Sports

CHICAGO — Luis Robert Jr., Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn homered, and the Chicago White Sox stopped a 14-game losing streak by downing the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Friday night.

Garrett Crochet struck out 10 in six innings as Chicago posted its first win since a 5-0 victory at Toronto on May 21. The 14-game slide set a franchise record for a single season, and it was the longest losing streak in the majors since the Angels also dropped 14 straight in 2022.

“Just to stop the streak, I mean it’s time to move on,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Let’s continue to play baseball. I’m really proud of these guys.”

Robert hit a 430-foot solo drive to centre off Cooper Criswell with two out in the first. Sheets and Vaughn began the sixth with consecutive homers against Greg Weissert, lifting the White Sox to a 6-2 lead.

Boston had won four of six. Connor Wong had two of the team’s six hits.

The Red Sox finished the game without right fielder Tyler O’Neill, who departed in the third because of right knee discomfort. O’Neill was just activated from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday after being sidelined by right knee inflammation.

“Hopefully we avoid the IL, but at the same time playing short doesn’t make sense,” manager Alex Cora said.

Criswell (3-3) permitted four runs, three earned, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He has a 5.40 ERA over his last seven starts.

The White Sox went ahead to stay with three runs in the fourth, highlighted by Oscar Colás’ tiebreaking two-run single through a drawn-in infield.

Crochet (6-5) allowed three hits and one earned run. The left-hander improved to 5-1 with a 1.10 ERA in his last seven starts.

“It was huge. The guys in there, we showed no quit,” Crochet said. “Tonight I think that you kind of saw that.”

Jonathan Cannon pitched three innings for his first career save. Duke Ellis dropped Ceddanne Rafaela’s liner to left for an error, but Jarren Duran bounced to shortstop for the final out.

“I just went out there and I was going to go until they told me to stop,” Cannon said.

The Red Sox scored both of their runs during a strange sequence in the second inning.

Bobby Dalbec walked and scored from first when Crochet committed a throwing error on Duran’s comebacker. Duran missed first on the play and the White Sox decided to appeal. Duran started running when Crochet threw over, and he swiped home for a 2-1 lead.

Vaughn went to the bag after the throw got away from him, but the appeal was denied.

Grifol said he didn’t see the call, so he felt as if he wasn’t able to challenge the decision with plate umpire Sean Barber.

“So once everything was over, I said, ‘Sean, can we appeal?’ And he said, ‘You already did,’” Grifol said. “I didn’t see it. He called him safe. So at that point, I didn’t challenge anything because I thought time had elapsed.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: OF/DH Masataka Yoshida (left thumb strain) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. “We’ll see how it goes over the weekend, but this is a huge step for us,” Cora said.

UP NEXT

Right-handers Brayan Bello (6-2, 4.36 ERA) and Nick Nastrini (0-5, 9.74 ERA) take the mound on Saturday. Bello surrendered four runs in 6 1/3 innings in Boston’s 8-4 loss to Detroit on Sunday. Nastrini is looking for his first major league win after dropping his first five starts for Chicago.

Defencemen Zeev Buium and Artyom Levshunov are two top prospects who are continuing to garner interest and attention at the NHL Draft Scouting Combine.

Right-handed pitcher Aaron Sanchez had another promising start with triple-A Buffalo in his comeback attempt to the majors.

Sanchez, who signed a minor-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays last month, pitched six solid innings Friday night to earn his second straight win as the Bisons defeated the host Lehigh Valley IronPigs 5-2.

The 31-year-old from Barstow, Calif., gave up two hits and one run, a homer in the third inning to Nick Podkul, while recording five strikeouts and two walks. He improved to a 2-2 record and 9.00 ERA over five starts.

Sanchez, who was selected by the Blue Jays in the first round of the 2010 draft, was a key member of the team’s starting rotation during their playoff runs in 2015 and 2016.

He earned a career-high 15 wins in 2016 and represented the Blue Jays at the All-Star Game while finishing seventh in voting for the American League Cy Young Award.

Sanchez, whose career was derailed by injuries, last pitched in the majors during the 2022 season with the Minnesota Twins and has a 38-38 record, 4.16 ERA and 541 strikeouts over eight years.

Meanwhile, right-handed reliever Erik Swanson held the line during one shutout inning of work in the eighth, giving up one hit and registering two strikeouts.

Swanson, who was one of the Blue Jays’ most reliable relievers last season, has struggled this year with a 9.22 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 13.2 innings. He was optioned to Buffalo on May 28.

Although Jacques Villeneuve won the F1 world championship and 11 races during his legendary career, a victory at his home Canadian Grand Prix was the one that got away.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg homered, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 on Friday night.

Baltimore leads the majors with 98 home runs. The Orioles had lost the final two games of a four-game set at Toronto, but still won for the 11th time in 15 games.

Cole Irvin (6-2) allowed three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Craig Kimbrel, the third Baltimore reliever, worked the ninth to get his 14th save in 17 chances.

Tampa Bay, which had won three in a row, got a solo homer from Jose Siri in the second.

NATIONALS 2, BRAVES 1

WASHINGTON — Jake Irvin pitched six shutout innings, and the Washington Nationals dealt Atlanta ace Chris Sale his first loss in nearly two months on Friday night with a 2-1 victory over the Braves.

Washington snapped a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in eight games since taking three of four at Atlanta late last month.

Sale (8-2) allowed two runs in seven innings in his first loss since April 13. The left-hander had won seven consecutive starts before giving up eight runs to Oakland in his previous outing on June 1.

The Braves were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, in part because of Irvin’s ability to escape jams.

Irvin (4-5) loaded the bases in the third inning before ending the threat, then prevented Orlando Arcia from scoring after he doubled to lead off the fifth. But his trickiest inning was the sixth, when Austin Riley singled and moved to third on Marcell Ozuna’s double.

Irvin induced Matt Olson’s foul out, then got Ozzie Albies to ground back to the mound before Adam Duvall’s flyout ended the threat.

The right-hander allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four.

Kyle Finnegan handled the ninth for his 17th save in 19 opportunities.

PIRATES 3, TWINS 0

PITTSBURGH — Mitch Keller pitched six scoreless innings to win his sixth straight start, Oneil Cruz homered for a second consecutive game and Pittsburgh defeated Minnesota.

Keller (8-3) scattered seven hits while striking eight and walking two. He also pitched at least five innings for the 44th straight time, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

During his winning streak, Keller has allowed five runs in 39 2/3 innings for a 1.13 ERA.

Aroldis Chapman, Colin Holderman and David Bednar each pitched one scoreless inning of relief to finish the eight-hitter. Bednar notched his 13th save in 16 opportunities as the Pirates recorded their third shutout of the season and won for the third time in their last four games.

BREWERS 10, TIGERS 0