Giants beat Red Sox, hand manager Bochy 2,000th win

Jeff Samardzija took a no-hitter into the sixth inning to highlight Bruce Bochy’s 2,000th managerial victory as the San Francisco Giants beat the host Boston Red Sox 11-3 on Wednesday night.Bochy became the 11th skipper in big league history to reach 2,000 career wins, accomplishing the feat just over a week before he intends to retire. Stephen Vogt had four RBIs, and Kevin Pillar and Cristhian Adames added three hits as the Giants (74-78) won their third straight.“It’s not a number I ever thought about. I never thought about it this year and I’m being honest,” Bochy said. “It’s gotten a little attention here recently but that number just represents so many people — more than anybody are those players. It doesn’t happen without them.”Rafael Devers had the Red Sox’s first hit when he homered with two outs in the sixth inning, his 30th blast of the season to go with his 50 doubles. He and Xander Bogaerts (31 HR, 50 2B) are the first teammates in major league history to reach 30 homers and 50 doubles in the same season.Prior to Devers’ homer, Samardzija (11-12) had held the Red Sox (79-72) hitless while working around four walks. Samardzija left up 4-1 after Brock Holt singled off him leading off the seventh, ending his night with the one run allowed on two hits with two strikeouts over six-plus innings. Fernando Abad took over and let Boston get within two runs when Sandy Leon singled home Jackie Bradley Jr. with two outs in the seventh.San Francisco responded with a pair of runs in the eighth and five more in the ninth to blow the game open. A Bradley homer in the bottom of the ninth off Giants reliever Enderson Franco, who was making his major league debut, completed the scoring.The Giants jumped ahead in the first inning on a Pillar RBI groundout and a two-run shot by Vogt off the Pesky Pole in right field. Brandon Crawford added an RBI double in the third for a 4-0 lead.All those runs came off Red Sox opener Jhoulys Chacin (3-11), who gave up five hits, walked two and fanned six over 2 2/3 innings.Prior to the game, Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch to his grandson, Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski. Mike went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs in the contest.Cole pitches Astros past Rangers, into playoffsGerrit Cole reached a significant milestone while pitching the Astros to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday, allowing Houston to clinch its fourth playoff berth in five years.Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve slugged homers for the American League West-leading Astros, who can do no worse than landing an AL wild card. The win also lowered Houston’s magic number to two to lock up the American League West Division title. Cole (18-5) struck out Rangers designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo with an 89.8 mph changeup to conclude the top of the sixth inning and record his 300th strikeout on the season. He became just the third pitcher in franchise history to reach that benchmark in a single year, joining fellow right-handers J R Richard (313 in 1979, 303 in 1978) and Mike Scott (306 in 1986).He hit the mark in just 198 1/3 innings, just missing the record held by Randy Johnson, who recorded his 300th strikeout in 197 2/3 innings in 2001.Cole worked eight innings and allowed two runs on six hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts. It marked his 19th double-digit strikeout start on the season and seventh in succession, matching the club record set by staff mate Justin Verlander earlier this season. Cole is 14-0 with a 1.87 ERA over his last 20 starts.The Astros (100-53) reached 100 victories for a third consecutive season. Houston owns the best record in the majors, taking a one-game lead over the New York Yankees, who lost 3-2 at home to the Los Angeles Angels. The Astros also completed a home season sweep of the Rangers, finishing 9-0 vs. Texas at Minute Maid Park. Houston didn’t break the scoreless tie until the fifth inning, when Gurriel slugged a two-run home run off Rangers left-hander Kolby Allard (4-1) with two outs.Gurriel followed a single from Yordan Alvarez with his 30th homer, a 362-foot shot to left-center field. At 35 years old, Gurriel is the third-oldest player in history with 30 homers, 40 doubles and 100 RBIs in a season (David Ortiz, 40, in 2016; Vinny Castilla, 36, in 2004). Allard allowed two runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts over five innings.Altuve socked his 29th homer against Emmanuel Clase leading off the seventh.The Rangers (74-79) got a run in the top of the seventh on an error by Astros catcher Martin Maldonado, and Ronald Guzman homered, his 10th, off Cole leading off the eighth. Texas placed the first two runners on in the ninth against Roberto Osuna, but the Astros closer escaped for his 35th save.