Corey Kluber put Cleveland’s rotation back on track, Andrew Miller earned a save against the team that traded him last weekend, and the Indians beat New York, 5-2, on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Mike Napoli, Jason Kipnis, and Rajai Davis each homered to help the AL Central leaders recover from an early two-run deficit. It was Napoli’s team-leading 28th homer and sixth in eight games.
Kluber (11-8) struck out eight in eight innings of five-hit ball, beating CC Sabathia (6-9) in a matchup of pitchers who won the AL Cy Young Award with Cleveland.
Miller closed with a one-hit ninth for his first save with Cleveland. The lanky lefthander, acquired last Sunday in a blockbuster trade, entered to a warm ovation at Yankee Stadium and fanned two batters following a leadoff single.
Miller’s first nine saves this year came with the Yankees.
Royals 4, Blue Jays 2 — Danny Duffy outpitched Aaron Sanchez, stopping a 10-game winning streak for the Toronto ace and leading host Kansas City to the win.
Sanchez (11-2) hadn’t lost since April 22 against Oakland. He allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings.
Duffy held the Blue Jays to two runs and five hits over 6⅔ innings.
Kelvin Herrera picked up his fourth save in six chances, working a perfect ninth.
Eric Hosmer hit a two-out, two-run single in a three-run fifth that made it 3-2.
White Sox 4, Orioles 2 — In Chicago, Omar Navarez’s foul ball turned into a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning after a replay challenge, and the White Sox beat Chris Tillman and Baltimore.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Navarez hit a pop to shallow left field off Mychal Givens. Third baseman Manny Machado tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch, but the ball dropped and umpire Mike Winters immediately ruled it foul.
Replays showed the ball hit the foul line. Pinch-runner J.B. Shuck was awarded home and Navarez got a single.
Rockies 12, Marlins 6 — At Coors Field, Ichiro Suzuki had a pinch-hit infield single in the eighth inning for No. 2,999, then grounded out in the ninth in his first try at 3,000, but Miami lost to Colorado, despite a 504-foot home run by Giancarlo Stanton.
Rangers 3, Astros 2 — Jonathan Lucroy hit two homers, Carlos Beltran had a tiebreaking single and three hits, and Texas won in Houston.
The Rangers improved to 10-2 against the Astros this season and pulled 6½ games ahead of Houston in the AL West.
Beltran singled to left off Chris Devenski in the seventh to score Shin-Soo Choo and make it 2-1. Beltran left after the inning with a left quad contusion.
Giants 7, Nationals 1 — Eduardo Nunez got four hits, including two triples and a double off Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, and San Francisco won on the road.
Brandon Belt homered, doubled, and singled as the Giants ended Washington’s four-game winning streak.
Tigers 6, Mets 5 — J.D. Martinez threw out Jay Bruce at the plate on the final play of the game, enabling host Detroit to hold on for the win.
New York trailed 6-1 before rallying with two runs each in the fifth and seventh, and with men on first and second and two out in the ninth, Travis d'Arnaud poked a single into right field. Martinez charged the ball, and his one-hop throw home was in time to get Bruce.
Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs for the Tigers, who have won 10 of 11 and trail AL Central-leading Cleveland by two games.
Pirates 5, Reds 3 — Ivan Nova pitched seven innings to win his first start with Pittsburgh as the Pirates beat visiting Cincinnati.
Nova was acquired from the Yankees on Monday for two players to be named and gave up three runs and six hits with five strikeouts and no walks. He had spent his entire seven-year career with New York.
Rays 7, Twins 3 — Evan Longoria, Bobby Wilson, and Logan Forsythe all homered to back Chris Archer’s six strong innings as Tampa Bay won at home.
Archer won for the third time in his last 15 starts, giving up one run and three hits and striking out seven to regain the American League lead in strikeouts with 168.
Cubs 4, Athletics 0 — Jake Arrieta pitched eight innings of three-hit ball to get his first victory in over a month and Chicago beat host Oakland.
Arrieta (13-5) was 0-3 in his previous five starts and 1-4 since ending a 20-decision winning streak on June 22. He struck out four and walked one on 108 pitches.
The NL Central-leading Cubs have won five straight and 16 of 22. They gave the A’s their seventh loss in eight games.
Braves 13, Cardinals 5 — Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia had three-run home runs and visiting Atlanta got enough from Roberto Hernandez in his first start this season for the victory.
The 35-year-old Hernandez , who previously pitched under the name Fausto Carmona, allowed three runs in five-plus innings in his first start since July 19, 2015 with the Astros.
Padres 9, Phillies 7 — Paul Clemens outpitched Jake Thompson in the Philadelphia righthander’s major league debut to lift San Diego at home.
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Ken Griffey Jr.’s No. 24 was retired by the Mariners with an emotional outpouring from fans that had the new Hall of Famer fighting back tears.
The Mariners retired the number throughout the organization, and the final time it was worn came during batting practice when every member of the roster and coaching staff took the field with No. 24 on their jersey.