KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luke Voit had a two-run single in the first inning and the New York Yankees beat Kansas City 5-2 on Wednesday for their 12th straight series victory over the Royals.
Chad Green (6-5) got the victory in relief as New York took 2 of 3 from Kansas City. Zach Britton earned his first save of the season.
The game-time temperature was 93 degrees with a heat index of 102, the third straight game with a heat index above 100.
Brady Singer (3-8) took the loss. He allowed five runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Yankees starter Lucas Luetge made his first career start after making 152 career appearances as a reliever. He allowed one run on two hits in two innings.
Cccording to Elias, Luetge was just the sixth pitcher in franchise history to start a game after making his first 152 appearances out of the bullpen.
Voit’s two-run single capped a three-run first inning. Singer walked D.J. LeMahieu leading off. With one out, Aaron Judge singled and Joey Gallo walked. After Voit singled in LeMahieu and Judge, Rougned Odor singled in Gallo.
The Royals answered with one in the bottom of the first. Whit Merrifield led off with a single, then had his major league-leading 33rd stolen base. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Salvador Perez.
Merrifield tied the Royals’ record with his 33rd consecutive steal (Carlos Beltran, 1999-2001). Merrifield was caught stealing on his first attempt this season and hadn’t been caught since. The streak was snapped in the seventh when he overslid second.
The Yankees extended the lead in the fourth. Tyler Wade led off with a double and stole third. He scored on a single by LeMahieu, who scored on a single by Judge, the final batter to face Singer.
The Royals scored their second run in the fifth. Cam Gallagher led off with a double and went to third on a flyout. He scored on slow roller to short by Nicky Lopez.
TWINS 1, WHITE SOX 0: Rookie Bailey Ober shut out the White Sox into the sixth inning, Jorge Polanco homered and last-place Minnesota took another series from a playoff contender, beating visiting Chicago.
Minnesota took 2 of 3 from AL Central-leading Chicago after winning 3 of 4 at Houston, which leads the AL West.
Caleb Thielbar (4-0), Juan Minaya and Alex Colome worked 3 2/3 hitless innings in relief of Ober, with Colome getting the last three outs for his seventh save in 11 chances.
Jose Ruiz (1-2) allowed Polanco’s homer in the sixth, his lone inning of relief. Reynaldo Lopez threw three scoreless innings as an opener for the White Sox.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 7, PADRES 0: Lewis Brinson hit two of Miami’s three home runs off rookie lefty Ryan Weathers, Sandy Alcantara shut down San Diego for seven brilliant innings and the Marlins avoided a winless trip by beating the Padres.
The Marlins snapped a five-game losing streak – all on this trip through Colorado and San Diego – while the Padres had their four-game winning streak stopped.
Alcantara (7-10) bounced back from one of his worst starts, when he allowed a career-high 10 runs on 10 hits, including three homers, in just 3 2/3 innings in a 14-2 loss at Colorado on Friday night.
The 25-year-old right-hander scattered four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Only one baserunner made it as far as third base. Trent Grisham doubled with one out in the third, advanced on a groundout and was stranded.
METS 8, NATIONALS 7: Pinch-hitter Brandon Drury delivered a tie-breaking single in the eighth inning and New York rallied from a pair of three-run deficits to defeat visiting Washington in the resumption of a game suspended by rain the night before.
Pete Alonso broke out of an 0-for-21 slump with three hits, including an RBI double off the center-field fence that pulled the Mets to 7-6 in the seventh. New York tied it on a throwing error by 6-foot-7 rookie reliever Mason Thompson (0-1) in the eighth and snapped a season-worst four-game slide, winning for only the third time in 12 games.
The teams were then supposed to play their regularly scheduled game Wednesday night, but it was postponed with a severe storm approaching and rescheduled as part of a single-admission doubleheader at 12:10 p.m. Thursday.
CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 0: Adam Wainwright extended his dominance of Pittsburgh with a complete game, two-hit shutout and helped himself with a pair of hits as St. Louis beat the host Pirates.
The 39-year-old Wainwright allowed a pair of singles by Colin Moran in the second and fifth innings, and then retired the last 15 batters.
Wainwright (11-6) needed just 88 pitches to record the 11th shutout of his 16-year career and first since 2016. He struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
Wainwright’s gem came a night after Cardinals left-hander J.A. Happ and three relievers combined to one-hit the Pirates, who have lost seven straight games and 17 of their last 22.
Wainwright won his fourth straight start, and he has been the winning pitcher in each of his last six starts against the Pirates. He has also won eight consecutive decisions versus the Pirates since losing to Pittsburgh on Opening Day in 2016.
INTERLEAGUE
ASTROS 5, ROCKIES 1: Aledmys Diaz had three hits and drove in three runs to help Houston beat visiting Colorado.
Diaz tied it with an RBI single in the first and gave the Astros the lead with a run-scoring single in the third. Houston was up by three in the seventh when he sent home another run with a double to make it 5-1.
Diaz has 19 hits and 14 RBI in the last 13 games after missing about six weeks with a fractured hand.
Houston’s Framber Valdez (8-3) allowed four hits and one run, striking out eight in six innings.
NOTES
WHITE SOX: The Chicago White Sox placed left-hander Carlos Rodon on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder fatigue.
Rodon was headed back to Chicago to receive further testing. Chicago Manager Tony La Russa said the team made the move to the injured list based on Rodon’s complaints of soreness and fatigue in his throwing shoulder.
Rodon is 9-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 19 starts this season and was an All-Star for the first time in his career. Right-handed reliever Matt Foster was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
Rodon was scheduled to start Thursday’s Field of Dreams game in Iowa against the Yankees. La Russa altered his starting rotation as a result, pushing Lance Lynn back a day to start Thursday.
YANKEES: The Yankees placed RHP Clay Holmes on the COVID-19 injured list (pending the results of a COVID test). The Yankees recalled RHP Brooks Kriske as a replacement player from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
DODGERS: Outfielder Mookie Betts was placed on the injured list because of a sore right hip.
Betts left Friday’s game in the sixth due to right hip discomfort. He played Saturday and then sat out Sunday. He is batting .277 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI in 87 games for the defending World Series champions.
TIGERS: The Detroit Tigers put outfielders Akil Baddoo and Derek Hill on the injured list after their frightening collision in Tuesday night’s game.
Baddoo went on the seven-day concussion IL, and Hill went on the 10-day IL with bruised ribs. Manager A.J. Hinch said Hill also has knee soreness.
The two collided in left-center field while chasing Anthony Santander’s fly ball. Hill made the catch, but both players were shaken up and had to leave the game. They were able to walk off the field.
Hinch said Baddoo is dealing with some pain in addition to his concussion diagnosis.
BREWERS: Reliever John Curtiss has gone on the injured list with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow less than two weeks after the team acquired him.
Brewers Manager Craig Counsell said Curtiss is getting some second opinions before determining how to proceed. Curtiss exited the second game of the Brewers’ doubleheader sweep of the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday due to elbow trouble.
The NL Central leaders got the 28-year-old Curtiss in a July 30 trade that sent minor league catcher Payton Henry to the Miami Marlins. Curtiss went 0-0 with a 12.46 ERA in six games with Milwaukee after going 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 35 games with Miami.
ANGELS: GM Perry Minasian reiterated that there aren’t any plans to shut down star outfielder Mike Trout for the rest of the season.
The three-time AL MVP has not played since May 17 after going on the injured list due to a right calf strain. The original prognosis was 6 to 8 weeks, but Trout has been out of the lineup for 12 weeks since sustaining the injury.
Trout’s progress stalled after he felt some discomfort after a couple days of running the bases a couple weeks ago.
Scans showed that the calf is continuing to heal, albeit slower than anticipated.