Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer, while Michael Pineda matched his career high with eight shutout innings as the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, stole two bases and scored twice as the AL East leaders improved to 11-4 away from home, the best road record in the league. Alex Rodriguez hit an early two-run double.
New York has gone 14-4 since a 3-6 start.
Photo: AP
Pineda (4-0) allowed five hits and struck out six to win his fourth straight road start, a streak that began in Boston in September last year. The right-hander has road wins over all four division opponents in that span.
Andrew Miller got one out for his 11th save, stranding runners at first and second.
Teixeira’s 373rd home run tied teammate Carlos Beltran for fourth-most by a switch-hitter.
Marco Estrada (1-1) yielded five runs, four earned, over 4-2/3 innings in his first start of the season.
RED SOX 2, RAYS 0
In Boston, Mookie Betts homered to lead off the sixth inning — the first hit off Rays starter Drew Smyly — and added another in the eighth to lead Boston over Tampa Bay.
On the night the Red Sox honored their 1975 AL championship team, Betts hit two solo shots over the Green Monster that Carlton Fisk cleared in the World Series 40 years ago. It was Betts’ first career multihomer game.
The Red Sox had lost four straight and nine of 12 to fall into last place in the AL East.
Rick Porcello (3-2) pitched seven innings and scattered eight hits. Koji Uehara earned his fifth save.
METS 3, ORIOLES 2
In New York, Bartolo Colon became the first pitcher in at least 100 years to beat the same opponent with seven different teams, stopping Baltimore once again and leading the New York Mets past the Orioles.
Colon (5-1) took a shutout into the eighth inning before Manny Machado hit a solo home run. The Mets won after getting blanked 1-0 in their previous two games.
New York ended its scoreless streak at 21 innings when Daniel Murphy hit an RBI single in a three-run fourth, and won for just the second time in seven games. Kevin Plawecki had a two-run double off Bud Norris (1-3).
Baltimore began its weeklong visit to Citi Field and Yankee Stadium with its second loss in seven games. The Orioles have lost seven in a row to the Mets overall.
Three weeks shy of his 42nd birthday, Colon struck out nine and walked none in 7-2/3 innings. Jeurys Familia closed for his major league-leading 11th save in as many chances, giving up Chris Davis’ sixth homer on his first pitch.
Colon improved to 13-8 against the Orioles. He first beat them in 1999.
REDS 7, PIRATES 1
In Pittsburgh, Marlon Byrd homered and drove in four runs, while Todd Frazier belted his National League-leading ninth home run as Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh.
Byrd hit a two-run shot in the third inning off Jeff Locke (2-2) and added two-run double in the ninth. Frazier finished two-for-five for the Reds, who are unbeaten against the Pirates this season.
Cincinnati rookie Michael Lorenzen (1-1) worked six-plus innings for his first major league victory.
He gave up three hits, including Starling Marte’s homer.
The Pirates have lost four straight and six of seven.
BRAVES 9, PHILLIES 0
In Atlanta, Georgia, Shelby Miller threw his third career shutout, while Freddie Freeman and Kelly Johnson homered to spoil Chad Billingsley’s first start in more than two years as Atlanta routed Philadelphia.
Miller (4-1) allowed three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. He has not allowed more than two runs in any of his six starts.
Billingsley (0-1) gave up six runs, five earned, over five innings. The right-hander fought back from two major operations on his pitching arm to make his first start since April 15, 2013, for the Dodgers against San Diego.
Freeman had three hits, including a two-run homer. Johnson, who drove in four runs, hit a three-run shot.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Rangers 7, Astros 1
‧ Marlins 2, Nationals 1
‧ Royals 5, Indians 3
‧ White Sox 5, Tigers 2
‧ Giants 6, Padres 0
‧ Angels 5, Mariners 4
‧ Cardinals 7, Cubs 4
‧ Dodgers 8, Brewers 2
‧ Athletics 2, Twins 1
The Diamondbacks-Rockies game was postponed because of rain
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but