New York Yankees runner David Adams scores as Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia (left) waits for the throw at home plate in the fifth inning of their MLB American League baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, on Friday. (Reuters)
Reuters/New York
Japanese ace Hiroki Kuroda pulled out his best performance of the season as the New York Yankees cruised to a 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Kuroda (6-2) allowed just two hits in eight innings and lowered his ERA to 1.99 to keep the Yankees (26-16) on top of the American League East Division while ensuring the Blue Jays (17-25) remain rooted to the bottom.
Boston (25-17) kept pace, just a game behind the Yankees, with a 3-2 win over Minnesota (18-20) in 10 innings.
Elsewhere, Cleveland needed 10 innings but prevailed 6-3 over Seattle when Jason Kipnis sent a walk-off three-run homer over the right field wall with two outs.
The Indians won for the 15th time in 19 starts to move to 23-17 on the year while dropping Seattle to 20-22.
Detroit (23-17) snapped the Texas Rangers (27-15) good run of form, handing them just their second loss in nine games with a 2-1 road victory.
Tampa Bay (21-20) led by eight runs at one stage but were forced to hold on against a fast finishing Baltimore (23-18) in their 12-10 victory.
Atlanta preserved their National League East division lead with an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Justin Upton belted a grand slam in the sixth inning to help the Braves to 23-18 on the season and dropped the Dodgers to 17-23.
Jordan Pacheco hit his first career grand slam to help Colorado (22-20) beat San Francisco (24-18) for the first time in 11 outings.
Milwaukee’s Aramis Ramirez pounded two three-run homers but it wasn’t enough to get his Brewers (16-24) over the line as they fell 7-6 to St Louis (27-14).
Pittsburgh (25-17) prevailed 5-4 over Houston (11-31), scoring the winning run thanks to a bumbled dropped fly ball in the bottom of the ninth.
The Arizona Diamondbacks (24-18) hammered the Marlins (11-31) 9-2 in Miami thanks to a huge night from Paul Goldschmidt, who was four of five with a pair of two-run homers and a double.
The New York Mets continued to fire with ace right-hander Matt Harvey (5-0) at the helm, taking care of the Chicago Cubs 3-2.