(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings during his return from reconstructive elbow surgery, but the Tampa Bay Rays scored four times in the eighth inning by capitalizing on shaky infield defense and closed out a 4-2 victory over the host New York Yankees on Friday night.

The Rays scored four times in a span of six batters against Tim Hill and Camilo Doval to take a 4-1 lead.

The Rays improved to 4-0 this season against the Yankees and opened a 5 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Tampa Bay also won its fifth straight and for the 22nd time in 26 games.

Cole allowed two hits in his first appearance for the Yankees since Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 30, 2024. The right-hander struck out two and walked three.

Braves 5, Nationals 4 (11 innings)

Chadwick Tromp hit a game-tying single in the 10th inning and a walk-off single in the 11th, propelling Atlanta to a victory over visiting Washington.

Tyler Kinley (4-2) tossed a perfect 11th as the Braves won their fourth game in a row. Austin Riley and Mauricio Dubon each had three hits.

CJ Abrams and Curtis Mead homered for the Nationals, who have lost four of their past six games. Paxton Schultz (0-2) yielded Tromp's decisive hit.

Blue Jays 6, Pirates 2

Kevin Gausman struck out eight in 6 2/3 effective innings as Toronto defeated visiting Pittsburgh to push its win streak to three.

Gausman (4-3) allowed one run on six hits while earning his first win in five starts. Louis Varland retired the final six batters to earn his seventh save. Yohendrick Pinango and George Springer hit two-run doubles, while Ernie Clement and Jesus Sanchez hit consecutive doubles in the eighth.

The Pirates committed three errors, including two in the third that contributed to Toronto's three-run frame. Bubba Chandler (1-6) fanned a career-best 11 while allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits in five innings. Brandon Lowe had two hits and two runs.

Astros 4, Cubs 2

Christian Vazquez homered, singled and drove in two runs for visiting Houston in a win against Chicago in the opener of their three-game series.

Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (6-1) allowed two hits over five shutout innings. The Astros had combined for six runs in their previous four games, losing three.

Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon (2-4) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered for the Cubs, who have lost six in a row and 10 of 12.

Guardians 1, Phillies 0

Pinch hitter Kyle Manzardo hit a ninth-inning home run off Jhoan Duran to lift visiting Cleveland to its seventh straight win over Philadelphia.

Gavin Williams (7-3) struck out 11 without a walk in eight innings, yielding just four hits. Cade Smith recorded his 17th save as the Guardians' pitching made up for a Cleveland offense that only managed four hits against Cristopher Sanchez.

Sanchez tossed eight scoreless innings to stretch his streak to 37 2/3 consecutive scoreless frames -- the longest by a Phillies pitcher since at least 1920. However, Duran (1-2) gave up the game-ending homer to Manzardo.

Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2

Chad Stevens delivered the tiebreaking single with one out in the top of the ninth to help Colorado notch a victory over Arizona in Phoenix.

Stevens' first hit of the season and third of his career plated Sterlin Thompson with the decisive run as the Rockies ended a three-game losing streak. Colorado's TJ Rumfield came through with a tying double in the eighth.

Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two RBIs before he exited in the sixth due to left hamstring tightness. Arizona let a 2-0 lead get away to halt their season-best five-game winning streak.

White Sox 9, Giants 4

Munetaka Murakami highlighted a nine-run fourth inning with a bases-clearing double, Davis Martin coasted to his fifth straight win and Chicago won at San Francisco.

Andrew Benintendi had a two-run double and major league hit-by-pitch leader Sam Antonacci got plunked twice and scored twice in the same inning, helping the White Sox win for the ninth time in their past 12 games. Martin (7-1) permitted four runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Trevor McDonald (2-1) was charged with seven runs in 3 2/3 innings as the Giants lost their fourth straight game. Luis Arraez had an RBI single among his two hits.

Twins 8, Red Sox 6

Byron Buxton and Austin Martin hit two-run home runs in the seventh inning as visiting Minnesota came from behind for a win over Boston to begin a three-game series.

The Twins rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 6-3 to win on the strength of the four-run frame, tagging Boston reliever Justin Slaten (0-2) for his first earned runs of the season. Buxton and Martin both went 2-for-5 and combined for five RBIs. Travis Adams (1-0) tossed two innings of relief.

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-5) and Nick Sogard (2-for-3) both had multiple hits for the Red Sox.

Orioles 7, Tigers 4

Jackson Holliday's first hit in three games since making his season debut this week was a two-run go-ahead home run in the fourth inning, and Baltimore went on to beat visiting Detroit in the first game of a three-game series.

Pete Alonso smashed a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs as the Orioles snapped a three-game skid to open a 10-game homestand. Gunnar Henderson racked up three hits and Holliday, Adley Rutschman and Leody Taveras all had two hits for Baltimore.

Kevin McGonigle homered for the Tigers, who suffered their seventh consecutive defeat. Hao-Yu Lee had two hits and drove in two runs. Jack Flaherty (0-6) gave up six runs (three earned) on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Marlins 2, Mets 1

Owen Caissie collected two RBIs and Jakob Marsee made a pair of impressive catches in center field for host Miami, who edged New York in the opener of a three-game series.

Eury Perez (3-6) and three relievers combined on a three-hitter for the Marlins, who snapped a three-game losing streak. The Mets have lost three of their last four. Perez allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Juan Soto crushed a 449-foot homer to right-center in the first before singling in the fourth. Mets opener Tobias Myers gave up one hit in his first start of the season.

Padres 7, Athletics 3

Ramon Laureano snapped a tie with a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning as San Diego stopped the visiting Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

Laureano worked a full count against Jeffrey Springs (3-5) and then hammered a changeup an estimated 401 feet to left field for his sixth homer of the year. The clout made a winner of reliever Adrian Morejon (4-1), who worked 1 1/3 perfect innings and fanned three.

Springs allowed only three hits -- all homers -- and four runs in 6 1/3 innings. San Diego starter Walker Buehler received a no-decision after yielding five hits and three runs in five innings.

Mariners 2, Royals 0

Mitch Garver clubbed a two-run homer in the seventh inning, after Logan Gilbert was solid while pitching into the sixth, and visiting Seattle edged scuffling Kansas City.

Gilbert allowed two hits and never faced any real danger over 5 2/3 innings. Kansas City starter Noah Cameron was just as stout as Gilbert, allowing four hits and matching a career high with eight strikeouts while throwing 96 pitches over six impressive innings.

Seattle managed just five hits, but Garver and Julio Rodriguez posted two apiece. Gilbert, Eduard Bazardo (3-2), Matt Brash and Andres Munoz (nine saves) combined to allow just four hits and strike out 10 Royals, who have totaled 28 runs while losing 10 of the last 11.

Brewers 5, Dodgers 1

William Contreras set the tone with an early three-run homer and Logan Henderson tossed five innings of two-hit ball to pace Milwaukee to victory over visiting Los Angeles in the opener of the series between division leaders.

Milwaukee, coming off a sweep of the Cubs, has won 12 of its last 14 to climb atop the NL Central. The NL West-leading Dodgers had won five of their previous six on their current road trip. It was the first meeting since the Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS last season.

Henderson (2-1) allowed two singles in five innings. The Dodgers, who managed just three hits, got on the board with an unearned run in the seventh on Shohei Ohtani's sacrifice fly. The Brewers jumped on Justin Wrobleski (6-2) for four runs on six hits in a 10-batter, 38-pitch first inning.

Angels 9, Rangers 6

Zach Neto hit two home runs and Anaheim native Wade Meckler hit a three-run homer in his first career Angels at-bat, leading Los Angeles to a victory over Texas in Anaheim, Calif.

Oswald Peraza went 3-for-4 with a homer as the Angels snapped a three-game losing streak. Grayson Rodriguez (1-1) picked up his first win since 2024 after allowing four runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Brandon Nimmo homered, doubled and drove in two runs and Danny Jansen also went deep for the Rangers, who had won three of their previous four. Jacob deGrom (3-4) was tagged for six runs on six hits in three innings.

--Field Level Media