CHICAGO (AP) — This wasn’t the way Chris Sale pictured his return to Chicago. With the way the Red Sox swung the bats, it didn’t make much of a difference.
Sale had a shaky first start back in his former home, but Deven Marrero hit two of Boston’s season-high six home runs in a 13-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland also went deep. The Red Sox won for the seventh time in nine games after an anticipated duel between aces never materialized.
Sale (6-2) got a warm reception from the crowd and a rude welcome from his old team. The five-time All-Star gave up six runs and 10 hits — both season highs — over five innings in his first appearance against the White Sox.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve given up six runs and still been in a pretty good mood after the game,” Sale said. “That says a lot about my guys behind me.”
Marrero drove in five runs and doubled his career home run total. After hitting two in his first 59 major league games, he went back-to-back with Betts in a four-run second inning and chased Jose Quintana (2-7) with a three-run drive in the third that made it 7-3.
Bradley bumped the lead to 10-6 in the fifth with a three-run drive off Dan Jennings after Chicago cut it to one.
Bogaerts added a solo homer in the eighth and finished with four of Boston’s 16 hits. Moreland knocked a two-run homer off Juan Minaya in the ninth to make it 13-7.
Craig Kimbrel worked the final 1 1/3 innings for his 14th save in 15 chances, and the Red Sox picked up the win after dropping two in a row.
Todd Frazier and Tim Anderson homered for Chicago, but the White Sox took the loss after winning four of five.
Dealt to Boston last winter for a package of prospects that included highly regarded slugger Yoan Moncada, Sale was looking forward to pitching against his old friends. He got a standing ovation when he trotted to the mound in the first inning.
But it was a rough night overall for the lanky left-hander. He threw 111 pitches and was consistently behind in the count, though he finished with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Manager John Farrell said the ballpark “played extremely small.” But Sale blamed his rough outing on a lack of command, not the conditions.
Quintana got pounded for seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since he lasted one inning against the New York Yankees on Sept. 2, 2013.
“We’re just going to have to keep grinding it out,” manager Rick Renteria said. “It’s not the stuff. The stuff’s the same. It’s the command and the execution. If we can get that back on track, I think Q’s going to be who he is, which is a very effective major league pitcher.”
The 2016 All-Star has allowed 15 runs, 18 hits and four homers in his past two starts. And his ERA has jumped from 3.92 to 5.60.
“We were both off,” Sale said. “I think people were expecting something a little different. But they came to a 7 o’clock batting practice session.”
ANGELS 9, BRAVES 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols hit his 599th career homer during the Angels’ nine-run third inning.
Pujols moved to the brink of his latest milestone with a three-run shot off Bartolo Colon (2-6) early in Los Angeles’ biggest inning of the season.
The 37-year-old slugger has homered in back-to-back games for the first time this year. He can become the ninth player in baseball history, and fourth-youngest, to reach 600 homers with his next shot.
Parker Bridwell (1-0) earned his first major league win, pitching six-hit ball into the seventh inning.
Matt Kemp and Tyler Flowers homered for Atlanta.
DODGERS 9, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chase Utley, Logan Forsythe and Chris Taylor combined to reach base 11 times and totaled six runs, helping the Dodgers rally for their sixth straight win.
Utley finished a homer shy of the cycle. Forsythe reached five times, including three walks, and Taylor reached three times.
Adrian Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly and Utley’s RBI double started the Dodgers comeback in the third. Enrique Hernandez tied it at 3 with a single, and Paul DeJong’s throwing error on the same play scored Utley to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
Brandon Morrow (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Michael Wacha (2-3) needed 77 pitches to get through three innings, the shortest outing for a St. Louis starter this season. The Cardinals have dropped 10 of 13.
NATIONALS 6, GIANTS 3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gio Gonzalez pitched into the seventh inning to win for the first time since April 27 as Washington beat San Francisco.
Daniel Murphy and Trea Turner had three hits apiece for the NL East leaders, who won their fourth in five games. Jayson Werth added two hits and a bases-loaded walk, and Michael A. Taylor had two RBIs.
One night after a bench-clearing brawl that resulted in suspensions for Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper (four games) and Giants reliever Hunter Strickland (six games), the teams played without incident. Each player appealed his penalty.
The only reminder of the fight came when Harper was booed by the AT&T Park crowd every at-bat. The slugger went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts and twice left the bases loaded. He was the only Washington starter without a hit.
Gonzalez (4-1) allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings. He also singled home a run.
Koda Glover earned his seventh save in eight chances.
Giants starter Jeff Samardzija (1-7) gave up three runs and nine hits over four innings.
ASTROS 7, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jose Altuve had four hits and two RBIs, Mike Fiers struck out eight over six innings in his bid to retain a spot in Houston’s banged-up rotation, and the major league-leading Astros earned their sixth straight victory.
Alex Bregman homered and drove in two runs, providing further support for Fiers (2-2) in his best of 10 starts this season.
Fiers fell behind 2-0 in the first when Eddie Rosario drew a bases-loaded walk and Byron Buxton followed with an infield single, but Astros hacked their way back against Jose Berrios (3-1).
Buxton had two hits and drove in a run. Berrios gave up five hits and four walks in five innings, the shortest of his four starts this year.
PADRES 6, CUBS 2
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Austin Hedges homered and drove in four runs, and the Padres handed the Cubs their fifth straight loss.
Hedges hit a two-run homer and a two-run double as the Padres clinched the three-game series against the struggling Cubs. Rookie Dinelson Lamet (2-0), one of San Diego’s top prospects, struck out eight while pitching five innings of two-run ball.
Kyle Schwarber homered for Chicago, and Eddie Butler (2-1) allowed six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
INDIANS 9, ATHLETICS 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer struck out an AL-best 14 in seven innings, leading Cleveland to the win.
Bauer’s career-best strikeout total was one shy of this season’s major league-high of 15 by Washington’s Stephen Strasburg against San Diego on Saturday.
Bauer (5-4) allowed three runs and seven hits with one walk. Four Cleveland pitchers combined to strike out 19, tying a franchise record for a nine-inning game.
Rookie Bradley Zimmer had a career-high four RBIs for the Indians, hitting a two-run double in the fourth and a two-run homer in the eighth.
Sonny Gray (2-2) allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings for Oakland, which dropped a season-high seven games below .500.
YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE (AP) — Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday each homered twice, Aaron Judge drove in two runs and the Yankees received a solid pitching performance from Luis Severino.
Gardner set the tone for the AL East leaders by connecting on the third pitch from Chris Tillman (1-2), who had not allowed a home run in his previous four starts this season.
Holliday went deep in the first inning and again in the third for his 22nd career multihomer game. Gardner’s second solo shot sparked a three-run fourth that made it 8-0.
Severino (4-2) gave up one run and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Trey Mancini had three hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who have lost eight of nine and 14 of 18.
METS 5, BREWERS 4, 12 INNINGS
NEW YORK (AP) — Jay Bruce lined a game-ending single in the 12th inning and the Mets rebounded to beat the Brewers 5-4 after shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera allowed the tying runs to score in the seventh when he flubbed a bases-loaded popup with two outs.
Wily Peralta (5-4) pitched a perfect 11th in his fourth relief outing since he was dropped from Milwaukee’s rotation in mid-May, but then allowed a single to pinch hitter T.J. Rivera leading off the 12th. Michael Conforto walked and Jose Reyes grounded into a forceout that left runners at the corners.
With the infield at double-play depth, Bruce singled up the middle to end a game that lasted 4 hours, 24 minutes.
Josh Smoker (1-2) pitched three scoreless innings in New York’s third straight win.
The NL Central-leading Brewers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
MARLINS 7, PHILLIES 2
MIAMI (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit his third homer since moving into the No. 2 spot in the batting order, a change that has revived Miami, which won its third game in a row.
Marcell Ozuna also homered for the Marlins, whose modest winning streak is their longest since mid-April.
Stanton hit a two-run homer, his 14th, in a five-run third. Since he moved up to the No. 2 spot, Stanton is 12 for 29 (.414) with three homers and seven RBIs in seven games, and the Marlins are 5-2 while outscoring opponents 48-22.
Both starting pitchers departed with injuries. Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez (2-5) left in the second inning because of a right elbow flexor strain, and Marlins left-hander Justin Nicolino exited after three scoreless innings due to a bruised left index finger.
Dustin McGowan (2-0) replaced Nicolino and allowed one run in three innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray pitched a four-hitter in his first career complete game.
Ray (5-3) struck out 10, walked none and threw 115 pitches. The left-hander set a career high by winning his third straight start and has pitched 23 2/3 scoreless innings during that run, all on the road, while also beating the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.
Chris Owings snapped a scoreless tie with a double in the sixth inning, and the Diamondbacks ended a three-game losing streak.
Ivan Nova (5-4) allowed three runs in seven innings, losing for the just the second time in nine starts.
ROYALS 1, TIGERS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eric Skoglund pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball in his major league debut, helping the Royals beat Justin Verlander and the Tigers.
Skoglund, a 2014 third-round draft pick out of Central Florida, struck out five and walked one. The left-hander was promoted from Triple-A Omaha when the Royals placed Danny Duffy on the disabled list Monday with an oblique strain.
Verlander (4-4) left after seven innings, allowing one run and six hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Eric Hosmer hit a two-out RBI single in the sixth for Kansas City, and Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.
MARINERS 10, ROCKIES 4
DENVER (AP) — Kyle Seager homered and drove in four runs for Seattle, and Robinson Cano also connected.
Jean Segura had four hits and Ariel Miranda (5-2) pitched five solid innings to help the Mariners sweep two games in Denver. It was just the Rockies’ third loss in 17 series and first since April 24-27 against Washington. They also fell out of first place in the NL West, dropping a half-game behind the streaking Dodgers.
Ben Gamel, who replaced slugger Nelson Cruz in the second inning, and Guillermo Heredia each had three of Seattle’s season-high 19 hits.
The Mariners jumped on Rockies lefty Tyler Anderson (3-5). Seager hit a two-run homer in a three-run second, and his two-run double in the third helped the Mariners go up 6-0.
RANGERS 9, RAYS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Elvis Andrus had a career-high five RBIs for Texas, including a tying three-run homer in the seventh inning.
Andrus’ two-out drive deep into the visiting bullpen ended a stretch of five scoreless innings from the Tampa Bay bullpen after Matt Andriese left in the second with a mild groin strain.
Jared Hoying’s liner off the top of the wall in right came with the bases loaded and one out in a four-run eighth against Chase Whitley (1-1), breaking a 5-5 tie. After a sacrifice fly from Shin-Soo Choo, Andrus’ single to left scored two more.
Keone Kela (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth, and closer Matt Bush had a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.
BLUE JAYS 6, REDS 4
TORONTO (AP) — Kendrys Morales hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning for Toronto, and Josh Donaldson belted an upper-deck drive.
All six Toronto runs came on homers. Jose Bautista and Russell Martin also connected for the Blue Jays, who have hit 47 homers in May.
Cincinnati’s Zack Cozart hit two solo home runs and Joey Votto had a third.
Morales broke a 4-all tie with a two-run blast off Blake Wood (0-3), his 10th.
Joe Smith (1-0) worked one inning for the win and Roberto Osuna finished for his 10th save. Toronto has won seven of eight.