Twins tag Cortes, win 8-1 to stop Yankees' streak at 7

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers homered in the fifth inning, sending Nestor Cortes to an early exit as the Minnesota Twins cruised to an 8-1 victory Wednesday night that stopped the New York Yankees’ winning streak at seven. Cortes (5-2) allowed season highs in hits (seven) and runs (four) over 4 2/3 innings, his shortest appearance of the year knocking him out of the major league ERA lead. It was the first time in 20 starts that he gave up more than three runs, falling one short of the longest such streak in team history. Chris Archer (1-2) picked up his first victory for the Twins in his team-leading 11th start, completing five innings with only two hits allowed. Minnesota rookie Jose Miranda had a career-high three hits and matched his previous best with three RBIs, contributing one of the five singles in the fourth inning the Twins used to get Cortes off track. Miranda is 8 for 16 with seven RBIs in his last four starts. DODGERS 4, WHITE SOX 1 CHICAGO (AP) – Tony Gonsolin improved to 7-0, tossing three-hit ball over six innings, and Will Smith and Cody Bellinger homered early to lead Los Angeles over Chicago. Smith hit a two-run drive in the first inning and Bellinger made it 3-0 when he connected leading off the second against Johnny Cueto (0-3), who dropped his third straight start. Gonsolin struck out five and walked one while lowering his National League-best ERA to 1.58. The only run he allowed was when Jake Burger homered leading off the fifth. Trea Turner homered leading off the ninth, and the NL West-leading Dodgers snapped a three-game skid. Daniel Hudson earned his fifth save. RAYS 11, CARDINALS 3 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Randy Arozarena had three hits and four RBIs against his original team to help Tampa Bay beat St. Louis. Arozarena, the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year, was a St. Louis prospect with 19 games of major league experience when he was obtained from the Cardinals in a January 2020 trade. He had an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run single in the seventh to pace an 18-hit outburst for the Rays. Veteran catcher Yadier Molina pitched a scoreless eighth for St. Louis, entering to cheers from red-clad Cardinals fans in a crowd of 12,906. He received a standing ovation when he struck out pinch-hitter Isaac Paredes. Vidal Bruján had three RBIs, and Ji-Man Choi and Harold Ramírez drove in two runs apiece for Tampa Bay. Corey Kluber (3-2) shut down the Cardinals for five innings before fading quickly in the sixth. Tyler O’Neill, who had a solo homer off Kluber in the fourth, chased the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner with a two-run single that trimmed the Cardinals’ deficit to 5-3. St. Louis slugger Paul Goldschmidt extended his career-best on-base streak to 44 games. Packy Naughton (0-2) allowed four runs and five hits in 1 1/3 innings. BRAVES 13, ATHLETICS 2 ATLANTA (AP) – Michael Harris gave Atlanta the lead with a two-run triple in the fifth inning that spoiled Jared Koenig’s major league debut, and the surging Braves beat skidding Oakland. Ian Anderson (5-3) pitched six solid innings and the Braves rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the second straight night to sweep the two-game series and extend their season-best winning streak to seven. The A’s have lost eight straight and 11 of 13. The 28-year-old Koenig (0-1) led 2-1 through four innings after completing his long path to the majors that included spending the 2017-19 seasons in independent leagues. The 6-foot-5 left-hander didn’t get an out in the fifth. Austin Riley’s two-run homer off Domingo Acevedo extended the lead to 5-2. William Contreras, Ozzie Albies and Duvall also homered in Atlanta’s 13-hit outburst. PHILLIES 10, BREWERS 0