Sale sparkles as Red Sox beat Rays 2-0

Boston Red Sox starter Chris Sale pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. (AP)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: Chris Sale allowed two hits in eight innings and struck out 13, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0, on Tuesday for their seventh straight victory.
Sale (14-4) reached double digits in strikeouts for the 15th time this season, the first time that has been done since Randy Johnson in 2002.
The win pushed Boston’s AL East lead over the New York Yankees to four games.
Dustin Pedroia, back in the Boston lineup as a DH after a stint on the disabled list with left knee inflammation, scored the first run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth. A bad throw by Austin Pruitt (6-3) prevented a possible inning-ending double play on Rafael Devers’ chopper to the mound.
It was the only run allowed by Pruitt in his fourth major league start. He pitched 6⅓ scoreless innings in a win at Houston last Wednesday.
Sale (14-4) gave up singles to Wilson Ramos in the fifth and Peter Bourjos in the sixth. The Rays did not get a runner to second base until the seventh, when Sale followed a walk to Logan Morrison with a wild pitch. It was his only walk.
Sale, who leads the majors with 229 strikeouts in 23 starts, has struck out at least 12 in four straight starts against the Rays.
Blue Jays 4 Yankees 2: In Toronto, Josh Donaldson hit two two-run homers, J.A. Happ won his sixth straight decision against New York, and Toronto beat the Yankees.
Donaldson connected twice against Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia (9-5), who came in with an AL-best 2.29 ERA in 10 road starts. The 2015 AL MVP, Donaldson hit a drive to right-center in the first, and hooked one down the left field line in the third. He finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs.
Padres 7 Reds 3: In Cincinnati, Jose Pirela had four hits, and Yangervis Solarte had a homer among his three hits on Tuesday night, powering San Diego over Cincinnati.
Luis Perdomo (6-6) escaped threats by inducing three ground-ball double plays — his specialty — while pitching into the seventh. Tucker Barnhart hit a three-run homer off Jose Torres.
Marlins 7 Nationals 3: In Washington, Giancarlo Stanton hit his career-high and major league-leading 38th home run of the season and drove in three runs as Miami beat Washington.
Stanton crushed a first-pitch fastball from A.J. Cole (1-2) deep into the center-field stands in the fifth for a 4-1 lead following singles by Miguel Rojas and Dee Gordon.
Phillies 5 Braves 2: In Atlanta, Odubel Herrera hit a two-run homer, Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings following his recall from the minors, and Philadelphia beat Atlanta to continue its season-long mastery of the Braves.
After Maikel Franco drove in Freddie Galvis with a line-drive single to right field in the fifth inning, Herrera reached down to pull a low pitch from Julio Teheran into the restaurant behind the right-field wall. Herrera had three hits, including a double.
Pirates 6 Tigers 3: In Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen hit his 23rd home run of the season and surging Pittsburgh downed Detroit.
Chad Kuhl (5-7) took a shutout into the sixth and allowed three runs and five hits to win his second straight start. Kuhl, who pitched six innings, had the first two RBIs of his big league career on a two-run single in the fourth off Matthew Boyd (5-6).
Indians 4 Rockies 1: In Cleveland, Yan Gomes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off closer Greg Holland as Cleveland rallied for four runs in its last at-bat for Corey Kluber to beat Colorado.
After Austin Jackson tied it with a two-out bloop RBI single, Gomes connected on the first pitch from Holland (2-3), driving it into the seats in center field to touch off a wild celebration in Progressive Field.
Mets 5 Rangers 4: In New York, rookie Chris Flexen got his first big league win and hit, and New York took an early four-run lead against emergency starter A.J. Griffin in a win over Texas that stopped a four-game losing streak.
Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d’Arnaud homered for the Mets, who led 4-0 after two innings. Cespedes went deep at Citi Field for just the third time this season, his first since June 17. D’Arnaud hit his first at home this year after nine on the road.
Cardinals 10 Royals 3: In Kansas City, Missouri, Yadier Molina, Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk went deep, St. Louis scored so much in the fifth inning that they broke the scoreboard, and the Cardinals rolled over Kansas City.
Michael Wacha (9-4) allowed a three-run double to Cheslor Cuthbert but otherwise kept the Royals in check, surrendering six hits over six innings to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.