsburgh.
Priester (12-2) gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings to help the Brewers avoid using their ailing bullpen too much on a day they placed setup man Nick Mears on the injured list with back tightness. The Brewers have won 17 consecutive games in which Priester has pitched.
Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo gave up no earned runs and only one hit over five innings. Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz each had two hits to lead the Pirates at the plate.
Royals 2, Twins 1
Maikel Garcia hit a two-run homer, Michael Wacha yielded a run in 5 2/3 innings and Kansas City beat visiting Minnesota despite star Bobby Witt Jr. exiting late due to lower back spasms.
After Wacha (9-11) exited, Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV, Taylor Clarke and Carlos Estevez (38th save) held the Twins to just one hit the rest of the way.
Back from a shoulder injury and making his first start since June 3, Minnesota’s Pablo Lopez (5-4) threw six innings and yielded just Garcia’s homer in the third. Jhonny Pereda hit an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Giants 8, Cardinals 2
Rafael Devers and Willy Adames had a homer and two RBIs each as visiting San Francisco routed St. Louis for its 11th win in 12 games and fifth in a row.
Jung Hoo Lee (4-for-5, two runs, RBI) and Patrick Bailey (3-for-5, run, RBI) helped the Giants amass 18 hits. Carson Seymour (1-2) earned his first major league win, giving up one run in five innings. Tristan Beck allowed one run in three innings for his first save.
Ivan Herrera hit a homer for the Cardinals, who had won five of their previous seven games. Michael McGreevy (6-3) allowed six runs on nine hits in four innings.
Phillies 9, Marlins 3
Cristopher Sanchez logged seven sharp innings and all three outfielders homered for Philadelphia, which dominated host Miami to win for the sixth time in eight games.
In addition to homers from Brandon Marsh, Harrison Bader and Max Kepler, Philadelphia received a long ball from Bryson Stott. Trea Turner added four hits for the Phillies while Sanchez (12-5) set a career high for wins.
The highlight for Miami was Brian Navarreto hitting his first career home run in his first major league at-bat in more than five years. Starter Valente Bellozo (1-4) allowed two runs in three innings for the Marlins, who have lost four games in a row.
Guardians 7, Rays 1
Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez drove in two runs apiece in a five-run second inning as visiting Cleveland drubbed Tampa Bay, ending the Rays’ seven-game winning streak.
Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a double and a run, while Kwan finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases. Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (10-5) pitched seven innings of one-run ball.
Junior Caminero hit a long solo homer and Josh Lowe and Yandy Diaz each had two hits for the Rays. Bulk reliever Ian Seymour (3-1) allowed five runs (one earned) in four innings.
Athletics 10, Angels 4
JJ Bleday hit a three-run homer to highlight a seven-run third inning and Lawrence Butler went 3-for-5 with a homer to lead the Athletics to a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Mason Barnett (1-1), making his second major league start, bounced back from allowing a four-run first inning to pick up his win, allowing four runs on three hits over five innings.
Angels starter Jose Soriano (10-10) gave up eight runs on six hits and five walks in 2 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media