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Highlights from MLB games on Thursday

[September 23, 2016] Sept 22 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Thursday:

Red Sox 5, Orioles 3

Andrew Benintendi lined a tiebreaking single in the fifth, Hanley Ramirez added a solo homer, and David Price threw seven solid innings as the Boston Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Red Sox (89-64) improved their American League East lead over the idle Toronto Blue Jays to 5-1/2 games while Baltimore (82-71) fell seven games back and are in a tight battle with the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros for the second AL wild card.

Indians 5, Royals 2

Carlos Santana's three-run home run in the sixth inning broke a tie and lifted the Cleveland Indians to a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

The Indians reduced their magic number for clinching the American League Central Division title to four.

Reliever Dan Otero (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings of one-hit relief with two strikeouts to get the win. Closer Cody Allen pitched the ninth inning to earn his 29th save.

Tigers 9, Twins 2 (1st game)

Justin Upton hit his 26th home run of the year and Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning as the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 9-2 in the first game of a doubleheader.

The game was a makeup of Wednesday's rain-shortened game, which was postponed in the bottom of the third inning. There was no score before it was called.

Upton's seventh inning homer came off Twins reliever Alex Wimmers and broke a 1-1 tie. Detroit then scored six runs in the ninth.

Tigers 4, Twins 2 (2nd game)

Justin Verlander pitched six strong innings as the Detroit Tigers completed a doubleheader of the Minnesota Twins with a 4-2 victory.

The Tigers (82-70) swept the three-game series and thanks to the Baltimore Orioles getting swept by the Boston Red Sox, they now own sole possession of the second American League wild-card spot with a half-game lead on the Orioles.

Toronto (83-69) are 1-1/2 games in front of Detroit.

Giants 2, Padres 1

Jeff Samardzija threw seven scoreless innings and the San Francisco Giants scored twice in the eighth to beat the San Diego Padres.

Samardzija (12-10) surrendered four hits and tied a season high with nine strikeouts with zero walks.

San Francisco kept pace with the New York Mets for the National League wild-card lead, one-half game ahead of St. Louis.

Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence drove in San Francisco's runs.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 4

Yasmani Grandal homered twice, including a go-ahead grand slam, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 7-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Grandal ripped a slam in the seventh off reliever Boone Logan (2-4), who served up four runs and three walks.

Grandal went 4-for-4 with five RBIs as the first-place Dodgers (87-66) remained five games ahead of the second-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

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Luis Avilan (3-0) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Closer Kenley Jansen struck out two and recorded his 46th save with a perfect ninth.

The Dodgers' magic number to win the division is four games.

Rays 2, Yankees 0

The Tampa Bay Rays avoided a sweep with a 2-0 win over the New York Yankees, who are trying to keep their postseason hopes alive in a wild-card logjam.

Rays rookie Blake Snell (6-8) threw five shutout innings, and former Yankees pitcher Chase Whitley threw 2-2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Yankees (79-73) went into the game 2-1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second American League wild card.

Mets 9, Phillies 8 (11 innings)

Asdrubal Cabrera's three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning Thursday night capped a wild back-and-forth game and lifted the New York Mets to a dramatic 9-8 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The win ensured the Mets remained at least tied for the top National League wild-card standings.

New York entered Thursday in a three-way tie for the two wild cards with the San Francisco Giants, who played the San Diego Padres and the idle St. Louis Cardinals.

Angels 2, Astros 0

Ricky Nolasco worked seven shutout innings and Albert Pujols' first-inning home run stood as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Houston Astros.

Nolasco (7-14) produced his third scoreless outing for the Angels (67-86) since being acquired from the Twins on Aug. 1.

He allowed five hits and one walk with five strikeouts to follow the six scoreless innings he tossed at the Blue Jays on Saturday.

Pujols blasted his 31st home run off Astros right-hander Mike Fiers (11-8) with one out in the first inning.

Brewers 3, Pirates 1

Scooter Gennett and Chris Carter homered while Chase Anderson struck out six as the Milwaukee Brewers avoided a sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Anderson (9-11) worked into the sixth inning and held the Pirates to a run on four hits with a walk, with the only run from a solo home run by Francisco Cervelli in the fifth inning.

Braves 6, Marlins 3

Matt Kemp slugged two home runs and had three RBIs as the Atlanta Braves won their sixth game in a row, defeating the Miami Marlins.

Kemp, acquired from the San Diego Padres on July 30, leads the Braves with 33 homers and 104 RBIs.

Atlanta's Freddie Freeman, who drove in two runs, extended his hit streak to 26 games. It's the longest active hit streak in the majors and the longest by a Braves player since Dan Uggla had a run of 33 in 2011.

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