Aug 24, 2023 By Associated Press 4 min read

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Alex Verdugo hit a leadoff homer with four hits and rookie Wilyer Abreu got his first major league home run among four hits as the Boston Red Sox tagged J.P. France for 10 runs in a 17-1 rout of the Houston Astros on Thursday.

The Red Sox set season highs for runs and hits with 24 each, and it was the most runs and hits the World Series champs have allowed this year. Boston has at least one home run in 13 straight games, which is the team’s longest streak since homering in 19 in a row in 2019.

Verdugo drove in two runs and Abreu, who made his debut Tuesday, added four RBI in the victory.

Interleague

Dodgers 6-9, Guardians 1-3: Mookie Betts matched his career high with five hits in the completion of a suspended game and Kiké Hernández homered and doubled twice in the scheduled game to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Cleveland Guardians 6-1 and 9-3.

Betts singled four times in the first six innings in the early game and had a two-run double in the eighth for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who are 19-3 in August.

Hernández had four hits and four RBI on the day.

Michael Busch hit his first major league homer in the scheduled game as the Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 deficit. Busch and James Outman had two RBI apiece, and Freddie Freeman went 2 for 4.

Tampa Bay 5, Colorado 3: Josh Lowe hit a tiebreaking. two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 for a three-game sweep.

Luke Raley and Isaac Paredes also homered for Tampa Bay, which began the day two games back of Baltimore in the AL East but in a position for a wild card.

Washington 6, N.Y. Yankees 5: Alex Call hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Tommy Kahnle in the seventh inning, CJ Abrams followed with a solo shot and the Washington Nationals beat the Yankees 6-5 to send New York to its 10th loss in 11 games.

National League

Nationals’ Strasburg to retire: Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has decided to retire, ending a career that began as a No. 1 draft pick, included 2019 World Series MVP honors and was derailed by injuries, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Strasburg, who turned 35 last month, had his career knocked off course and ultimately cut short by injuries after leading the Nationals to their first title in franchise history four years ago. He had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve and blood disorder that involved removing a rib and two neck muscles.

The right-hander has not pitched since June 9, 2022.

Nats’ Garrett has broken leg: Washington Nationals right fielder Stone Garrett broke his left leg trying to rob a home run from the New York Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu on Wednesday night.

The team on Thursday said Garrett had a fractured fibula and put him on the 10-day injured list.

The scary scene played out in the seventh inning when LeMahieu hit an opposite-field drive over the short porch in right field. Garrett leaped at the wall and appeared to catch a spike from his left cleat in the wall’s padding as the ball went over.

Mets to retire numbers: Dwight Gooden’s No. 16 and Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 will be retired by the New York Mets in separate pregame ceremonies next year honoring players who were keys to the team’s last World Series title in 1986.