MLB roundup: Lance Lynn stellar in starting debut with Yankees
Lance Lynn pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning in his first start with New York, and the Yankees rebounded from their tough weekend in Boston by beating the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Monday night in Chicago.
Lynn provided a big boost for New York after it dropped a season-high five straight games, including a four-game sweep by the major league-leading Red Sox. The series concluded with Aroldis Chapman blowing a save opportunity in a 10-inning loss at Fenway Park late Sunday night.
Enter Lynn (8-8), who was acquired in a trade with Minnesota on July 30 and tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief in his Yankees debut Wednesday. The veteran right-hander, who replaced Sonny Gray in New York’s rotation, retired 19 in a row before Nicky Delmonico led off the eighth with a single to right.
After Tim Anderson flied out, A.J. Cole finished the three-hitter for the A.L. wild-card leaders.
Dylan Covey (4-8) was charged with four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 1-6 in his last seven starts.
Indians 10, Twins 0: In Cleveland, Trevor Bauer struck out 11 and allowed three hits in six innings, and Cleveland hit four home runs in routing Minnesota.
Bauer (11-6) has 206 strikeouts this season, one behind Boston’s Chris Sale for the A.L. lead. The right-hander has 10 double-figure strikeout games, tying him with Sale for the league lead. Bauer also leads the A.L. with 159 2/3 innings pitched.
Edwin Encarnacion drove in four runs, including a three-run homer in the seventh. Yonder Alonso, Brandon Guyer and Jason Kipnis also homered for Cleveland, which leads Minnesota by 10 games in the A.L. Central.
Alonso’s home run started Cleveland’s four-run fourth while Guyer added a two-run shot, both coming off Kyle Gibson (5-9).
Adam Cimber, Oliver Perez and Dan Otero each pitched an inning to close Cleveland’s A.L.-leading 12th shutout.
Rockies 2, Pirates 0: In Denver, Kyle Freeland and the Colorado bullpen combined on a two-hitter to help the Rockies beat Pittsburgh in a game that was interrupted 32 minutes by rain.
Freeland (10-7) allowed two hits and struck out five over seven stellar innings. Relievers Seunghwan Oh and Wade Davis combined to close out the win. Davis pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save in 38 chances.
It was a positive step for a beleaguered bullpen that endured three walk-off losses – two by Davis – during a 2-5 road swing.
Joe Musgrove (4-6) retired the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a single to Nolan Arenado on the first pitch of the fifth. The right-hander scattered four hits over seven innings and allowed two runs, one earned.
Cubs 3, Royals 1: In Kansas City, Missouri, Javier Baez went deep, Cole Hamels pitched six strong innings and the Cubs beat the Royals.
Baez hit the first pitch from reliever Kevin McCarthy (4-4) in the sixth inning to center for his 25th home run, putting the Cubs ahead 2-1.
Baez doubled in the eighth to score Jason Heyward, upping his RBI total to an N.L.-leading 88.
Hamels (7-9) is 2-0 since the Cubs acquired him in a July 27 trade with the Texas Rangers. He allowed one run and seven hits.
Mets 6, Reds 4: In New York, rookie Jeff McNeil homered in getting three more hits with his knobless bat, leading Noah Syndergaard and the Mets over the Reds in a matchup of struggling teams.
Wilmer Flores, playing on his 27th birthday, and Austin Jackson each had three hits and Kevin Plawecki homered for the Mets.
Both clubs had lost five of six going into the series opener. Before it began, Reds pitcher Matt Harvey was honored with a video tribute, with the former Mets ace drawing a mix of cheers and boos in his first game at Citi Field since being traded to Cincinnati in May.
McNeil’s homer made it 6-0, and Syndergaard (7-2) seemed to be in complete charge when he retired the first batter in the seventh. But he then hit the next two batters with pitches and the Reds went on to rally for four runs.
Homer Bailey (1-9) took the loss.
Marlins 2, Cardinals 1: In Miami, Javy Guerra cleaned up a ninth-inning mess created by struggling closer Kyle Barraclough, getting Yadier Molina to hit into a double play to end the Marlins’ victory over the Cardinals.
After Wei-Yin Chen pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, Miami led 2-0 going into the ninth and handed the game off to Barraclough.
Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader opened the inning with hard-hit singles, then Yairo Munoz walked. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong struck out swinging, but Matt Carpenter drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-1 and end Barraclough’s night.
Guerra got Molina to bounce into a double play for his first save since Sept. 27, 2014 while with the Chicago White Sox.
Luke Weaver (6-10) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for St. Louis.
Chen (4-8) struck out four and walked two.
Mariners 4, Rangers 3 (12): In Arlington, Texas, Ryon Healy had a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the 12th inning and the Mariners beat the Rangers after blowing an early three-run lead.
Mitch Haniger scored from second base when Healy hit a hard grounder through the left side of the infield. Haniger had doubled into the left field corner off Eddie Butler (2-2) a pitch after Jean Segura was thrown out trying to steal second base.
Sam Tuivailala (4-3), the seventh Seattle pitcher, had a perfect 11th for his first decision in four appearances since getting acquired July 27 in a trade from St. Louis. Edwin Diaz pitched the 12th for his majors-best 42nd save in 45 chances despite allowing a pair of singles.
Astros 3, Giants 1: In San Francisco, Roberto Osuna got the win in his first appearance with Houston after Marwin Gonzalez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Astros over the Giants.
Osuna (1-0) hadn’t pitch in the majors since May 6 while serving a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. Osuna was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays last Monday in a deal that sent back closer Ken Giles, and he became eligible to pitch Sunday. A few fans booed when he entered the game in the eighth inning. He retired the side in order on five pitches.
Hector Rondon closed out the 2-hour, 26-minute game with his 12th save in 15 chances.
San Francisco closer Will Smith (1-2) blew his second save in nine opportunities after issuing walks to Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel. Gonzalez followed with a towering drive to left for his 10th homer.
Angels 6, Tigers 2: In Anaheim, California, Andrelton Simmons hit a two-run homer and made several spectacular defensive plays to lead the Angels to a victory over Detroit.
Eric Young Jr. hit his first homer of the season, drove in two runs and made a diving catch in deep center field to end the eighth inning for the Angels, who won for just the second time in eight games.
Simmons stepped up with two key hits and two runs while Mike Trout missed his fifth consecutive game with a sore right wrist for the Angels. The two-time A.L. MVP’s injury absence is the second-longest of his big-league career, surpassed only by the 39 games he missed last season with a torn thumb ligament.
Nicholas Castellanos hit a first-inning homer, but the Tigers managed just three hits as their offensive slump continued.
Nick Tropeano (5-6) pitched five innings of one-hit ball and retired 12 of his final 13 batters before heading to the clubhouse after just 62 pitches with shoulder tightness.
Matthew Boyd (6-10) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, but took his sixth loss in nine starts overall.