ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale shut down the Phillies for the second time in nine days and won his 150th career game as the Atlanta Braves built an early lead and beat Philadelphia 6-2 on Sunday.
Sale (5-1) threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out a season-high nine. In his previous start on against the slumping Phillies on April 18, Sale gave up one run in seven innings.
The Phillies, who snapped a 10-game losing streak Saturday, dropped to 0-10 against left-handed non-opener starters and fell to 9-19 overall.
Matt Olson hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Eli White added a two-run homer in the second for the Braves, who won for the 10th time in 12 games. Olson’s homer was his eighth of the season and fourth in his career off Phillies starer Aaron Nola (1-3).
Ronald Acuña Jr. was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a steal. Drake Baldwin was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, and Ozzie Albies extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the seventh inning.
Nola gave up a season-high six runs on seven hits and has now allowed 11 earned runs in his last two starts. Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer run in the eighth inning as the Phillies avoided the shutout.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Willson Contreras hit his sixth home run of the season and second in as many games, and Boston responded to the firing of manager Alex Cora with a victory over Baltimore.
Connelly Early (2-1) allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in the rubber game victory for Boston, less than 24 hours after the club parted with Cora and five assistants following a 10-17 start to the season.
Ceddanne Rafaela, Marcelo Mayer and Andruw Monasterio also had RBI hits to help Red Sox interim skipper Chad Tracy get a win in his MLB managerial debut.
Zach Kelly retired the last batter of the seventh inning and Garrett Whitlock allowed a run in the eighth. Aroldis Chapman worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Gunnar Henderson hit his ninth home run of the season and drove in two for Baltimore. Samuel Basallo added his fifth homer as the Orioles lost their third series out of four.
Kyle Bradish (1-3) allowed all three of his runs — including Contreras’ two-run shot — in his fifth and final inning. Grant Wolfram gave up two more without retiring a batter in the sixth.
TORONTO (AP) — Jesús Sánchez hit a two-run home run to take the lead, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits, and Toronto beat Cleveland.
Guerrero led off the sixth inning with a double and Sánchez followed with his 355-foot blast to right field. It was Sánchez’s fourth homer of the season and second of the series, which the Blue Jays won two games to one.
It was Toronto’s second straight series victory after dropping its previous six.
Blue Jays left-hander Patrick Corbin allowed two runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Braydon Fisher (1-0) worked out of a bases-loaded jam to finish the fifth and completed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Tyler Rogers handled the seventh. Jeff Hoffman, who was recently moved out of the closer role, pitched a scoreless eighth. Louis Varland earned his third save after working around a leadoff single in the ninth.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Pinch hitter Hao-Yu Lee hit his first MLB home run and Spencer Torkelson homered for the fifth straight game as Detroit avoided a series sweep with a win over Cincinnati.
Torkelson tied a Tigers record by homering in five consecutive games, joining Rudy York, Hank Greenberg, Vic Wertz, Willie Horton and Marcus Thames.
The Tigers led 2-0 after Kerry Carpenter’s bases-loaded double in the first before Cincinnati rallied.