NEW YORK — Brett Gardner homered early Sunday, then got two hits during a seven-run burst in the sixth inning fueled by five walks that sent the New York Yankees past the Tampa Bay Rays, 13-5.
The Yankees took their second straight weekend series with Tampa Bay and moved a half-game in front atop the AL East. The Rays had been alone in first place for 47 straight days before New York scored three times in the ninth for a 4-3 win in the series opener Friday night.
Aaron Hicks homered for the first time since returning from a back injury and DJ LeMahieu also connected to help the Yankees win for the 10th time in 13 games.
“Coming into and out of spring training, there’s no way anybody could have foreseen these opportunities that have arisen,” Gardner said. “I think some of these young guys have done a great job of really stepping up, coming up here and doing their job.”
INDIANS 10, ORIOLES 0: Shane Bieber struck out a career-high 15 in his first major league complete game and Cleveland won at home.
A day after being held to one hit, the Orioles were overmatched against Bieber (3-2).
BLUE JAYS 5, WHITE SOX 2: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit another home run, Danny Jansen and Billy McKinney also connected and Toronto won at Chicago.
Guerrero has hit all four of his homers in the last six games. He didn’t homer in his first 13 games after making his major league debut in late April.
ATHLETICS-TIGERS SUSPENDED: Oakland led 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when the game at Detroit was suspended because of rain.
Oakland scored twice in the top of the seventh to take the lead, but the teams were unable to complete the inning before it began to rain hard and the tarp was brought onto the field. The game will resume Sept. 6 before the Tigers play a series in Oakland.
MARINERS 7, TWINS 4: Edwin Encarnacion made several nice plays at first base early in the game, then hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning that helped Seattle win at home, snapping Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.
Mitch Haniger and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back homers as the Mariners ended a three-game skid a day after an 18-4 drubbing.
ROYALS 5, ANGELS 1: Danny Duffy won his third straight start and Kansas City won at Anaheim, California, to stop a four-game skid.
Hunter Dozier hit a two-run double and Duffy (3-1) allowed five hits in six effective innings. Duffy worked out of trouble in the first before settling in. He struck out five and walked three.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 3, METS 0: Sandy Alcantara threw a two-hitter in a pitching duel with Noah Syndergaard, and Miami won at home to complete a three-game sweep.
A day after being shut out on one hit, the Mets lost their fifth straight. The latest defeat against a team with baseball’s worst record is sure to intensify speculation about the job security of Manager Mickey Callaway.
BREWERS 3, BRAVES 2: Ben Gamel led off the 10th inning with a home run against Wes Parsons, lifting Milwaukee at Atlanta Braves.
All five runs in the game came on homers.
PHILLIES 7, ROCKIES 5: Bryce Harper homered for the second straight day and pinch-hitter J.T. Realmuto also went deep to help Philadelphia win at home to complete a three-game sweep.
Harper’s tiebreaking, two-run shot in the sixth inning wasn’t as prodigious as his 466-foot drive in Saturday’s 2-1 victory, but this 404-footer had plenty of distance to clear the right-center wall for the NL East leader.
DODGERS 8, REDS 3: Hyun-Jin Ryu threw seven shutout innings to extend his major league-leading streak to 31, Cody Bellinger hit his 17th homer and Los Angeles won at Cincinnati.
PIRATES 6, PADRES 4: Colin Moran hit a three-run home run and finished with four RBI as Pittsburgh won at San Diego to take 3 of 4 in the series.
GIANTS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Pablo Sandoval opened the 10th inning with a pinch-hit homer after shortstop Brandon Crawford made a game-saving stop in the ninth, helping San Francisco win at Phoenix.
CUBS 6, NATIONALS 5: Anthony Rizzo homered, Albert Almora Jr. had three hits and Chicago held on at Washington.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 5, CARDINALS 4: Nomar Mazara hit a sacrifice fly off St. Louis reliever Carlos Martinez to cap a two-run rally in the 10th inning, lifting Texas at Arlington, Texas.
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