Twins hit two homers in walk off against Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers win

The Minnesota Twins celebrated a 7-5 walk-off win over the New York Yankees thanks to Josh Donaldson and Nelson Cruz.

Donaldson and Cruz hit two-run homers off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning as the Twins trumped the Yankees to avoid a three-game sweep in MLB action on Thursday.

The Yankees led 5-2 by the sixth inning after Giancarlo Stanton's 422-foot three-run homer in the opening inning, while Gio Urshela also went deep for the visitors in Minneapolis.

But the Twins got on top of Chapman, who blew a save, courtesy of big shots from Donaldson and Cruz.

"Pretty amazing effort by our guys, and those at-bats in the last inning were pretty spectacular," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Red Sox win wild game

J.D. Martinez led the way as the Boston Red Sox outlasted the Houston Astros 12-8. Martinez tallied his 13th homer of the season in the third inning and Christian Arroyo also hit a three-run homer in the fifth for the Red Sox, who avoided a three-game sweep. There were six lead chances in the contest, the most in a game since 2019.

Mookie Betts' home run fuelled World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3. It was Betts' 25th lead-off homer of his career.

Trevor Rogers is one of three Miami Marlins starters to begin the season with an ERA under two after 12 starts – Dontrelle Willis in 2003 and Josh Johnson in 2006. The Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 11-4.

Zack Wheeler was dominant for the Philadelphia Phillies, who edged the Atlanta Braves 4-3. He struck out 12 batters in eight strong innings. Wheeler allowed four singles and no walks as his ERA lowered to 2.29.

Gonzalez struggles

Colorado's Chi Chi Gonzalez was put to the sword by Miami. He was blasted for three homers in the second inning. The Rockies pitcher finished with 11 hits, eight runs, one walk and three home runs across five forgettable innings.

RBI machine

Jose Abreu is tied with Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the MLB lead with 48 RBI this season. Abreu's shot in the bottom of the eighth inning helped the high-flying Chicago White Sox seal a 5-2 victory against the Blue Jays.

Thursday's results

Padres at Mets

It will be a battle of the aces when the San Diego Padres (37-27) travel to the New York Mets (30-24) on Friday. Blake Snell takes to the mound for the Padres as Mets ace Jacob deGrom starts in New York.