Yankees romp to eighth consecutive win
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, April 17, 2017, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
NEW YORK — Jordan Montgomery took a shutout into the seventh inning for his first major league win while Matt Holliday homered in his return to the lineup as the New York Yankees romped to their eighth consecutive victory by beating the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Monday night.
Holliday put the Yankees ahead with a titanic three-run shot in a five-run third inning and Aaron Judge added a two-run homer that chased Derek Holland (1-2) with the score 7-0 in the fifth. New York has rebounded from a 1-4 start with its longest winning streak since a 10-game run in June 2012.
Making his second career start, Montgomery (1-0) immediately found himself in a first-inning jam. But the 24-year-old lefty calmly pitched his way out of it by retiring cleanup hitter Jose Abreu and streaking Avisail Garcia with runners at second and third.
Aroldis Chapman closed out for his fourth save.
BREWERS 6, CUBS 3
CHICAGO — Eric Thames homered in his club record-tying fifth straight game as Milwaukee beat Chicago.
Milwaukee never trailed after Thames hit an opposite-field homer to snap a 3-3 tie in the third inning. Jeromy Burnitz was the other Brewer to homer in five straight games in August of 1997.
Ryan Braun and Jeff Bandy also went deep for the Brewers, the only team to hit as many as three homers in a game off Chicago starter John Lackey (1-2) last season.
Brewers starter Chase Anderson (2-0) pitched five innings of three-run, seven-hit ball to pick up the victory.
BRAVES 5, PADRES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning as Atlanta, boosted by Freddie Freeman’s two home runs, beat San Diego for a four-game sweep in its first series at SunTrust Park.
Swanson’s bases-loaded hit fell just in front of diving left fielder Allen Cordoba. The Braves have followed a five-game losing streak with five straight wins.
Jim Johnson (2-0) pitched the ninth.
Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out single in the Braves ninth off closer Brandon Maurer (0-1). With two outs, pinch runner Chase d’Arnaud advanced to third on Emilio Bonifacio’s bloop single in front of Cordoba’s dive.
An intentional walk to Ender Inciarte loaded the bases for Swanson, whose first career game-ending hit again fell beyond the reach of a charging Cordoba.
RED SOX 4, RAYS 3
BOSTON — Andrew Benintendi hit a go-ahead, two-run single as Boston scored three unearned runs following a dropped throw by second baseman Brad Miller to beat Tampa Bay in the annual Patriots’ Day game.
Knuckleballer Steven Wright (1-1) allowed three runs — one earned — and nine hits in six innings as Boston won its third straight. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for a save for the third straight day, his sixth this season.
Blake Snell (0-2) gave up four runs — one earned — and seven hits in five innings. The Rays completed a 1-6 trip that followed a franchise-best 5-2 start.
INDIANS 3, TWINS 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Danny Salazar finished six innings strong after a shaky start and Michael Brantley homered and drove in two runs as Cleveland beat Minnesota.
Salazar (1-1) struck out seven and retired 15 of his last 18 batters after allowing five hits and one walk over a seven-batter stretch spanning the first two innings.
Brantley took Kyle Gibson (0-2) deep in the fifth inning, raising his career average in 13 at-bats against the Twins right-hander to .385 with four RBIs.
Cody Allen loaded the bases in the ninth, but he completed his third save by getting Joe Mauer to fly out to center field.
ASTROS 3, ANGELS 0
HOUSTON — Charlie Morton and three relievers combined for a five-hitter while Jose Altuve drove in two runs as Houston beat Los Angeles for its fifth straight win.
Morton (1-1) worked in and out of trouble over five innings, allowing five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Chris Devenski followed Morton with two perfect innings while Luke Gregerson threw a perfect eighth and Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his third save. Astros pitchers retired the last 14 batters.
Jesse Chavez (1-2) allowed two runs and seven hits over a season-high seven innings.
CARDINALS 2, PIRATES 1
ST. LOUIS — Lance Lynn pitched seven shutout innings and Kolten Wong homered as St. Louis stopped a three-game losing streak.
The Cardinals, who had lost six of seven, are 4-9 and still have the worst record in the NL.
Lynn (1-1) allowed three hits and struck out five while walking one. Seung-Hwan Oh worked around an RBI double by pinch hitter Gregory Polanco in the ninth to record the Cardinals’ first save of the season.
Ivan Nova (1-2) gave up five hits and no walks in eight innings while striking out three.
RANGERS 7, ATHLETICS 0
OAKLAND, California — A.J. Griffin pitched six scoreless innings in his return to the Oakland Coliseum while Nomar Mazara had two hits and three RBIS as the Rangers beat the Athletics.
Carlos Gomez and Mike Napoli added two RBIs apiece to help Texas end a three-game losing streak.
Griffin (2-0) spent his first two seasons in the majors with the A’s before being released near the end of 2015 after Tommy John surgery a year earlier. He hadn’t pitched at the Coliseum since making his final start for Oakland on Sept. 18, 2013. He looked very comfortable in his return.
The Rangers’ shaggy-haired right-hander allowed one hit and one walk, retired the final 14 batters he faced and finished with eight strikeouts — one shy of his career high.
Three Texas relievers combined for the final nine outs to complete the three-hitter while Jharel Cotton (1-2) took the loss.
MARINERS 6, MARLINS 1
SEATTLE — Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz hit consecutive first-inning homers and Ariel Miranda pitched seven scoreless innings as the Mariners beat the Marlins in Ichiro Suzuki’s first visit to Safeco Field as a member of the 3,000-hit club.
Miranda (1-1) allowed four singles and only one runner to reach second base while striking out five. Nick Vincent pitched a perfect eighth before Evan Scribner allowed Christian Yelich’s third home run in the ninth.
The Mariners won their fourth straight after a 2-8 start.
Cano crushed a 2-1 pitch from Tom Koehler (0-1) 441 feet to right-center for his second home run, a two-run shot that scored Jarrod Dyson. Cruz followed with his second homer, lining a 1-1 pitch to center to make it 3-0.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, DODGERS 2
LOS ANGELES — Jake Lamb hit a solo home run in the eighth inning and David Peralta added a run-scoring triple in the ninth to lead the Diamondbacks to a victory over the Dodgers.
J.J. Hoover (1-0) threw two scoreless innings in relief of Robbie Ray to earn the victory and Fernando Rodney blanked the Dodgers in the ninth to earn his fifth save.
It was Lamb’s third homer of the season.
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead against Ray, scoring an unearned run in the second on Logan Forsythe’s sacrifice fly and taking a two-run lead on an Enrique Hernandez solo home run in the fourth. It was his first of the year.
The Diamondbacks tied it on RBI hits by A.J. Pollock and Peralta.
Chris Hatcher (0-1) pitched 2 2/3 innings and took the loss.
