Dodgers edge Yankees 2-1

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Muncy hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning on Gerrit Cole’s 103rd and final pitch, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Yankees 2-1 on Friday night in their first game in the Bronx since winning the 2024 World Series.

Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4 with a pair of warning-track flyouts, five days after the four-time MVP had a lubricant injected into his irritated left knee.

Los Angeles began the second half by improving to a big league-best 62-36. New York (54-43) dropped to 18-20 without captain Aaron Judge, still sidelined by a fractured rib.

On a night with smoke in the air from Canadian wildfires, New York led on an unearned run against Roki Sasaki in the fourth. Jasson Domínguez doubled, took third when center fielder Andy Pages dropped the ball while picking it up by the warning track and scored on Dalton Rushing’s passed ball.

Cole (3-5), who struck out eight, issued his first walk to Mookie Betts starting the seventh.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to the mound and left in the 35-year-old former Cy Young Award winner. Muncy fell behind 0-2 and with a 2-2 count on the seventh pitch drove a hanging slider into the right-field second deck for his 18th home run.

Cole had a 5-0 lead over the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2024 Series before errors by the pitcher and Judge in center led to five unearned runs in the fifth. Los Angeles went on to win 7-6 and take the title.

Jack Dreyer (4-1) threw a called third strike to Domínguez that stranded two runners in the sixth, then retired the side in order in the seventh. New York’s Trent Grisham was thrown out trying to score from first on Ben Rice’s eighth-inning double. Pages threw to Betts, who relayed to Rushing as Pages got his big league-high 13th outfield assist.

Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances.

RED SOX 10, RAYS 0, 1ST GAME

RED SOX 5, RAYS 3, 2ND GAME

BOSTON (AP) — Wilyer Abreu homered twice, All-Star Willson Contreras went deep in his first game back from a five-game suspension, and Boston extended its winning streak to 11 games with a victory over Tampa Bay to sweep a doubleheader.

The streak is the longest for the Red Sox since Sept. 15-25, 2016, and Boston (48-48) moved to .500 for the first time since its second game of the season.

Abreu and Contreras homered back-to-back in the first inning after the Rays jumped to a 2-0 lead. Abreu tied it with his two-run shot and Contreras followed with his 21st of the season.

Contreras was suspended for his actions during a benches-clearing incident against Washington last month. The suspension was reduced from seven games on appeal.

All-Star slugger Junior Caminero hit his 29th homer for AL-best Tampa Bay, which also got a two-run single from Johnny DeLuca. Caminero’s longball tied it at 3-all in the third.

Abreu put the Red Sox back ahead in the bottom half with his 13th homer. It was his sixth career game with multiple home runs.

Greg Weissert (2-2) was one of six Red Sox relievers to combine for 6 2/3 scoreless innings. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save.

Anthony Siegler doubled in a run in the fifth for Boston.

Tampa Bay starter Mason Englert (0-3) allowed five runs in five innings.

In Friday’s opener, the Red Sox beat the Rays 10-0 behind six sharp innings from rookie Jake Bennett and homers from Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Navarez.

BRAVES 15, RANGERS 1

ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale pitched seven shutout innings of two-hit ball and Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Austin Riley homered for Atlanta during a 19-hit outburst as the Braves beat Texas.

Sale (10-6) became the 27th major leaguer to reach 2,700 career strikeouts when he fanned Rangers shortstop Ezequiel Duran in the fifth.

Baldwin was 3 for 4 with a walk and five RBIs. His three-run homer into the Braves bullpen in the fourth gave Atlanta a 5-0 lead. Olson followed two batters later with a 420-foot shot into the Chop House restaurant in right field. He was 2 for 3 with two walks and two runs.

The Rangers had won eight of their last 10 games against left-handed starters, but they were overmatched against Sale. The veteran ace sat out Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia and was ready for Texas. He had six strikeouts, no walks and allowed just a single in the third and a double in the seventh. He threw 62 strikes on 89 pitches.

Rangers starter Cal Quantrill (3-2) lasted four innings and gave up 11 hits and six runs on a season-high 86 pitches. He was relieved by Emiliano Teodo, who permitted two runs over 1 2/3 innings in his big league debut.

WHITE SOX 12, BLUE JAYS 4

TORONTO (AP) — Sam Antonacci hit a two-run home run, Braden Montgomery matched his career-high with four RBIs, and the Chicago White Sox extended their winning streak to four with a win over Toronto.

Braden Montgomery had a three-run triple and Colson Montgomery added a three-run double as Chicago improved to 4-0 against Toronto this season, outscoring the Blue Jays 26-11 in those games.

Tyler Schweitzer (1-0) pitched three shutout innings as the AL Central leaders returned from the All-Star break with a decisive win.

George Springer, Luis Urías and Brandon Valenzuela hit solo home runs but the Blue Jays couldn’t recover after giving up five in the second inning. Toronto is 5-36 when its opponent scores five runs or more.

The Blue Jays fell to 24-26 at home, where they went 54-27 last season.

Toronto’s Spencer Miles (4-2) allowed six runs and six hits in four-plus innings.

TWINS 5, CUBS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Jeffers hit a go-ahead three-run homer, Bailey Ober struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings and surging Minnesota beat the Chicago Cubs.

The Twins got back to .500 for the first time since April 22. They have won three straight and 10 of 14.

Ober (7-3) allowed five hits and two runs in his second strong start since returning from the IL on July 9. He made his first start against the Cubs, giving him a start against every team in the majors except Minnesota.

Yoendrys Gómez worked a hitless ninth for his 12th save.

Colin Rea (7-6) struck out six in six innings for the Cubs. He allowed five hits, four runs (three earned), and walked one.

Michael Busch had an RBI single to right in the first for the Cubs. They threatened for more with runners at the corners and no outs, but Ober worked out of the jam.

Trevor Larnach tied it with an RBI single in the third, and Jeffers’ eighth homer of the year put the Twins ahead for good two pitches later.

BREWERS 2, MARLINS 1, 10 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Garrett Mitchell’s two-out single up the middle in the 10th inning scored automatic runner Jackson Chourio from second, and Milwaukee beat Miami to snap a three-game skid.

The center fielder delivered his third career walk-off hit, off Miami’s Lake Bachar (1-1), after he made a running catch of Joe Mack’s sharp liner to end the top of the 10th.

Craig Yoho (1-0), the sixth Brewers pitcher, pitched a scoreless 10th for his first major league win.

The game was scoreless until the fifth, in part because of stellar defense by both teams.

Marlins All-Star shortstop Otto Lopez made a sliding, run-saving catch of a popup by Sal Frelick to end the second. Brewers second baseman Brice Turang ranged far to his right to take a hit and an RBI away from Kyle Stowers to end the fourth.

Griffin Conine hit a solo homer off Logan Henderson in the fifth. Conine has homered in three of his last five games.

Joey Ortiz connected for a solo shot off Sandy Alcantara in the bottom half to pull Milwaukee even.

Alcantara gave up three hits and one run in six innings for his league-leading 15th quality start. He moved into a tie with Ricky Nolasco for the most quality starts in Marlins history with 110. The major league leader in innings stuck out seven and walked four while throwing 104 pitches.

Henderson gave up three hits and one run in five innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter in his 73-pitch outing.

REDS 7, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Spencer Steer hit two home runs, including an inside-the-park homer, Brady Singer gave up four hits in seven strong innings, and Cincinnati beat Colorado.

Steer and Eugenio Suárez hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning and Elly De La Cruz had three singles and a homer for the Reds.

Singer (4-9) struck out six and gave up two runs for his fifth quality start.

De La Cruz led off with a single and Sal Stewart drove him in with a double to give the Reds a 1-0 lead after one.

Troy Johnston tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the fifth, but Steer put the Reds ahead 3-1 with a 404-foot, two-run shot to left.

Four pitches later, Suárez sent one 415 feet to left to stretch the advantage to 4-1.

Steer hit his inside-the-park homer in the eighth. He sent the ball to the wall in right-center, where it took an odd bounce. The relay throw home got away from Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman, and Steer slid in to score.

ORIOLES 3, ASTROS 2

HOUSTON (AP) — Taylor Ward hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Baltimore beat Houston to extend its season-best win streak to five games.

Adley Rutschman had a ground-rule double to begin the inning against Bryan King (2-3) before Ward hit the next pitch out to left for his seventh homer.

Cam Sanders (1-0), acquired from Pittsburgh for cash on Monday, came in with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. The right-hander struck out Isaac Paredes looking and got Christian Walker to pop out foul behind home plate to pick up his first major league win.

Tyler Wells allowed Jeremy Peña’s infield hit in the ninth before retiring Yordan Alvarez on a shallow fly to center field for the second out. After Paredes walked, Wells struck out Walker for his third save.

Houston starter Peter Lambert allowed three hits, struck out a career-high 10 over six innings and left with a 2-1 lead. He issued three straight two-out walks in the third, including a free pass to Pete Alonso that made it 1-1.

Alvarez had an RBI double in the first for Houston and finished 2 for 3 with two walks. He leads the AL with a .321 batting average, 71 RBIs and 31 home runs as he pursues the Triple Crown.

ROYALS 7, PADRES 6, 10 INNINGS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Carter Jensen hit a two-run single to cap a four-run rally in the 10th inning that gave the Kansas City Royals a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

Lane Thomas homered early for the last-place Royals, who stopped a five-game losing streak. Jensen and Michael Massey each had three of Kansas City’s 13 hits.

Ty France launched a solo homer for the Padres with two outs in the ninth, tying the score at 3.

The Royals had an excellent opportunity to win in the bottom half, when Jensen’s double helped them load the bases with nobody out against Mason Miller. But the All-Star closer struck out the next three batters, sending the game to extra innings.

San Diego took a 6-3 lead in the top of the 10th on Miguel Andujar’s RBI double, Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s run-scoring single and Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly.