Athletics 9, Red Sox 0
At Oakland, California, Frank Thomas hit his 476th home run, Nick Swisher connected three batters later and Esteban Loaiza (8-7) completed a perfect August by allowing five hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision.
Pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton each drove in two runs for the AL West-leading A's, who increased their division lead to 6 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Angels.
National League
AP, NEW YORK
Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca drove in two runs apiece and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-3 on Monday for their ninth win in 10 games.
John Maine (4-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings for the Mets, who opened a season-high 15 1/2-game lead over the second-place Phillies in the National League East.
Marlins 4, Brewers 2
At Miami, Josh Johnson (12-6) lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.87, and Florida extended its winning streak to eight.
Dan Uggla hit his 20th homer and added a sacrifice fly for the Marlins (64-66), who had not been within two games of .500 since they were 1-3.
Pirates 11, Cubs 6
At Pittsburgh, Freddy Sanchez had three hits to raise his NL-leading batting average to .349.
Chris Duffy had three hits, three runs, two RBIs and a stolen base, and Ronny Paulino had three hits and two RBIs for Pittsburgh, which got 15 hits in the first five innings, took a 9-1 lead and stopped a three-game losing streak. The Pirates finished with 19 hits.
Diamondbacks 7, Padres 4
At Phoenix, pitching one day after the death of a close friend in a Kentucky plane crash, Brandon Webb (14-5) allowed three runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings,
Webb tied Chicago's Carlos Zambrano for most victories in the NL. Eric Byrnes, moved from leadoff to cleanup in the Arizona batting order, was 4-for-5 and drove in four runs.
Dodgers 6, Reds 5
At Los Angeles, Russell Martin hit a two-run homer and Jason Repko had a two-run single as Los Angeles built a 6-1 lead.
Andre Ethier also had three hits and Jeff Kent added an RBI double.
RSS