Defending champ Boston is still in struggle mode

Published 1:26 am Wednesday, April 17, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — James Paxton struck out 12 in his first stab at baseball’s biggest rivalry, Red Sox ace Chris Sale found his fastball but not better results, and the New York Yankees three-hit Boston 8-0 on Tuesday night in the first game this season between the struggling AL East foes.

Paxton (2-2) pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, walking one and going to just two three-ball counts in a game that took only 2 hours, 23 minutes.

Mike Tauchman hit his first major league homer and drove in four runs, and Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres also went deep for the Yankees. New York had dropped five of six and is 7-9 a year after winning 100 games.

Sale (0-4) reached 97.5 mph — a positive sign for Boston after his velocity sagged this spring — but still got hit around, allowing four runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out six and walked one while the World Series champions dropped to 6-12.

PHILLIES 14, METS 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Scott Kingery and J.T. Realmuto each had three hits and five RBIs as Philadelphia routed New York.

Kingery and Maikel Franco hit three-run homers and Realmuto had a pair of two-run doubles in a 10-run first inning. Realmuto also went deep for the Phillies in the fourth.

Nick Pivetta (2-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.

Mets starter Steven Matz (1-1) allowed eight runs — six earned — without retiring a batter. He had allowed only three earned runs total in his first three starts.

PIRATES 5, TIGERS 3, 10 INNINGS

DETROIT (AP) — Starling Marte hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to lift Pittsburgh over Detroit.

Jung Ho Kang also went deep for Pittsburgh, which blew a 3-0 lead but recovered to win when Marte hit a two-out drive off Shane Greene (0-1). Detroit’s closer hadn’t allowed a run all season.

Keone Kela (1-0) gave up a tying single by Jeimer Candelario in the ninth, but Nick Kingham was able to close out the Tigers in the 10th for his first career save.

RAYS 4, ORIOLES 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Glasnow allowed two runs over seven innings in winning his fourth consecutive start to begin the season and Avisail Garcia drove in three runs as Tampa Bay beat Baltimore for its seventh win in eight games.

Glasnow (4-0) allowed hits to six of the first 13 batters, but allowed one hit over his final 4 2/3 innings and ended the outing by retiring 10 in a row.

CUBS 4, MARLINS 0

MIAMI (AP) — Jose Quintana gave up six hits in seven innings to lead Chicago over Miami.

Quintana (2-1) struck out seven and extended his scoreless innings streak to 14. He didn’t allow a runner to reach second until Austin Dean’s two-out double in the seventh.

GIANTS 7, NATIONALS 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt and Steven Duggar homered off fastballs from Stephen Strasburg and light-hitting San Francisco powered past Washington.

The Giants entered the game with 10 homers through their first 17 games. They won for the fourth time in five games.

Strasburg (1-1) allowed four runs in six innings. Still learning to pitch with a fastball that sits in the low-to-mid-90s, instead of the high-90s heat he possessed before Tommy John surgery and other ailments, he’s served up five homers over his past two outings.

D’BACKS 9, BRAVES 6

ATLANTA (AP) — Christian Walker homered leading off the ninth inning and Arizona rallied against the shaky Atlanta bullpen. The Braves squandered a massive, knee-buckling homer by Ronald Acuña Jr. and another strong start by Max Fried.

Johan Camargo’s three-run double in the fifth put the Braves ahead. Fried finally gave up his first earned runs of the season but left with a 5-2 lead, only to watch the relievers give it away. Chad Sobotka and Jesse Biddle didn’t retire anyone as the Diamondbacks pushed across four runs in the seventh to reclaim the lead.

After Ozzie Albies homered in the bottom half to tie the game at 6, Walker drove the second pitch from A.J. Minter (0-2) deep into the seats to start the ninth. Adam Jones brought home two insurance runs with a double that deflected off the glove of Acuña.

BLUE JAYS 6, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teoscar Hernandez and Justin Smoak hit two-run singles as Toronto rallied past Minnesota.

Hernandez singled off Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger in the top of the seventh to give Toronto a 6-4 lead. Hernandez had capitalized against Minnesota’s bullpen a day earlier, too, hitting a home run in the eighth inning that gave the Blue Jays a 5-3 win Monday.

The game ended with the Twins’ C.J. Cron getting thrown out at home plate. Cron tried to score from first base on a double to left field by Byron Buxton.

Eddie Rosario hit a three-run home run and Jorge Polanco and Marwin Gonzalez also homered for the Twins.

Aaron Sanchez (2-1) allowed four runs in six innings to earn the win for Toronto. Reliever Trevor May (1-1) was charged with the loss for Minnesota.

BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 4

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit a three-run homer, his eighth against St. Louis this season, to help send Milwaukee to the win.

Lorenzo Cain and Yasmani Grandal each homered in a five-run third against Jack Flaherty (1-1), when the Brewers went up 5-0.

Yelich’s 427-foot homer to right center in the fifth inning was his ninth of the season and put Milwaukee up 8-0. He is the first player to homer in six consecutive games against the Cardinals. The Brewers have won nine of their last 10 against St. Louis, including four in a row.

Brandon Woodruff (2-1) held the Cardinals scoreless until Marcell Ozuna’s two-run homer, his seventh, with one out in the sixth. Woodruff allowed two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out six.

The Cardinals added two in the eighth on RBI singles by Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong.

RANGERS 5, ANGELS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Mike Minor threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, backed by two-run homers by Joey Gallo and Asdrubal Cabrera, as Texas beat Los Angeles.

Minor (2-1) limited Los Angeles to three singles while throwing 103 pitches with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Cabrera put Texas up 3-0 when his deep fly appeared to ricochet of the wrist of leaping right fielder Kole Calhoun and go over the 8-foot wall in the fourth off Jaime Barria (1-1).

Gallo pulled a 439-foot shot that landed on the concourse beyond the lower-level seats to greet reliever Dillon Peters in the sixth and make it 5-0.

It was the sixth homer of the season for both Gallo and Cabrera.

WHITE SOX 5, ROYALS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Yoan Moncada hit a pair of solo shots for his first multihomer game and Leury Garcia added a two-run drive to power Chicago past Kansas City.

Yonder Alonso also homered and went 4 for 4 as the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games.

Reynaldo Lopez (1-2) allowed one run and five hits in six innings. Four relievers worked the final three innings for Chicago.

Lucas Duda homered for the Royals.

Kansas City starter Jorge Lopez (0-2) had a career-high 10 strikeouts but gave up three homers and allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings.

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