Toronto: Rick Porcello pitched seven innings to become the first 20-game winner in the majors, Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run homer and the Boston Red Sox increased their AL East lead to two games by routing the Toronto Blue Jays 13-3 on Friday.
Xander Bogaerts homered and Dustin Pedroia had three hits and four RBIs as the Red Sox used 18 hits to rough up the sloppy, slumping Blue Jays in the opener of a pivotal three-game series between the division’s top two teams.
Porcello (20-3) allowed two runs and six hits to become Boston’s first 20-game winner since Josh Beckett in 2007.
The Red Sox broke it open by scoring six runs in a 10-batter seventh. Bogaerts hit a leadoff drive off Scott Feldman, his 18th. Three batters later, Ramirez connected off Feldman, his 22nd. Pedroia capped the rally with a two-run single off Ryan Tepera.
Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada (8-8) allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.
In the final weeks of a 14-year big league career, Teixeira broke open the game with a fourth-inning grand slam, and the surprising New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 on a soggy night to extend their winning streak to six.
The 36-year-old Teixeira drove Kevin Jepsen’s 94 mph fastball into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-centre for his 12th home run this season, the 406th of his career, and his 11th big league slam and helped the Yankees closed within one game of Baltimore and Detroit for the second AL wild card.
Mike Napoli hit a mammoth home run on the first pitch of the fifth inning to give Cleveland the lead, and the Indians hung on to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 and the Indians won for the ninth time in their last 11 games to maintain a six-game lead in the AL Central.
Napoli’s drive off Tyler Duffey (8-11) was estimated by the Twins at 456 feet, landing in the third deck above left field three sections over from the foul pole.
In the National League, Kris Bryant hit a two-run homer, Jon Lester threw seven scoreless innings and Hector Rondon and Aroldis Chapman completed the shutout to give the Chicago Cubs a 2-0 win over the Houston Astros.
Bryant smacked his 37th homer off Joe Musgrove to the seats in left field to put the Cubs up 2-0 in the fifth inning.
Lester (16-4) allowed seven hits and struck out seven for his seventh straight win.
Jose Fernandez tied a career high with 14 strikeouts, overshadowing Clayton Kershaw’s return from injury in the Miami Marlins’ 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fernandez gave up three hits and three walks in seven shutout innings.
Kershaw had not started for the Dodgers since June 26 because of a back injury. He threw 66 pitches, struck out five, and allowed two runs and five hits over three innings.