A-Rod homers as Yanks beat Mariners
Alex Rodriguez returned from the All-Star break with a boom, hitting a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning as the New York Yankees overcame two homers by Kyle Seager to beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 Friday night.
Left off the AL All-Star team, a rested A-Rod hit his 19th homer of the season and 673rd of his career. He connected 10 days before his 40th birthday.
Rodriguez lined a solo drive into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center field. The one-out shot came against Joe Beimel (0-1). Earlier in the game, Rodriguez singled for his 3,021st hit, moving past Rafael Palmeiro for 25th place on the all-time list.
Chris Young homered and doubled in helping the AL East leaders beat the Mariners for the seventh straight time, with the previous six wins at Safeco Field. Seattle had won five in a row at Yankee Stadium, dating to 2013.
Overall, the road team had won 11 straight in the Mariners-Yankees series.
Masahiro Tanaka (6-3) beat the Mariners for the second time this season, striking out seven in seven innings.
All-Star Dellin Betances struck out Seager in a perfect eighth, and Andrew Miller closed for his 19th save.
Chicago White Sox 4, Kansas City 2: Alex Rios and Mike Moustakas homered, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2 Friday in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader.
On a scorching afternoon when the ball was carrying, the AL Central leaders took out a team showing some spark after struggling most of the way.
Moustakas hit a solo homer in the fifth to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. Rios capped a two-run sixth with his drive off Jeff Samardzija (6-5) after Chicago tied it.
Detroit 7, Baltimore 3: J.D. Martinez made a terrific catch against the wall in right field, then homered two innings later to help the Detroit Tigers to a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.
Victor Martinez and Jose Iglesias also went deep for Detroit, and Anibal Sanchez (9-7) worked in and out of trouble for six innings. It was the first meeting between the teams since Baltimore swept Detroit in last year’s AL Division Series.
Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 2: Josh Donaldson hit a two-run home run, Justin Smoak added a three-run shot and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 on Friday night.
Both homers came in a five-run fifth, the ML-leading 36th time this season the Blue Jays have scored four or more in a single inning. Toronto has 19 five-run innings, also a league best.
National League
Philadelphia 6, Miami 3: Jeff Francoeur hit a pinch-hit three-run home run in Philadelphia’s four-run eighth inning, leading the Phillies to a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday night in a matchup of two of the worst teams in baseball.
Ryan Howard had an RBI for the Phillies, who snapped a five-game losing streak while winning for just the eighth time in their last 34 games. Philadelphia set a franchise record with 62 losses before the All-Star break.
J.T. Realmuto homered and Justin Bour had two hits for the Marlins, whose 38-51 mark entering the game was only better than Milwaukee and the Phillies.
Ken Giles (4-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the victory.