Gerrit Cole outpitched Shane McClanahan in a matchup of All-Star aces, and Giancarlo Stanton drove in four runs as the New York Yankees avoided a sweep with a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Cole allowed a two-run homer to Wander Franco in the first inning but settled down to only allow those two runs and four hits over seven innings. He struck out eight, walked two and improved to 6-0 after a Yankees loss this season.

New York sent eight batters to the plate and scored five times off McClanahan in the third inning as the left-hander was denied his 12th win.

Harrison Bader led off with a double and Anthony Volpe followed with his 14th home run. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gleyber Torres singled before Stanton launched his 15th homer to right-centre for a 5-2 lead.

Stanton added a run-scoring single in the seventh and the Yankees won for just the eighth time in 22 games since July 4.

Tampa Bay had a three-game winning streak snapped but remained 1.5 games behind AL East-leading Baltimore.

Cole Train came through #RepBX pic.twitter.com/WcNG9SyAcc

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 3, 2023

Happ homers twice in another big offensive showing for Cubs

Ian Happ went deep twice and Jeimer Candelario was four for four in the Chicago Cubs' 16-6 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

Christopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki homered as Chicago beat up on the Reds for the second straight night. The Cubs won 20-9 on Tuesday and the 36 runs are their most in any two-game span since 1897.

Joey Votto hit two home runs for the first-placed Reds, who matched a season high with four errors.

Cubs have the high ground!

16 hits. 16 runs. 5 home runs. pic.twitter.com/4TBIG9jiKv

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 3, 2023

Braves hit three more homers in win

Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley and Matt Olson homered off Lucas Giolito and the Atlanta Braves rolled to a 12-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Acuna belted a three-run shot off Giolito in the third inning, then Riley and Olson went back-to-back in the fourth to cap a six-run outburst that ended the day for the Angels starter.

Giolito matched his career high with nine runs allowed in three and two-thirds innings, in what was his second start with the Angels since he was acquired from the White Sox.

Atlanta has a major league-leading 206 home runs and is on pace for 315m, which would best the major league record of 307 set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins.

Series win!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/kJWAFmNruZ

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 2, 2023