ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gerrit Cole took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Aaron Hicks hit a tie-breaking triple in the ninth as Manuel Margot slammed into the right-field wall and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Monday night for their 50th win.

New York has won 17 of its last 19 games, and its 50-17 start is the best in the major leagues since the 2001 Seattle Mariners. The Yankees opened a 14-game lead over third-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Cole struck out 12 and walked three, allowing one run and one hit in 7 innings. Cole struck out six in a row at one point and led 2-0 when Isaac Paredes grounded a slider on his 105th pitch off the mound and into center field. On June 3, Cole pitched 6 2/3 perfect innings at Detroit.

Clay Holmes (5-0) blew a 2-0 lead and allowed his first run since Opening Day, ending a 31 1/3-inning scoreless streak.

Anthony Rizzo hit a first inning home run off Shane McClanahan, and the Yankees got a run in the seventh on an error by first baseman Ji-Man Choi, the major league-high 45th unearned run allowed by the Rays.

With the score 2-2, Josh Donaldson singled off Jason Adam (0-2) with one out in the ninth and Hicks, batting .321 in June, drove a hanging changeup high off the right-field wall. Margot fell to the field as center fielder Brett Phillips retrieved the ball and Donaldson scored. Rays Manager Kevin Cash and an athletic trainer went out to Margot, who appeared to hurt and knee and left the field on a cart.

Jose Trevino followed with a sacrifice fly.

Wandy Peralta pitched the ninth for his second save, and the Yankees improved to 6-2 against the Rays this season, striking out Josh Lowe with two on and retiring Francisco Mejía on a flyout.

After Paredes singled off a clearly deflated Cole, Lowe flied out to Aaron Judge against the center-field wall, and Holmes relieved.

Mejía doubled down the right-field line and Yandy Díaz hit a soft bouncer to Holmes, who threw to first for the out as only the second of 13 runners he inherited this season scored.

Margot hit a bouncer to the third-base side, and Holmes’ throw to first was off line and not in time as Margot reached with a single and Mejía scored to tie it 2-2.

Rizzo hit his 19th home run this season and became just the second left-handed batter to homer off McClanahan this year after Seattle’s Jesse Winker.

WHITE SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 7: Andrew Vaughn matched a career high with four hits, including a solo homer, and Chicago celebrated Tim Anderson’s return by beating visiting Toronto.

Luis Robert and Josh Harrison also homered as Chicago opened a seven-game homestand with its fifth win in seven games. Adam Engel and Reese McGuire each drove in a run.

Anderson had two hits in his first big league game since May 29. He was activated from the 10-day injured list after being sidelined by a strained right groin.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

METS 6, MARLINS 0: David Peterson pitched into the sixth inning with his wife expected to go into labor imminently, and host New York beat Miami despite losing Jeff McNeil to injury.

Mets Manager Buck Showatler joked Monday morning that New York was on “baby watch” with Peterson, McNeil and Seth Lugo all awaiting newborns. Lugo was placed on the paternity list before the game.

Peterson was prepared to leave the park if his wife, Alex, went into labor with the couple’s first child, and the Mets had contingencies if he couldn’t make the start.

The call didn’t come, and Peterson (4-1) covered 5 1/3 innings with a season-high seven strikeouts on 100 pitches. He allowed six hits and two walks as the Mets won the four-game series by finishing their 11th shutout this season, tying the Yankees for the major league lead.

McNeil left in the fourth inning with right hamstring tightness after scoring on a wild pitch.

New York’s J.D. Davis was hit on the left hand by a pitch in the eighth, the league-leading 50th Mets player plunked this season. Davis threw his bat in pain but remained in the game. Davis had surgery in the offseason to repair a torn ligament in his left hand that bothered him throughout 2021.

The Mets dinked and dunked their way to a 4-0 lead against Trevor Rogers (3-6) with two sacrifice flies, Mark Canha’s bases-loaded walk and McNeil’s scurry home. Rogers was charged with three earned runs over five innings with seven strikeouts.

Canha’s RBI free pass came in the first inning, when New York loaded the bases with the help of an error by third baseman Jon Berti.

The Mets manufactured two more runs in the fourth. Davis tagged up and aggressively took home on Eduardo Escobar’s shallow fly to left, then McNeil took home on a wild pitch that skipped about 10 feet away from catcher Jacob Stallings.

McNeil had reached with a hit against the shift – the left-handed hitter entered the game hitting .380 when teams stacked three infielders on the right side of second base.

McNeil walked off uneasily after scoring and went straight to the clubhouse. He was replaced at second base by Luis Guillorme.

Pete Alonso added a sac fly in the fifth that scored Brandon Nimmo, who had three hits.

BRAVES 2, GIANTS 1: Orlando Arcia drove in Matt Olson from second base with a tie-breaking single in the ninth inning, lifting Atlanta over visiting San Francisco.

Camilo Doval began the ninth by walking Olson on four pitches, the first free pass issued by the Giants in the game. He retired Travis d’Arnaud on a popup before Marcell Ozuna singled to left. Doval (2-3) struck out Adam Duvall before Arcia drove the ball to left field.

In the top of the ninth, Braves closer Kenley Jansen (4-0) gave up a one-out single to pinch-hitter Joc Pederson, who advanced to third on Luis González’s single. González took second on the throw to third, but Jansen stranded both runners with strikeouts of Thairo Estrada and pinch-hitter Brandon Crawford.

The defending World Series champion Braves moved 10 games over .500 for the second time this season. They have won two straight and 16 of 18 to stay in second place in the NL East, 5½ games behind the New York Mets.

San Francisco, at 37-29 and in third place in the NL West, has dropped two straight.

PIRATES 12, CUBS 1: Newly promoted Oneil Cruz drove in four runs and Bligh Madris got three hits in his major league debut, sparking Pittsburgh over visiting Chicago.

Both rookies were called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day and they delivered right away.

Cruz, considered Pittsburgh’s top prospect, hit a three-run double to deep center field that capped a four-run third inning to push the Pirates’ lead to 7-0. He was playing in the third big league game of his career.

The 6-foot-7 Cruz also hit an RBI single in a five-run seventh as the Pirates set a season high for runs. He started the final two games of last season when he became the tallest shortstop in major league history.

Madris hit a two-run single in the second inning in his first at-bat the majors. The outfielder keyed a three-run inning that included the first of Hoy Park’s two sacrifice flies.

Madris became the first Pirates player to have a three-hit game in his debut since Jason Kendall in 1996.

BREWERS 2, CARDINALS 0: Corbin Burnes pitched seven dominant innings, Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer and host Milwaukee regained sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

The Brewers and Cardinals were tied for the division lead as they began this four-game series. The Brewers have followed up an eight-game skid by winning six of their last eight.

Burnes (5-4) struck out 10 and allowed just two hits and two walks.

NOTES

METS: RHP Max Scherzer (oblique) will make a rehab start with Double-A Binghamton on Tuesday and could rejoin New York to start Sunday.

• The Mets promoted first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith from Triple-A Syracuse, ending the popular 26-year-old’s three-week stint in the minor leagues.

Smith was optioned to Syracuse on May 31 after hitting .186 without a home run in 101 plate appearances this season. He hit .316 during a breakout season in 2020, but he hasn’t been the same player in the majors since.

The 2013 first-round pick batted .266 with two homers and a .785 OPS in 15 games at Triple-A.

MARINERS: Relievers Sergio Romo and and Roenis Elias were cut by the struggling Seattle Mariners to make room for reliever Ken Giles and infielder Kevin Padlo.

Romo and Elias were designated for assignment, Giles was activated from the 60-day injured list and Padlo was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.

Seattle has lost seven of its last nine games and is fourth in the AL West at 29-39, 13 games behind first-place Houston.

Romo, a 39-year-old right-hander known for his long beard, had an 8.16 ERA in 17 relief appearances and spent a month on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He allowed home runs to the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout on Thursday and to the Angels’ Jared Walsh on Saturday.

PADRES: All-Star slugger Manny Machado wasn’t in the lineup a day after spraining his left ankle and acting manager Ryan Flaherty, of Portland, was optimistic his former teammate won’t need to go on the injured list.

Machado, who’s having an MVP-caliber season, sprained his left ankle in the first inning Sunday at Colorado while trying to beat out a grounder. He stretched his left leg toward the base as the throw arrived from pitcher Antonio Senzatela and his cleats slipped across the top of the bag.

Machado fell to the ground and his left leg buckled beneath him. The third baseman was in pain, grimacing and clasping his hands around his lower left leg.
He was unable to put weight on the injured ankle and limped off the field with assistance from two team trainers.

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