UNDATED (AP) — Shane McClanahan pitched eight superb innings to win his fifth consecutive start and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory.
McClanahan allowed one unearned run, two hits, walked one and struck out nine, The lefty, who leads the majors with 98 strikeouts, has given up just five runs over 40 innings in his last six starts. Ji-Man Choi homered for the Rays, who are a season-high 11 games over .500.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas had an eight-inning complete game, allowing three hits and striking out nine.
In other MLB action:
— Shohei Ohtani pitched seven stellar innings and hit a two-run homer, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their 14-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Andrew Velazquez added a three-run homer in the sixth, but the Angels ended the longest skid in franchise history squarely on the shoulders of their matchless AL MVP, both on the mound and at the plate. Ohtani yielded four hits and a run while striking out six in a performance befitting an ace.
— Gerrit Cole gave up home runs to his first three batters and a career-high five in 2 1/3 innings but the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-7 behind two home runs from Joey Gallo. Cole left trailing 7-3, and the Yankees tied the score in the sixth when Aaron Hicks hit his second home run of the season, a two-run drive. DJ LeMahieu hit the 100th home run of his career, and the Yankees got their 16th comeback win.
— Andrés Giménez drove in the go-ahead run with a single in Cleveland’s four-run eighth inning, and the Guardians rallied for an 8-4 win over the Oakland Athletics, who dropped their ninth straight game. Giménez looped a single into left field off Lou Trivino as the Guardians moved back over .500 for the first time since May 9. Rookie Richie Palacios added a two-run single in the eighth, and another run scored on an Oakland throwing error.
— Carlos Santana and MJ Melendez homered, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Santana blasted a two-run homer deep to right, his third, breaking a fifth-inning tie as the Royals won consecutive games for the first time since May 17-18. Bobby Witt Jr.’s double set the table for Salvador Perez’s two-run single.
— Jazz Chisholm bunted for a single on the first pitch of Stephen Strasburg’s return to the mound from a one-year absence, stole second on the third pitch and the Marlins kept on going in a 7-4 win over the Washington Nationals. The 33-year-old right-hander, pitching on the 13th anniversary of Washington selecting him with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, allowing seven runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. Jesus Sanchez, homered, doubled and had three RBIs for Miami.
— Max Fried won his sixth straight decision by pitching six sharp innings and the Atlanta Braves earned their eighth consecutive victory, 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Adam Duvall, Dansby Swanson and Travis d’Arnaud each drove in a run for the defending World Series champion Braves, whose winning streak is their longest since they took nine in a row last August. Atlanta has outscored opponents 55-21 during the streak.
— Max Muncy broke open the game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning after White Sox manager Tony La Russa ordered an intentional walk to Trea Turner with a 1-2 count, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Chicago 11-9. Muncy had five RBIs in his return after missing 11 games with left elbow inflammation. Los Angeles trailed 4-0 before a six-run fifth and was ahead 6-5 when Freddie Freeman hit an RBI single in the sixth off Bennett Sousa.
— Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Odúbel Herrera homered as interim manager Rob Thomson and the streaking Philadelphia Phillies won their season-high seventh straight game, beating the sagging Milwaukee Brewers 8-3. The NL Central-leading Brewers lost their season-worst sixth in a row. Didi Gregorius singled, tripled, doubled and drove in a run for Philadelphia.
— Yonathan Daza looped a tiebreaking single into right field, capping a three-run fourth inning fueled by three errors, and the Colorado Rockies rallied past San Francisco 4-2 Thursday to take two of three from the Giants. San Francisco made a season-high four errors, including a pair in the fourth by second baseman Thairo Estrada. Charlie Blackmon, had three hits for the Rockies, who are 3-6 against the Giants this season.
— Josh Rojas hit a go-ahead single during a four-run rally in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4, earning a split in the four-game series. The Diamondbacks went into the ninth trailing 3-1, but got help from reliever Tony Santillan’s wild tosses. The blown lead by the Reds wasted a solid pitching performance by starter Tyler Mahle, who allowed one run and four hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
