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Highlights of Sunday's MLB games

[August 01, 2016] July 31 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Sunday's Major League Baseball games.

Orioles 6, Blue 2

Jonathan Schoop broke in a tie with an RBI single in the 12th inning, Adam Jones added a three-run homer in that inning and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Sunday to regain first place in the American League East.

The win ended a five-game losing streak for the Orioles and put them a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays.

Left-hander Franklin Morales (0-1) walked Pedro Alvarez to open the 12th inning. He committed a balk on a pickoff throw to first and Alvarez was awarded second base. Alvarez scored when Schoop singled to left with one out. J.J. Hardy then walked and Jesse Chavez replaced Morales.

Indians 8, Athletics 0

Corey Kluber pitched seven scoreless innings and Mike Napoli homered to lead Cleveland over Oakland to sweep the three-game series.

Kluber (10-8) gave up five hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Oakland starter Sonny Gray came into the game with a record of 2-0 and a 0.64 ERA in four career starts against the Indians. But Gray (5-10) was removed from the game after 3 1/3 innings, having given up seven runs and eight hits. His 5.43 ERA, which was already the highest in the American League, climbed several more points to 5.84.

Marlins 5, Cardinals 4

Adeiny Hechavarria scored from first on a two-out triple by Derek Dietrich in the bottom of the ninth inning as Miami rallied to defeat St. Louis

Until he scored the winning run Hechavarria had been the Marlins' goat due to a throwing error in the eighth. But with none on in the ninth, he fouled off several pitches before hitting a single on a 3-2 pitch from Matt Bowman. Hechavarria then scored on Dietrich's triple that deflected off the glove of center fielder Tommy Pham.

Mets 6, Rockies 4

Neil Walker hit a long go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning as New York avoided being swept in the season series by Colorado.

The Mets won for just the second time in the last seven games to remain 2 1/2 games behind the Miami Marlins in the race for the National League's second wild card, but it may have been a costly victory. Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who has played in a team-high 100 games, had to be helped off the field after suffering a strained left patellar tendon while scoring a run in the first inning.

Rangers 5, Royals 3

Mitch Moreland hit his fourth homer of the four-game series against Kansas City as Texas completed a sweep.

The Rangers moved six games ahead of Houston in the American League West with the win, their largest lead since July 9. The Royals have now dropped eight of their last nine games.

Moreland's two-run homer in the fourth off Dillon Gee (3-5) gave the Rangers a 4-1 lead and enough cushion for Lucas Harrell (3-2) and the Texas bullpen to get the job done.

Tigers 11, Astros 0

Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs worth three runs in a four-RBI day, James McCann belted his first career grand slam and five Detroit pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout and the second straight sweep of a three-game series.

Cabrera hit his 22nd home run of the season with nobody on and one out in the fifth off Dallas Keuchel (6-11) and added his 23rd after reliever Scott Feldman hit Cameron Maybin with a pitch to open the seventh. Justin Upton hit his 13th home run of the season with two outs and the bases empty in the seventh.

Rays 5, Yankees 3

Hours after trading away reliever Andrew Miller to the Indians, New York's struggles continued, as last-place Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep.

Rays rookie Blake Snell (3-4) struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings, and the deciding runs came on a two-out, two-run single from catcher Luke Maile after the Yankees intentionally walked the No. 8 hitter in the Rays' lineup. The Rays matched their season high with a four-game win streak, while the Yankees are back at .500 after dropping their fourth straight.

Twins 6, White Sox 4

Brian Dozier homered twice and scored three runs as Minnesota beat Chicago.

Dozier's home runs came after the White Sox had cut the Twins' lead to 4-3 in the fourth inning. The first homer hit the facing of the third deck in left field, an estimated 421-foot shot, to put the Twins up by two.

Two innings later, Dozier added another insurance run by just clearing the fence in left field for a 6-3 lead. It marked the fourth career multi-homer game for Dozier. Three of those have been against the White Sox.

Braves 2, Phillies 1

Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run homer to the opposite field in the seventh inning as Atlanta beat Philadelphia.

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Jimmy Paredes homered in the eighth inning to draw the Phillies within a run, but Jim Johnson induced a double play after a leadoff walk in the ninth inning while recording his sixth save.

The Phillies had five hits against six Atlanta pitchers. Rookie Mauricio Cabrera (2-0) got credit for the victory after pitching the seventh inning.

Brewers 4, Pirates 2

Matt Garza allowed just one earned run in five innings and Milwaukee relievers pitched four hitless innings to stop Pittsburgh.

The Brewers won their ninth straight home game against the Pirates and are now 64-17 at against Pittsburgh at Miller Park since 2007.

Garza (2-4) allowed two runs on four hits through five innings.

Cubs 7, Mariners 6 (12 innings)

The Chicago Cubs rallied from an early six-run deficit, tied the game with three runs in the ninth and won it on pinch hitter Jon Lester's bunt in the 12th during a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Lester, a pitcher with an .051 career batting average, bunted on a 2-2 count with a runner at third base and one out. He perfectly placed the ball near the first base line, allowing Jason Heyward to score. Lester never previously appeared as a pinch hitter in his 11-year major league career.

Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Lee Dae-ho homered in the first three innings for the Mariners, who have lost 12 of 21. The Cubs won two of three in the weekend series.

Reds 3, Padres 2

Right-hander Homer Bailey won while making his first start in 15 months to lead Cincinnati to a 3-2 victory over San Diego in the rubber match of a three-game series at Petco Park.

Jose Peraza belted his first major league homer to pave the way for Cincinnati.

Bailey had made only two starts since April 2014 while undergoing two rounds of elbow surgery, including "Tommy John" surgery on May 8, 2015. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Dodgers 14, Diamondbacks 3

Los Angeles banged out 17 hits, including home runs by Yasmani Grandal, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, in a rout of Arizona at Dodger Stadium.

With speculation persisting that the Dodgers will acquire a starting pitcher before Monday's non-waiver trade deadline, right-hander Bud Norris lasted only 13 pitches before leaving the game with back muscle tightness.

The Dodgers had already shortened their rotation to four pitchers with a glut of three off days in an eight-day span ending Monday. At the same time, ace Clayton Kershaw (out since late June with a back injury) has not been cleared to start a throwing program, making the Dodgers a good bet to add someone like Tampa Bay's Chris Archer or Matt Moore by trade.

Giants 3, Nationals 1

Pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija came off the bench to tag-team on a key run, helping San Francisco salvage a four-game split with Washington in a victory in the series finale.

Matt Cain pitched five innings of no-hit ball for his 100th career win as a Giant.

Ahead just 1-0 and with his starter having already thrown 93 pitches, Giants manager Bruce Bochy elected to pinch hit for Cain in the fifth inning even though he had yet to allow a hit. The strategy paid dividends when Bumgarner, a .164 hitter entering the at-bat, doubled off the right-field fence off Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Red Sox 5, Angels 3

Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run home run and Xander Bogaerts followed with a solo blast to lead a five-run rally in the ninth inning that gave Boston a 5-3 win over Los Angeles Angels in front of 39,553 at Angel Stadium.

Right-hander Clay Buchholz earned the victory with three hitless innings of relief. Buchholz (4-9) permitted just one baserunner on a walk and collected one strikeout. Brad Ziegler received his second save.

The Red Sox used the win to close within 1 1/2 games of the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles. (Compiled by Peter Rutherford)

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