UNDATED (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays were able to turn just five hits into their ninth consecutive win.
Yandy Díaz drove in two with a double during a six-run second that pushed the Rays past the Red Sox, 8-5. Wander Franco and Austin Meadows had RBI singles for the AL East leaders, who are 36 games over .500 for the first time in club history.
Boston finished the game without Xander Bogaerts, who had a first-inning RBI single before leaving in the second following a positive test for COVID-19. The positive test result came hours after the Red Sox announced that pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura tested positive.
Tampa Bay’s division lead is seven games after the second-place Yankees were beaten by the Angels, 6-4.
Jared Walsh put Los Angeles ahead for good with a three-run homer, one inning before Shohei Ohtani scored on a double steal. The Yankees lost their fourth in a row since a 13-game winning streak despite homers by Anthony Rizzo and Gary Sanchez.
Also on Tuesday’s major league schedule:
— Matt Chapman smacked a two-run homer and a solo shot in the Athletics’ third straight win since a six-game skid, 9-3 at Detroit. Mark Canha homered as Oakland moved within one game of Boston for the second AL wild card. Josh Harrison provided three hits and two ribbies in the win.
— The A’s also pulled within five games of the AL West lead with the Astros’ 4-0 loss to the Mariners. The game was scoreless until Abraham Toro hit a grand slam in the eighth off Kendall Graveman, who was part a four-player swap that brought Toro to Seattle. Yusei Kikuchi worked past the sixth for the first time since July 1, limiting Houston to four hits over seven innings.
— Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu homered again for the White Sox in a 4-2 downing of the Pirates. Grandal is batting .500 with four homers and 11 RBIs in 14 at-bats since returning from the 10-day injured list. Five relievers combined for 4 2/3 innings of two-hit ball after Chicago starter Lucas Giolito left the game with tightness in his left hamstring.
— The Orioles picked up a 4-2 win at Toronto behind Keegan Akin, who allowed a run and two hits over five innings to win his second straight start. Ramón Urías hit a go-ahead double in the sixth inning to get Akin the win. The Blue Jays wasted home runs by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Danny Jansen in ending a three-game winning streak.
— The Giants’ lead in the NL West is down to a half-game over the Dodgers after the Brewers earned a 6-2 win in San Francisco. Brandon Woodruff struck out eight in six innings to win back-to-back starts for the first time since late June. Lorenzo Cain furnished a homer and an RBI single as Milwaukee extended its lead in the NL Central to 10 games over the Reds.
— Corey Seager delivered a tiebreaking, RBI double in the eighth inning to give LA a 3-2 win over the Braves. Mookie Betts homered to get the Dodgers with 2-1 in the fourth, and scored the winning run following a leadoff walk. Atlanta finished the game without second baseman Ozzie Albies and saw its lead in the NL East shrink to 2 1/2 games over Philadelphia.
— It’s now a five-game winning streak for the Phillies following a 12-6 pounding of the Nationals. Bryce Harper delivered a tiebreaking, two-run single while Philadelphia scored six times in the sixth to erase a 5-3 deficit. Rafael Marchan, Brad Miller and Andrew McCutchen smacked two-run homers and rookie Matt Vierling had four hits, leaving him 7-for-12 in his first seven big league games.
— Blake Snell threw seven no-hit innings for San Diego before being pulled in a 3-0 shutout of the Diamondbacks. Manny Machado hit a two-run homer as the Padres moved into a tie with Cincinnati for the second NL wild card. Pinch-hitter David Peralta ended the Padres’ combined no-hit bid with a bloop single in the eight.
— Javier Báez singled in the ninth and scored the winning run as the Mets earned a 6-5 win over the Marlins in the completion of a suspended game. Báez entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and sparked the Mets’ five-run ninth, hours after he and teammate Francisco Lindor apologized for their thumbs-down celebration gestures last weekend. The Mets trailed 5-1 until Brandon Nimmo slammed a two-run homer.
— Michael Conforto hit the eventual winning single in the first game and homered in Game 2 as the Mets posted their fourth straight win, 3-1. Conforto hit a two-run homer and Baez scored on Jeff McNeil’s double. Winning pitcher Aaron Loup worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth to keep the Mets ahead.
— Amed Rosario had the first five RBI game of his career and matched a career high for hits in the Indians’ 7-2 thumping of the Royals. Rosario became the first player since at least 1920 to go 5 for 5 with five RBIs, an inside-the-park homer and a drive over the fence. Zach Plesac pitched two-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, helping Cleveland end Salvador Perez’s five-game home run streak.
— The Rangers topped the Rockies, 4-3 as Nathaniel Lowe furnished a home run and an RBI single among his three hits. Leody Taveras homered for the second game in a row, helping Jordan Lyles win for the second time in three starts. Lyles worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed six hits, including solo homers by Sam Hilliard, C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon.
— The Cubs’ bullpen worked shutout ball over 4 2/3 innings to secure a 3-1 verdict over the Twins. Rowan Wick closed it out for his first save of the season. Frank Schwindel and Ian Happ sandwiched solo homers around a tiebreaking triple by Robinson Chirinos.
— The Reds-Cardinals game in Cincinnati was rained out and rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Wednesday.
