NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit a three-run homer to help chase Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell in the first inning, CC Sabathia got his 250th career win and the New York Yankees thumped the Tampa Bay Rays 12-1 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
Gleyber Torres added a grand slam during a six-run seventh inning, and New York three-hit Tampa Bay to win its fifth in a row and extend its lead the AL East over the second-place Rays to 3½ games. Tampa Bay was swept for the second time this season — the other came against Boston in April.
Snell (4-6) walked four, gave up two hits and was charged with six runs while getting one out on 39 pitches in the shortest start of his career.
ANGELS 11,
BLUE JAYS 6
TORONTO (AP) — Mike Trout hit two home runs, including his sixth career grand slam, and had a career-best seven RBIs as Los Angeles beat Toronto.
Justin Upton also homered for the Angels, who have won all six meetings with the Blue Jays this season and 18 of the last 24 in Toronto.
Trout finished 3 for 6. It was the first seven-RBI game by an Angels hitter since Torii Hunter did it against Kansas City on July 4, 2010.
Rowdy Tellez hit two home runs for Toronto.
CUBS 7, WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Willson Contreras homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Cubs handed Lucas Giolito his first loss since April by downing the crosstown White Sox.
David Bote also connected to help the Cubs bounce back from a tough loss to their rivals in their first meeting of the season. Jon Lester (6-5) allowed two more homers, but worked into the sixth inning to improve to 3-1 in June.
Trying for his ninth win in a row, Giolito (10-2) showed flashes of the dominant stuff that put him in the mix to start next month’s All-Star Game. But he had all sorts of trouble against Contreras.
PADRES 8,
BREWERS 7
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Franmil Reyes hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh and Eric Hosmer added a two-run shot for San Diego, which overcame three homers by Milwaukee to sweep the Brewers.
Reyes’ shot to right-center, his 20th, came off Jeremy Jeffress (1-1) after Manny Machado hit a leadoff single and Hunter Renfroe walked.
Christian Yelich hit his MLB-leading 27th homer and Ryan Braun homered, doubled and drove in three runs for the Brewers.
NATIONALS 6,
PHILLIES 2,
1ST GAME
WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin struck out eight over seven strong innings and Washington beat Philadelphia to begin a day-night doubleheader.
This was the belated series opener after the teams were rained out Monday and Tuesday.
Corbin (6-5) scattered four hits and three walks while ending a personal three-game losing streak.
NATIONALS 2,
PHILLIES 0,
2ND GAME
WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer shrugged off a broken nose and black eye to throw seven shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Victor Robles hit solo homers, and Washington swept a doubleheader against Philadelphia.
The Nationals have won 16 of their last 23, while Philadelphia has dropped seven of its last nine and 12 of 18.
Scherzer (6-5) bunted a ball off his face during batting practice Tuesday, but it didn’t stop him from making his scheduled start. He struck out 10, yielded only four hits and permitted just two runners to reach scoring position.
RED SOX 9, TWINS 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eduardo Rodríguez picked up Boston’s bullpen a night after a 17-inning loss, and Brock Holt drove in three runs in a win over Minnesota.
Rodríguez (8-4) allowed four runs on eight hits, but more important, he lasted seven innings after the Red Sox used eight relievers in Tuesday’s marathon.
Boston scored three runs in the second, fifth and eighth innings to win for the seventh time in eight games. The AL Central-leading Twins have dropped three of four and lost a home series for just the second time this season.
REDS 3, ASTROS 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Senzel singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning, and Jesse Winker followed with an RBI single as Cincinnati rallied for a rare sweep of Houston.
The Reds matched their season high with a fourth straight win. They also swept the Marlins in April.
Michael Brantley’s two-run homer put Gerrit Cole in position for only his second career win over Cincinnati, but Roberto Osuna (3-1) couldn’t close it out. Jose Peraza opened the rally with a double and came around on Senzel’s hit. Winker finished it off with a single up the middle.
PIRATES 8, TIGERS 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to complete Pittsburgh’s rally from a six-run deficit against Detroit.
With the Pirates trailing 7-5, Reynolds sent a knuckle curve from Nick Ramirez (3-2) 421 feet to left-center for his sixth homer of the season, driving in Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier.
Felipe Vázquez retired the side in order in the ninth for his 17th save.
INDIANS 10,
RANGERS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Kipnis hit two home runs, going back-to-back with Roberto Pérez during a five-run first inning, and Cleveland beat Texas.
The Indians have won 10 of their last 14 games. They have hit nine home runs in winning two of the first three games of a four-game series.
Indians starter Adam Plutko, staked to a 7-1 lead in the third inning, lasted only 4 1/3 innings and gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits. Oliver Perez (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
BRAVES 7, METS 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Donaldson hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning, Freddie Freeman launched an early two-run shot and Atlanta beat New York.
The NL East-leading Braves are 14-4 in June, best in the majors.
Freeman blooped a pop-fly single to begin the sixth, Atlanta’s first hit since his homer in the first off Steven Matz (5-5). Donaldson followed with his 14th home run, sixth in his last nine games, before Austin Riley doubled and scored on Ozzie Albies’ double to make it 5-2.
MARINERS 8,
ROYALS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Domingo Santana hit two home runs in a game for the third time this season, Marco Gonzales won his third straight start and Seattle avoided an embarrassing series sweep against Kansas City.
Santana, who had five RBIs, and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead. The Mariners had been outscored 15-4 by the Royals in the first two games of a series between last-place teams.
CARDINALS 2,
MARLINS 1,
11 INNINGS
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo home run with two outs in the 11th inning to lift St. Louis over Miami.
Dexter Fowler had an RBI single in the sixth for the Cardinals, who won for the seventh time in 11 games. Miguel Rojas tied it with a single in the eighth off reliever Carlos Martínez.
After beginning the game on the bench, Goldschmidt entered at first base in the ninth. Two innings later, he launched a 453-foot drive off Adam Conley (1-7) for his fifth career walk-off home run.
ROCKIES 6,
DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Ryan McMahon hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning to make up for a costly error, and Colorado added on to beat Arizona.
Jon Gray (7-5) held the Diamondbacks to one earned run over six innings, and Daniel Murphy homered as the Rockies rallied from a 2-0 deficit for their third victory in four games. McMahon had three hits and three RBIs.
