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Randy Arozarena homers as Rays beat Yankees 5-4

Fri, May 5, 2023
MLB News (AP)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Randy Arozarena homered in the first inning and then was hit by pitches in his next two plate appearances, leading to Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash being ejected as the MLB-best Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-4 on Friday night in the first meeting this season between the AL East rivals.

Arozarena homered to center field off Jhony Brito before the rookie right-hander plunked the outfielder on the elbow guard in the third. Albert Abreu then hit Arozarena around belt high with a fifth-inning pitch.

An angry Arozarena walked slowly toward first base and whipped his bat in disgust towards the Rays' dugout.

There was yelling between the benches, but no trouble on the field. The umpires gathered and issued warnings to both teams, which prompted Cash to rush out of the dugout to argue with crew chief and first base umpire Lance Barksdale.

Wander Franco put the Rays up 5-4 with an RBI double off Jimmy Cordero (1-1) in the seventh. Kevin Kelly (3-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Jason Adam worked the ninth for his third save.

The Rays (27-6) opened a 10-game lead over the last-place Yankees (17-16) in the AL East.

BLUE JAYS 4, PIRATES 0

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Chris Bassitt pitched seven innings, George Springer homered and Toronto stopped a five-game losing streak.

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Bassitt (4-2) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked four. Springer hit a two-run shot off Rich Hill (3-3) in the fifth.

Pittsburgh finished with four hits in its fifth consecutive loss. Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 10 with a double in the sixth, Pittsburgh's lone extra-base hit.

Hill was charged with four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

TWINS 2, PHILLIES 0

CLEVELAND (AP) - Max Kepler hit a two-run homer for Minnesota, and Bailey Ober pitched seven innings in a combined three-hitter.

Ober (2-0) gave up three hits and a walk while striking out six. Jorge Lopez worked a clean eighth and Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Guardians starter Peyton Battenfield (0-3) did not allow a baserunner until Christian Vazquez singled with two outs in the sixth. Kepler followed with a 440-foot drive to right.

The Twins have homered in a franchise-record 17 consecutive games. Kepler has 15 home runs at Progressive Field since 2016, the most by a visiting player.

The game featured six total hits and was played in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

CUBS 4, MARLINS 1

CHICAGO (AP) - Justin Steele pitched seven effective innings, and the Cubs stopped a three-game slide.

Ian Happ hit a two-run homer for Chicago. Matt Mervis made his big league debut and drove in an insurance run in the eighth with his first hit, a sharp single to right.

Steele (5-0) allowed one run and six hits while lowering his ERA to an NL-leading 1.45. Mark Leiter Jr. got three outs for his first save.

Luis Arraez had three hits for Miami in its fourth consecutive loss. Edward Cabrera (2-3) struck out eight while pitching five innings of three-run ball.

WHITE SOX 5, REDS 4

CINCINNATI (AP) - Luis Robert Jr. and Elvis Andrus homered, helping Lance Lynn and the White Sox to the win,

Andrus erased a 3-0 deficit with a three-run shot in the fifth. Robert put the White Sox ahead to stay with a two-run drive against Hunter Greene (0-2) in the sixth.

Lynn (1-4) was charged with four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Reynaldo Lopez got three outs for his fourth save.

Jonathan India hit a solo homer for Cincinnati. Greene allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

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