MLB

Giants finish sweep of Dodgers, Reds extend win streak to eight

By Sports Desk June 18, 2023

The San Francisco Giants recorded their first sweep of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium in over a decade with Sunday's 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Logan Webb threw seven effective innings and LaMonte Wade Jr. and Luis Matos each had two RBIs as the surging Giants swept a three-game series from their storied rivals on the road for the first time since Aug. 20-22, 2012.

San Francisco has now won seven in a row overall and is 22-9 since May 15, the best record in the major leagues over that span. The Giants have also won nine straight on the road for the first time since April 23-May 15, 1966.

Webb won his second straight start by allowing two runs while scattering eight hits and two walks.

The slumping Dodgers left 11 on base and finished 2 of 13 with runners in scoring position in their fourth loss in five games. Tony Gonsolin struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings for Los Angeles but was tagged for seven runs. 

 

Resurgent Reds finish sweep of Astros, extend win streak to eight

The upstart Cincinnati Reds continued an impressive run of their own with Sunday's 9-7, 10-inning win over the Houston Astros that completed a three-game series sweep of the defending World Series champions.

Cincinnati scored three times in the top of the 10th en route to its eighth consecutive victory, the team's longest winning streak since a 10-game surge in July 2012.

Jake Fraley led the Reds' offensively by going 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. Spencer Steer added a two-run homer and Jonathan India had a solo shot for CIncinnati, which is now 13-2 on the road since May 26.

Alex Bregman and Yainer Diaz each went 3 for 5 with an RBI in the struggling Astros' ninth loss in 12 games.

 

Red Sox sweep doubleheader, series from rival Yankees

Brayan Bello struck out a career-high eight over seven outstanding innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees that completed a doubleheader and series sweep of their longtime rivals.

In Sunday's opener, Connor Wong and Alex Verdugo had consecutive two-out RBI doubles during a three-run sixth inning that lifted Boston to a 6-2 victory. Verdugo added two hits and two runs scored in the nightcap, with one of those runs coming on a catchers' interference call in the fourth inning.

The Red Sox rolled to a 15-5 rout in Friday's series opener and have now taken five of six meetings from the Yankees this season. Boston went 6-13 against New York in 2022 and last swept a three-game series between the two AL East foes in June 2021.

Bello held the Yankees to one run on four hits while walking three, while Kenley Jansen fanned two in a scoreless ninth to record his 15th save.

Gleyber Torres accounted for all of New York's scoring in the opener with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Yankees have lost four in a row and are 4-8 since 2022 American League MVP Aaron Judge hurt his toe on June 3 and subsequently went on the injured list. 

 

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    Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.

    But errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.

    After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.

    Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.

    Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

    Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record-setting $700 million signing and baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.

    Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday’s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.

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    Freddie Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second straight night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.

    Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.

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    Volpe came across with New York's first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the count in the second inning. He also doubled and stole two bases.

    Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.

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    Buehler did not allow a hit until Giancarlo Stanton's double with one out in the fourth inning and yielded just two overall before departing with a 3-0 advantage.

    The Dodgers got another run courtesy of a lead-off walk in the third inning. Tommy Edman drew the free pass from Schmidt before moving to second on Ohtani's groundout and crossing the plate on Mookie Betts' bloop single to right field.

    Schmidt lasted just 2 2/3 innings and issued four walks while permitting three runs.

    Los Angeles extended the margin to 4-0 in the sixth. Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch from New York reliever Jake Cousins and stole second before being brought home by Enrique Hernandez's single.

    The Yankees did not get on the board until former Dodger Alex Verdugo's two-run homer off Michael Kopech in the ninth inning.

    New York missed out on a chance to score following Stanton's double in the fourth, however, as the slugger was later thrown out at the plate by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez on single off the bat of Anthony Volpe.

    The Dodgers are expected to throw a bullpen game in Game 4, while the Yankees will send out 15-game winner Luis GIl in an attempt to extend the series.

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