Mark Ellis scored on a ground ball back to the pitcher with one out in the ninth inning Sunday to give the Oakland Athletics a 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game sweep.
After Terrence Long flew out, Ellis hit a fly off Hector Carrasco (0-2) that appeared to bounce in and out of Melvin Mora's glove as he hit the left-field fence for a triple. Billy McMillon then was walked intentionally to set up a potential double play.
With runners on first and third and a drawn-in infield, late-game defensive replacement Ramon Hernandez hit a grounder to Carrasco, who turned and threw to second without looking at Ellis, coming down the third-base line, ending a well pitched game by both starters.
Baltimore's Jason Johnson pitched five-hit ball over 7 2-3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Keith Foukle (7-1) retired all three batters he faced.
Tigers 3, Red Sox 0
In Detroit, Wilfredo Ledezma pitched seven impressive innings and Dmitri Young homered as Detroit snapped Boston's five-game winning streak.
Acquired from the Red Sox in the winter meeting draft last December, Ledezma (3-2) scattered six hits, struck out two and walked none in his second career start. He has pitched 12 scoreless innings since joining Detroit's starting rotation on July 8.
After the first inning, in which the Red Sox got two hits, the only Boston batter to get as far as second base was Trot Nixon, who singled and stole second in the fifth.
Tim Wakefield (6-4) allowed just one hit in the first five innings. But that hit, a home run by Young in the fourth, put the Tigers ahead to stay.
White Sox 7, Indians 4
In Cleveland, Tony Graffanino hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as Chicago finished a disappointing first half with a win over Cleveland.
Graffanino's shot off Alex Herrera snapped a 4-4 tie,helped give the White Sox just their second win in seven games and handed Rafael Betancourt (0-1) a loss in his major league debut. Chicago is 45-49 entering the All-Star break.
Kerry Robinson tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 Sunday.
Both benches cleared in the first when Albert Pujols was hit in the shoulder blade by Adam Eaton, a day after Pujols lingered at the plate following his game-winning homer.
Eaton was immediately ejected, and Pujols, Padres catcher Gary Bennett and San Diego manager Bruce Bochy also were kicked out. During a brief confrontation Pujols punched Bennett in the face.
The Cardinals completed a three-game sweep, their fifth sweep in six series against San Diego. St. Louis is 29-4 against the Padres since the start of the 1999 season. St. Louis, the defending NL Central champions, entered the All-Star break at 49-45.
Jason Simontacchi (8-4) won in relief for the second day in a row, and Jason Isringhausen worked the ninth for his fifth save in six chances.
Mike Matthews (3-4) got the loss.
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