[August 14, 2014]Aug 13 (The Sports Xchange) -
Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games.
Royals 3, Athletics 0
Jason Vargas threw a three-hitter and second baseman Omar Infante
hit a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals shut out the Oakland
Athletics 3-0.
Vargas, who gave up two hits in the first, retired the final 23
batters. It was his 11th career complete game and his sixth shutout.
The Royals (65-54) have won 12 of 14 and remain in first place in
the American League Central, a half-game in front of the Detroit
Tigers.
Infante, Kansas City's second baseman, homered in the third inning
for a 2-0 lead.
- - -
Orioles 5, Yankees 3
Adam Jones hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning to
lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-3 victory over the New York
Yankees.
Jones' homer off Shawn Kelley (2-4) came four batters after Jonathan
Schoop tied the score with a solo shot off Dellin Betances.
Darren O'Day (4-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and
left-hander Zach Britton allowed a run on a fielder's choice to
Chase Headley in the ninth but still picked up his 25th save.
- - -
Red Sox 3, Reds 2
Mike Napoli hit a two-run home run and Anthony Ranaudo pitched six
innings to earn his second career victory to lead Boston to a 3-2
win over Cincinnati.
Skip Schumaker and pitcher Mike Leake homered for the Reds, who have
lost nine of 10 regular-season meetings with the Red Sox.
Ranaudo (2-0) was making his second major league start. He allowed
four earned runs on eight hits including two homers in six innings.
- - -
Twins 3, Astros 1
Kyle Gibson carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Joe Mauer
homered to break a scoreless game in the sixth inning to carry
Minnesota over Houston 3-1.
Gibson (11-9) allowed six hits and walked two while striking out
four in 7 2/3 innings, losing his shutout bid when Chris Carter
blooped a two-out single into shallow left field to score Jose
Altuve.
Mauer finished 2-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
- - -
Padres 5, Rockies 3
Jedd Gyorko had four hits and rookies Rymer Liriano and Abraham
Almonte homered as San Diego completed a three-game sweep of
Colorado, winning 5-3.
Gyorko opened the fifth inning with a double and scored two batters
later on Yasmani Grandal's sacrifice fly to break a 3-3 tie. Almonte
hit his first homer as a Padre an inning later.
- - -
Cardinals 5, Marlins 2
Justin Masterson pitched seven scoreless innings and added a
run-scoring single as St. Louis beat the Miami Marlins 5-2.
Masterson (2-1) had allowed 10 runs in eight innings in his first
two performances for the Cardinals after being acquired from
Cleveland late last month but was much better against Miami,
allowing just three hits, all singles, and no walks.
St. Louis opened the scoring in the third inning when Matt Adams
stroked a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run single.
- - -
Indians 3, Diamondbacks 2 (doubleheader opener)
Zach Walters' home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth
inning gave Cleveland a 3-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader.
Walters hit a 1-2 pitch from Randall Delgado (1-3) over the right
field wall to end the game.
Both starters pitched well early. Arizona's Vidal Nuno struck out
five of the first six batters he faced and held the Indians
scoreless on two hits through five innings.
Cleveland's Trevor Bauer held the Diamondbacks hitless and scoreless
through the first five innings, facing the minimum 15 batters.
Nick Castellanos blasted a go-ahead home run and an RBI triple, and
Victor Martinez drove in three runs as the Detroit Tigers snapped a
four-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Martinez, the designated hitter, had three hits, and catcher Alex Avila
added a solo home run for Detroit (64-54).
Left fielder Travis Snider hit a two-run home run for Pittsburgh (64-56)
and Pirates catcher Russell Martin had an RBI double for his 1,000th
career hit.
- - -
Braves 3, Dodgers 2
Craig Kimbrel induced a double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in
the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves ended a seven-game losing
streak to the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-2 win.
Ervin Santana struck out nine in six innings, first baseman Freddie
Freeman went 2-for-3, and the Braves (61-59) won for just the third time
in their past 14 games overall.
Kimbrel got his 35th save in 39 chances when right fielder Matt Kemp hit
into a double play.
- - -
Nationals 3, Mets 2
Washington took the lead with a pair of sacrifice flies in the seventh
inning and went on defeat New York 3-2 in a sloppy game.
The Nationals trailed 1-0 entering the seventh when Adam LaRoche hit a
leadoff double. He went to third on a single by Ian Desmond, who
advanced to second on an errant throw back to the infield by center
fielder Juan Lagares.
LaRoche scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Harper. Two batters later,
Kevin Frandsen broke the deadlock with another sacrifice fly. Asdrubal
Cabrera provided a vital insurance run with a solo homer in the eighth.
- - -
Cubs 4, Brewers 2
Rookie Javier Baez hit his first Wrigley Field home run while first
baseman Anthony Rizzo added his 27th homer of the season as the Chicago
Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.
It was a rough night for Brewers right-handed starter Kyle Lohse (11-7),
who worked three innings, gave up four runs and departed after tweaking
his right ankle.
The victory was the second straight for the Cubs (52-67) while the NL
Central-leading Brewers (66-55) lost for the second time in three games.
- - -
Rays 10, Rangers 1
Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer mowed down batters and the Rays pounded
out three home runs in a 10-1 rout of the Texas Rangers.
Archer took the mound in the first inning with the lead and never looked
back, striking out a career-high 12 batters and allowing four hits in
seven innings.
Tampa Bay racked up 12 hits, with four starters driving in at least two
runs each. Designated hitter Matt Joyce, second baseman Sean Rodriguez
and left fielder Brandon Guyer each hit home runs off Texas starter
Miles Mikolas.
