OAKLAND, Calif. — Coco Crisp and Stephen Vogt homered, A.J. Griffin struck out seven in seven innings, and the Oakland Athletics completed a three-game sweep of fellow playoff contender Tampa Bay with a 5-1 victory Sunday.
After Crisp led off the bottom of the first with a home run, James Loney tied it with his own longball in the top of the second. Griffin (12-9) settled in after that to win his second straight outing following a four-start winless stretch.
Griffin allowed one run on five hits and walked one.
Alex Torres (4-1) — the first of six Rays relievers — pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief, giving up a go-ahead RBI single to Brandon Moss in the third.
TWINS 4, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas — Kevin Correia pitched seven strong innings and the Twins clinched their first series victory at Texas in four years, beating the AL West-leading Rangers.
Correia (9-10) allowed one run and scattered five hits. The right-hander struck out two and got 14 outs on the ground, including a pair of double plays.
Rangers starter Travis Blackley (2-2) was gone after giving up three consecutive run-scoring hits with one out in the fifth.
Mitch Moreland and A.J. Pierzynski homered for the Rangers, who had finished August with an AL-best 20-7 record.
ORIOLES 7, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK — J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones hit three-run homers in the seventh inning as the Orioles suddenly broke loose, jolting the Yankees to avert a sweep in a matchup of wild-card contenders.
Shut out on three singles Saturday, the Orioles were blanked by Andy Pettitte for six innings before their seven-run rally against the 41-year-old lefty and a faltering bullpen.
Michael Morse lined a leadoff single against Pettitte to begin the comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Acquired from Seattle on Friday, he got two hits in his Baltimore debut.
Hardy’s shot against Shawn Kelley (4-2) glanced off the glove of right fielder Curtis Granderson and put the Orioles ahead 4-3.
Rookie Kevin Gausman (2-3) pitched two scoreless innings after starter Wei-Yin Chen walked a career-high five.
INDIANS 4, TIGERS 0
DETROIT — Mike Aviles hit a grand slam in the ninth inning that lifted Cleveland to a win over the Tigers.
The AL Central leaders had won seven straight against second-place Cleveland.
Joe Smith (6-2) got the win after giving up one hit and a walk in the eighth, keeping the Tigers scoreless after Danny Salazar’s strong start.
Joaquin Benoit (4-1) gave up Aviles’ slam after intentionally walking Jason Kubel to load the bases.
Detroit rested banged-up star Miguel Cabrera for a second straight game.
ROYALS 5, BLUE JAYS 0
TORONTO — James Shields pitched seven innings of three-hit ball to win his fourth straight decision, Eric Hosmer drove in two runs and the Royals beat the Blue Jays to avoid a three-game sweep.
The Royals won for the sixth time in eight games. They are 5½ games behind Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card race.
Former Blue Jays infielder Emilio Bonifacio had two hits, scored twice and stole two bases for the Royals. Shields (10-8) improved to 4-0 with a 1.53 ERA in his past five starts. The right-hander walked one and matched a season-high with nine strikeouts.
Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ (3-5) lost his third straight start, allowing five runs, three earned, and six hits in four innings.
RED SOX 7, WHITE SOX 6
BOSTON — David Ortiz continued to rebound from a miserable stretch with two hits and three RBIs, leading the Red Sox to a win over the White Sox that completed a three-game sweep.
Stephen Drew added a solo homer for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the seventh time in eight games.
Ortiz is 5 for 9 with six RBIs since going hitless in his previous 23 at-bats.
Brandon Workman (4-2) got four outs for the victory after starter Felix Doubront couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning.
Tyler Flowers had a solo homer and Conor Gillaspie drove in two runs for the White Sox.
Boston had opened a 5-0 lead after three innings against starter Andre Rienzo (1-1).
ASTROS 2, MARINERS 0
HOUSTON — Rookie Brett Oberholtzer pitched a four-hitter and Jason Castro hit an RBI double in the eighth inning, lifting the Astros to a win over Seattle.
The 24-year-old Oberholtzer (4-1) struck out five and walked one. He did not allow an extra-base hit in his sixth career start and ninth appearance to lower his ERA to 2.79.
Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma scattered six hits and struck out seven. It was the third time in four starts that he’d pitched seven innings.
Charlie Furbush (2-5) took over for Iwakuma in the eighth and Jose Altuve greeted him with a double that rolled into the corner of right field. Castro followed with a ground-rule double to give Houston the lead.
CARDINALS 7, PIRATES 2
PITTSBURGH — Matt Holliday and David Freese drove in two runs apiece, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 on Sunday to move back into a tie for the NL Central lead.
Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and Shane Robinson added two hits each for St. Louis, which jumped on Pittsburgh rookie Kris Johnson (0-2) early to snap a three-game skid.
Joe Kelly (7-3) allowed one run and four hits in six solid innings to win his fourth straight start. Kelly struck out five and walked two to remain unbeaten since June 5.
DODGERS 2, PADRES 1
LOS ANGELES — Zack Greinke allowed one run over seven innings, Yasiel Puig homered in the sixth and Los Angeles beat San Diego to complete a three-game sweep.
The NL West leaders earned their 10th sweep of the season and first against San Diego. They extended their roll from August, when the Dodgers went 23-6 for their most wins in a month since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.
Greinke (14-3) won his sixth straight start for the first time since winning nine in a row over the 2008-09 seasons. The right-hander gave up two hits, struck out seven and walked two. Greinke, who came in batting .340, also singled with two outs in the fifth.
Puig hit his 14th homer on the first pitch he saw from Dale Thayer (2-5) in the sixth, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. The sellout crowd of 52,168 cheered the 22-year-old Cuban defector on Cuban Heritage Day.
Kenley Jansen struck out two in the ninth for his 24th save in 27 chances.
ROCKIES 7, REDS 4
DENVER — Todd Helton doubled for his 2,500th career hit, Michael Cuddyer homered among his four hits and Colorado overcame the loss of starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood to beat Cincinnati.
Helton became the 96th player in major league history to reach 2,500 hits. Cuddyer went 4 for 4 with three RBIs.
Shin-Soo Choo homered and had three hits for the Reds. Chris Heisey was 4 for 4.
The Rockies broke it open in the fifth against starter Mike Leake (11-6). DJ LeMahieu’s two-run double snapped a 2-all tie, Troy Tulowitzki walked and Cuddyer doubled to make it 5-2.
GIANTS 8, d-backs 2
PHOENIX — Yusmeiro Petit struck out a career-high 10, Hector Sanchez drove in three runs and San Francisco beat Arizona to take two of three from the Diamondbacks.
Hunter Pence homered, doubled and singled, driving in two runs and scoring three times as the Giants improved to 10-5 against Arizona this season.
Patrick Corbin (13-5), pitching on two extra days of rest, allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings to fall to 1-4 in his last seven starts.
Petit (2-0), who pitched for the Diamondbacks from 2007-09, went six-plus innings, allowing two runs and seven hits in his first career start against Arizona. He also singled in a run, his second career RBI.
MARLINS 7, BRAVES 0
ATLANTA — Nathan Eovaldi combined with Steve Cishek on an eight-hit shutout, Jeff Mathis homered and drove in three runs, and Miami beat Atlanta to stop a six-game losing streak.
Ed Lucas had a two-run single and Mathis added a two-run double in the Marlins’ five-run third inning.
Eovaldi (3-5) halted Miami’s skid and his personal five-game slide by earning his first win since July 12 against Washington. He gave up seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts in eight innings, his longest start of the season.
Cishek got the final three outs.
Braves rookie Alex Wood (3-3) yielded seven runs and eight hits in 2 1-3 innings as Atlanta’s six-game winning streak ended.
Veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia, called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, replaced Wood and threw 4 2-3 scoreless innings.
CUBS 7, PHILLIES 1
CHICAGO — Jake Arrieta allowed three hits while pitching into the seventh inning and Welington Castillo drove in two runs to lead Chicago over Philadelphia.
Acquired from Baltimore on July 2, Arrieta (2-1) worked around three walks in 6 2-3 innings. Three relievers combined for 2 1-3 shutout innings to give the Cubs their first consecutive home wins since a stretch of three straight July 6-9.
Darin Ruf homered for the Phillies. Kyle Kendrick (10-12) yielded five runs and eight hits in six innings.
NATIONALS 6, METS 5
WASHINGTON — Jayson Werth’s two-out RBI double in the eighth inning capped a late rally and Washington avoided a series sweep with a win over New York.
The Nationals trailed 5-2 entering the seventh, but scored once in that inning on Wilson Ramos’ run-scoring single and added three in the eighth.
The victory moved Washington within 6½ games of Cincinnati for the final National League wild card berth. The Reds lost at Colorado 7-4 on Sunday.
ANGELS 5, BREWERS 3
MILWAUKEE — J.B. Shuck hit a three-run double in the seventh inning to rally the Los Angeles Angels past Milwaukee for a three-game sweep.
Mike Trout tripled and doubled among his three hits to help the Angels finish an 8-1 road trip. They have won eight in a row against the Brewers in Milwaukee, dating to 1997.
By wire sources