Aug 4, 2018 5 min read

Nathan Eovaldi pitched eight dominant innings and closer Craig Kimbrel held on during a shaky ninth to help the Boston Red Sox beat the second-place Yankees for the third game in a row and expand their lead in the AL East to season-high 8½ games with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.

One night after Rick Porcello threw an 86-pitch, one-hit complete game, Eovaldi shut out the Yankees on three hits in sending them to their season-high fourth straight loss.

Down to their last strike, the Yankees rallied against Kimbrel on back-to-back doubles by Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius. A pair of walks loaded the bases before Greg Bird hit a routine flyball for the final out.

J.D. Martinez hit his big league-leading 33rd home run and Mitch Moreland also connected against Chance Adams, who made his debut in the majors.

The Red Sox, with the best record in baseball, go for a four-game sweep tonight with David Price scheduled to face Masahiro Tanaka.

Chicago White Sox 2, Tampa Bay 1:

Tim Anderson scored when Matt Duffy committed a throwing error on Leury Garcia’s two-strike bunt in the ninth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 for their third straight win.

Anderson led off the ninth with a double off Yonny Chirinos (0-4). Garcia then bunted a 0-2 pitch toward third, and Duffy threw wildly toward first.

Xavier Cedeno (2-0) got the last out of the eighth for the win, and Thyago Vieira pitched the ninth for his first major league save.

Jose Abreu hit his 19th homer in the fourth for Chicago, tying it at 1. It was Abreu’s third homer in three games.

Astros discuss Osuna’s pending arrival: Astros manager A.J. Hinch met privately with the team’s owner and general manager Saturday, a day ahead of reliever Roberto Osuna being activated following a 75-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.

Hinch discussed the matter with owner Jim Crane and GM Jeff Luhnow, but declined to go into details. The manager said Osuna will join the club Sunday and be activated for the series finale at Dodger Stadium.

Osuna is expected to address the team and then talk to the media with Luhnow.

Osuna was arrested in Toronto in May and charged with assaulting his girlfriend. No details have been made public and the matter is pending in court.

MLB handed him the second-longest suspension since its domestic violence policy was enacted three years ago and Osuna did not appeal.

The Astros acquired the right-handed reliever from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline this week. The move raised eyebrows in the clubhouse and around baseball since Houston had previously stated its no-tolerance policy regarding domestic violence.

The team released minor leaguer Danry Vasquez last spring after surveillance video surfaced showing him assaulting a woman.

Astros starters Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr. were outspoken about their disgust on Twitter at that time.

“A lot has to happen tomorrow,” Hinch said, “and as a team, family and group we’ll navigate it together.”

Osuna was not at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. He pitched one scoreless inning for Double-A Corpus Christi on Friday, allowing one hit with one strikeout.

Osuna could potentially make his Astros debut in a closing role on Sunday.

Dodgers fans have already been booing various Astros players since the series began Friday night in a rematch of last year’s World Series, won by Houston in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s got to be difficult. He’s not an old-timer. He’s still a young kid,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said in Seattle. “It’s a lot of pressure and a lot of focus on him. It can’t be easy. He probably can’t wait to get on the mound and get away from all that.”

National League

Chicago Cubs 5, San Diego 4: Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo homered in a five-run second inning and the Chicago Cubs hung on from there to beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4.

Jason Heyward added three hits and an RBI for the NL Central leaders.

Kyle Hendricks (8-9) allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings to win his second straight start. He struck out seven and walked none.

Cincinnati 7, Washington 1: Phillip Ervin hit a three-run homer, Brandon Dixon had a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Anthony DeSclafani (5-3) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings.

Cincinnati had six runs – five earned – and 10 hits against Washington starter Gio Gonzalez (6-8), who lasted only 3 2/3 innings. Dixon added an RBI groundout and Ervin tacked on Cincinnati’s final run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Jose Peraza had three hits.