OAKLAND, Calif. — Adam Dunn provided instant pop for the struggling Athletics, hitting a towering, two-run homer in his first at-bat for Oakland to highlight a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Acquired a day earlier in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, Dunn became the 12th player in Oakland history to homer in his first at-bat with the team.
Dunn homered off Chris Young (12-7) during a five-run first inning. His drive was a welcome sight for a team that just got swept in a four-game series by the AL West-leading Angels and was shut out for 29 straight innings.
Jason Hammel (2-5) allowed three hits in eight innings.
NATIONALS 6, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES — Denard Span hit two of Washington’s four homers, Gio Gonzalez got his first victory of the second half and the Nationals beat the Dodgers in a matchup of division leaders.
The East-leading Nationals (78-58) own the NL’s best record while the Dodgers (77-61) are atop the West and close behind in pursuit of the top seed, despite losing for the third time in four games.
Gonzalez (7-9) allowed three runs and three hits in six-plus innings. The left-hander was 0-5 with a 4.38 ERA in his previous nine games.
Rafael Soriano pitched a shaky ninth to earn his 31st save.
Roberto Hernandez (2-2) gave up five runs and five hits — including a career-high four homers — in 4 1/3 innings for the Dodgers.
ROYALS 4, RANGERS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Salvador Perez homered and drove in three runs, and the Royals snapped a three-game losing streak.
Perez, who had three hits, went deep in the third with Alex Gordon aboard. His two-out double in the first scored Gordon, who had singled and swiped second.
Yordano Ventura (11-9) allowed three runs, two earned, and five hits in 6 1/3 innings for Kansas City. The right-hander, who was skipped on his previous turn in the rotation due to a sore back, struck out seven and walked four.
Greg Holland struck out two in a perfect ninth, earning his 41st save in 43 chances.
Colby Lewis (9-12) pitched seven innings for Texas, yielding four runs and nine hits.
TWINS 6, ORIOLES 4
BALTIMORE — Joe Mauer drove in four runs, Phil Hughes held Baltimore without an earned run over eight innings and the Twins avoided a four-game sweep.
Nelson Cruz hit his major-league leading 36th home run and Nick Hundley had a three-run shot for the AL East-leading Orioles, who lost for only the second time in eight games.
Hughes (15-9) gave up five hits, no walks and three unearned runs. Glen Perkins gave up a leadoff homer to Cruz in the ninth before getting three straight outs for his 33rd save.
Kevin Gausman (7-8) took the loss.
TIGERS 12, INDIANS 1
CLEVELAND — David Price bounced back from an alarming start and Miguel Cabrera homered twice, hitting one of Detroit’s three homers off Cleveland’s Corey Kluber.
Price (13-10) gave up one run and eight hits in seven innings. The left-hander was coming off a troubling loss to New York in which he allowed nine consecutive hits in one inning and eight runs over two.
Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Kluber (13-9) and Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez connected for consecutive shots in the third. Cabrera homered again in the eighth off rookie Bryan Price. He went 4 for 5 with three runs and three RBIs.
RAYS 4, RED SOX 3, 10 INNINGS
ST. PETERBURG, Fla. — Matt Joyce hit an RBI single in the 10th inning to help Tampa Bay salvage a split of a four-game series with Boston.
Ryan Hanigan opened the 10th with a double off Burke Badenhop (0-3), which withstood a replay review. Kevin Kiermaier was intentionally walked before Ben Zobrist had a sacrifice bunt. After Wil Myers was given an intentional walk, pinch-runner Sean Rodriquez, who ran for Hanigan, scored on Joyce’s hit.
Grant Balfour (2-6) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
ROCKIES 10, GIANTS 9
GIANTS 4, ROCKIES 2
DENVER — Charlie Blackmon lined a two-out single in the ninth inning off Sergio Romo, helping the Rockies stop the Giants’ six-game win streak on a long day at Coors Field.
Earlier in the day, the Giants broke away from a tie and beat Colorado 4-2 in a game that resumed after it was suspended May 22 in the sixth inning because of rain.
In the regularly scheduled game, Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins (3-2) blew a save in the top of the ninth. In the bottom half, Mike McKenry led off with a single up the middle off Romo (5-4). McKenry scored from third when Blackmon’s hit fell near the right-field line.
Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer for the Giants. Pence also came up big hours earlier, when his tiebreaking double in the eighth led the Giants to the victory in the suspended game.
The earlier game of the day restarted tied at 2 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and a runner on first. Jeremy Affeldt (4-2) struck out Josh Rutledge to end the inning.
Christian Friedrich (0-4) took the loss.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 2
CHICAGO — Welington Castillo homered and drove in three runs, Luis Valbuena also hit a home run and the Cubs sent Milwaukee to its sixth straight loss.
Rookie sensation Jorge Soler had two doubles in his home debut for the Cubs.
Soler became just the third player in the last 100 years to have at least one extra-base hit in each of his first five games in the majors. Will Middlebrooks did it for Boston in 2012 and Enos Slaughter for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1938.
Jacob Turner (5-8) won in his second start for Chicago after being acquired from Miami last month. Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances.
Jimmy Nelson (2-6), called up from the minors to make the start, took the loss.
MARLINS 9, METS 6
MIAMI — Giancarlo Stanton hit his 34th home run and the Miami Marlins scored three runs in the eighth inning to beat the New York Mets.
Miami took advantage of some wildness by reliever Jeurys Familia (2-4) in the eighth. Familia had two throwing errors and a wild pitch.
Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez left in the third inning with a left oblique strain. A.J. Ramos (6-0) pitched a scoreless eighth and Steve Cishek pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 36 chances.
Dilson Herrera, a 20-year-old second baseman who is the youngest player in the majors and the only one to jump from Single-A to the big leagues, hit his first career home run and first career triple while driving in three runs for the Mets.
PADRES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1
SAN DIEGO — Cory Spangenberg had a two-run single for his first big league hit and Tyson Ross pitched six strong innings to lead the San Diego Padres over Arizona.
Spangenberg, the team’s first-round pick in the 2011 draft, had his contract selected from Double-A San Antonio and started at third base. He came up with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning and singled to right off reliever Eury De La Rosa for a 3-0 lead.
Ross (13-12) allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked two. Kevin Quackenbush struck out the side in the ninth for his second save in three chances.
Trevor Cahill (3-10) took the loss.