Masahiro Tanaka pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts for his fourth major league shutout, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 on Monday night to increase their slim lead in the AL East.
DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer off Yonny Chirinos, and Cameron Maybin homered in his third consecutive game. That was all a dominant Tanaka (5-5) needed while throwing 76 of 111 pitches for strikes in his seventh complete game since coming over from Japan. Edwin Encarnación received an enthusiastic ovation from fans in his Yankees debut after being acquired from Seattle in a trade late Saturday night. Batting fifth as the designated hitter, the veteran slugger went 0 for 4 with a strikeout his first time up. No matter. New York won the opener of a three-game series and moved 1½ games ahead of the second-place Rays.
Mike Soroka won his eighth straight decision and the Atlanta Braves' offense kept churning out runs in a 12-3 victory over the New York Mets. The NL East-leading Braves have scored 90 runs in winning 10 of their last 11. Soroka is the youngest pitcher with a winning streak that long since Dontrelle Willis won eight in row for the 2003 Florida Marlins.
Rick Porcello pitched seven shutout innings for Boston to outduel Minnesota ace Jose Berrios, and the Red Sox stretched their winning streak to a season-high six straight games with a 2-0 victory over the Twins. Porcello allowed only four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts, just his third start out of 15 this season with seven or more innings completed.
The game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals has been postponed because of rain. The start of the game was delayed for nearly three hours before a decision was made to postpone. It will be made up at 1:05 p.m. as part of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday. The four-game series will now begin Tuesday night. Neither team immediately announced its pitching plans for Tuesday.
In other action, Jorge Soler hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning off Anthony Bass, and the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 6-4 win over Seattle, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Mariners. After the Royals were shut down for most of the night by Tommy Milone, Soler hit a 1-1 pitch on the outside corner out to deep right-center field for his 19th home run of the season. Martin Maldonado added a solo home run in the ninth.
Tyler Beede allowed one run over six innings to earn his first big-league victory and the San Francisco Giants defeated the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in the opener of a four-game set between the NL West rivals. The 26-year-old right-hander scattered three hits, struck out seven and walked five on 97 pitches in the strongest outing of his young career.
Manny Machado homered and doubled a few hours after appealing a one-game suspension handed down by MLB, and left-hander Joey Lucchesi threw seven brilliant innings in a combined four-hitter to lead the San Diego Padres over the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0. Machado was suspended one game and fined for "aggressively arguing and making contact" with plate umpire Bill Welke after being ejected for arguing a called third strike at Colorado on Saturday night.
Mike Fiers pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Oakland Athletics took advantage of Baltimore's shoddy defense to beat the Orioles 3-2. Fiers allowed two unearned runs over 6 2/3 innings. Oakland took a 3-2 lead in the second on catcher Chance Sisco's two-run throwing error. The last-place Orioles suffered their sixth straight loss.
Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter homered to back a strong outing by Miles Mikolas and lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Miami Marlins. Mikolas snapped a career-high losing streak of five straight decisions.
Nick Senzel returned from an eye injury and drove in a pair of runs, Luis Castillo pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning, and the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros. The Reds got the better of a reunion of once-familiar foes that rarely play each other anymore.
Lance Lynn had another quality start, Danny Santana homered and the Texas Rangers beat Cleveland 7-2 to spoil Mike Clevinger's return from the injured list. Lynn struck out nine without a walk and gave up one run over seven innings. Clevinger struck out seven and walked three in his first start since April 7. He threw 12 scoreless innings with 22 strikeouts his first two starts before missing more than two months because of a muscle strain in his upper back.
Shohei Ohtani hit one of three Angels homers in a seven-run second inning, Mike Trout went deep for the 20th time this season, and Los Angeles downed the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 on Monday in the opener of a four-game series. Ohtani's three-run homer capped an offensive outburst from the Angels against a struggling Edwin Jackson, who lasted just 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs with six hits and two walks.
Justin Upton homered on the first pitch he saw in his return from the injured list, Mike Trout had a solo homer among his four hits and the Los Angeles Angels used a seven-run second inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5. Shohei Ohtani and Kole Calhoun also connected in the second for the Angels, who have win all four meetings with Toronto this season. Toronto rookie Cavan Biggio hit two home runs.
In MLB news, authorities in the Dominican Republic say they are closing in on the mastermind and motive behind the shooting of Red Sox baseball great David Ortiz as he recovers in a hospital in Boston. A judge on Monday ordered a man nicknamed "Bone" to one year in preventive prison during a hearing closed to the public. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the man, whose real name is Gabriel Alexánder Pérez Vizcaíno, is accused of being the liaison between the alleged hit men and the person who paid them. The documents also state that Pérez sold the cellphone allegedly used to plan the attack to a woman for $180 a day after the June 9 shooting. Authorities said he wanted to get rid of the evidence.
Braden Bishop was back in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse for the first time in a couple of weeks on Monday, a few pounds lighter but feeling significantly better. The last time Bishop was around his teammates he was a matter of hours away from discovering he had suffered a lacerated spleen, was bleeding into his abdomen and about to be rushed into surgery. It's still several weeks, potentially up to a couple of months, before Bishop will be back on the field for the Mariners.
NBA
Toronto police say four people were shot and wounded at a rally for the NBA champion Raptors, and three people were arrested. Droves of Raptors fans ran from the shooting in a stampede from the City Hall square, which was packed with tens of thousands of people. Police Chief Mark Saunders says four people suffered gunshot wounds but said none of the injuries were life-threatening. Two guns were recovered. During a speech from one of the team owners, the host of the rally interrupted the proceedings to alert the crowd to an emergency and asked for calm. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Toronto Mayor John Tory, NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and other players were among those on stage at the time.
A Tennessee man charged with killing former NBA player Lorenzen Wright has pleaded guilty to a separate gun charge.Billy Ray Turner entered his plea in a Memphis court Monday before the scheduled start of his trial on charges of possessing a weapon as a convicted felon. Shelby County prosecutors say Turner illegally had two guns in his possession when he was charged with killing the 34-year-old Wright. Authorities have said Turner and Wright's ex-wife, Sherra Wright, conspired to kill the retired NBA player and Memphis native.
NHL
The New York Rangers have acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets for defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the draft. Trouba gives the rebuilding Rangers a legitimate top-pairing defenseman to speed up their move toward being playoff contenders again. The right-handed-shooting blue liner had eight goals and 42 assists for 50 points last season.
The San Jose Sharks have re-signed pending free agent defenseman Erik Karlsson to a $92 million, eight-year deal. The Sharks announced the deal two weeks before Karlsson was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The deal is said to carry an annual cap hit of $11.5 million and includes a full no-movement clause. The Sharks acquired the two-time Norris Trophy winner just before the start of last season from Ottawa as a one-year rental. Karlsson was hampered by groin injuries for much of his first season in San Jose but also showed flashes as he helped the Sharks reach the Western Conference final, where they lost to eventual champion St. Louis in six games.
Dallas Eakins is the Anaheim Ducks' new coach. The Ducks filled the NHL's last head coaching vacancy with the veteran coach of their AHL affiliate in San Diego. Eakins coached the Edmonton Oilers from the start of the 2013-14 season until December 2014, going 36-63-14. Eakins spent the past four seasons with the Gulls, leading them to the AHL's conference finals this season.
NFL
Quarterback Josh McCown has announced he is retiring from playing football after an NFL career that spanned 16 NFL seasons and included stints with 10 teams. He played the last two seasons with the New York Jets, serving as the starter in 2017 and as a veteran backup to rookie Sam Darnold last year. McCown finished with 17,707 career yards passing with 98 touchdowns and 82 interceptions. He was a third-round draft pick of Arizona in 2002 and also spent time with Detroit, Oakland, Miami, Carolina, San Francisco, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Cleveland before joining the Jets. McCown, who turns 40 on July 4 says he’ll be helping coach his two sons, who are also quarterbacks, in high school this year.
The Denver Broncos are planning several ways to honor team owner Pat Bowlen, who died last week at 75 after a long battle with Alzheimer's just two months shy of his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Renaming their stadium in his honor isn't one of those. The team has lacked a naming rights partner for several years, and an online effort pushed by Broncos broadcast partner Orange & Blue 760 called for fans to sign a petition asking the team to rename the stadium "Pat Bowlen Field at Mile High."
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