Chris Sale became the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts, pitched six scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 on Thursday night to split a doubleheader.
The Phillies won the afternoon game 5-4.
Sale (3-3) struck out Edmundo Sosa in the sixth inning for his eighth strikeout, to reach the milestone. He did it in 2,026 innings, surpassing the record of 2,107 2/3 set by Randy Johnson.
Sale became the 40th pitcher in major league history to reach 2.500 strikeouts and joined Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer as the only active pitchers to have reached that plateau.
Sosa was the last hitter Sale faced. He allowed just two hits in six shutout innings.
Austin Riley had a double, a homer, and four RBIs, Ozzie Albies homered and drove in three, and Luke Williams had a pair of RBIs for the Braves, who snapped a three-game losing skid.
Zack Wheeler (6-2) allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Phillies, who lost for just the second time in their last 13 games.
BLUE JAYS 12, ATHLETICS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Ernie Clement homered and had five RBIs, Bo Bichette homered and drove in three runs, and Toronto used an eight-run second inning to rout the struggling Athletics.
José Berríos (2-2) and two relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Blue Jays recorded their second straight shutout and fourth of the season. All four have come since May 20.
The Athletics have lost three straight and 14 of 15, getting outscored 117-44 in that span.
The A’s have been outscored by 101 total runs this season. They’ve lost by 10 or more runs an MLB-worst seven times.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer and George Springer added a solo shot for Toronto. Alejandro Kirk reached base four times, scored twice and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
The A’s have allowed at least one home run in 11 consecutive games, giving up 25 total homers in that span. Athletics opponents have hit 84 home runs this season.
Berríos struck out nine in six innings to win for the first time since April 7 at Boston.
Athletics left-hander Jacob Lopez (0-3) allowed seven runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings, his third straight losing start.
RAYS 13, ASTROS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Junior Caminero homered and drove in a career-high six RBIs to lead Tampa Bay to a win over Houston.
The game was tied 3-all with no outs and two on in the seventh when Yandy Díaz’s RBI single put the Rays on top. Tampa Bay made it 5-3 when Jonathan Aranda reached and Díaz scored on a fielding error by first baseman Victor Caratini.
Caminero then connected off Bryan King (3-1) on his 11th homer this season to push the lead to 8-3.
The 21-year-old Caminero, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, drove in two more runs on a double in Tampa Bay’s five-run eighth that made it 13-3.
Jose Altuve and Yainer Diaz hit solo homers for the Astros, whose four-game winning streak was halted.
NATIONALS 9, MARINERS 3, 10 INNINGS
SEATTLE (AP) — Josh Bell hit a three-run homer in a seven-run 10th inning in Washington's victory over Seattle.
The Nationals set a franchise record for runs in an extra inning.
Rookie Daylen Lile got the outburst started against Collin Snider (1-1) with a sacrifice fly to deep right that came just a few feet shy of a home run. Luis Garcia Jr. doubled home a pair of runs before Bell hit eighth home run of the season and second in two days.
For a good while, it appeared Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore would require little offensive support, considering MLB’s strikeout leader racked up eight strikeouts across six shutout innings to up his season total to 101. Gore was buoyed, too, by James Wood’s two-RBI double to left field in the sixth inning, and was in line for the victory that instead went to Nationals reliever Jose A. Ferrer (2-2).
But in the seventh, the Mariners drew back even. Leody Taveras and Ben Williamson had back-to-back RBI singles to tied it at 2.
The Associated Press