NEW YORK — Austin Meadows homered off Luis Cessa in the 11th inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the Yankees 2-1 Saturday and regain the AL East lead after dropping behind New York for a day.
New York’s bullpen retired 13 in a row before Meadows lined a slider from Cessa (0-1) into the right-field seats for his ninth homer.
Meadows saved a run in the sixth when he charged Gleyber Torres’ two-out single to left and made a one-hop throw to the plate. Catcher Erik Kratz tagged Aaron Hicks, who tried to score from second and ran past third base coach Phil Nevin’s stop sign.
Masahiro Tanaka outpitched AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell for the second time in less than a week and was provided a lead when Snell threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the third.
Tanaka left with a bruised shin after a grounder up the middle in the sixth. Brandon Lowe tied the score in the seventh, homering on the second pitch from reliever Tommy Kahnle.
Hunter Wood (1-0) pitched a perfect 11th in his first appearance since May 1 following a stint on the injured list caused by right shoulder soreness.
A day after failing to hold a two-run lead in the ninth, Jose Alvarado gave up a leadoff single to Luke Voit in the bottom half. Hicks struck out, and Gary Sanchez, who had struck out four times, grounded into a game-ending double play. Alvarado got his fifth save in six chances.
INDIANS 4, ORIOLES 1: Adam Plutko, making his first appearance of the season, allowed one run in six innings – a solo homer by Trey Mancini for Baltimore’s only hit – and Cleveland won at home.
Plutko, called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game, gave up the home run to Mancini with two outs in the fourth. The right-hander struck out four, walked two and was pulled after throwing 83 pitches. Cleveland used three relievers to finish it.
WHITE SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1: Lucas Giolito threw five solid innings, Leury Garcia homered and Chicago won at home in a game stopped after 41/2 innings because of rain.
Giolito (5-1) struck out the side in the top of the fifth before play was halted. The game was called after a wait of three hours.
Yonder Alonso had two singles and two RBI for the White Sox, who have won five of seven.
ATHLETICS 4, TIGERS 1: Daniel Mengden pitched seven impressive innings and Nick Hundley and Chad Pinder homered to lift visiting Oakland to its 15th straight win over Detroit.
If the A’s beat the Tigers on Sunday, they would tie a franchise record for their longest winning streak against one team. Oakland won 16 in a row over the New York Yankees from 1989-91.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 5, CUBS 2: Cubs Manager Joe Maddon protested Chicago loss at Washington after twice coming out to complain about Nationals closer Sean Doolittle’s delivery.
After eight solid innings by Stephen Strasburg, Doolittle pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances, but Maddon thought he was using an illegal delivery. Maddon appeared to suggest the left-handed Doolittle was tapping his right toe on the ground before coming to the plate.
MARLINS 2, METS 0: Miami starter Pablo Lopez gave up a double on his first pitch, then combined with the Marlins’ bullpen to hold New York hitless the rest of the way in Miami.
The Marlins, with the worst record in the majors, beat the Mets for the second straight day after entering the series with a seven-game losing streak.
The Mets lost their fourth in a row and fell a season-worst four games under .500. After getting held to one hit, the loss is certain to ramp up speculation that manager Mickey Callaway’s job is in jeopardy.
PHILLIES 2, ROCKIES 1: Bryce Harper homered over the batter’s eye in center field, Aaron Nola tied his career high with 12 strikeouts while pitching into the seventh inning and Philadelphia won at home.
Harper also doubled for the NL East-leading Phillies.
REDS 4, DODGERS 0: Jesse Winker’s homer ended LA’s stretch of scoreless pitching, Yasiel Puig singled home a pair of runs, and host Cincinnati snapped the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak.
The Reds beat the Dodgers for the first time in five games this season, including LA’s three-game sweep in April. The Dodgers are 34-23 at Great American Ball Park, the second-best mark by an NL team behind the Mets.
INTERLEAGUE
CARDINALS 8, RANGERS 2: Paul DeJong homered and had a season-high four RBI, Matt Carpenter’s opposite-field double off the very top of the outfield wall ignited a decisive inning, and St. Louis won in Arlington, Texas, for its first victory over the Rangers since the 2011 World Series.
Carpenter was initially given a two-run homer in the fifth after his drive hit the wide pad atop the 14-foot left field wall. It was changed after review, but it was still kick-started a five-run outburst.
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.