Gerrit Cole pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball on Sunday in his second start for Double-A Somerset, another step toward returning to the New York Yankees’ rotation.

The 33-year-old Cole allowed two hits, struck out four and walked one against Hartford, retiring his last eight batters. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner threw 44 of 57 pitches for strikes at Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.

Ryan Ritter, Cole’s second batter, drove an inside fastball on Cole’s sixth pitch over the left-field wall for his fifth homer of the season and second in three days.

Cole threw 45 pitches over 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Patriots on Tuesday night in the right-hander’s first game action since his only spring training start on March 1. He was diagnosed then with nerve inflammation and edema and told to rest, and then began throwing bullpens on May 4.

Cole is to make at least one more minor league start; on normal four days’ rest he would pitch Friday. His earliest possible return to the Yankees would be the home series against Baltimore from June 18-20.

RANGERS: Right-hander Max Scherzer struck out five while retiring 12 of the 14 batters he faced in his long-delayed second rehab start for Triple-A Round Rock since offseason surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back.

Scherzer threw four scoreless innings, then exited the game after an eight-pitch walk that opened the fifth against Oklahoma City, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was the only walk for the three-time Cy Young Award winner who turns 40 on July 27.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

RANGERS 7, GIANTS 2: Marcus Semien retaliated from a pitch to the head with a two-run homer, Adolis García stole home, and Texas avoided being swept by Manager Bruce Bochy’s former team with a win over San Francisco in Arlington, Texas.

The first pitch thrown by Giants starter Keaton Winn was a 94.5 mph fastball that knocked Semien’s helmet off his head.

Semien was OK and eventually scored, and when he batted again in the second inning, he went deep on the next pitch he saw, an 86.4 mph slider, to put Texas up 5-0.

Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) went seven innings, his longest start for Texas since April 3. The right-hander, who missed most of May with a right groin strain, struck out five, walked one and gave up two runs on five hits.

YANKEES 6, DODGERS 4:  Trent Grisham hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Aaron Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera also went deep and New York rallied for a victory over Los Angeles to prevent a three-game sweep in a series at Yankee Stadium viewed as a possible World Series preview.

Teoscar Hernández’s sixth-inning homer, his third of the series, had given the Dodgers a 3-2 lead against Luis Gil, one inning after the rookie allowed Mookie Betts’ tying two-run double with two outs.

ORIOLES 9, RAYS 2: Grayson Rodriguez took a perfect game into the sixth inning, Adley Rutschman hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, and Baltimore won in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Anthony Santander also homered for the Orioles, who lead the majors with 102. Baltimore has taken the first three-games of the four-game set, and have won 13 of 17 overall.

METS 6, PHILLIES 5: Catcher Luis Torrens turned Nick Castellanos’ bases-loaded slow roller in front of the plate into a game-ending double play, and New York hung on to beat Philadelphia  for a split of their two-game London Series.

New York rallied from a 4-3 ninth-inning deficit against José Alvarado (1-3), who blew a save for the second time in 13 chances.

MARINERS 6, ROYALS 5: Julio Rodríguez hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, Cal Raleigh added a two-run single and visiting Seattle held off Kansas City to avoid getting swept for the first time this season.

TIGERS 10, BREWERS 2: Jake Rogers hit a three-run homer to cap an eight-run fifth inning, Tarik Skubal earned his eighth win of the season and Detroit rolled to a win at home.

Skubal (8-1) allowed one run and five hits while striking out 10 in 6 2/3 innings. The strikeout total was his second-highest this season. He fanned 12 against the New York Yankees on May 5.

CUBS 4, REDS 2: Ian Happ drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the first inning and Shota Imanaga had another strong start as visiting Chicago ended the Cincinnati’s seven-game winning streak.

Imanaga (6-1) has allowed 12 runs (eight earned) over his past two starts. On Sunday, he allowed two earned runs in 6 2/3 with a walk and seven strikeouts.

NATIONALS 8, BRAVES 5: Keibert Ruiz homered as part of a seven-run fourth inning and Washington won at home.

Atlanta has dropped four of five and at 35-28 is nine games behind Philadelphia in the NL East. It is the first time the Braves are as few as seven games over .500 since being 12-5 on April 17.

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