TORONTO (AP) - Gio Urshela hit two home runs for the second straight game and the New York Yankees outslugged rookie Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays 12-6 Thursday night to extend their winning streak to a season-best nine games.
Playing in Toronto for the first time, Bichette became the first player in major league history to double in nine consecutive games. He also homered, giving him an unprecedented 13 extra-base hits in his first 11 career games. Bichette is the first rookie to have an extra-base hit in nine straight games since Ted Williams in 1939, according to STATS.
The Yankees have hit a record 19 homers over their last four games, including at least five in each win during a three-game sweep at Baltimore this week. Mike Tauchman also homered Thursday to give New York three connections.
Domingo Germán (15-2) pitched five innings to win his sixth consecutive decision for New York.
Both of Urshela’s homers came off left-hander Thomas Pannone (2-5), who matched a career worst by giving up seven runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Luis Cessa pitched the final three innings for his first save.
RED SOX 3, ANGELS 0
BOSTON (AP) - Chris Sale righted himself and struck out 13 over eight innings of two-hit ball, Sam Travis hit a two-run homer and Boston beat Los Angeles.
Sale (6-11) had allowed 14 runs over nine innings during his previous two starts, both against the rival New York Yankees. He carved up the Angels in his 13th outing with double-digit strikeouts this season.
The Red Sox had lost nine of 10 games, not including’s Wednesday’s contest against the Royals that was suspended in the 10th inning with the score tied at 4. Thursday’s game ran without issue and was over in a tidy 2 hours, 16 minutes. Brandon Workman worked a clean ninth with two strikeouts for his seventh save.
Dillon Peters (2-1) gave up three runs and five hits and struck out eight over six innings.
INDIANS 7, TWINS 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jose Ramirez drove in three runs, Mike Clevinger kept Minnesota quiet with nine strikeouts in seven innings, and Cleveland struck first in this four-game series between the AL Central front-runners to pull within a game of the Twins.
Indians closer Brad Hand ended the game by retiring Eddie Rosario on a routine flyout with the bases loaded, recording his 29th save in dramatic fashion.
RBI singles in the fourth by Luis Arraez and Marwin Gonzalez accounted for two of the three hits managed by the Twins against Clevinger (7-2), who watched four relievers toil through a three-run eighth inning that cut Cleveland’s lead to 6-5.
The Twins lost leading home run hitter Nelson Cruz to a strained left wrist, after he swung and missed at a pitch from Clevinger in the fourth. Kyle Gibson (11-5) got them off to an ominous start, giving up six runs in less than five innings behind a career-high six walks.
CUBS 12, REDS 5
CINCINNATI (AP) - Anthony Rizzo had a pair of hits as part of a 30th birthday celebration, Nicholas Castellanos added to his Chicago surge with a pair of homers and the Cubs beat Cincinnati for their biggest NL Central lead of the season.
The Cubs’ sixth win in seven games gave them a 3½-game margin over the idle Brewers. Left-hander Cole Hamels struggled, but Tyler Chatwood (5-1) fanned six in three innings as Chicago pulled away.
Reds manager David Bell returned from a six-game suspension for going after Pirates manager Clint Hurdle during a benches-clearing brawl last week at Great American Ball Park.
Castellanos had a pair of solo homers among his three hits, the latter breaking a 5-5 tie off Kevin Gausman (3-8) in the fourth inning. He’s hit safely in all eight games since the Cubs got him from Detroit.
Aristides Aquino hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati measured at 118.3 mph, tying the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez and Mets’ Pete Alonso for the hardest-hit homers this season.
PADRES 9, ROCKIES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his second leadoff home run in two games - and team-record sixth this season - and San Diego scored five unearned runs in the sixth inning to beat Colorado.
Tatis broke the old record of five leadoff homers by Will Venable in 2011 when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Jon Gray (10-8) into the home run porch in the right field corner. It was the 22nd of the season for Tatis, who hit a leadoff homer in a 3-2 loss at Seattle on Wednesday.
Manuel Margot homered in the eighth for the Padres, his ninth. The Padres led 3-1 after two before the Rockies tied it on Trevor Story’s RBI double in the third and Charlie Blackmon’s leadoff homer in the fifth, his 24th.
Matt Strahm (5-8) pitched two innings for the win.
GIANTS 5, PHILLIES 0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Madison Bumgarner carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision, pitching San Francisco past Philadelphia to snap a four-game losing streak.
Pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez hit a sharp single up the middle with one out in the sixth to break it up. Before that, the only Phillies baserunner came when Rhys Hoskins drew a one-out walk in the fourth.
Mike Yastrzemski hit a solo homer and drove in three runs to get the offense going after San Francisco scored just four total runs the previous three days in being swept by the Nationals.
The Giants delivered four straight hits against Aaron Nola (10-3) to start the third and back Bumgarner (7-7), capped by Yastrzemski’s two-run double before he got caught in a rundown trying to stretch it to a triple. San Francisco left the bases loaded in the fourth.
MARLINS 9, BRAVES 2
MIAMI (AP) - Brian Anderson homered twice, Elieser Hernandez (2-4) pitched six shutout innings and Miami beat Atlanta on a rough night for Dallas Keuchel.
Hernandez retired 11 consecutive batters before Ronald Acuña Jr.’s leadoff single in the sixth.
The Marlins chased Keuchel (3-5) with a five-run fourth capped by Anderson’s second home run and 20th of the season for an 8-0 lead. Keuchel allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings, his shortest outing since joining the Braves on June 10.
TIGERS 10, ROYALS 8
DETROIT (AP) - Jordy Mercer hit a walk-off, two-run homer against Richard Lovelady (0-2) in the ninth inning to lift Detroit over Kansas City.
Travis Demeritte led off the ninth with his third walk of the game and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Rogers. Mercer then hit a 2-1 fastball into the right field stands.
Joe Jimenez (3-6) got the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
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