Major leagues: Red Sox get boost with series sweep
Mitch Moreland homered and drove in another run on a sacrifice fly after a lucky hop off the second base bag moved the runners along and Boston beat Oakland 7-3 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep for the previously struggling World Series champions.
The Red Sox already trailed 1-0 when Rafael Devers singled leading off the second inning and Michael Chavis bounced a perfect double-play grounder up the middle. But the ball hit the base and eluded second baseman Chad Pinder, going into center field and allowing Devers to take third.
Moreland followed with a deep sacrifice fly to tie the score, then hit a solo homer over the Green Monster in the fourth to give Boston the lead for good. Marcus Walden (4-0) relieved Red Sox starter Hector Velazquez after two innings and pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing one hit.
Mike Fiers (2-3) gave up three runs and five hit in five innings for Oakland, which has lost six in a row starting a nine-game trip.
Baltimore 5, Chicago White Sox 4: Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Baltimore Orioles stopped a four-game slide by rallying for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a doubleheader.
Richie Martin opened the eighth inning with a triple into the right-field corner off Kelvin Herrera (0-1). Villar then hit a fly ball to center, and Martin scored easily when Adam Engel’s throw landed up the third base line.
Branden Kline (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Mychal Givens got four outs for his second save in three chances, striking out Jose Abreu with a runner on first to end the game.
Kansas City 3-8, Tampa Bay 2-2: Kelvin Gutierrez hit his first big league homer, Kansas City pounded AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell for the second time in a week, and the Royals routed the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2 to wrap up a doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, Adalberto Mondesi hit a two-run homer to highlight a three-run first inning for Kansas City, and Jacob Junis and the bullpen held on the rest of the way for a 3-2 victory.
Snell was easily outpitched by Glenn Sparkman (1-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha and earned his first career win. Sparkman had allowed three runs in three relief appearances this season, but he shut down a club coming off the most wins by the end of April (19) in Rays history.
Sparkman pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out six with just one walk.
Interleague
Arizona 3, N.Y. Yankees 2: Ketel Marte homered, Merrill Kelly won his first start against the Yankees and Arizona beat New York 3-2 to sweep a two-game series.
New York dropped to 0-5 this year against teams that currently have winning records and is 17-7 against clubs that started the day under .500. New York had won nine of 10 heading into the series against the Diamondbacks but wound up heading home 6-3 on its western swing.
Kelly (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in 51/3 innings as Arizona won for the seventh time in nine games. The 30-year-old rookie right-hander won consecutive big league starts for the first time.