[July 03, 2014]July 2 (The Sports Xchange) -
Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball Games.
Indians 5, Dodgers 4
Left fielder Mike Aviles' two-run single in the eighth inning
rallied the Cleveland Indians to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
Right fielder Ryan Raburn tagged an 0-1 pitch from Hyun-Jin Ryu for
a two-run homer to give the Indians an early lead before Ryu's RBI
double sliced the deficit to 2-1 with two outs in the fifth inning.
After consecutive walks to second baseman Dee Gordon and catcher
A.J. Ellis, Ethier lined a two-run single to center to give the
Dodgers the lead.
It stood up until the eighth, when pinch-hitter David Murphy's
single to left scored Brantley to make it 3-3.
After an intentional walk to third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, Aviles
drove in Santana and Murphy with a base hit to right for a 5-3
advantage.
Right fielder Scott Van Slyke hit a solo home run in the bottom of
the eighth to pull the Dodgers within one.
- - -
Rays 6, Yankees 3
Sean Rodriguez drove in three runs as the surging Tampa Bay Rays
extended beat the New York Yankees 6-3.
Left fielder Brett Gardner had three hits, including an RBI single
in the fourth.
- - -
Mariners 5, Astros 2
Chris Young produced his fourth consecutive quality start as the
Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros.
Young (8-4) allowed just two hits, both solo home runs, in seven
innings, striking out a season-high eight batters.
Houston led 2-0 after homers by Marwin Gonzalez and Kiké Hernandez
but the Mariners (47-38) broke the game open with one big inning,
striking for four runs in the sixth.
- - -
Padres 3, Reds 0
Catcher Rene Rivera hit a three-run single in the first inning and
San Diego right-hander Tyson Ross shut out Cincinnati on three hits
as the Padres defeated the Reds 3-0.
Right fielder Chris Denorfia and third baseman Chase Headley hit
back-to-back, one-out singles in the first and Cueto walked first
baseman Tommy Medica to load the bases before Rivera hit a line
drive to right center where Billy Hamilton failed to make a diving
catch, scoring all three runners.
Ross (7-8) struck out nine and did not walk a batter.
- - -
Blue Jays 7, Brewers 4
Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth
as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4.
It was Encarnacion's 26th homer of the season.
Both managers, Milwaukee's Ron Roenicke and Toronto's John Gibbons,
were ejected in separate incidents in the bottom of the eighth.
The Blue Jays also had homers from designated hitter Jose Bautista
and third baseman Juan Francisco.
- - -
Royals 4, Twins 0
The Minnesota Twins fell to a 4-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals as
Jason Vargas threw seven shutout innings for the Royals, scattering
four singles and two walks, improving to 8-3 this season.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez led off the second inning with a
single and second baseman Omar Infante doubled into the seats down
the right field line to put two on.
Back-to-back RBI singles by third baseman Mike Moustakas and Jarrod
Dyson made it 2-0.
Kansas City added single runs in each the eighth and ninth innings,
including a solo homer by right fielder Raul Ibanez in the eighth.
- - -
Tigers 9, Athletics 3
A two-run single by Rajai Davis and a two-run double by Miguel
Cabrera highlighted a six-run sixth inning to help the Detroit
Tigers to a 9-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Justin Verlander (7-7) gave up nine hits in six innings, seven
coming in the first three.
Left fielder Davis grounded a two-run single then center fielder
Austin Jackson lined a single to right.
Second baseman Ian Kinsler single drove in Davis and Cabrera hit his
two-run double for an 8-2 Tigers lead.
- - -
Nationals 4, Rockies 3
Ian Desmond broke up a 3-3 tie with a solo homer in the seventh
inning as the Washington Nationals stormed back to beat the Colorado
Rockies 4-3.
It was the team-leading 15th homer of the season for Desmond and
Washington (46-38) are now a season-high eight games over .500 and
have won five games in a row. Colorado (36-49) have lost 14 of their
last 16 games.
Washington tied the score 3-3 with three runs in the fourth inning,
on a two-run homer by Werth and an RBI single by Desmond.
Charlie Morton pitched one-run ball over six innings and Gregory
Polanco helped stake him to an early lead with a double and a home
run as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1.
Morton (5-9) allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five.
Polanco, the rookie right fielder, doubled and scored in the first
inning and hit a two-run homer in the second as the Pirates took an
early 3-0 lead.
- - -
Marlins 5, Phillies 0
Right-hander Tom Koehler pitched six scoreless innings to lead the
Miami Marlins to a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Koehler (6-6) survived a rocky first inning to retire 15 consecutive
batters at one point and 18 of the last 20 he faced.
Koehler was supported by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who slugged
a two-run homer in the eighth inning , his eighth home run of the
season.
- - -
Braves 3, Mets 1
Julio Teheran allowed one run over seven innings and the Atlanta
Braves took advantage to run their winning streak to seven games
with a 3-1 victory.
The Braves made Chris Johnson's three-run double in the first inning
stand up as they completed a three-game series sweep.
Teheran (8-5) struck out five and walked three while throwing 110
pitches.
The victory was the ninth in 10 games for the Braves (47-38) and
kept them a half-game ahead of Washington for first place in the
National League East.
- - -
White Sox 3, Angels 2
Pinch hitter Leury Garcia's one-out single in the ninth inning
scored Alejandro De Aza and gave the Chicago White Sox a 3-2,
walk-off win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Garcia laced a single to left field off right-hander Michael Morin
(2-2) to end it.
Chicago led 2-0 after four before the Angels had solo home runs from
David Freese in the seventh and Josh Hamilton with two outs in the
eighth.
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Cubs 16, Red Sox 9
The last-place Chicago Cubs smacked four home runs and collected 19
hits in completing a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a
16-9 victory.
The sweep was the Cubbies' first three-gamer in interleague play
since 2009 and their first on the road since 2007 plus the series
win at Fenway, is their first since 1915.
Center fielder Justin Ruggiano, third baseman Mike Olt, catcher
Wellington Castillo and right fielder Nate Schierholtz all homered
and light-hitting second baseman Darwin Barney delivered four hits.
Ruggiano drove in five and had three hits in the onslaught.
- - -
Orioles 6, Rangers 4
Adam Jones and Ryan Flaherty homered and the Baltimore Orioles
rallied for a 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
Texas led 4-0 after three innings, but Baltimore rallied to tie the
game in the sixth.
Flaherty hit a go-ahead solo home run, his fourth, to the right
field flag court leading off the bottom of the seventh inning.
Jones went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and shortstop J.J. Hardy and
Flaherty each collected two hits.
- - -
Cardinals 2, Giants 0
St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright extracted a measure
of revenge against the San Francisco Giants, throwing 7 2/3 innings
of shutout ball in a 2-0 victory.
Wainwright became the National League's first 11-game winner.
Third baseman Matt Carpenter had three hits, including a run-scoring
single.
Wainwright, who was shelled for a season-worst seven runs in 4 1/3
innings in a 9-4 home loss to the Giants on May 30, dominated the
rematch until leaving the game with two on in the eighth.
- - - (Compiled by Ben Everill; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
