Rangers cap sweep of Royals behind Darvish

ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish pitched eight innings in his longest outing since elbow surgery two years ago and the Texas Rangers scored the tying and go-ahead runs without a hit, completing a fourgame sweep with a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

The Japanese right-hander retired 15 of 16 batters after giving up three consecutive hits in the third. Two of those were back-to-back home runs from Mike Moustakas and Jorge Bonifacio, whose first big league home run came two innings after he singled for his first career hit.

Darvish (2-2) struck out eight with one walk as the Rangers finished their second four-game sweep of Kansas City in as many seasons. Texas has won 10 consecutive against the Royals, who have lost five of six since a four-game winning streak.

Darvish, 30, also threw the most pitches (113) since Tommy John reconstructive surgery during spring training in 2015. He missed all of that season and part of last year.

Jason Hammel (0-2) came out after starting the fourth inning with a walk, two hit batters and another walk to force in the tying run.

The second hit batter, Robinson Chirinos, got plunked on the right wrist on a check swing, and the ricochet hit home plate umpire Eric Cooper on the right leg. Both hobbled away from the plate, with Cooper ruling a foul ball. It was quickly overturned by replay.

Jurickson Profar walked for a 2-2 tie, forcing Hammel out of the game. Carlos Gomez then gave Texas the lead with an RBI grounder.

WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 2 Melky Cabrera drove in two runs, Derek Holland tossed six strong innings and the host Chicago White Sox busted out of an offensive funk.

TIGERS 13, TWINS 4 John Hicks had three hits, including his first career home run, and drove in five runs to lead Michael Fulmer and Detroit to the road victory.

BLUE JAYS 6, ANGELS 2 Marcus Stroman pitched a seven-hitter for visiting Toronto, and Devon Travis hit a go-ahead, two-run home run during a four-run eighth inning.

ASTROS 6, RAYS 4, (10) Brian McCann and Yuli Gurriel hit RBI singles in the 10th inning, and visiting Houston rallied for the road victory. MARINERS 11, ATHLETICS 1 Nelson Cruz hit a home run and drove in five runs for visiting Seattle, and Taylor Motter hit his first career grand slam.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

REDS 7, CUBS 5 Bronson Arroyo pitched six innings of three-hit ball, and host Cincinnati salvaged the finale of the weekend series.

ROCKIES 8, GIANTS 0 Kyle Freeland scattered six hits over seven sharp innings, Gerardo Parra hit a two-run home run and host Colorado finished off a three-game sweep of the Giants. DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Brandon McCarthy gave visiting Los Angeles a much-needed strong start, Yasmani Grandal hit a home run in a six-run fifth inning and the Dodgers averted a sweep.

PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 2 Cesar Hernandez, Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera hit consecutive home runs in the eighth, helping host Philadelphia complete a three-game sweep.

CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 4 Mike Leake pitched six effective innings and drove in two runs, leading visiting St. Louis to its sixth victory in seven games. Leake (3-1) allowed two runs and three hits.

MARLINS 7, PADRES 3 Justin Bour capped visiting Miami’s six-run sixth inning with a threerun home run. The first six Marlins batters reached and scored in the sixth, helping Tom Koehler (1-1) to his first victory of the season. NATIONALS 6, METS 3 Daniel Murphy hit an early grand slam against his former team, Max Scherzer pitched eight fiery innings and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets for their seventh consecutive victory. Ryan Zimmerman added a two-run home run for the Nationals.

Sports on 04/24/2017

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