AMERICAN LEAGUE
REUTERS AND AP, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, AND TORONTO
An 11th inning single from Erick Aybar powered the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-1 road win over the cellar-dwelling Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Aybar drove in Torii Hunter from second base with his third hit of the game to end a classic pitchers’ duel and push the American League West-leading Angels (80-54) four-and-a-half games clear of the Texas Rangers.
Kansas City, mired at the bottom of the AL Central division with a 51-84 record, dropped to 23 games behind the Detroit Tigers.
Kevin Jepsen (5-3), who pitched the 10th inning, collected the win in relief of Angels starter John Lackey, who had held the Royals to a first-inning run and six hits in nine innings. He retired 17 consecutive batters at one point.
“They were pretty aggressive against me,” Lackey told reporters. “I was getting ahead with my fastball, locating my fastball really well, and I kind of rode it for three or four innings.”
Angels manager Mike Scioscia praised both his pitcher and Royals starter Zack Greinke.
“We’re not going to beat a guy like Greinke unless you’re pitching with them,” Scioscia said. “We were able to do that and then chipped away for a run, and the bullpen did a good job.”
Brian Fuentes earned the save, his 39th, by pitching the 11th inning for Los Angeles.
Yasuhiko Yabuta (0-1) gave up the winning hit to Aybar and took the loss.
Greinke shut out the Angels until the eighth inning when Hunter deadlocked the score with a two-out single. He struck out eight and walked two while giving up eight hits over eight innings.
“Their team’s good, they find a way to win,” said Greinke, who lowered his American League-leading earned run average to 2.22. “If some balls fell and we scored more, they’d have found a way to win probably. They’ve just got a really good team.”
Kansas City’s run came on Billy Butler’s single in the first.
YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 4
Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano homered to lead New York to a 6-4 win over Toronto on Saturday, extending their lead in the American League East division standings.
Both homers came off Toronto rookie pitcher Brett Cecil, who allowed seven hits in four-and-two-third innings.
Yankees veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte extended his unbeaten streak to eight starts despite not making it past the sixth inning in this one.
In other AL action, it was:
• Tigers 8, Rays 6
• White Sox 5, Red Sox 1
• Athletics 9, Mariners 5
• Orioles 5, Rangers 4
• Angels 2, Royals 1, 11 inns
• Twins 4, Indians 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, LOS ANGELES
Andre Ethier homered and doubled in a run as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-4 on Saturday, moving a step closer to sealing the NL West title.
Pitcher Randy Wolf earned his 100th major league victory. He allowed four hits in seven innings, striking out five with no walks while becoming the first pitcher in the majors this season to make 30 starts.
The left-hander, whose season has included 14 no-decisions, retired his final 13 batters.
The Dodgers retained a four-and-a-half game lead in the NL West with 25 to play.
GIANTS 3, BREWERS 2
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Matt Cain outpitched Yovani Gallardo for his first win in more than six weeks and San Francisco edged Milwaukee.
Gallardo gave up a homer to spark a two-run rally in the fourth inning and the Giants went on to win, staying one game behind Colorado in the wild card race.
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