Around the Horn Monday’s other MLB games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Twins 8, Yankees 6

MINNEAPOLIS

Mitch Garver hit two of Minnesota’s five home runs, and the Twins held on to beat the New York Yankees after a tone-setting triple play in the first inning of a series opener between AL division leaders. Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler also went deep, giving the Twins their eighth game with five or more homers this season. All but Garver’s second solo shot came off starter CC Sabathia (5-5), who lasted only four innings. Martin Perez was hit just as hard, serving up home runs to Gio Urshela in the third, Luke Voit in the fourth and AL batting leader DJ LeMahieu in the fifth, a two-run drive that cut the deficit to 7-5. Nine of the last 13 batters against Perez reached, with 14 total bases, and he left after failing to get an out in the fifth. LeMahieu went 3 for 4 to raise his batting average to .338, and the Yankees hit multiple homers for the 20th time in 29 games. The deciding factor, then, was those sharp grounders, starting with Edwin Encarnacion after back-to-back walks drawn by LeMahieu and Aaron Judge. The ball went straight to third baseman Luis Arraez, who stepped on the bag and whipped the ball to second baseman Jonathan Schoop in the same motion to barely get Judge. Then the relay to first baseman Miguel Sano beat Encarnacion by a step. Gary Sanchez grounded into an inning-ending double play in the third. Judge did the same in the sixth against rookie Lewis Thorpe (1-1), who got his first major league win with 22/3 scoreless innings. Taylor Rogers earned his 15th save despite allowing singles to Judge and Encarnacion.

White Sox 9, Marlins 1

CHICAGO

Ivan Nova kept up his mastery of the Marlins, pitching a four-hitter that led the Chicago White Sox over Miami. Jose Abreu hit a two-run homer and Yoan Moncada added a three-run shot, and James McCann and Ryan Goins later connected for back-to-back drives. Chicago opened a 10-game homestand by winning for the third time in its last 11 tries. The Marlins fell to 0-4 on their current six-game road trip. The White Sox became the first team in the majors to have protective netting in place from foul pole to foul pole, extending the safety measure for their first game at Guaranteed Rate Field since the All-Star break. The new netting reaches a maximum height of 45 feet and, for ground rules, will be treated like a wall — any ball that bounces or is thrown off the nets will remain in play. The extra netting didn’t come into play in its debut. Nova (5-9) improved to 5-0 lifetime against the Marlins, striking out five with no walks. This was his fourth career shutout — his previous one came with Pittsburgh on April 29, 2017, against the Marlins. Jorge Alfaro homered in the second inning for the lone Miami run. Trevor Richards (3-12) allowed seven runs over five innings in his seventh consecutive loss.

Red Sox 9, Rays 4

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.

J.D. Martinez homered and drove in four runs, including an RBI double in the ninth inning following Tampa Bay’s curious decision to put a position player on the mound, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Rays. Eduardo Rodriguez (12-4) allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings to win his sixth straight decision. He limited the sputtering Rays to a pair of infield singles and four walks before being replaced by Nathan Eovaldi, who returned from a three-month stint on the injured list to pitch for the first time since April 17. Eovaldi, who had surgery to remove a loose body in his right elbow, labored through two-thirds of an inning, losing the shutout on Travis d’Arnaud’s RBI double. Austin Meadows also doubled home a run, and Yandy Diaz added an RBI single off the right-hander. Despite cutting the lead to five, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash sent out rookie infielder Mike Brosseau to pitch the ninth. Brosseau, who started the game at second base, allowed doubles to Xander Bogaerts and Martinez. He was the fifth player to pitch for the Rays in the game. Major League Baseball and the players union agreed in March on a rule change for 2020 prohibiting position players from pitching through the ninth inning unless the player’s team is winning or losing by six or more runs. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis homered in the third inning, when the Red Sox scored seven runs against former Boston prospect Jalen Beeks (5-1), who lost for the first time since being sent to the Rays in a trade for Eovaldi last summer.

Astros 11, Athletics 1

HOUSTON

Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings and Aledmys Diaz, Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel homered as the Astros jumped on Homer Bailey for nine runs early. Cole (11-5) yielded two hits and one run while striking out 11 to help Houston to its sixth straight win, improving to 8-1 against the Athletics this season. Cole has recorded double-digit strikeouts in three straight games, giving him an MLB-leading 205 this season. Cole has won seven straight decisions, with his last loss coming on May 22. Alvarez sent Bailey’s second pitch of the second inning beyond the bullpen in right-center to put Houston up 1-0. George Springer hit an RBI single with one out in the inning and Bailey’s bases-loaded walk of Jose Altuve made it 3-0. The Astros added a run on a groundout by Alex Bregman. Alvarez drew a four-pitch walk to open the third inning before Gurriel’s homer to left field pushed the lead to 6-0.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies-Nationals postponed

WASHINGTON

The game between the Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals scheduled for Monday night was postponed because of inclement weather in the area. They will now play a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday. The makeup game will begin at 1:05 p.m., followed by the regularly scheduled game at 7:05 p.m. The game was called about a half-hour prior to the game’s scheduled start. Colorado and Washington will begin the series tonight

Associated Press