New York Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka fell to his ninth loss of the season despite 7-2/3 solid innings in a 3-0 defeat to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

Tanaka (7-9) allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out nine with no walks amid a lack of run support in the second game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park. The Yankees, who won the day's first game 3-0, were blanked for the first time this year.

baseball

"It was good overall," the 28-year-old said of his 112-pitch effort. "So it's all the more disappointing that I was hit with that home run."

He was referring to Mookie Betts' two-run home run that opened the scoring in the third inning. Tanaka hung a lifeless slider in the lower half of the strike zone and Betts launched it over Fenway's towering left field wall, the "Green Monster," and into Lansdowne Street beyond.

The Boston right fielder scored again in the sixth on Dustin Pedroia's RBI single.

Tanaka pitched out of a no-out situation with a runner on second in the fifth by getting a groundout and two strikeouts, and an inning later he fanned two straight with runners on first and second with one out.

"I wasn't quite able to pitch like this in the first half of the season," he said. "I had some bad luck but did what I can...I should be fine if my pitches pretty much go where I want like they did today."

At Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Yu Darvish did not figure in the decision as his Texas Rangers lost 4-3 to the Royals.

Darvish gave up three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits, a walk and a wild pitch over 6-2/3 innings, striking out six during his 98-pitch outing.

He surrendered the first run with his no-out wild pitch with runners on first and third in the bottom of the first. Mike Moustakas hit an RBI double in the third, and the Royals scored on an error in the seventh after Whit Merrifield doubled with two outs and a runner on first.

"I did my best," Darvish said. "The opponents hit a lot of foul balls in the first three innings, but I got a good feel for my pitches after that."

After Darvish left the mound, his teammate Nomar Mazara drove in a run in the eighth to tie the score 3-3, but Texas's third reliever, Jason Grilli, yielded a walk-off bases-loaded RBI hit to Lorenzo Cain in the ninth.

At Marlins Park in Miami, pinch hitter Ichiro Suzuki had an infield hit -- his 3,055th in Major League Baseball -- to tie Rickey Henderson at 23rd on the all-time hit list, but the hosts lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the Dodgers leading 3-0, the 43-year-old Japanese legend came to bat in the fifth with one out and runners on the corners. He drove home A.J. Ellis with a sharp grounder deflected by pitcher Rich Hill.

"I didn't want to swing at the last pitch but I had no choice," Suzuki said of Hill's favorite curveball, asserting that the lefty's previous toss to him from a 2-1 count that was called a strike was clearly a ball.

At Minute Maid Park in Houston, left fielder Norichika Aoki, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Astros came from behind to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3.

With Houston trailing 2-1 in the fourth inning, Aoki's two-run double to put the Astros ahead and his teammates added two more runs in the seventh.

"I was able to concentrate well going into the game, and getting a hit (on my) first (plate appearance) meant a lot," said Aoki, who singled to center field in the second inning off Kyle Gibson (5-8). "I was thinking that he might intentionally pitch a bit on the high side."