D.J. LeMahieu on Friday night homered and hit an RBI double off the wall against Chris Sale, sending the surging New York Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Aaron Hicks broke a third-inning tie with a two-run single and J.A. Happ (5-3) pitched well against Boston again to win his fourth consecutive decision overall.
New York got four shutout innings from their deep and dominant bullpen, handing the defending World Series champions their third loss in a row.
Photo: AFP
Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman each worked an inning to finish the five-hitter. Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 16th save.
Despite a rash of injuries, the Yankees hold a more-than-one-game lead in the American League East over Tampa Bay — and a widening gap on the Red Sox.
New York have won all three meetings between the long-time rivals this season, beating Sale (1-7) twice and outscoring Boston 17-4. New York have won nine of 11 overall and are 31-10 since a 6-9 start.
Rafael Devers homered early for the third-placed Red Sox, who fell more than eight games back in the division. That is the furthest they have been behind the Yankees since finishing the 2015 season nine games in the dust.
PIRATES 9, BREWERS 4
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Josh Bell finished off his historic May with two more hits, while Starling Marte added three hits and scored three times as the Pirates pounced on struggling Milwaukee starter Jhoulys Chacin.
Bell went two for five and drove in a run in front of a crowd that included fans in the right-field seats wearing “Bellieve” T-shirts as part of a promotion that doubled as an All-Star Game push for the 26-year-old first baseman.
Bell’s two singles gave him 94 total bases last month, the most by any player in any month in the franchise’s 138-year history. Bell last month hit .389 with 12 home runs, 12 doubles and 31 RBIs.
Kevin Newman extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games with a pair of hits, including a two-run single off reliever Freddy Peralta in the third to cap a six-run burst that put the Pirates firmly in control.
Chris Archer (2-5) gave up early home runs to Jesus Aguilar and Keston Hiura, but settled down to work seven innings and pick up his first victory since April 7.
Chacin (3-7) fell to 1-7 in his past 10 starts.
REDS 9, NATIONALS 3
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Curt Casali hit a three-run homer off Patrick Corbin, who had one of the worst starts of his career, as the Reds beat Washington to end the Nationals’ streak of eight straight wins at Great American Ball Park.
Corbin (5-3) gave up eight runs — one shy of his career high — in 2-2/3 innings.
The Reds piled up 11 hits, matching the most the left-hander had allowed in a game. He retired only eight of his 20 batters.
Corbin had not allowed so many runs since he also gave up eight on Sept. 8, 2017, in a 10-6 loss to San Diego. It was only the fifth time in his career that he has allowed eight or more runs.
Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle (2-5) gave up three runs in five innings, including Juan Soto’s 10th homer. Soto has hit safely in a career-high 14 straight games.
Cincinnati’s Joey Votto returned after missing three games with a tight right hamstring and had three hits.
Eugenio Suarez was back in the lineup after getting hit on the left hand by Clay Holmes’ pitch on Wednesday.
In other results, it was:
‧ Twins 5, Rays 3
‧ Rockies 13, Blue Jays 6
‧ Orioles 9, Giants 5
‧ White Sox 2, Indians 1
‧ Tigers 8, Braves 2
‧ Rangers 6, Royals 2
‧ Cardinals 2, Cubs 1, 10 innings
‧ Mariners 4, Angels 3
‧ Padres 5, Marlins 2
‧ Dodgers 6, Phillies 3
‧ Astros 3, Athletics 2
‧ Mets 5, Diamondbacks 4
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