UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees lost three more players to COVID-19 testing on Friday before dropping the opener of their series with Boston.
Eduardo Rodriguez struck out eight while holding the Yankees to two hits over 5 2/3 innings of the Red Sox’s 4-0 shutout. Tanner Houck pitched the final three innings, closing out Boston’s three-hitter for his first big league save.
Christian Arroyo belted a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez delivered a solo shot as the Bosox beat the Yanks for the eighth straight time.
The game began hours after outfielder Aaron Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka were added to the COVID-19 injured list. They joined pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta on the list.
In yesterday’s other major league action:
— The Astros are 5-0 versus the White Sox this season after winning their latest battle of division leaders, 7-1 in Chicago. Lance McCullers allowed a triple and a double on his first two pitches before settling in, allowing no other hits over seven innings to improve to 7-2. Michael Brantley homered and Myles Straw drove in three runs as the Astros improved to a big league-best 43-22 against teams with a .500 or better record.
— The Athletics pulled out a dramatic 5-4 win over the Indians on Jed Lowrie’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Mitch Moreland homered for Oakland and Matt Olson and Andrus each had three hits, but the A’s were held silent offensively after building an early 3-0 lead. Bradley Zimmer hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh for Cleveland, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
— Mitch Haniger had three hits, including a two-run homer that helped the Mariners top the Angels by a 6-5 margin. Flexen is 9-3 after a seven-inning performance, allowing only one run on six hits with two strikeouts. Kyle Seager also went deep for the Mariners, who blew most of a 6-2 lead in the ninth before winning for the fourth time in five games.
— All-Star Game MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr. banged out his 29th and 30th home runs as the Blue Jays buried the Rangers, 10-2. Teoscar Hernández, Marcus Semien and Randal Grichuk added third-inning homers to back Robbie Ray, who held Texas scoreless over 6 2/3s. Bo Bichette, had two RBI singles and went 2-of-5.
— Austin Meadows singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning to send the Rays past the Braves, 7-6. The Rays tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth with two runs off Chris Martin. Freddie Freeman had four hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth.
— The Royals hammered the Orioles, 9-2 behind four RBIs from Nicky Lopez. He cleared the bases in the second inning with a two-run single and again in the seventh with a two-run double. Whit Merrifield went 4 for 5 with three RBIs for Kansas City.
— The Giants were 7-2 winners at St. Louis as Mike Yastrzemski hit a pair of home runs and Logan Webb pitched four strong innings as a spot starter. Webb was a last-minute starter for the Giants after Kevin Gausman was placed on the Family Medical Emergency List. LaMonte Wade Jr.’ hit a three-run home run off Adam Wainwright to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth.
— Jake Cronenworth drove in four runs during his first career cycle and the Padres set a franchise scoring record in a 24-8 blowout of the Nationals. Wil Myers had two homers including a grand slam as part of San Diego’s 22-hit assault. Tommy Pham was 4-for-6 with a homer, two RBis and five runs scored.
— Julio Urías became the first 12-game winner with help from Will Smith in the Dodgers’ 10-4 romp over the Rockies. Smith drove in four runs in support of Urias, who was reached for four runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. The Rockies were without manager Bud Black, first base coach Ron Gideon, scheduled starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela and three other players due to contact tracing.
— Willie Adames hit a two-run homer and a two-run double as the Brewers thumped the Reds, 11-6. Luis Urias hit a solo homer to spark Milwaukee’s five-run eighth, shortly before Adames doubled home a pair. Avisail Garcia also homered for the Brewers, whose lead in the NL Central is up to five games over Cincinnati.
— Kyle Hendricks won his 10th consecutive decision by limiting the Diamondbacks to a run and six hits over six innings of the Cubs’ 5-1 victory. Hendricks picked up his 12th win about an hour after Dodgers ace Julio Urias became the year’s first 12-game winner. Pinch hitter Jason Heyward hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who also received solo shots from All-Star Kris Bryant Patrick Wisdom.
— Bryan Reynolds homered and Adam Frazier hit a two-run single to lead the last-place Pirates to their third victory in five meetings with the Mets this season, 4-1. The benches cleared after Mets starter Marcus Stroman jumped high in the air when John Nogowski lined out to first base to end the inning. The NL East leaders collected just three hits and saw their lead in the NL East cut to three games over Philadelphia.
— The Phillies won for the eighth time in 11 games as Travis Jankowski drove in four runs to lead a 5-2 win against Miami in the opener of a doubleheader. Jankowski’s three-run double in the first inning put the Phillies ahead to stay. Matt Moore struck out nine while pitching into the fifth inning, allowing two runs and six hits.
— The Marlins dominated Game 2 as Jesús Aguilar and Starling Marte provided their runs in a 7-0 rout of the Phillies. Aguilar homered and drove in four runs, while Marte went deep with three RBIs. Winning pitcher Jordan Holloway didn’t allow a hit in five innings of relief after being recalled from the minors.
— The Tigers-Twins doubleheader in Detroit has been postponed due to rain. The first game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday, with the second game being made up as an afternoon game on Monday, Aug. 30.
