RED SOX 2, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Working on six days' rest, Chris Sale followed up his worst start of the season with one of his best.
Sale allowed 2 hits and struck out 13 in 8 innings, and the Boston Red Sox won their seventh consecutive, 2-0 over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Last Wednesday, Sale gave up seven runs in five innings against Cleveland.
He was more than just good. Sale reached double digits in strikeouts for the 15th time this season, the first time that's been done since Randy Johnson in 2002.
The victory pushed Boston's AL East lead over the New York Yankees to four games.
Dustin Pedroia, back in the Boston lineup as a DH after a stint on the disabled list, scored the first run on a fielder's choice in the fourth. A bad throw by Austin Pruitt (6-3) prevented a possible inning-ending double play on Rafael Devers' chopper to the mound.
It was the only run allowed by Pruitt in his fourth major league start.
The Rays were shut out for the third time in four games. The Brewers held them scoreless on Saturday and Sunday.
"We need to find a way to win when our pitchers do so well," Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. "The offense is going to get going. We ran into a little buzzsaw against Milwaukee, and Chris Sale is the biggest buzzsaw."
Sale (14-4) gave up singles to Wilson Ramos in the fifth and Peter Bourjos in the sixth. The Rays did not get a runner to second base until the seventh, when Sale followed a walk to Logan Morrison with a wild pitch.
Sale, who leads the majors with 229 strikeouts in 23 starts, has struck out at least 12 in all 4 of his starts against the Rays.
Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 28th save.
Eduardo Nunez and Xander Bogaerts each had three of Boston's 12 hits.
BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 2 Josh Donaldson hit 2 two-run home runs, J.A. Happ won his sixth consecutive decision against the Yankees, and host Toronto beat New York.
WHITE SOX 8, ASTROS 5 Rookie Kevan Smith had a home run and drove in four runs for Chicago in a victory over former Arkansas Razorback Dallas Keuchel and visiting Houston.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 7, NATIONALS 3 Giancarlo Stanton hit his career-high and major league-leading 38th home run of the season and drove in three runs as Miami beat host Washington.
PADRES 7, REDS 3 Jose Pirela had four hits, and Yangervis Solarte had a home run among his three hits, powering visiting San Diego to a victory over Cincinnati.
PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 2 Odubel Herrera hit a two-run home run, Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings following his recall from the minors, and Philadelphia beat host Atlanta to continue its season-long mastery of the Braves.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 3 Jake Lamb hit his second career grand slam in the seventh inning and Arizona rallied to beat visiting Los Angeles, only the eighth loss for the Dodgers in their last 52 games.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 6, TIGERS 3 Andrew McCutchen hit his 23rd home run of the season and surging host Pittsburgh downed Detroit.
INDIANS 4, ROCKIES 1 Yan Gomes hit a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning off closer Greg Holland as Cleveland rallied for four runs in its last at-bat for Corey Kluber and beat visiting Colorado.
METS 5, RANGERS 4 Rookie Chris Flexen got his first big league victory and hit, and host New York took an early four-run lead against emergency starter A.J. Griffin in a victory over Texas that stopped a four-game losing streak.
TWINS 11, BREWERS 4 Brian Dozier hit his first career grand slam and Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario each homered twice, powering Minnesota past visiting Milwaukee for a two-game sweep.
CARDINALS 10, ROYALS 3 Yadier Molina, Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk went deep, the Cardinals scored so much in the fifth inning that they broke the scoreboard, and St. Louis rolled to a victory over host Kansas City. Michael Wacha (9-4) allowed a three-run double to Cheslor Cuthbert but otherwise kept the Royals in check, surrendering 6 hits over 6 innings to win for the sixth time in 7 decisions.
Sports on 08/09/2017