Mookie Betts on Friday night homered on the second pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Betts’ first career game-ending homer capped a wild final few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to the force extra innings.
Betts drove Matt Belisle’s first pitch of the night over the Green Monster, setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.
Photo: AP
Betts’ teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.
Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season.
Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.
Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota their first lead.
Jackie Bradley Jr hit a two-run homer in the fifth for Boston and Chris Sale struck out 10 over six scoreless innings.
PIRATES 5, METS 4
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, David Freese drove in five runs, including an RBI single in the ninth inning that lifted Pittsburgh past New York.
Freese homered in going three for three with two walks, helping the Pirates win for the 12th time in 14 games.
The Mets had won three in a row. They beat the Pirates 12-6 on Thursday night behind Asdrubal Cabrera’s homer and two doubles.
Cabrera was traded to Philadelphia on Friday.
Josh Harrison led off the Pittsburgh ninth with an infield single against rookie reliever Tim Peterson (2-2).
A single by Gregory Polanco put runners at the corner and Elias Diaz was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Freese hit a drive over center fielder Brandon Nimmo for the win.
Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez (4-2) got the win after striking out two in a scoreless ninth.
DODGERS 4, BRAVES 1
In Atlanta, Georgia, Clayton Kershaw pitched 7-2/3 strong innings, added a two-run single and reached four times to help Los Angeles beat Atlanta.
Kershaw (4-5) allowed one run and six hits in striking out eight.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner and 2014 National League Most Valuable Player is 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves.
He surprised the capacity crowd at SunTrust Park by doubling down the left-field line to put Los Angeles up 4-1 in the fourth.
The inside-out swing that scored Matt Kemp and Chris Taylor did not draw too loud of a reaction from the fans, but they had seen enough in the eighth when Kershaw walked for the third time.
Kenley Jansen got the last four outs to earn his 30th save.
Los Angeles have won two straight, improving their NL-best road record to 30-22.
The Dodgers are 32-16 overall since June 1, tops in the NL over that span.
CARDINALS 5, CUBS 2
In St Louis, Missouri, Paul DeJong had three hits and three RBIs, while Yadier Molina added three hits and drove in a run as St Louis beat Chicago before a season-high crowd of 47,169 at Busch Stadium.
DeJong’s RBI triple, just the sixth for the Cardinals this season, tied it at 1-1 in the third, and Jose Martinez followed with an RBI single to give St Louis the lead.
DeJong added a two-run single in the fourth.
Cardinals starter Luke Weaver (6-9) gave up two runs in six innings.
Mike Mayers and Jordan Hicks pitched perfect innings of relief and Bud Norris earned his 20th save.
Mike Montgomery (3-4) allowed five runs and 12 hits in five innings.
Anthony Rizzo’s 427-foot homer provided the Chicago Cubs a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
Javier Baez added another solo blast, reaching the 20-homer mark for the second consecutive season, in the sixth.
RANGERS 11, ASTROS 2
In Houston, Texas, Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jurickson Profar added solo shots as Texas routed Houston.
Texas snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Astros and ended a four-game skid overall.
Texas starter Yovani Gallardo (5-1) allowed two hits while walking four in 5-1/3 scoreless innings for his second straight win.
Dallas Keuchel (8-9) was the loser.
Evan Gattis hit his 20th homer for Houston.
Houston played without reigning American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve, who sat out after leaving Wednesday’s game with a sore right knee.
In other results, it was:
‧ Nationals 9, Marlins 1
‧ Blue Jays 10, White Sox 5
‧ Reds 6, Phillies 4
‧ Indians 8, Tigers 3
‧ Orioles 15, Rays 5
‧ Rockies 3, Athletics 1
‧ Angels 4, Mariners 3, 10 Innings
‧ Brewers 3, Giants 1
‧ Diamondbacks 6, Padres 2
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