BOSTON — David Ortiz inched closer to the 500-home run club with his 495th career homer and Mookie Betts added a two-run blast as the Boston Red Sox squeaked out a 4-3 win over the rival New York Yankees in the opener of a three-game series Monday evening at Fenway Park.
Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius was 4-for-5, and he flied out to the warning track in right with the bases loaded for the final out of the game, barely missing a grand slam.
Red Sox closer Jean Machi pitched the ninth and picked up the save despite allowing a hit and three walks and forcing in a run with a bases-loaded walk in his one inning of work.
Ortiz, the designated hitter, now has three homers in four games and 29 in 2015 while young center fielder Betts increased his season home run total to 13 as Boston (61-70) ended the month on a high note.
The last-place Red Sox went 15-12 in August, only their second winning month of the season.
Ortiz and Betts each had two hits and Red Sox left fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was 3-for-3. Boston third baseman Pablo Sandoval added some insurance with his RBI groundout in the seventh.
Eduardo Rodriguez (8-5) got the win in a brief five-inning outing, as the Red Sox left-hander allowed just two runs — one earned — on seven hits and three walks while striking out four.
Ivan Nova (5-7) didn’t make it out of the fourth for New York (72-58), which failed to gain ground in the AL East pennant race after the first-place Toronto Blue Jays lost Monday.
The right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings.
Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran and third baseman Chase Headley each had one RBI for the Yankees, who stranded 14 runners on base.
New York loaded the bases three times in the first five innings, but had little to show for it.
Beltran’s sacrifice fly was all the Yankees could muster in the first after loading the bases on back-to-back errors and a single by designated hitter Alex Rodriguez to open the game.
Gregorius singled in a run with the bases jammed and nobody out in the fourth. But Boston skirted danger again after a groundout and Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s line out to left fielder Bradley, who nailed the runner trying to score from third after the catch for the inning-ending out.
A pair of home runs gave the Red Sox their leads as Betts’ two-run blast in the third landed in the Green Monster seats and Ortiz’s go-ahead solo shot barely cleared the wall in left an inning later.
NOTES: Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira (right shin bruise) was sent back to New York for additional testing and will miss the series against the Red Sox. Greg Bird started in place of Teixeira, who has now missed four straight games. … Yankees starter RHP Ivan Nova had allowed three or fewer runs in four of his last six starts against Boston coming in. … LF Hanley Ramirez (right shoulder fatigue) was not in Boston’s lineup. Ramirez fielded ground balls at first base before the game. Jackie Bradley Jr. started in left field. … Boston C Ryan Hanigan started after missing two games with a tight calf muscle. … Red Sox RHP Rick Porcello (6-11, 5.47 ERA) will face Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (9-8, 4.19) on Wednesday. … New York had won eight of 12 games against Boston this season entering Monday.
Indians 4, Blue Jays 2
TORONTO — Jerry Sands singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh, Danny Salazar pitched seven innings and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Monday night.
The victory in the opener of the three-game series gave Cleveland (64-66) a six-game winning streak, and the Blue Jays (74-57) had their winning streak end at three games.
The Blue Jays finished August with a 21-6 record.
Salazar (12-7), the Indians right-hander, struck out 10 and held the Blue Jays to six hits, one walk and two runs.
Blue Jays left-hander David Price (13-5) allowed six hits, one walk and three runs in seven innings to take his first loss in six starts with the Blue Jays.
Bryan Shaw replaced Salazar for the eighth inning.
The right-hander allowed a two-out single to right fielder Jose Bautista and that brought designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, who extended his major-league-best hit streak to 26 games with a sixth-inning single, to the plate.
The Indians went to right-hander Cody Allen, their closer. Encarnacion doubled to left to send Bautista to third. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was walked intentionally. Justin Smoak, who entered the game as a defensive replacement at first base in the seventh, struck out to leave the bases loaded.
Allen stayed in the game for the ninth and earned his 28th save. He allowed one-out singles to center fielder Kevin Pillar and second baseman Ryan Goins. After left fielder Ben Revere fouled out to third, third baseman Josh Donaldson struck out to end the game.
The Indians had taken the lead in the seventh. First baseman Carlos Santana walked with one out and designated hitter Ryan Raburn doubled to right-center to tie the game and took third on the throw home. Sands, the right fielder, gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead with a two-out single to left.
The Indians added a run in the ninth against right-hander LaTroy Hawkins on singles by catcher Yan Gomes and pinch-hitter Lonnie Chisenhall. Donaldson was charged with an error on his throw to third that allowed Gomes to score.
The Indians scored in the first inning after second baseman Jason Kipnis led off with his 37th double of the season.
Goins unsuccessfully tried for the out at third after fielding a grounder from Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. Kipnis scored when left fielder Michael Brantley bounced to Goins to start a double play.
Salazar allowed a walk to Donaldson in the first but also struck out three. The first hit he allowed was an infield single to Revere with two outs in the third.
Santana extended his hitting streak to eight games when he singled in the fourth.
Rays 6, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE — Asdrubal Cabrera, Evan Longoria and Tim Beckham all homered while starter Chris Archer threw six shutout innings as the Tampa Bay Rays scored a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles Monday night.
The Rays (65-66) have won two straight games while the slumping Orioles (63-68) slid to a fifth straight loss. They have also lost 11 of their last 12, and Baltimore’s scoreless streak stretched to 19 innings before it finally broke through with three runs in the seventh.
Tampa Bay got lots of offensive help to support Archer (12-10), who needed 113 pitches to get through six innings. The right-hander allowed four hits but escaped trouble in three different frames.
Beckham, the designated hitter, helped with a sacrifice fly and a solo homer. Third baseman Longoria added a solo shot while shortstop Cabrera hit a two-run homer. The power display accounted for four of the team’s runs.
Plus, second baseman Logan Forsythe came close to the cycle, banging out a single, double and triple while scoring twice in a 3-for-4 effort.
Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen (8-7) pitched well in the first three innings, but everything fell apart after that. He gave up four runs on eight hits in the fourth and fifth and left after 4 2/3 innings when the Rays took a 5-0 lead — ending the left-hander’s four-game winning streak.
Beckham’s homer off right-hander Brad Brach made it 6-0 in the sixth before center fielder Adam Jones (RBI single) and designated hitter Steve Clevenger (two-run single) helped the Orioles cut the lead to three an inning later.
Right-hander Brad Boxberger came on in the ninth and recorded his 33rd save.
The Orioles stranded 11 overall and missed on a number of scoring chances.
The Orioles nearly took the lead right at the start when shortstop Manny Machado led off the bottom of the first with a long drive to deep center. Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier leaped, got his arm over the fence and yanked the ball back into play, robbing Machado of a homer.
Kiermaier came out of the game two innings later with a mild right ankle sprain.
The Rays grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Forsythe tripled and scored on Beckham’s one-out sacrifice fly.
Tampa Bay made it 3-0 in the fourth on Cabrera’s two-run homer with two outs, a long blast into the left-field seats. The lead expanded again in the fifth when catcher Rene Rivera led off with a double and later scored when left fielder Joey Butler grounded into a double play.
Longoria then followed with his homer to make it 5-0.
Mets 3, Phillies 1
NEW YORK — Right-handed pitcher Bartolo Colon threw eight shutout innings Monday night and singled and scored during a three-run fifth inning that lifted the New York Mets to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday at Citi Field.
The Mets (73-58) won their second straight to ensure they would remain at least 5 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Nationals in the National League East.
The Phillies (52-80) have lost six of their last eight.
Colon (12-11) allowed just four hits and one walk while tying a season high with nine strikeouts. The 42-year-old Colon, the second-oldest player in baseball and the oldest starting pitcher, has thrown 16 straight scoreless innings. He blanked the Phillies over seven innings last Wednesday in a 9-4 win and tossed a scoreless inning of relief Saturday.
On Monday, Colon allowed only one runner to get as far as second base, but he retired the final 10 batters he faced — six by strikeout — after allowing consecutive two-out singles to shortstop Freddy Galvin and right-handed pitcher Jerad Eickhoff in the fifth inning.
Colon’s 100th pitch was hit back to him by Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera. After throwing to first to complete the out, Colon received a standing ovation from the crowd of 34,233 and he clapped into his glove as he reached the dugout.
The fans were also cheering for Colon in the fifth. Two batters after left fielder Michael Conforto broke a scoreless tie with a homer, Colon laced a two-out single up the middle for his career-high seventh hit of the season.
Two pitches later, right fielder Curtis Granderson hit a long homer to right. Granderson had to slow down as he neared Colon coming down the third-base line.