AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Gordon Beckham hit a home run and had two RBIs as John Danks recovered from his worst inning of the season to help the Chicago White Sox win their ninth game in a row, 8-7 over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
Danks (9-7) gave up six runs on six hits in the second inning, but only allowed three hits in his other five scoreless innings and the White Sox did all the little things right to push the slumping Twins 4.5 games behind them in the AL Central.
Bobby Jenks picked up his 20th save in 21 chances. He struck out Orlando Hudson with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, then gave up an RBI-single to Delmon Young in the ninth before getting Jim Thome looking to end the game.
Chicago perfectly executed four hit-and-runs, bunted runners over and played superb defense for their 26th win in the last 31 games.
RANGERS 7, RED SOX 2
In Boston, Josh Hamilton had three doubles to take over the major league batting lead and help Texas get off to a quick start in the second half by beating Boston.
Hamilton improved his average to .351 before leaving in the seventh inning with soreness in his right knee.
Nelson Cruz and Vladimir Guerrero also had three hits, and Bengie Molina homered in the six-run first inning to help the Rangers halt a four-game losing streak.
Tommy Hunter (6-0) held Boston to five hits before leaving with a 7-2 lead with two outs in the seventh.
J.D. Drew and Bill Hall homered for Boston, who have lost six of their last eight games.
ANGELS 8, MARINERS 3
In Anaheim, California, Erick Aybar and Bobby Abreu drove in three runs apiece, Joel Pineiro won his seventh straight decision as the Los Angeles Angels returned from hosting the All-Star game with an 8-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Howie Kendrick had a run-scoring double for the Angels, who stumbled into the break with eight losses in 10 games, including a 1-6 road trip on which they were outscored 44-14.
Los Angeles pounded out 16 hits against the Mariners, with every starter except All-Star cleanup hitter Torii Hunter getting at least one.
All-Star Ichiro Suzuki hit a three-run double and threw out the speedy Aybar at the plate for the last-place Mariners, who have lost 10 of 12 games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Jair Jurrjens gave up only one run, rookie Jason Heyward made two strong defensive plays in his return from an injury as the Inlanta Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Thursday.
Martin Prado and Chipper Jones hit home runs in the third inning off Dave Bush (4-7).
Corey Hart’s 22nd homer gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It was the only run allowed by Jurrjens, who gave up five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings.
GIANTS 2, METS 0
In San Francisco, Tim Lincecum pitched a six-hitter for his fourth career shutout and Pablo Sandoval hit an RBI double to help the San Francisco Giants open the second half of the season with a victory over the New York Mets.
Lincecum (10-4) is coming off his third straight trip to the All-Star game, but was able to start the first game after the break because he was not used in Tuesday night’s game in Anaheim.
The Giants fans who may have been disappointed not to see their two-time Cy Young winner appear in the All-Star game were more than happy to see him dominate in a matchup that counts in the standings for the Giants.
They cheered loudly when he was sent to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning and he responded by slapping a single to left field.
He then finished the Mets off on the mound with a perfect ninth for his first shutout since throwing a two-hitter against St Louis on June 29 last year.
San Francisco has won eight of 10 games following a seven-game losing streak.
The Mets’ only real threat against Lincecum came in the fifth inning when Josh Thole hit a line drive through the box that glanced off Lincecum’s back for a single. That put runners on first and second with no outs.
However, Lincecum retired the next three hitters, getting Angel Pagan on a flyout to right field with runners on second and third to escape the jam.
CARDINALS 7, DODGERS 1
In St Louis, Chris Carpenter allowed four hits in eight innings to improve to 6-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers as St Louis chased an off-kilter Clayton Kershaw early.
Allen Craig had two RBIs without a hit off Kershaw (9-5), who issued consecutive walks on 11 pitches to start the Cardinals’ two-run first, meriting a quick visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.
Carpenter (10-3) struck out six with no walks.
CUBS 12, PHILLIES 6
In Chicago, Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of two-run doubles, and Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto each had two-run homers to lead Chicago to a win over Philadelphia.
Alfonso Soriano also hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who scored nine of their 12 runs with two outs.
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster allowed two runs on six hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. Dempster (8-7) rebounded after allowing a long two-run homer to Ryan Howard in the first inning.
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