ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Yonny Chirinos pitched well into the sixth inning, Harold Ramírez homered during a three-run fourth inning, and the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep by beating the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins 4-2 on Thursday.

Chirinos (3-1), recalled from Triple-A Durham before the game, allowed one run and five hits over 5 2/3 innings in his first big-league appearance since April 29. Jason Adam, the third Rays reliever, worked the ninth to get his 10th save in 14 chances.

Tampa Bay is 29-6 at home, has won six in a row overall and is 46-19 on the season.

Carlos Correa, who returned Tuesday after missing three games after reaggravating plantar fasciitis in his left foot, and Michael A. Taylor homered for the Twins, who have lost a season-high five consecutive games.

The Twins lead their division despite falling under .500 at 31-32, and have scored a combined seven runs in the past six games.

Minnesota’s Bailey Ober (3-3) retired his first 11 batters, including six consecutive strikeouts in the second and third, before he lost the perfect game and lead in the span of three batters. After Randy Arozarena walked with two outs in the fourth. Luke Raley had an RBI triple and Harold Ramírez hit a two-run shot on back-to-back pitches to put the Rays up 3-1.

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WHITE SOX 6, YANKEES 5: Eloy Jiménez hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning off Michael King, and the visiting White Sox beat New York in the opener of a doubleheader to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games.

After Wednesday’s game was postponed by Major League Baseball because of hazardous air quality from Canadian wildfires, conditions in the Bronx had improved by first pitch Thursday. According to the website IQAir, the air quality was graded 142 before the game began and dropped to 127 about an hour in. An AQI ranging from 101-150 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Jake Burger hit a two-run homer off Yankees starter Luis Severino before Luis Robert Jr. and Yoán Moncada also went deep against the right-hander.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

DODGERS 6, REDS 0: Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, Chris Taylor hit his 10th home run of the season and Los Angeles won at Cincinnati Reds.

Kershaw (8-4, 2.95 ERA) scattered five hits, struck out nine and walked two to help Los Angeles snap its four-game losing streak and avoid a three-game series sweep against the Reds, who won the previous two games in walk-off fashion.

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Los Angeles improved to 10-3 against Cincinnati dating back to September 2021.

GIANTS 6, ROCKIES 4: Brandon Crawford had a pinch-hit RBI double to spark a three-run ninth and visiting San Francisco beat Colorado for the 11th straight time.

Michael Conforto and Thairo Estrada homered to help San Francisco sweep its seventh straight series from Colorado. Scott Alexander (5-0) got the win with an inning of relief and Camilo Doval finished for his 16th save.

Nolan Jones had three hits for the Rockies. They have lost four straight.

INTERLEAGUE

ORIOLES 6, BREWERS 3: Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning to put Baltimore ahead for good as the Orioles rallied from a three-run deficit to win in Milwaukee.

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The Brewers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and were in control for much of the game until the Orioles attacked Milwaukee’s bullpen by scoring six runs over the final three innings. The comeback enabled the Orioles to avoid a three-game sweep.

Anthony Santander’s one-out RBI double off Peter Strzelecki cut the Brewers’ lead to 3-2 in the eighth and put the tying run in scoring position. Strzelecki (3-5) responded by striking out Austin Hays, but Henderson ripped the first pitch he saw over the wall in the left-field corner. Adam Frazier added insurance with a two-run double off Bryse Wilson in the ninth.

NOTES

YANKEES: New York placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.

The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days. After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.

A FEDERAL appellate court panel expressed skepticism Thursday of umpire Ángel Hernández’s attempt to reinstate his race discrimination lawsuit against Major League Baseball.

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The Cuba-born Hernández, hired as a big league umpire in 1993, sued in 2017. He alleged he was discriminated against because he had not been assigned to the World Series since 2005 and had been passed over for crew chief. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in 2021 granted MLB’s motion for a summary judgment, and Hernández last year asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the case.

Hernández, 61, has been sidelined by a back injury and has not worked on the field since San Francisco’s game at the Chicago White Sox on April 3, his only game this season.

Hernández claimed then-MLB executive Joe Torre, who made key decisions over umpires, held animosity toward Hernández dating to Torre’s time as New York Yankees manager. The umpire’s lawyer, Nicholas R. Gregg, said MLB should not have given Torre 100% authority to make crew chief decisions.

 

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