Starlin Castro on Saturday drove home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning with a sharp one-hopper as the New York Yankees edged the Minnesota Twins 2-1 with more dominant pitching from the back end of their bullpen.
Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller (5-0) and Aroldis Chapman combined to throw three scoreless innings for the third straight game.
They had teamed up to set down 26 consecutive batters during that stretch before Joe Mauer singled on a 99mph fastball from Chapman with two outs in the ninth.
Photo: Andy Marlin, USA TODAY
The left-hander then struck out Brian Dozier, who homered earlier off a very effective Michael Pineda, for his 15th save in 16 tries. The 100mph fastball that ended it was the only pitch Chapman threw that reached triple digits — after his first 10 on Friday last week were all 100mph or more on the scoreboard.
In the eighth, pinch runner Aaron Hicks advanced to third on Brian McCann’s single off Ryan Pressly (2-4), and Castro singled sharply to the left of Eduardo Escobar one out later.
BLUE JAYS 10, WHITE SOX 8
In Chicago, the White Sox tied a team record with seven home runs, but it was not enough as Edwin Encarnacion drove in four runs and Devon Travis homered as Toronto held on for the win.
All seven homers were solo shots. Brett Lawrie became the first White Sox player since Ron Santo in 1974 to hit inside-the-park and over-the-wall homers in the same game as Chicago hit three straight home runs in the second inning.
Dioner Navarro, J.B. Shuck, Tim Anderson, Alex Avila and Adam Eaton all went deep for the White Sox, who matched the club record for homers set at the Kansas City Athletics on April 23, 1955.
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-8) matched a career high by allowing four home runs. He gave up five runs — four earned — and seven hits in 5-1/3 innings.
Roberto Osuna gave up Eaton’s homer in the ninth before earning his 15th save.
Miguel Gonzalez (1-3) gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 5-1/3 innings.
METS 1, BRAVES 0, 11 INNINGS
In Atlanta, Georgia, pinch hitter Kelly Johnson lined a leadoff home run in the 11th inning as New York outlasted Atlanta.
Johnson pulled a pitch from Dario Alvarez (1-1) into the first row of the right-field seats for his third homer.
The homer was the first extra-base hit of a game that began as a terrific duel between Jacob deGrom and Julio Teheran. They each threw eight scoreless innings.
Addison Reed (2-2) pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings for the Mets, who now trail first-place Washington by two games in the NL East.
Jeurys Familia worked the 11th for his majors-leading 26th save in 26 chances.
In other results, it was:
‧ Padres 3, Reds 0
‧ Orioles 5, Rays 0, 1st game
‧ Orioles 8, Rays 6, 2nd game
‧ Indians 6, Tigers 0
‧ Marlins 9, Cubs 6
‧ Brewers 6, Nationals 5
‧ Phillies 3, Giants 2
‧ Rockies 11, Diamondbacks 6
‧ Pirates 6, Dodgers 1
‧ Astros 13, Royals 5
‧ Rangers 10, Red Sox 3
‧ Athletics 7, Angels 3
‧ Mariners 5, Cardinals 4
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