Ortiz’s homer helps Red Sox end losing streak
Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz watches his three-run home run off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 27, 2014, in St. Petersburg, Florida. AP
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania—David Ortiz hit a three-run homer as the Boston Red Sox beat Tampa Bay 3-2 Sunday to end a five-game losing streak and stop the Rays’ longest winning streak in 10 years at nine games.
Ortiz’s 25th home run came in the third off Chris Archer (6-6) after a walk and Dustin Pedroia’s infield single. Ortiz’s homer was his fifth in seven games and his 29th at Tropicana Field, most among visiting players.
Desmond Jennings hit a two-run double in the third against Allen Webster (1-0), who pitched 5 1-3 innings in his first major league appearance this season.
At San Francisco, Carl Crawford hit an RBI triple to back Ryu Hyun-jin’s third straight victory as the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers completed a sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 4-3 victory.
Ryu (12-5) moved within two wins of his rookie total last year and improved to 4-1 in five outings at AT&T Park, where in one dominant weekend the Dodgers made quite a statement to take over the division’s top spot.
In his Giants debut, Jake Peavy threw a pair of wild pitches in the fifth as the Dodgers went ahead on Hanley Ramirez’s RBI single ahead of Crawford’s triple to the corner in deep right field.
Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard homered in his second game since a three-game benching and scored the go-ahead run on an overturned call at the plate as the Phillies downed the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2.
With the score 2-2 in the sixth, Howard walked with two outs against Vidal Nuno (0-2). Marlon Byrd popped up to short right field, where second baseman Didi Gregorius backpedaled slowly, settled under the ball and allowed it to kick off his glove and bounce toward center.
Dioner Navarro hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth as the Toronto Blue Jays came back after wasting three leads to beat the New York Yankees 5-4 for their first series win in the Bronx since August 2012.
After ending a 17-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Toronto did not relent in the humidity. Jose Bautista reached on a fielder’s choice against David Robertson (1-3) in the ninth, stole second without a throw and scored on Navarro’s liner to center field.
The Washington Nationals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 after Doug Fister (10-2) allowed just three hits in seven shutout innings and Adam LaRoche drove in two runs.
Devin Mesoraco’s two-run double in the ninth inning off Rafael Soriano allowed the Reds to avoid their 11th shutout loss.
Oakland’s John Jaso drove in three runs as the Athletics trounced the Texas Rangers 9-3, while Garrett Jones and Marcell Ozuna homered in the Miami Marlins’ 4-2 win over the Houston Astros for a three game sweep.
In other games, Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Jimmy Nelson as the New York Mets blanked the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0, the St. Louis Cardinals shut the Chicago Cubs out 1-0, the Atlanta Braves downed the San Diego Padres 8-3 and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Colorado Rockies 7-5.
Sam Fuld hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Javy Guerra in a three-run seventh inning as the Minnesota Twins edged the Chicago White Sox 4-3, the Cleveland Indians downed the Kansas City Royals 10-3, the Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 and the Baltimore Orioles were 3-2 winners over the Seattle Mariners.
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