CLEVELAND — Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton blasted consecutive homers, Nestor Cortes shut Cleveland down for six innings and the New York Yankees continued their torrid winning pace by beating the Guardians 6-1 to complete a doubleheader sweep Saturday.

Matt Carpenter homered twice and Gerrit Cole brushed off giving up back-to-back home runs in New York’s 13-4 romp in the opener.

The Yankees are 25-6 since May 31.

Cortes (7-3) allowed a homer in the first to Amed Rosario and little else. The left-hander gave up one run and three hits and struck out six, including Guardians star José Ramírez three times.

At 58-21, New York is not only running away with the AL East, but has the second-best record after 79 games of any team in 93 years. Only the 1998 Yankees (59-20) were better, and this version is so far step for step with those World Series champions.

RAYS SWEEP BLUE JAYS:  Francisco Mejía homered twice, Isaac Paredes had three hits and five RBI, and Tampa Bay swept a doubleheader in Toronto.

The Rays won the first game 6-2, and nearly doubled their run output for the second with an 11-5 win.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a solo blast for his 19th home run and Bradley Zimmer added a two-run homer in the second game, but couldn’t keep Toronto from losing a doubleheader at home for the first time in five doubleheaders.

TWINS 4, ORIOLES 3: Jorge Polanco hit a tying homer and Jose Miranda delivered a game-ending single as Minnesota again rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win at home

A day after Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Jorge López for a 3-2 victory, Minnesota came back once more.

Polanco began the ninth with a home run against López (4-4) that made it 3-all. Alex Kirilloff doubled with one out, Gary Sánchez singled and Miranda followed with a single to win it.

ASTROS 9, ANGELS 1: Martín Maldonado homered twice and Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick added a home run each as Houston built a big lead early and didn’t let up in a rout of Los Angeles in Houston.

The Astros followed up their 8-1 win in the opener with another lopsided victory to extend their winning streak to five games.

Houston starter José Urquidy (7-3) yielded two hits and a run with eight strikeouts in six innings to improve the team’s starters to 7-0 in the last nine games. This was the fifth straight game where the Astros allowed no more than one run.

TIGERS 4, ROYALS 3: Victor Reyes and Riley Greene hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to give host Detroit a win over Kansas City.

With one out in the ninth, Reyes tied the game off Royals reliever Joel Payamps (2-2). It was the first homer allowed by Payamps in 26 1/3 innings this season. Greene followed with the first homer of his career.

Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth and earned the win as Detroit’s pitchers retired the last 17 batters they faced.

MARINERS 2, ATHLETICS 1: Pinch-hitter Justin Upton homered to tie it in the eighth inning and Abraham Toro singled home the winning run in the ninth to lift Seattle to a win at home.

The Mariners loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth when Lou Trivino (1-6) walked Eugenio Suarez, Carlos Santana singled and Cal Raleigh reached on shortstop Nick Allen’s error.

Toro then singled home pinch-runner Marcus Wilson for the victory.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CARDINALS 7, PHILLIES 6: Nolan Arenado sparked a record barrage of four straight home runs by St. Louis in the first inning, then hit a tiebreaking drive in the ninth that sent the Cardinals to a win in Philadelphia.

With two outs in the first, Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson homered off Kyle Gibson. It was the first time in major league history a team connected for four homers in a row in the first inning.

The Cardinals tied the MLB record for any inning with four in a row. It was the first time they had done it, and the 11th time overall in big league history.

The home crowd at Citizens Bank Park then gasped when Lars Nootbaar followed Carlson and made solid contact on a flyball that was caught in deep left field but well shy of the warning track to end the inning.

PIRATES 7, BREWERS 4: Oneil Cruz collected his 12th RBI in 13 games this season to help Pittsburgh bounce back from a blowout loss with a win over Milwaukee in Pittsburgh.

The 23-year-old prospect put the Pirates up 4-1 with two outs in the fourth on a 392-foot solo blast to right with a 112.3 mph exit velocity that chased Brewers starter Aaron Ashby.

It was Cruz’s third homer of the year. He has at least one RBI in eight games since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 20, and at least one in each of his first nine games at PNC Park.

MARLINS 5, NATIONALS 3: Jesús Aguilar hit a two-run home run in the first inning and scored in the seventh, Daniel Castano picked up his first win of the season and Miami continued its domination of the Nationals in Washington.

The Marlins have won 10 of 11 games against the Nationals in this season, but are 26-39 against everyone else.

Miami’s latest win came in a sloppy game that included four throwing errors and a couple of wild pitches. Washington’s Juan Soto also provided some holiday weekend fireworks with his 15th home run of the season.

BRAVES 4, REDS 1: Spencer Strider allowed one hit over six innings and matched a career high with 11 strikeouts, Austin Riley homered for the second straight game and drove in two runs and Atlanta won in Cincinnati.

Strider (4-2) didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning when Nick Senzel’s single drove in Matt Reynolds, who entered the game when Kyle Farmer was hit by a pitch.

Dansby Swanson made a diving backhand catch of Joey Votto’s pop into short left field to end the fourth and keep alive Strider’s no-hit bid before Senzel’s soft liner to center that fell in front of Michael Harris II.

INTERLEAGUE

RANGERS 7, METS 3: Kole Calhoun homered twice and drove in four runs, Martín Pérez won his seventh straight decision and Texas won in New York.

Calhoun hit a three-run shot off spot starter Trevor Williams in the second inning and third-year catcher Jonah Heim followed with his career-high 11th home run to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. Both drives reached the front of the second deck in right field, giving Texas its fifth set of back-to-back homers this season.

Starling Marte launched an early two-run homer and Eduardo Escobar also went deep against Pérez (7-2), who had given up only two long balls in 15 starts covering 93 1/3 innings coming in.

WHITE SOX 5, GIANTS 3: Gavin Sheets doubled twice and drove in two runs, and Chicago held on for a victory against in San Francisco.

Dylan Cease allowed one run in five innings for his third consecutive win. The major league leader in strikeouts per nine innings, Cease (7-3) had only four against San Francisco – his fewest since May 24 – and overcame LaMonte Wade Jr.’s home run leading off the first to improve to 4-1 in seven road starts.

Tanner Banks followed Cease with two scoreless innings. Joe Kelly retired three hitters and Kendall Graveman pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

NOTES

GUARDIANS: Rookie outfielder Oscar Gonzalez was placed on the 10-day injured list with an abdominal issue.

The 24-year-old Gonzalez has given the team a major lift since coming up from the minors. He’s batting .285 with two homers and 14 RBI in 32 games.

METS: Jacob deGrom is finally ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment.

Sidelined by injuries since last July, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to start Sunday night for Class A St. Lucie against the Jupiter Hammerheads. He’s expected to throw about 25 pitches and two innings.

It will be the first competitive outing since spring training for deGrom, out all season because of a stress reaction in his right scapula that caused inflammation.

The announcement Saturday by New York came nearly a year since deGrom’s last major league outing on July 7, 2021. He missed the second half of last season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow, then returned in spring training this year and made Grapefruit League starts on March 22 and 27.

NATIONALS: Dave Martinez and Mike Rizzo are signed through the 2023 season after the Washington Nationals exercised their contract options for the World Series-winning manager and GM.

Managing Principal Owner Mark Lerner announced the moves Saturday before the team’s 80th game of a season that has already included 50 losses. Martinez and Rizzo are now overseeing a rebuilding effort after helping the Nationals win their first championship in 2019.

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