UNDATED (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning and struck out nine in his return from the COVID-19 injured list, Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1.
New York has won 10 of 13 and pulled within two games of Boston for an AL wild-card spot. The Yankees open a three-game series against the Red Sox with a day-night doubleheader Tuesday. Cole went 5 2/3 innings, the only damage against him coming on Justin Upton’s homer in the first. The Yankees’ ace walked just one batter and threw 90 pitches, reaching 100 mph.
In other Monday action:
— Jorge Polanco doubled with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Max Kepler and give the Minnesota Twins a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians. It was the second straight walk-off win for the Twins, who’ve won eight of 11. Polanco had a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to beat Tampa Bay Sunday. Minnesota last had back-to-back walk-off wins Sept. 13-14, 2017. Polanco lined a double down the right-field line off Nick Wittgren (2-6). Caleb Thielbar (5-0), Minnesota’s fourth reliever, pitched a 1-2-3 final inning.
— Kris Bryant hit two home runs, Kevin Gausman set a career high for wins and the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 7-5. Brandon Crawford had four hits to continue his surge at the plate over the past month. San Francisco’s All-Star shortstop, who signed a $32 million, two-year contract last week, is hitting .427 over his last 28 games. Pinch-hitter Brandon Belt also homered and Wilmer Flores added two hits and an RBI. The Giants have won 16 of 21. Jonathan Villar hit his 14th home run for the Mets. New York has lost four straight.
— Max Muncy hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 for their fourth straight victory. Billy McKinney’s solo shot — his first with the Dodgers — tied the game in the seventh. The Dodgers’ winning streak over the Pirates reached a franchise-record 14 games and they’ve won 11 in a row against them at home. They are 21-2 against Pittsburgh since 2017.
— Brett Phillips had an inside-the-park homer, Brandon Lowe went deep twice, and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays handed the Baltimore Orioles their 12th consecutive loss, 9-2. Baltimore has been outscored 113-36 during the skid. The Orioles dropped 14 in a row from May 18-31. Kevin Kiermaier and Mike Brosseau also homered for the Rays, who are 12-1 against the Orioles this season.
— Jonathan India slammed a two-run homer and had five RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 14-5. The loss was the 12th straight for the free-falling Cubs. Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto got the 2,000th hit of his career, a solid single in the seventh. He came up again later in the inning and drove in a run with another base hit during an eight-run Reds inning. Wade Miley allowed four hits and struck out seven over seven scoreless innings as the Reds won for the ninth time in 13 games to move within 7 1/2 games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
— Freddie Freeman and Adam Duvall homered in a seven-run fourth inning, and the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 12-2. Freeman also singled twice while Ozzie Albies had three hits and three RBIs for the NL East-leading Braves, who have won four straight and 11 of 13. Duvall hit his 27th homer of the season. He rejoined the Braves in a trade from Miami last month. Freeman’s homer was a three-run shot. The Marlins’ four-game winning streak ended.
— Salvador Perez drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-out single in the eighth inning, helping the struggling Kansas City Royals to a back-and-forth 7-6 victory over the AL West-leading Houston Astros. Scott Barlow gave up a homer to Jason Castro in the ninth, but he got a spectacular defensive play from Nicky Lopez and retired Jose Altuve on a popup to earn the win. Aledmys Diaz and Carlos Correa went deep for the Astros. The Royals beat Houston for the first time in five tries this season.
— Eloy Jiménez hit a tiebreaking RBI single and Liam Hendriks got the save against his former team, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Seby Zavala had two hits and two RBIs as Chicago improved to an AL-best 40-22 at home. Luis Robert homered, and Dallas Keuchel pitched five innings of two-run ball in his first win since July 9.
— C.J. Cron hit a solo homer in the ninth inning to give the Colorado Rockies a 6-5 win over the San Diego Padres. It was Cron’s 20th homer of the season and came with one out off of Daniel Hudson (4-2). Hudson, acquired from Washington at the trade deadline, got Charlie Blackmon to line out to start the ninth. Cron hit the first pitch he saw from Hudson over the scoreboard in right field to end it. Connor Joe homered on his 29th birthday and Blackmon also went deep for the Rockies.
