Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run home run to help the Boston Red Sox stretch their winning streak to 10 games by beating the visiting Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Sunday.
Rafaela’s home run came against Tampa Bay starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot and gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. It was his 14th home run of the season and his fifth in his last eight games.
Boston’s Brayan Bello (6-3) held the Rays to one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five. Aroldis Chapman struck out each of the three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his 17th save.
Pepiot (6-7) was pulled after six innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits, struck out three and walked one.
The victory gave Boston a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay. It’s the first time the Red Sox have won 10 games in a row since July 2018.
Cubs 4, Yankees 1
Shota Imanaga pitched seven outstanding innings as visiting Chicago ended the unofficial first half of the season with a victory over New York.
Imanaga (6-3) struck out six and walked one while throwing 55 of 91 pitches for strikes. Michael Busch homered in his first career plate appearance in the leadoff spot on the second pitch from New York rookie Will Warren (6-5). Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth off Ian Hamilton.
Giancarlo Stanton hit his 433rd career homer in the second for the Yankees, who lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak.
Reds 4, Rockies 2
TJ Friedl homered, singled and scored three times as Cincinnati beat visiting Colorado to give Terry Francona the 2,000th win of his managerial career.
Francona is the 13th manager in major league history with 2,000 victories. Matt McLain and Austin Hays also had two hits and Emilio Pagan picked up his 20th save for Cincinnati, which won its 50th game heading into the All-Star break.
Ryan Ritter had two hits for Colorado, which stayed on pace to break the modern-era record for losses, set by the 2024 Chicago White Sox. The Rockies have 22 victories at the end of the first half of the season, five less than Chicago did at the same point a year ago.
Rangers 5, Astros 1
Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien each homered while Nathan Eovaldi capped his stellar first half with another quality start as visiting Texas claimed the rubber match of a three-game series against Houston.
The Rangers completed a season-long 10-game road trip at 5-5 by pouncing on Astros All-Star right-hander Hunter Brown (9-4) and riding Eovaldi for 7 2/3 innings, his longest outing since a four-hit shutout of the Cincinnati Reds on April 1.
Eovaldi (7-3) allowed one run on five hits in his 10th quality start of the year. Brown allowed four runs on five hits over five innings. He surrendered 10 runs over his final two starts of the first half after giving up just seven runs in his previous seven starts combined.
Marlins 11, Orioles 1
Kyle Stowers hit three home runs in a five-hit, six-RBI performance against his former team as Miami blew past host Baltimore in the teams’ final game before the All-Star break.
Stowers had talked earlier in the series about his close ties to the Orioles, who drafted him and groomed him as he rose through the minor leagues. In the series finale, he provided his power production across the first five innings, racking up three homers and five runs batted in. His career-high three homers tied a Marlins’ franchise single-game record, and he ended the day 5-for-5 with four runs scored.
Miami starter Eury Perez (3-2) pitched seven shutout innings for the victory, winning a decision for the third time in three starts this month. He gave up three hits without a walk and struck out six. Baltimore starter Brandon Young (0-4) took the loss, allowing seven runs, including four homers, in 4 1/3 innings.
Mariners 8, Tigers 4
Pinch hitter Jorge Polanco and Cole Young hit back-to-back homers in the top of the ninth, lifting Seattle to a three-game sweep of host Detroit.
Polanco broke a 4-4 tie with his long ball off Tommy Kahnle (1-2). Julio Rodriguez homered for the third straight game and added an RBI double in a four-run ninth. Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver also homered for the Mariners, while Matt Brash (1-0) picked up the win in relief.
Dillon Dingler drove in two runs and Riley Greene homered for the Tigers, who lost their fourth straight. Detroit starter Jack Flaherty gave up two runs and four hits in five innings with seven strikeouts.
Guardians 6, White Sox 5 (10 innings)
Steven Kwan hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as Cleveland rallied to edge host Chicago.
Kyle Manzardo smacked a three-run home run and Brayan Rocchio had two hits for the Guardians, who won three of four in the weekend series and enter the All-Star break with victories in six of their past seven games. Closer Emmanuel Clase (5-2) retired all six batters he faced to notch the victory.
The White Sox have lost six of eight and carry an American League-high 65 losses into the break. Losing pitcher Brandon Eisert (2-2) allowed an unearned run in the 10th with one strikeout.
Brewers 8, Nationals 1
Jackson Chourio had a three-run homer and Brice Turang added a solo shot to back a dominant start by Freddy Peralta as Milwaukee defeated visiting Washington to take a seven-game winning streak into the All-Star break.
The Brewers staked Peralta (11-4) to a 3-0 lead with three unearned runs in the second. Milwaukee added five runs in the eighth. Peralta allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings. Peralta, who has won six consecutive starts, did not allow a hit until a one-out single in the sixth by No. 9 hitter Jacob Young.
The Nationals scored off Peralta in the seventh when Luis Garcia Jr. hit a ground-rule double with one out just beyond the reach of left fielder Yelich. Garcia advanced on a ground out and scored on Daylen Lile’s single.
Athletics 6, Blue Jays 3
Austin Wynns, Tyler Soderstrom and Nick Kurtz each hit two-run homers to help the Athletics to a win against visiting Toronto in the rubber game of their three-game series in West Sacramento, Calif.
Kurtz also doubled and scored for the A’s, who have won three of four heading into the All-Star break. A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs (8-6) allowed three runs and three hits over 6 2/3 innings. Mason Miller worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save for the A’s.
Davis Schneider and Addison Barger homered for the Blue Jays, who have dropped three of four following a 10-game winning streak. Toronto starter Jose Berrios (5-4) experienced his shortest outing of the season. He allowed four runs and five hits in three innings.
Royals 3, Mets 2
Kansas City rookie Noah Cameron matched a career high with eight strikeouts while pitching into the seventh, but the host Royals needed Nick Loftin’s walk-off RBI single in the ninth to beat New York.
After the Mets tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth, rookie Tyler Tolbert singled for just his second career hit and stole second in the Kansas City ninth. Loftin sent a pitch from Sean Manaea (0-1) into left field to break the tie. Manaea made his season debut after dealing with a lengthy oblique issue. Despite taking the loss, the left-hander was solid, allowing the one run and five hits over 3 1/3 innings and 65 pitches.
Cameron, meanwhile, continued the stellar start to his major league career since debuting April 30. The left-hander recorded his seventh quality start while yielding seven hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings to lower his ERA to 2.31 in 12 big-league starts.
Phillies 2, Padres 1
JT Realmuto’s RBI double in the top of the eighth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted visiting Philadelphia to a win over San Diego.
Bryce Harper started the winning rally by grounding a one-out double down the left-field line against Adrian Morejon (7-4). Cristopher Sanchez (8-2) earned the win by pitching 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and one run. Orion Kerkering got the last two outs of the eighth, and Matt Strahm pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
San Diego starter Nick Pivetta was dominant in 6 2/3 innings of work, yielding only three hits and an unearned run with two walks and eight strikeouts. Pivetta has permitted just one earned run in his last four starts, covering 25 1/3 innings.
Pirates 2, Twins 1
Spencer Horwitz drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout in the top of the ninth inning, and Pittsburgh held on to edge Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Tommy Pham hit a solo home run for the Pirates, who ended an eight-game losing streak. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-4 and scored the go-ahead run, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa finished 4-for-4 — all singles. Right-hander Dennis Santana (3-2) pitched a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the victory, and closer David Bednar pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save.
Byron Buxton went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead the Twins at the plate. Right-hander Jhoan Duran (5-4) gave up one run on three hits in one inning. They finished their homestand with a 6-3 record.
Cardinals 5, Braves 4
Jose Fermin hit his first big league homer, a two-run shot, to lift host St. Louis past Atlanta in a game marred by two rain delays totaling more than four hours.
Willson Contreras drove in two runs and Masyn Winn scored twice as the Cardinals avoided a three-game series sweep by the Braves. St. Louis starter Sonny Gray allowed one run on three hits in three innings before rain halted the game. Reliever Gordon Graceffo (3-0) collected the win.
Matt Olson drove in three runs and Michael Harris II scored twice for Atlanta. Starter Davis Daniel, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett for this game, allowed one run on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts in four innings. Jesse Chavez (0-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in two innings.
Dodgers 5, Giants 2 (11 innings)
Los Angeles strung together two-out bloop singles by Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages around an infield hit by Teoscar Hernandez, each producing a run, in a relatively quiet 11-inning uprising that resulted in a road victory over San Francisco.
Baseball’s traditional first half was extended by two innings when Giants pinch hitter Luis Matos smacked a one-out, two-run home run off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott in the last of the ninth, drawing the hosts even at 2-2. The blown save was the major-league-leading seventh of the season for Scott, who had set the table for Matos when he served up a single to Matt Chapman one batter earlier.
Ben Casparius (7-3), who recorded the last out of the 10th before retiring three straight batters in the bottom of the 11th, was credited with the win. Spencer Bivens (2-3), the sixth Giants pitcher, allowed three hits and three runs (two earned) in the top of the 11th.
Diamondbacks 5, Angels 1
Merrill Kelly allowed one run on one hit over five innings en route to his eighth win of the season and Jose Herrera hit a check-swing two-run double to lead Arizona over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Kelly (8-5) walked four and struck out six. John Curtiss, Kevin Ginkel and Kendall Graveman combined for four shutout innings of relief while allowing a combined two hits. Blaze Alexander went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and a run scored for the Diamondbacks, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Zach Neto had a single, two walks and a stolen base and Mike Trout also reached base three times with an RBI single and two walks for the Angels, who had a two-game win streak snapped and missed an opportunity to get back to the .500 mark at the All-Star break. Jose Soriano (6-7) suffered the loss, allowing five runs (one earned) on five hits over five innings.
–Field Level Media
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