MLB Capsules: Yankees beat Reds for sixth straight win

CINCINNATI – Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday homered, Masahiro Tanaka won his fifth consecutive start, and the New York Yankees shook off a long game and a short night’s sleep, beating the Cincinnati Reds 10-4 on Monday for their sixth victory in a row.

The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 21-9 and are 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.

Their biggest challenge was overcoming the fatigue from an 18-inning, 5-4 win at Wrigley Field early Monday. The Yankees didn’t land in the Cincinnati area until 5:08 a.m., and the sun was up when some of them finally fell asleep. Players sipped caffeinated drinks and yawned in the clubhouse pregame.

Tanaka (5-1) gave them what they needed after their all-nighter, going seven innings on 112 pitches to rest the bullpen. He allowed four runs – Joey Votto drove in three with a single and a homer – while ending the Reds’ five-game winning streak.

Gary Sanchez hit a bases-loaded single in the first off Rookie Davis (1-2), a former Yankees prospect.

Royals 7, Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Nate Karns struck out 10 while pitching into the seventh inning, Eric Hosmer had three hits and Kansas City busted out of an offensive slump to beat Tampa Bay.

Kansas City matched its best run output of the year and set a season high with 13 hits. Drew Butera had two hits and drove in his first two runs of the season, helping the Royals win for the fourth time in 17 games. Kansas City had scored three or fewer runs in four straight games.

Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield each had two hits for Kansas City, and Hosmer also stole two bases.

Karns (2-2) completed 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, six hits and two walks.

Blake Snell (0-3) allowed four runs and 10 hits over five innings.

Orioles 6, Nationals 4

BALTIMORE – Trey Mancini capped a three-homer binge in the first inning against Gio Gonzalez, and Baltimore beat Washington Nationals for their season-high fifth straight victory.

Kevin Gausman (2-3) limited baseball’s most potent offense to two runs over seven innings. He retired the first 10 batters and struck out eight in his longest outing of the year.

Joey Rickard hit a leadoff homer and Mark Trumbo added a solo shot before Mancini connected with a runner on to make it 4-0. That was enough offense for the Orioles, who now hold a 37-24 advantage over their neighboring rivals in the so-called “Beltway Series,” which began in 2006.

Caleb Joseph had a career high-tying four hits for the Orioles. Baltimore (21-10) owns the second-best record in the majors behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

Bryce Harper homered and drove in two runs for the Nationals.

Blue Jays 4, Indians 2

TORONTO – Marcus Stroman pitched six shutout innings, Kevin Pillar made a sensational catch in center field and Toronto topped Cleveland.

Ryan Goins hit a two-run homer and Justin Smoak added a two-run single as the Blue Jays beat the team that eliminated them from last year’s AL Championship Series.

Former Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who signed a $60 million, three-year contract with Cleveland last winter, received a warm welcome in his return to Toronto. Fans cheered his name when the lineups were announced before the game, then roared in approval at a video tribute prior to the first pitch.

Encarnacion got a standing ovation before his first at-bat, when he lined a first-pitch single off Stroman’s left foot. Encarnacion went 2 for 3 with a walk.

Mets 4, Giants 3

NEW YORK – Neil Walker hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning, and New York put turmoil aside to beat reeling San Francisco.

Michael Conforto, who has struggled in limited at-bats against left-handers, reached base for the third time when he walked leading off the ninth against lefty Josh Osich (0-1). T.J. Rivera fouled out, Jay Bruce flied out and Wilmer Flores singled off reliever Hunter Strickland’s calf.

Walker singled into the right-field corner, and the Mets ran out of the dugout to swarm him in celebration. Conforto scored for New York’s first walk-off win this season, giving the Mets their seventh victory in 10 games.

Jeurys Familia (1-0) needed just five pitches in a perfect ninth, finishing a five-hitter started by Jacob deGrom, who struck out 11 in six innings.

Padres 5, Rangers 1

SAN DIEGO – Trevor Cahill and three relievers held the Texas Rangers to two hits, and Ryan Schimpf, Austin Hedges and Cory Spangenberg homered to lead San Diego to a victory.

The Padres snapped a four-game losing streak.

Cahill (3-2) allowed one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings to win his third straight decision over four starts. He was making his third start at Petco Park for his hometown Padres.

The right-hander didn’t allow a hit until Carlos Gomez singled to left on a soft liner with one out in the fourth. Cahill struck out seven and walked five.

Nick Martinez (0-2) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Athletics 3, Angels 2 (11)

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jed Lowrie hit his second home run of the game with two outs in the 11th inning and Oakland beat the Los Angeles for their third straight walk-off win.

Lowrie got Oakland on the board with a solo shot in the fourth inning and ended it with a drive to right field off Deolis Guerra (2-2) that sent the A’s pouring out of the dugout in celebration again.

This win followed dramatic comebacks against Detroit that were capped by Adam Rosales’ game-ending single Saturday and Ryon Healy’s homer on Sunday. Oakland has three consecutive walk-off wins for the first time since June 2004.

Liam Hendricks (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings as the A’s won for the fourth time in five games.

Dodgers 12, Pirates 1

LOS ANGELES – Chris Taylor hit a grand slam during a six-run first inning, Alex Wood and a pair of Los Angeles relievers combined for 17 strikeouts and the Dodgers rolled over Pittsburgh.

Yasiel Puig added a solo homer in the first as the Dodgers jumped all over Trevor Williams (1-2), who was filling in for Jameson Taillon as he had surgery Monday for suspected testicular cancer.

In his fourth start, Wood (3-0) threw five scoreless innings, holding the Pirates to two hits and a walk while striking out a season-high 11. Ross Stripling allowed a run but also struck out five over three innings, and Adam Liberatore added a strikeout during a perfect ninth.

Taylor and Joc Pederson each had two hits, and Pederson, Yasmani Grandal and Enrique Hernandez each drove in a pair.