NEW YORK — Trevor Bauer and Ryan Merritt shut down the Yankees’ offense, leading the Cleveland Indians to a doubleheader sweep that damaged New York’s chances to win the AL East.
Bauer won his career-best seventh straight decision, Jose Ramirez tied his big league high with four hits, and the Indians took advantage of Gary Sanchez’s passed ball in a two-run first inning that stood up for a 2-1 win in Wednesday’s opener.
Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single in a four-run first inning against rookie Jordan Montgomery in the second game, and Edwin Encarnacion, Yan Gomes and Francisco Lindor added home runs in a 9-4 blowout that completed a three-game series sweep and extended the Indians’ winning streak to seven games.
Defending AL champion Cleveland has won 16 of 20, opening a 71/2-game lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central and moving a season-high 20 games over .500 at 76-56.
ORIOLES 8, MARINERS 7: Welington Castillo went 4 for 4 with a homer and three RBI, Jonathan Schoop singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth and Baltimore beat visiting Seattle for its season-high seventh straight victory.
Schoop, Mancini and Craig Gentry also homered for the Orioles, who completed their first three-game sweep of Seattle since 2012. In this one, Baltimore fell behind 6-2 in the third inning before coming back.
RANGERS 6, ASTROS 1: Andrew Cashner pitched eight strong innings, Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer and Texas beat Houston in a game relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, because of Hurricane Harvey.
RAYS 5, ROYALS 3: Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr. and Adeiny Hechavarria each went deep and Tampa Bay won in Kansas City, Missouri.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 4, MARLINS 0: Stephen Strasburg pitched a six-hitter and also homered, Wilmer Difo added a home run and Washington won at home to complete a three-game sweep of Miami.
BRAVES SWEEP PHILLIES: David Freitas lined a go-ahead RBI double for his first career hit, Ender Inciarte had three hits and Atlanta beat host Philadelphia 5-2 to complete a doubleheader sweep.
Inciarte was 3 for 5 with one RBI after going 5 for 5 with four RBI to lead the Braves to a 9-1 victory in the opener.
BREWERS 6, CARDINALS 5: Domingo Santana and Jonathan Villar homered in the sixth inning, and center fielder Keon Broxton made a leaping catch over the wall for the final out in Milwaukee’s win over visiting St. Louis.
METS 2, REDS 0: Rafael Montero took a one-hitter into the ninth inning, and New York held on for a victory that extended its dominance over host Cincinnati.
INTERLEAGUE
TIGERS 6, ROCKIES 2: Justin Verlander struck out nine over six commanding innings and aided his own cause by collecting the first RBI of his career as Detroit won in Denver.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.