NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton hit the hardest homer ever measured by Major League Baseball’s Statcast system, Neil Walker hit two more home runs and the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 on Thursday night.
Stanton’s 28th homer was measured at 121.7 mph, the fastest long ball tracked by Statcast since the system was introduced in 2015. Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks also went deep, helping the Yankees win their fourth straight since a five-game skid that included a four-game sweep at AL East-leading Boston.
J.A. Happ (12-6) pitched six effective innings in his return from hand, foot and mouth disease. Happ allowed three runs, four hits, a walk and struck out nine Thursday.
RAYS 5, ORIOLES 4: Jake Bauers drove in two of his three runs with a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat visiting Baltimore.
Bauers’ decisive hit off Cody Carroll (0-1) came in the Rays’ franchise-record tying sixth consecutive one-run game. Tampa Bay has played 49 (22-27) one-run games overall, tops in the majors.
The Orioles (35-80) open a four-game series on Friday night against Boston. One victory by the AL East-leading Red Sox would eliminate the Orioles from the contention for the division title.
INDIANS 5, TWINS 4: Michael Brantley’s ninth-inning single gave host Cleveland its second straight walk-off victory.
Brantley grounded a 2-1 pitch off Addison Reed (1-6) past a diving Miguel Sano at first base to score Greg Allen, giving Cleveland another dramatic win.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PADRES 8, BREWERS 4: Hunter Renfroe hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning, his fourth straight game with a home run, and San Diego rallied to win at Milwaukee.
The Padres rallied against Brewers relievers Corey Knebel and Joakim Soria. Knebel walked the bases loaded and allowed a run-scoring infield single to Travis Jankowski before Soria entered to try to escape the jam.
Soria retired Eric Hosmer before Renfroe hammered a pitch deep into the left-field bleachers for his grand slam.
Renfroe became the first Padres player to hit home runs and have multiple RBI games in four consecutive games.
NATIONALS 6, BRAVES 3: Gio Gonzalez pitched seven strong innings and earned his first victory since May 28 to help Washington defeat visiting Atlanta.
The Nationals moved within 51/2 games of idle Philadelphia in the National League East.
• Washington outfielder Bryce Harper was scratched from the lineup with right knee soreness.
NOTES
INDIANS: Indians President Chris Antonetti isn’t sure how long Leonys Martin will be sidelined after the outfielder was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a non-baseball related condition.
Antonetti said Martin, who became sick Tuesday night and didn’t play Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins, could be out for longer than 10 days.
“He’s got an illness that he’s working through,” Antonetti said.
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