Randy Vasquez allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first career win as the host New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0 to gain a split of their doubleheader on Thursday.

Called up to start for Nestor Cortes (shoulder), Vasquez (1-1) allowed singles to Eloy Jimenez in the first and Gavin Sheets in the fifth. He struck out three, walked one and allowed four baserunners in his second career start.

Chicago tied a season-high four homers in the opener and earned a 6-5 victory. Jimenez hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh off Michael King after Jake Burger, Luis Robert Jr. and Yoan Moncada connected off Luis Severino.

Vasquez, whose other start was May 26 against San Diego, helped the Yankees win for the seventh time in 12 games after being promoted as the 27th man for the doubleheader.

Vasquez had two on in the first after Jimenez singled, but he retired the next 15 hitters until Sheets singled. After plunking Robert in the back, he exited to a nice ovation from the crowd.

Clevinger (3-4) retired the first nine hitters until Willie Calhoun opened the fourth with a double. After Calhoun’s third hit of the doubleheader, Torres blasted a first-pitch cutter to left field for his 10th homer of the season after barely missing a game-ending three-run drive off Kendall Graveman in the opener.

Clay Holmes notched his seventh save after allowing a leadoff walk to Robert and Jimenez to reach on a throwing error by Torres. Jimenez appeared to tweak his right leg running down the first base line and exited.

Billy McKinney, who was called up to replace Aaron Judge, added a solo shot for his first homer with the Yankees after playing two games for them in 2018.
Clevinger allowed three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

After completing a series sweep of the top team in the American League Central, the Tampa Bay Rays open a three-game series against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., in a matchup of the two teams with the best records in baseball.

Tampa Bay, in first place in the AL East, brings a major league-best 46-19 record into the contest and has won six in a row. The Rays completed their seventh series sweep of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon to improve their home record to a major league-best 29-6.

Texas, which leads the majors with 386 runs scored and a plus-154 run differential, is the only other team in the majors to hit the 40-win mark (40-21). The Rangers had a five-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0.

“They’re good, no denying,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of the Rangers. “You can see the runs they’re putting out. The pitching has been really good. They made some good offseason moves — obviously (manager) Bruce Bochy, that’s a pretty good one. … A very, very dangerous team, but it should be a fun series.”

“It’s another series,” Rays first baseman/outfielder Luke Raley said. “That’s how we take it. It doesn’t matter who’s here and where we go, we’re going to go out and play our game.

“They’re obviously playing great ball over there. They score a lot of runs. I think it’s going to be a really good series.”

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 3.72 ERA) will make his third start of the season after missing two months with a left oblique injury suffered early in spring training. Glasnow is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two career starts against Texas but both of those occurred before he underwent Tommy John surgery in November of 2021.

Left-hander Andrew Heaney (4-3, 4.03) will start for Texas. Heaney is 0-3 with a 3.67 ERA in five career starts against Tampa Bay, including 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts at Tropicana Field, the last of which came in 2019 while he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

Texas, which is 19-12 on the road, swept three games from the Seattle Mariners and then took two of three from St. Louis during a 5-1 homestand that ended with the 1-0 loss to the Cardinals. Jon Gray threw the second complete game of his nine-year career in the loss and struck out a season-high 12 batters but yielded an eighth-inning solo homer to Alec Burleson, one of just four hits for St. Louis.

Gray (6-2), who didn’t walk a batter, joined some elusive company with his performance. He became just the third pitcher in history to pitch nine innings and allow just one run and no walks with 12 or more strikeouts and still lose a game. The others were James Shields (Oct. 2, 2012) and a fellow named Cy Young (Sept. 10, 1904).

Second baseman Marcus Semien went 0-for-4 in the loss to have his 25-game hitting streak, tied for the longest in team history, come to an end. Still, Bochy was upbeat afterward.

“Hey, great homestand,” Bochy said. “Really good homestand. We can probably use a day off and head to Tampa. We’re playing a tough team. We played well but we just couldn’t get a big hit.”

–Field Level Media

Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, yet it took a game-ending single from Kody Clemens in the ninth to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 3-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Thursday, extending their winning streak to five games.

Wheeler (5-4) had eight strikeouts while giving up one hit and just three base runners in 7 1/3 innings. After the Phillies coughed up the late lead to trail 2-1 in the ninth, they tied it on a sacrifice fly from Brandon Marsh before Clemens’ RBI hit to right off Alex Lange (3-2).

Zack Short and Nick Maton drove in runs for the Tigers, who were no-hit into the fifth inning in all three games of the series, with Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Monday.

The Tigers rallied to tie Thursday’s game at 1-1 in the eighth thanks to a throwing error by Phillies third baseman Josh Harrison and Short’s RBI on a bunt single one batter after Wheeler was replaced by Seranthony Dominguez.

Bryce Harper had a sacrifice fly for the Phillies’ first run in the sixth inning in a game that was originally scheduled for Wednesday before lingering smoke from wildfires in Canada forced the contest to be postponed one day.

Detroit scored just five runs in the series and went scoreless for 18 innings until the eighth on Thursday.

The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, who drove in the only run Wednesday with a first-inning home run, walked with one out in the sixth on Thursday. Nick Castellanos singles to left field to put runners on the corners, and Harper’s fly ball to left scored Schwarber for a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers tied the score in the eighth, while ending the no-hit bid and knocking Wheeler from the game. After Jonathan Schoop reached base on Harrison’s error, Tyler Nevin poked a single to right field for Detroit’s first hit, and Dominguez replaced Wheeler.

Phillies right-hander Craig Kimbrel (4-1) gave up a run in the ninth inning but still earned the win.

–Field Level Media

Eloy Jimenez hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning off Michael King and the visiting Chicago White Sox extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday afternoon.

Jake Burger hit a two-run homer before Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada hit solo home runs as the White Sox tied a season high with four homers.

Robert, who entered in an 8-for-41 slide, collected three hits and doubled to set up Jimenez’s homer. After Robert reached to open the seventh, Jimenez blasted the next pitch off King (1-2) into the Yankees’ bullpen in center field for his sixth homer.

The Yankees fell to 5-8 on the season without slugger Aaron Judge, who was placed on the injured list with a sprained right toe after crashing into the right field fence Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Willie Calhoun drove in three runs out of the leadoff spot by hitting an RBI single and a tying homer. Billy McKinney was added to the roster to replace Judge and tripled in his first at-bat before scoring on a double by Kyle Higashioka.

Oswaldo Cabrera hit an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Yankees the lead until Jimenez went deep.

New York’s Luis Severino allowed four runs on six hits in five innings in his fourth start of the season after returning from a lat strain. He tied a career worst by allowing three homers for the fifth time and the second straight start.

Lance Lynn allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings. Gregory Santos (2-0) pitched a 1-2-3 sixth ahead of Jimenez’s homer.

Joe Kelly pitched a hitless seventh and Reynaldo Lopez did the same in the eighth before Kendall Graveman retired Anthony Rizzo on a double play grounder for his sixth save.

In the second, Burger hit an 0-1 fastball into the Chicago bullpen for his 13th homer.

The Yankees tied it in the bottom half. After tripling, McKinney scored on Higashioka’s double, and Calhoun followed with a tying single.

Robert snapped the tie with a drive onto the netting above Monument Park in the third, and two batters later Moncada reached the right field seats for a 4-2 lead.

Calhoun forged a 4-all tie with a drive into the right field seats in the fourth, and Cabrera slapped a full-count single to left for a 5-4 lead in the fifth.

–Field Level Media

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who leads the majors in home runs and tops the National League in RBIs, will miss his first game of the season with a bruised wrist.

Alonso was hit in the left wrist by Charlie Morton’s fastball in the first inning of Wednesday’s game against the host Atlanta Braves. Alonso said Morton apologized to him after the game and believes the hit-by-pitch was unintentional. The night before, Alonso taunted Braves pitcher Bryce Elder after belting a home run.

Alonso’s X-rays were negative, but he had a CT scan Thursday morning before leaving the team and returned to New York for an MRI and further testing.

The Mets head to Pittsburgh for a weekend series after Thursday’s series finale in Atlanta. They have two Subway Series games against the New York Yankees next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Alonso, 28, has 22 home runs and 49 RBIs through 62 games while batting .231. The two-time All-Star has hit 168 homers and 429 RBIs through 592 career games dating to 2019, when he was NL Rookie of the Year.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Mariners signed longtime shortstop Didi Gregorius to a minor league deal on Thursday.

Gregorius, who has 999 major league hits, has been playing — and tearing up the baseball — with Algodoneros de Union Laguna in the Mexican League.

Gregorius, 33, last played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022 before he was released on Aug. 4 — one hit shy of 1,000. He batted .210 with one homer and 19 RBIs in 63 games last season.

However, he’s hitting .359/.431/.777 through 26 games this season in Mexico.

Gregorius is a career .257 hitter with 134 home runs and 530 RBIs in 1,077 games with the Cincinnati Reds (2012), Arizona Diamondbacks (2013-14), New York Yankees (2015-19) and Phillies.

Gregorius replaced Derek Jeter as the Yankees’ full-time shortstop when Jeter retired after the 2014 season.

–Field Level Media

Michael Conforto homered for one of his two hits, Thairo Estrada also went deep and the San Francisco Giants rallied to beat Colorado 6-4 on Thursday in Denver, their 11th straight win over the Rockies.

Scott Alexander (5-0) pitched the eighth to get the win, and Camilo Doval got the final three outs for his 16th save for San Francisco.

The Giants improved to 16-3 in their last 19 games at Coors Field, where they have won eight straight.

Nolan Jones had three hits and two RBIs, and Jurickson Profar added two hits for Colorado.

San Francisco trailed by a run after eight innings but rallied in the ninth off closer Pierce Johnson (0-3). He walked the first two batters, pinch hitter Brandon Crawford tied it with a double and LaMonte Wade Jr. put the Giants ahead with a sacrifice fly.

Crawford scored on Joc Pederson’s two-out single.

Estrada gave San Francisco a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with his seventh home run of the season.

The Rockies answered right away against Alex Cobb. Charlie Blackmon, Profar and Ryan McMahon led off the bottom of the first with singles to tie the game, and Cobb loaded the bases when he hit Randal Grichuk in the ribs with a 94 mph sinker.

One out later, Jones drove in two more runs with a single, and Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI double made it 4-1.

Cobb allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out seven in five innings.

Rockies starter Chase Anderson settled down after Estrada’s homer to scatter three hits over the next four innings. He created a jam in the fourth when he gave up a one-out single to J.D. Davis, followed by a walk to Conforto. He fanned Mitch Haniger and Blake Sabol to end that inning, but then ran into trouble in the sixth.

With one out, Davis tripled into the left-field corner and Conforto homered just over the scoreboard in right to cut it to 4-3 and end Anderson’s day. It was Conforto’s 12th of the season.

Anderson allowed three runs on six hits and struck out a season-high seven in 5 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

A three-run eighth inning helped the Baltimore Orioles rally past the host Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 on Thursday and avoid a series sweep.

Baltimore, which has yet to be swept in a series, found itself in an immediate hole in the bottom of the first inning. Christian Yelich’s leadoff walk off Orioles starter Kyle Bradish triggered a sequence resulting in three Milwaukee runs.

Yelich scored on Rowdy Tellez’s fielder’s choice, Willy Adames came home on an Owen Miller single, and William Contreras scored on a Jon Singleton single.

That was all the offense the Brewers mustered, however, as Bradish settled in to strike out 10 over five innings without surrendering another run. The Baltimore bullpen held the Milwaukee bats in check down the stretch.

The first breakthrough came in the seventh inning when Ramon Urias hit a solo home run off of Joel Payamps. The homer — Urias’ second of the season — highlighted a 3-for-4 afternoon for the third baseman.

In the eighth inning, Anthony Santander doubled with one out to score Adley Rutschman. After an Austin Hays strikeout, Gunnar Henderson hit a two-out home run with Santander aboard to give Baltimore a lead it did not relinquish.

The Orioles added insurance in the ninth when Aaron Hicks drew a leadoff walk ahead of a Urias single. With Jorge Mateo pinch-running for Urias, Adam Frazier hit a double to score both Hicks and Mateo.

Felix Bautista struck out two batters in the bottom of the ninth on the way to his 16th save of the season. Keegan Akin (2-1) gave up a hit in 1 1/3 innings of relief to earn the win for Baltimore.

Peter Strzelecki (3-5) took the loss for Milwaukee. Brewers starter Colin Rea struck out eight and gave up just three hits in five innings.

Contreras finished 2-for-4 for Milwaukee. Joey Wiemer, who hit the game-winning single in extra innings on Tuesday and knocked a pair of home runs on Wednesday, extended his hitting streak to nine games in a 1-for-4 performance.

–Field Level Media

Harold Ramirez hit a two-run homer to highlight a three-run fourth inning as the host Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 4-2 victory on Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Luke Raley added an RBI triple and Josh Lowe had two hits for Tampa Bay, which extended its winning streak to six games while also improving its home record to a major league best 29-6.

Yonny Chirinos (3-1), recalled from Triple-A Durham earlier Thursday, picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.

Jason Adam picked up his 10th save by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth that ended with Lowe crashing into the right-field fence to snag a drive by Royce Lewis.

Carlos Correa homered and had two hits, Michael A. Taylor hit a home run and Alex Kirilloff also had two hits for Minnesota, which dropped its fifth straight game. The loss dropped the American League Central leaders below the .500 mark (31-32) for the first time this season.

Bailey Ober (3-3) suffered the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven, including six in a row across the second and third innings.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Correa led off with his seventh home run of the season, a towering 406-foot drive down the left-field line. It was Correa’s first homer since May 13.

Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

Ober, who retired the first 11 batters he faced, walked Randy Arozarena with two outs to snap that streak. Raley followed with a triple into the right-field corner to drive in Arozarena and tie the game, 1-1. Ramirez then drilled the next pitch 416 feet over the center-field fence for his ninth home run.

The Rays extended the lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Wander Franco reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a walk to Arozarena. Franco then stole third and scored when reliever Griffin Jax threw wildly past third.

Taylor hit his eighth homer leading off the eighth inning against reliever Colin Poche to end the scoring.

–Field Level Media

Clayton Kershaw struck out nine batters over seven innings and David Peralta had four hits and drove in two runs as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers breezed to a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon.

Chris Taylor had two hits, including a solo homer in a three-run fourth inning, to help the Dodgers end their four-game skid and avoid their longest losing streak in four years.

Kershaw (8-4) allowed just five hits and posted his second straight seven-inning outing while matching his season high in strikeouts.

The veteran left-hander has fanned nine in five of his 13 starts in 2023. In earning his 205th career win with the Dodgers, Kershaw pulled to within four of Don Drysdale for second on the club’s all-time list.

The Reds, who overcame a five-run deficit on Tuesday and four-run deficit on Wednesday, saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.

Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz, two rookies at the heart of the Cincinnati comebacks earlier in the series, couldn’t do it for a third game. McLain went 2-for-4 with a double while De La Cruz had a single and a steal but struck out three times, twice against Kershaw.

After two scoreless innings to start the game, Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft (3-5) was hit on the lower left leg by a comebacker off the bat of Austin Barnes for the first out of the third. Ashcraft was seen twice by Reds medical staff as he attempted to stay in the game.

But he was pulled after allowing a two-run single by Peralta that scored Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman and gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Freeman drove in a run earlier in the frame.

Ashcraft continued to struggle in the Cincinnati rotation, allowing three runs and three hits over only 2 2/3 innings. Ashcraft has yielded 41 earned runs and 49 hits in 28 2/3 innings over his last seven starts.

The Reds threatened against Kershaw in the fifth and sixth, putting two runners on in each inning, but failed to score.

In the sixth, McLain and Jonathan India opened with singles to put runners on the corners. Kershaw struck out De La Cruz before Spencer Steer popped out and Tyler Stephenson whiffed to end the inning.

–Field Level Media