David Ortiz was the hitting star in Toronto last night. (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
TORONTO — David Ortiz hit two home runs and drove in four runs and Stephen Drew hit one homer and also had four RBIs as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 14-1 on Monday to extend their winning streak to five games.
John Lackey allowed two hits, no walks and one run in seven innings to earn the win in the opener of a four-game series between American League East rivals.
The pair of two-run homers by Ortiz, both against reliever Brad Mills, took him past former Red Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski into 36th place on the all-time home run list with 453.
The Blue Jays split their first four games since the All-Star break while the Red Sox won all four and eight of their past nine.
Dodgers 5, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH — Hyun-Jin Ryu continued his fine road pitching with seven strong innings and Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two walks to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
Ryu allowed two runs and five hits to improve to 7-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 10 road starts this season. The left-hander struck out five and walked one while beating the Pirates for the third time in as many career starts.
Paced by Gonzalez, the Dodgers broke loose for 12 hits after batting just .213 and scoring 16 runs in their previous eight games. Dee Gordon, Justin Turner and Juan Uribe had two hits each.
Giants 7, Phillies 4
PHILADELPHIA — Cliff Lee returned from the disabled list Monday, but the Philadelphia Phillies lefty never settled into a rhythm in his first game back from a left elbow strain, tying his career high in hits allowed as the San Francisco Giants won the opening game of a three-game series, 7-4.
Adam Duvall — called up Monday morning from Triple-A Fresno — hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning that turned a one-run deficit into a 5-4 Giants lead. An RBI single by Hunter Pence a few batters later would end Lee’s night, while his RBI triple in the eighth inning would provide for the final score.
Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong gave up double-digit hits for the first time all season despite not making it out of the fourth inning.
Rangers 4, Yankees 2
NEW YORK — Miles Mikolas pitched a career-high 7 1/3 innings and Rougned Odor had a tiebreaking single with two outs in the top of the sixth inning Monday night, leading the Texas Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees.
Mikolas (1-2) allowed two runs and four hits and gave the Rangers some distance after starting pitchers allowed eight runs in 15 innings in losing two of three at Toronto over the weekend. He struck out three, walked two and threw 68 of his career high 105 pitches for strikes.
Neal Cotts recorded the final two outs of the eighth and Joakim Soria pitched a scoreless ninth for his 17th save in 18 opportunities, helping the Rangers win for just the second time in 12 games.
Marlins 3, Braves 1
ATLANTA — The Miami Marlins, unable to cash in on a bases-loaded situation in the ninth inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves on Monday, didn’t waste a second opportunity in the 10th.
Garrett Jones drove in two runs with a one-out single up the middle off rookie reliever Shae Simmons and the Marlins defeated the Braves 3-1 at Turner Field.
Bryan Morris earned the victory after working out of trouble in the ninth inning and closer Steve Cishek pitched a perfect 10th for his 22nd save in 25 opportunities
It was just the sixth victory in 15 extra-innings games for the Marlins this season.
White Sox 3, Royals 1
CHICAGO — Chris Sale gave the struggling Kansas City Royals another frustrating night at the plate and the Chicago White Sox won 3-1 Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Sale was slightly off his top form, but grinded through seven innings to earn the win.
White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton went 2-for-3 and scored a run, and Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games with a double in four at-bats.
Brewers 5, Reds 2
MILWAUKEE — Wily Peralta scattered three hits over seven innings as the Brewers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at Miller Park.
Peralta walked a pair and struck out five to pick up his second victory in a row and his team-leading 11th of the season.
Reds starter Mat Latos also went seven innings but allowed eight hits while striking out three.
Twins 4, Indians 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Josh Willingham’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday at Target Field.
The Twins, who never trailed in the game, scored two runs in the second inning and another in the third. The Indians scored single runs in the third and fifth innings, and they trailed 3-2 heading to the top of the eighth until a one-out double by pinch hitter Michael Brantley gave them life. Brantley moved to third on a groundout to first and scored the tying run on a single to right by catcher Roberto Perez.
Right-hander Casey Fien (5-4) blew the lead in the eighth, but he earned the victory thanks to Willingham’s 374-foot blast that cleared the left field wall by inches.
