Challenged by Girardi, Yanks edge Red Sox

Challenged with what manager Joe Girardi described as “probably as important a game as we’ve had in July in a long time,” the Yankees responded behind six strong innings from Masahiro Tanaka, salvaging the series finale with a 3-1 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

Pirates stand tall in 18-inning epic with Nats

The longest regular-season game in Nationals history — and the second longest in the Majors this season — ended up as a 2-1 win for the Pirates after Starling Marte hit a solo homer in the 18th inning on Sunday at Nationals Park. The victory by Pittsburgh ended Washington’s five-game winning streak. The Nats are now six games ahead of the Marlins and Mets in the National League East race.

Jackson makes statement in Padres debut

Making his debut with the 11th team of his career Sunday, Edwin Jackson was looking to prove he could still get it done in the big leagues. After taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning to lead the Padres to a 5-3 win and series sweep over the Giants, he made a pretty good argument for that.

Fernandez, Sale open second halves on MLB.TV

The Marlins’ Jose Fernandez and White Sox’s Chris Sale were among the class of their respective leagues when it came to starting pitching in the first half. On Monday, the duo hopes to pick up where they left off before the All-Star break, with each making his second-half debut on games available on MLB.TV.