Yankees land Happ in AL East trade with Blue Jays
The New York Yankees acquired left-hander J.A. Happ from Toronto on Thursday to bolster their starting rotation, a deal that sent infielder Brandon Drury and minor league outfielder Bill McKinney to the Blue Jays.
Happ, who turns 36 in October, is 10-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 20 starts and was a first-time All-Star. He joins a rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray.
Happ has a $13 million salary in the final season of a $36 million, three-year contract, and the Yankees are responsible for the remaining $4,543,011.
Reliever Zach Britton reported to the Yankees on Thursday, two days after he was acquired from Baltimore for three pitching prospects. Britton added $4,387,097 to the Yankees payroll. New York began the season with a $179 million payroll for purposes of the luxury tax, which left the team room to add salaries and remain under the $197 million threshold.
A 12-year major league veteran, Happ is 102-82 with a 3.95 ERA for Philadelphia (2007-10), Houston (2010-12), Toronto (2013-14, 2016-18), Seattle (2015) and Pittsburgh (2015).
Brewers acquire reliever: The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired veteran closer Joakim Soria from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for two pitching prospects.
The 34-year-old Soria was 0-3 with a 2.56 ERA and 16 saves in 40 relief appearances with the rebuilding White Sox this season. He recorded 49 strikeouts in 38.2 innings as opponents batted just .230. Over his last 25 outings, Soria posted a 0.74 ERA and held opponents to a .161 batting average with 32 strikeouts in 24.1 innings.
The White Sox received left-handed pitcher Kodi Medeiros and right-handed pitcher Wilber Perez. Medeiros, a 2014 draft pick, was pitching at Double-A Biloxi this season while Perez was pitching for the Dominican Summer League Brewers.
Chicago Cubs 7, Arizona 6: David Bote hit a tying, two-run homer off Brad Boxberger with one out in the ninth inning, Anthony Rizzo followed two pitches later with a winning home run and the Chicago Cubs overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 Thursday.
Bote was called up when Kris Bryant was put on the disabled list because of inflammation in his left shoulder.
Eddie Butler (1-1) retired Jon Jay on a flyout that stranded two runners in the ninth. Boxberger (1-4) was the loser.
Nick Ahmed hit his first career grand slam in the fifth as Arizona built a 6-1 lead.
L.A. Angels 12, Chicago White Sox 8: Francisco Arcia became the first Los Angeles Angels player with four RBI in his major league debut, hitting a three-run homer and an RBI single. Ian Kinsler and Kole Calhoun also homered for the Angels as they beat the Chicago White Sox 12-8.
Daniel Palka and Jose Abreu each hit two home runs for the White Sox, and Avisail Garcia and Nicky Delmonico also went deep.
Nick Tropeano (4-5) allowed five runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Dylan Covey (4-6) gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.
N.Y. Yankees 7, Kansas City 2: Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was hit on his right wrist by a pitch and forced to leave early, overshadowing New York’s 7-2 romp past the Kansas City Royals.
The Yankees said Judge was seen by a team doctor at the stadium and taken to a hospital for an MRI. There was no immediate report on the injury.
Normally an all-star outfielder, Judge was the designated hitter. He winced when he was stung by a fastball from Jakob Junis in the first inning, got an infield hit the next time up and then was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the fourth.
On a busy day for the Yankees, Sonny Gray (8-7) pitched five shutout innings to win three straight starts for the first time since last July.