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The New York Yankees swept their doubleheader against rivals and reigning MLB World Series champions the Boston Red Sox.
New York (71-39) won 9-2 and 6-4 on Saturday to move eight games clear of the Tampa Bay Rays and 13 and a half ahead of the Red Sox in the American League East.
The Red Sox are now 59-54 and trail by five and a half games in the wild-card race.
New York won the opening game behind a strong pitching performance from Domingo German, who allowed two runs in seven innings to run his record to 14-2 and the bat of DJ LeMahieu.
Almost an afterthought as an offseason free-agent acquisition, LeMahieu is now considered an MVP candidate.
Red Sox ace Chris Sale's perplexing struggles continued as he yielded eight earned runs in 3.6 innings, most of the damage coming in a seven-run fourth inning.
Manager Alex Cora was ejected for arguing with home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook about pitch calls, and after being pulled, Sale also spoke his mind and was ejected.
After losing their sixth straight game in the opener, the frustrated Sox held a players-only meeting between the first and second games.
"It was to get us back on track," Mookie Betts said afterwards. "It was a group decision."
Sale added: "When things come up, you have to address it."
The team meeting did not help. The Yankees, behind a pair of home runs by shortstop Gleyber Torres, won the nightcap, running Boston's losing streak to seven games.
Sanchez stifles Mariners in no-hitter
Aaron Sanchez, making his debut in a Houston Astros uniform, no-hit the Seattle Mariners through six innings, striking out six. The former Toronto Blue Jays star walked two batters and threw 92 pitches before giving way to the bullpen for the combined no-hitter in a 9-0 victory.
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler pitched a complete-game gem in a 4-1 win over the San Diego Padres, striking out 15 batters.
Duffy costly as Royals fall to Twins
Kansas City Royals starter Danny Duffy gave up eight earned runs and four home runs in 4.6 innings of work in an 11-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Acuna with the walk-off winner!
Ronald Acuna walks it off for the Atlanta Braves in the 10th inning against the Cincinnati Reds.
Good ñight, everybody!#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/HVP9psUjPf
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 4, 2019
Saturday's results
New York Yankees 9-2 Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees 6-4 Boston Red Sox
Chicago Cubs 4-1 Milwaukee Brewers
Baltimore Orioles 6-4 Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 Miami Marlins
Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Chicago White Sox
New York Mets 7-5 Pittsburgh Pirates
Houston Astros 9-0 Seattle Mariners
Minnesota Twins 11-3 Kansas City Royals
Cleveland Indians 7-2 Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers 5-4 Detroit Tigers
Atlanta Braves 5-4 Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks 18-7 Washington Nationals
San Francisco Giants 6-5 Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 San Diego Padres
Oakland Athletics 8-3 St Louis Cardinals
Nationals at Diamondbacks
The Nationals hold one of the National League's wild-card spots, while the Diamondbacks are very much in the mix. Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (9-5, 3.23 ERA) has plenty of incentive in this matchup — he pitched for Arizona in his first six MLB seasons before moving to Washington as a free agent last year. He will face Taylor Clarke, who has pitched extremely well his last two starts (11.3 innings, two earned runs, 13 strikeouts against the Yankees and Orioles).
Published 04 Aug 2019, 11:10 IST