CLEVELAND — Rookie Oscar Mercado hit a two-run homer off CC Sabathia to break a fifth-inning tie Saturday and the Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Yankees, 8-4.
Roberto Perez homered in his fourth straight game for Cleveland. The Indians have won 4 of 5 on their homestand against AL division leaders New York and Minnesota.
Didi Gregorius hit a home run in his second game back with New York this season. The Yankees have lost 5 of 6.
Sabathia, denied the 250th win of his career for the second straight outing, appeared to injure his leg fielding a grounder earlier in the fifth.He was removed after the inning, allowing four runs.
Sabathia (3-3) was on the injured list from May 23-June 2 with right knee inflammation.
WHITE SOX 2, ROYALS 0: Lucas Giolito worked into the eighth inning and had a career-high 11 strikeouts to win his seventh consecutive start as Chicago won at Kansas City, Missouri.
Giolito (9-1) allowed three hits and two walks in 72/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.28. He has allowed no more than one run in six of his seven straight wins. Giolito went 10-13 with a 6.13 ERA in 2018, his first full season.
Rookie Eloy Jimenez hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Brad Keller (3-8), who otherwise was nearly as good as Giolito. Jimenez’s blast snapped a 42-inning homerless streak for Keller, who worked eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Keller walked one and struck out four.
Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his 13th save in as many chances.
RANGERS 10, ATHLETICS 5: Tim Federowicz homered in his first big league game this season, Nomar Mazara also went deep and Texas won at Arlington, Texas, in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Jeffrey Springs (4-1) worked three innings in relief of starter Joe Palumbo, the left-hander who went four innings in his big league debut after being recalled from Double-A Frisco.
Texas went ahead to stay with a three-run first off Paul Blackburn (0-1), who was called up as Oakland’s 26th player for the doubleheader after being in Triple-A Las Vegas all season. The right-hander gave up five runs in three innings.
Matt Olson and Josh Phegley homered for the A’s. Phegley also had a two-run double on the first pitch he faced in the fourth when taking over with a 2-2 count after catcher Nick Hundley left the game.
ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 1: Renato Nunez hit his 16th homer, Richie Martin added a two-run shot in the ninth and Baltimore won at Houston to snap a three-game skid.
Nunez homered in the sixth inning and the Astros tied it in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly, but a solid defensive play by right fielder Anthony Santander ended the threat.
It was still tied in the eighth when Will Harris (1-1) took over for starter Framber Valdez and Hanser Alberto greeted him with a double to left field. Trey Mancini singled, and Nunez reached when Alberto got caught in a rundown between third and home for the first out.
Pedro Severino grounded into a fielder’s choice, but the Orioles took a 2-1 lead when shortstop Jack Mayfield badly overthrew first base for an error that allowed Mancini to score.
TIGERS 9, TWINS 3: JaCoby Jones homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs as Detroit won at home.
Jones is hitting .420 with four homers and 13 RBI in his last 14 games, raising his batting average from .173 to .250.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PHILLIES 4, REDS 1: Nick Pivetta struck out six in his first career complete game as Philadelphia won at home.
Pivetta (4-1) allowed six hits in his third start since his demotion to the minors. He’s 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
J.T. Realmuto hit a solo homer and Jay Bruce ripped a two-run single for the NL East leaders. Bruce is 8 for 18 with four homers and 11 RBI in five games since the Phillies acquired him in a trade with Seattle.
Reds starter Tanner Roark (4-5) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.
BRAVES 1, MARLINS 0: Julio Teheran pitched six sharp innings, rookie Austin Riley scored and Atlanta won at Miami.
The Braves won despite getting only three hits and improved to 5-0 this season at Marlins Park. Miami had four hits.
BREWERS 5, PIRATES 3: Zach Davies became the first Milwaukee starter to win his first seven decisions in a season, hanging on for five innings before the bullpen finished it off at home.
METS 5, ROCKIES 3: Steven Matz struck out 10, Pete Alonso hit his 21st home run and New York won at home.
INTERLEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 6, BLUE JAYS 0: Zack Grienke and four relievers combined on a five-hitter, Alex Avila and Kevin Cron hit solo home runs and Arizona won at Toronto.
Nick Ahmed drove in two runs as the Diamondbacks won their third straight.
Grienke (7-2) allowed four hits in six innings to win for the first time in four starts. He was 0-1 in three games since a May 15 victory over Pittsburgh.
Toronto was shut out for the fifth time this season. The Blue Jays didn’t put a runner in scoring position until the fifth, when Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-out single and Brandon Drury walked. Grienke struck out Luke Maile to end the threat.
NOTES
YANKEES: New York placed right-hander Masahiro Tanaka on the paternity leave list.
Tanaka, who was scheduled to start Sunday against Cleveland, returned to New York for the birth of his baby girl Friday. He’s 3-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 13 starts.
• Fuming after his bid for extra bases was caught, Brett Gardner fired his batting helmet against a dugout wall, only to have it bounce back and smack him in the face. Gardner needed six stitches to close a gashed, bloody lower lip.
CARDINALS: St. Louis placed infielder Jedd Gyorko on the 10-day injured list with a strained lower back and purchased the contract of infielder Tommy Edman from Triple-A Memphis.
The Cardinals also designated right-handed reliever Merandy Gonzalez for assignment.
RANGERS: The team retired Adrian Beltre’s No. 29 jersey after he spent the last eight of his 21 major league seasons in Texas.
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