TORONTO (AP) – Josh Donaldson and Chris Colabello hit solo home runs, Aaron Sanchez pitched a career-high seven innings and Toronto beat the struggling Boston Red Sox 7-0 on Friday night, the 3,000th win in Blue Jays history.
Donaldson connected off the facing of the third deck in the first inning and Colabello added an opposite field shot in the second. Both homers came off Wade Miley (1-4), who lost his third straight start.
Sanchez (3-2) allowed two hits, walked five and struck out three to win for the third time in four starts.
The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games. They came in having scored just 15 runs in their previous six, posting a team batting average of .214 in that span.
Things didn’t go much better against the Blue Jays. Dustin Pedroia’s one-out single in the first was their only hit through the first seven innings, and Pedroia was immediately erased on a double play.
PHILLIES 3, METS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Ryan Howard homered and drove in two runs, Cole Hamels outpitched Matt Harvey and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets.
Hamels (2-3) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out eight.
Harvey (5-1) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for his first career loss before June and first in seven starts against Philadelphia. The hard-throwing righty was 10-0 in 16 starts in April and May.
Philadelphia’s Freddy Galvis was 3 for 3 with a walk, raising his team-best batting average to .351.
Ken Giles tossed a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon finished for his sixth save in six tries.
NATIONALS 9, BRAVES 2
WASHINGTON (AP) – Bryce Harper hit two more home runs, giving him five in two games, and Danny Espinosa also connected twice to power the Washington Nationals past the Atlanta Braves.
Harper drove in five runs with three hits. On Wednesday, he homered his first three times up and drove in five runs.
Harper has 10 home runs this season, along with those 10 RBIs in his last two games.
Jayson Werth added a solo home run as the Nationals backed Gio Gonzalez (3-2). Gonzalez pitched seven solid innings after going 0-7 in his previous eight starts against Atlanta.
Harper hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Eric Stults (1-3), giving Washington a 3-2 lead. Harper hit a three-run drive deep into the right-center field stands in the eighth against Williams Perez, who was making his major league debut.
REDS-WHITE SOX, PPD
CHICAGO (AP) – The opener of Cincinnati’s first series at the Chicago White Sox in 14 years has been postponed by rain.
YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 4
NEW YORK (AP) – Brian McCann hit an early two-run homer, Andrew Miller got his major league-leading 13th save and the New York Yankees held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles.
A night after hitting his 661st home run to move past Willie Mays into sole possession of fourth place, Alex Rodriguez hit a drive to the top of the wall in right-center for his first triple since July 2012. New York (19-11) survived yet another short start by Adam Warren to win for the 16th time in 21 games and move eight games over .500 for the first time since the final day of 2013 season.
Warren took a shutout into the fifth but was removed one out short of qualifying for a win. He gave up two runs, seven hits and three walks.
Dellin Betances (4-0) retired four straight batters for the win and Miller, New York’s fifth pitcher, got three straight outs against the team he finished last year with to remain perfect in save opportunities.
TWINS 9, INDIANS 3
CLEVELAND (AP) – Torii Hunter went 4 for 4, including a solo homer, and drove in four runs, leading the Minnesota Twins past the Cleveland Indians.
The Twins have won eight of nine and are 16-7 since April 13.
Hunter, with a chance for a five-hit game, walked on four pitches in the ninth.
Mike Pelfrey (3-0), rebounding from his shortest outing of the season, gave up two runs in seven innings.
Bauer (2-1) allowed five runs in five-plus innings as Cleveland’s problems continue. The Indians (10-18) have the worst record in the American League.
RAYS 8, RANGERS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Nathan Karns took a shutout into the eighth inning, pinch hitter Brandon Guyer had a three-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers.
Karns (2-1) allowed two hits through seven scoreless innings before Adam Rosales homered to lead off the eighth. Karns struck out a career-high nine.
Yovani Gallardo (2-5) lost his fourth straight start, giving up four runs and three hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Evan Longoria hit an RBI single that finished Gallardo in the sixth. Reliever Alex Claudio threw only one pitch in the game, and Guyer sent it into the left-field seats for the first pinch-hit homer of his career and a 5-0 lead.
Longoria was the designated hitter, one day after his streak of playing in 270 consecutive games ended due to flulike symptoms.
CARDINALS 8, PIRATES 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Matt Holliday and Kolten Wong hit three-run homers and Michael Wacha remained unbeaten as the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Holliday sent a towering shot to left-center off Francisco Liriano (1-2) in the third inning and Wong put it away with a drive over the Clemente Wall in right off Arquimedes Caminero in the seventh. Jhonny Peralta also homered for the Cardinals, who have won 10 of 11.
Wong finished with three hits. Trevor Rosenthal worked the ninth for his 11th save as the Cardinals improved to a major-league best 22-7. Wacha (5-0) produced six workmanlike innings, giving up three runs and six hits with one strikeout.
Starling Marte had three hits for Pittsburgh and Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Francisco Cervelli added two each.
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