Sonny Gray sharp again as Twins blank Phillies to claim series

Sonny Gray tossed six shutout innings as the Minnesota Twins beat the host Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Gray (6-5) lowered his ERA to 3.04 after giving up just two hits en route to his fifth consecutive quality start. He walked three and struck out seven.

Jordan Luplow homered and Jorge Polanco had a pair of RBI singles for Minnesota, which has recorded back-to-back wins following a four-game skid. Donovan Solano added three hits.

Griffin Jax took over for Gray to start the seventh and immediately ran into trouble. He surrendered singles to Jake Cave and Garrett Stubbs before hitting Johan Rojas as the Phillies loaded the bases with one out.

Caleb Thielbar came on in relief and got Kyle Schwarber to pop out before fanning Alec Bohm to escape the jam. Bohm was ejected after throwing his bat to the ground in frustration following a called third strike that appeared to miss the inside corner of the plate.

Bryce Harper was also rung up in the eighth, and Phillies manager Rob Thomson was subsequently tossed after arguing the call.

Polanco's run-scoring single provided the Twins with an insurance run in the top of the ninth before Jhoan Duran worked around a leadoff single in the home half of the inning to pick up his 21st save of the season.

Philadelphia wasted a stellar outing from Ranger Suarez (2-6), who gave up two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and fanned eight.

Cave went 2-for-4 for the Phillies, who, despite the loss, still hold the top wild-card spot in the National League.

Luplow gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead with a two-out solo shot in the first. Philadelphia looked poised to draw even an inning later when it loaded the bases with two outs, but Schwarber struck out to end the frame.

Minnesota doubled its advantage in the third thanks to Polanco, whose single skipped off third baseman Bohm to plate Edouard Julien.