Kendrys Morales swatted his way to the brink of baseball history Sunday

TORONTO (AP) —.The Blue Jays slugger homered in a franchise-record seventh consecutive game in Toronto’s 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.Morales is the seventh player in major league history to have a streak this long. He’s one short of matching the record held by Ken Griffey Jr. http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-adams-jersey , Dale Long and Don Mattingly.Morales will try to match that trio when he faces Baltimore’s David Hess on Monday night. Morales has already connected off Hess in his current streak, hitting a solo home run off the Orioles right-hander in a 6-0 Toronto win last Wednesday.“It’s pretty impressive,” manager John Gibbons said of Morales’ streak. “It’d be something if he gets (the record). I don’t think any of us can comprehend how hard it is to do.”Morales said staying quiet at the plate has helped his power surge.“I’m not moving too much,” he said through a translator. “Either fastball or off-speed, I’m seeing the ball pretty well because I’m sitting back “Morales said the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, has requested one of his bats from the streak.“I’m really happy they want my bat,” Morales said. “It’s amazing what I’ve been doing.”He has 21 homers on the season and has hit safely in 10 straight games. He’s batting .500 (17 for 34) with eight homers and 15 RBI in that stretch.The Phillies went on their own homer binge, connecting for four on Sunday.Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana went back-to-back in the first inning while Maikel Franco and Wilson Ramos each had two-run shots.“There was a noticeable energy change in the dugout from yesterday to today,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “Our guys sensed the urgency of today’s game.”Right-hander Vince Velasquez (9-9) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings for the victory as Philadelphia won for the second time in eight games, erasing the painful memories of Saturday’s 8-6 defeat. The Phillies began the day three games behind Atlanta in the NL East, and two games out in the wild card race.“Everybody was just a little bit more intense, a little bit sharper focus,” Hoksins said. “Everybody got here this morning and realized that this was a big game. Obviously they’re all big but this one in particular felt a little bit bigger, especially after a tough loss yesterday.”Ramos had four hits. He singled in the first, doubled home a run in the second, singled in the sixth and homered off Tyler Clippard in the eighth, his 15th.“The guy is raking,” Velasquez said. “He’s on fire.”Luis Garcia, Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter Max Scherzer Jersey , and Seranthony Dominguez each pitched one inning of relief.Hoskins reached base four times as the Phillies ended Toronto’s season-long winning streak at five.“We swung the bats from the very beginning of the game and stayed on them, never took our foot off the gas pedal,” Kapler said.Estrada (7-10) allowed five runs and seven hits in two-plus innings. He said afterward he has been bothered by a sore back for several few weeks.TULO TALKS 2019One day after he was ruled out for the season, Troy Tulowitzki said he intends to reclaim his role as Toronto’s starting shortstop next year. “If someone’s better than me, I’ll pack my bags and go home,” said Tulowitzki, who had surgery in April to remove bone spurs from both heels. The oft-injured Tulowitzki has not played since July 2017, when he seriously injured his right ankle in a collision at first base. The five-time All-Star has missed at least 30 games in seven straight seasons and eight of the past nine.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: OF Roman Quinn (sore left hamstring) was not available. Quinn’s injury is not considered serious.Blue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson (strained left calf) had the contents of his locker in Toronto delivered to him at the team’s spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., where he is working out. In a statement, Donaldson said he wanted all his equipment on hand before starting a rehab assignment. Donaldson has been out since May 28.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Zach Eflin (9-4, 3.93) starts as Philadelphia returns home to begin a three-game series against Wahsington. RHP Stephen Strasburg (6-7, 4.23) starts for the Nationals.Blue Jays: RHP Sam Gaviglio (3-6, 4.94) starts the opener of a three-game series at Baltimore. Gaviglio snapped a 5-start winless streak by beating Baltimore last Tuesday. Hess is 2-8 with a 5.50 ERA. NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge walked past Boston’s Fenway Park clubhouse early Sunday morning, Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “New York, New York” blaring from a boom box atop the wheelie bag he was pulling with his left hand.“It’s a good song. And Aaron, he’s one of our resident deejays, so he’s got a pretty extensive playlist,” New York manager Aaron Boone said later in the day at Yankee Stadium, a smirk filling his face. “We like to hear that song sometimes when we win a big game.”New York and Boston split at Fenway Park and are tied 1-1 in the best-of-five AL Division Series going into Game 3 on Monday night. Luis Severino, coming off four scoreless innings in the wild-card game against Oakland http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-adams-jersey , starts for New York and former Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi pitches for the Red Sox.Severino was 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA and .217 opponents’ batting average at home, just 9-6 with a 3.99 ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average on the road.“Maybe my wife cooks better food here,” he said.New York is 19-9 in the postseason at new Yankee Stadium, where boisterous Bronx crowds try to intimidate. The Yankees’ were 53-28 there during the regular season, the second-best home record behind Boston’s 57-24. The win over Oakland in last week’s wild-card game improved New York to 7-0 at home in the postseason since the start of the 2017 playoffs.“The fans, they’re out there on the field with you,” Judge said. “Every single pitch they’re locked in. It’s electric.”New York is built for Yankee Stadium, where it takes advantage of the short right-field porch and hit 144 of its record 267 home runs. Boston is constructed in a similar fashion, knowing half its games are played in front of Fenway’s Green Monster lurking in left field.“Two places that are historic franchises where the fans are definitely rowdy for their home team and against the visiting team,” Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes said .This will be the first postseason game in the Bronx between the rivals since Boston won Games 6 and 7 of the 2004 AL Championship Series across the street at old Yankee Stadium, becoming the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven postseason series.“All empires fall sooner or later,” then-Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said that night.A year earlier, Boone’s 11th-inning homer off Tim Wakefield won Game 7 and the AL pennant. Now he’s a rookie manager, leading a group of Baby Bombers that reached Game 7 of the AL Championship Series last year before losing to Houston.“This fan base I feel like absolutely connected with kind of this new generation of Yankee player, this young corps that has developed,” Boone said . “Me watching from afar last year, especially in the postseason, you could kind of see that raw intensity connection that the fan base had with the players.”For all the focus on big boppers, J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi for Boston, and Judge http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-adams-jersey , Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez for New York, relievers have reigned in an era when starting pitchers often are shown the exit before they have a chance to stumble too much.New York’s bullpen has allowed one run in 10 innings, led by Dellin Betances, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman. Red Sox relievers have given up five in 11 innings.Hoping for a deep outing, Boston manager Alex Cora selected Eovaldi for Game 3 over Rick Porcello, who pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief in Friday’s opener and now will match up against 38-year-old left-hander CC Sabathia in Game 4.Eovaldi was 3-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 11 starts and one relief appearance for the Red Sox, who acquired him from Tampa Bay in July. The 28-year-old right-hander, who throws at 97-98 mph, allowed no earned runs in three of four starts this year against the Yankees. He pitched for New York in 2015 and ’16 before injuring his elbow, which required Tommy John surgery for the second time.His goal is to keep bats and fans quiet.“Trying to keep the ball in the ballpark — try and get quick outs, try not to let the crowd get too crazy and get behind them and get them going,” he said. Cora and the Red Sox wouldn’t sound off about Judge’s musical taste — not that they could hear the famous Kander and Ebb song on Fenway’s concourse through thick clubhouse walls after the 6-2 win in Game 2.“That’s probably just something they do when they win,” the manager said.Yankees players were ready for familiar sounds when the series resume.“It’s been a while since Boston played Yankees in the playoffs. So the fans are going to be excited,” Betances said. “They were pretty loud for that Oakland game. This is going to be a little crazier for this Boston game, for sure.”AUTUMN SUNDAYRed Sox closer Craig Kimbrel tossed a football with pitching coach Dana LeVangie before throwing a baseball in the outfield.TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland had what Cora called aggressive treatment on his right hamstring, which forced him from Game 2.Yankees: CF Aaron Hicks hopes to be back in the lineup after missing Game 2 because of right hamstring tightness, but Boone said it was unclear if the leg might need another day to deal.