Seattle knows how to celebrate Canada Day. Canadian James Paxton, the "The Big Maple" himself, was on the mound for the Mariners, and it also was Paxton Bobblehead Day at Safeco Field.
This bobblehead included a bald eagle on his shoulder, a nod to Paxton's second start of the season, when he had a close encounter with the majestic bird while warming up in the outfield before the Twins' home opener at Target Field.
Paxton gave up two hits and struck out 11 in eight innings to lead the Mariners to a 1-0 win over Kansas City. It was their season-best seventh consecutive victory. Seattle is 26-11 in one-run games this season.
Paxton (8-2) had plenty of family and friends at the game from his hometown of Ladner, British Columbia.
"It was cool to pitch on Canada Day and have the bobblehead," Paxton said. "It felt good today. The fastball, curveball and cutter all were working."
New York 11, Boston 1: The Yankees hit five home runs off David Price in the first four innings and Luis Severino became the first 13-game winner in the majors. The Yankees took two of three from the visiting Red Sox to regain baseball's best record.
Cleveland 15, Oakland 3: Francisco Lindor homered and hit two of Cleveland's 11 doubles (one short of the team record) as the visiting Indians ended the Athletics' six-game winning streak. Cleveland broke open the game with an eight-run eighth inning — its first 10 batters reached without an out.
Detroit 9, Toronto 1: The visiting Tigers ended an 11-game losing streak. Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam, Niko Goodrum had a career-high four hits, and Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings.