Yanks end game with third triple play of season

YANKEES 2, ATHLETICS 1

NEW YORK — Yankees Manager Aaron Boone knew it off the bat.

“Usually, a triple play sneaks up on you,” he said. “Right away, I’m thinking, ‘That’s a triple play.’”

New York turned its record-tying third triple play of the season to strand the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, bailing out closer Aroldis Chapman from a shaky outing and closing down a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Gary Sanchez spoiled Sean Manaea’s gem with a go-ahead tworun double in the sixth inning, and relievers Jonathan Loaisiga (7-2) and Lucas Luetge turned a 2-1 lead over to Chapman in the ninth.

A day after reaching 103.4 mph during his 15th save — his fastest pitch on a strikeout since the 2017 AL wild-card game — Chapman walked Jed Lowrie and Chad Pinder on nine pitches, topping out at 98 mph.

He was visited by an athletic trainer because the nail in his left middle finger broke but stayed in the game to face Sean Murphy, who drilled the second pitch of the at-bat right at third baseman Gio Urshela.

Urshela stepped on third and whizzed the ball to DJ LeMahieu, and the second baseman relayed to first baseman Chris Gittens to get Murphy by a step.

“You’re around long enough, you see everything,” longtime A’s Manager Bob Melvin said.

New York also turned the first 1-3-6-2-5-6 triple play in major league history on Thursday at Buffalo against the Blue Jays and also had an around-the-horn triple play on May 21 against the Chicago White Sox involving Urshela, second baseman Rougned Odor and first baseman Luke Voit.

ASTROS 8, WHITE SOX 2 Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) lost in his first appearance against his former team, and Abraham Toro had a career-high four hits as Houston beat Chicago. ROYALS 7, RED SOX 3 Jarrod Dyson capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a tiebreaking, tworun double in a three-run third inning off Nathan Eovaldi as Kansas City defeated Boston.

BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 4 Reese McGuire had three doubles during a four-hit performance as Toronto defeated Baltimore.

TWINS 4, RANGERS 2 Byron Buxton launched an early two-run home run into the second deck off Dane Dunning, a day after returning following 39 games out with a strained right hip as Minnesota defeated Texas.

MARINERS 6, RAYS 2 Shed Long Jr. hit a grand slam against Diego Castillo with two outs in the 10th inning and Seattle completed a fourgame sweep that extended Tampa Bay’s losing streak to six.

TIGERS 5, ANGELS 3 Shohei Ohtani hit his 23rd home run, his sixth in six games, but Daz Cameron’s two-run single in the 10th off Raisel Iglesias helped Detroit avoid a four-game sweep.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CARDINALS 9-0, BRAVES 1-1 Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Razorbacks) didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 100th career home run and the Atlanta earned a split of a day-night doubleheader with St. Louis. Smyly held the Cardinals hitless until Paul Goldschmidt reached on an infield single with two outs in the sixth. In the first game, Adam Wainwright struck out 11 and pitched a three-hitter for the Cardinals.

NATIONALS 5, METS 2 Kyle Schwarber homered three times and tied a major league record with five in a two-game span, and Washington took three of four from New York. CUBS 2, MARLINS 0 Alec Mills and three relievers combined on a six-hitter as Chicago avoided a sweep by Miami.

BREWERS 7, ROCKIES 6 Daniel Vogelbach hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth off Daniel Bard as Milwaukee defeated Colorado.

GIANTS 11, PHILLIES 2 Wilmer Flores had four hits, including two of San Francisco’s four home runs, as the Giants defeated Philadelphia. PADRES 3, REDS 2 Wil Myers hit a two-run triple off Luis Castillo in the third and scored on Joey Votto’s errant throw as San Diego completed its first four-game sweep of Cincinnati. DODGERS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 8 Albert Pujols hit a three-run home run and passed Mel Ott for 14th on the career runs list, and Los Angeles extended Arizona’s losing streak to 17 games.

INTERLEAGUE INDIANS 2, PIRATES 1 Josh Naylor hit an RBI single in the seventh inning off Chasen Shreve to lead Cleveland past Pittsburgh.