AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas’ Mike Napoli homered twice against his former team as the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-2 on Saturday in a clash of the American League West division’s two top teams.
Napoli, Yorvit Torrealba and Adrian Beltre homered during Texas’ five-run second inning, chasing struggling Angels starter Ervin Santana (4-10) after just 13 batters.
Photo: Reuters
Texas starter Yu Darvish (11-6) struck out 11 over seven strong innings as the Rangers opened a six-game lead in the AL West.
ATHLETICS 2, YANKEES 1
In Oakland, Brandon Inge and Yoenis Cespedes homered as Oakland beat New York and notched a fourth straight win.
A’s starter Jarrod Parker (7-4) allowed only an RBI single in the fourth while striking out five and walking only one, handing the Yankees their third straight loss in the series.
Cespedes crushed a tying homer later in the fourth and Inge hammered the first pitch of the eighth off Phil Hughes (9-8) for the go-ahead shot.
ORIOLES 3, INDIANS 1
In Cleveland, Ohio, Jim Thome’s two-run homer in the seventh inning led Baltimore to their fourth straight victory, downing Cleveland.
Thome, who passed Sammy Sosa for seventh place on the career list Friday, hit his 611th off Zach McAllister (4-2).
Orioles starter Chris Tillman (2-1) allowed only a leadoff homer in the first in 6-2/3 innings, and walked only one.
TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 1
In Detroit, Michigan, Rick Porcello pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning, steering Detroit to a win that lifted the Tigers above Chicago and into the outright lead in the AL Central.
Porcello (7-5) fell just short of his first complete game, departing after he allowed two hard-hit singles to start the ninth.
Porcello issued no walks, outdueling Chris Sale (11-3) in the Chicago starter’s first loss since May 12. Sale allowed five runs in seven innings.
Brennan Boesch hit a three-run homer, while Austin Jackson drove in the other four runs for the Tigers, who lead the White Sox by a half-game in the Central. Detroit had been six games off the pace on June 12.
BLUE JAYS 7, RED SOX 3
In Boston, Edwin Encarnacion tied the game with a two-run homer in the sixth, then J.P. Arencibia gave Toronto the lead with a seventh-inning solo shot as the Blue Jays beat Boston.
Toronto starter Carlos Villanueva (5-0) allowed four hits over 6-1/3 innings to win his third consecutive start. He struck out five.
Boston’s Aaron Cook (2-3) allowed five runs.
MARINERS 2, RAYS 1
In St Petersburg, Florida, Jason Vargas pitched scoreless into the seventh inning as Seattle edged Tampa Bay.
Vargas (10-7) gave up one run in six-plus innings as the Mariners stopped a nine-game losing streak against the Rays.
Michael Saunders had two RBIs for Seattle, while Tom Wilhelmsen, the fourth Mariners reliever, pitched the ninth for the save.
Rays starter Alex Cobb (4-7) left after the second with bruising to his right leg.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Royals 7, Twins 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, PHILADELPHIA
Gregor Blanco drove in the tiebreaking run with a drag bunt single in the 10th and San Francisco beat Philadelphia 6-5 on Saturday in a game where All-Star pitchers Cole Hamels and Matt Cain hit homers in the same inning.
Jonathan Papelbon (2-4) walked Melky Cabrera to start the 10th. He advanced to third on a single and scored with an out on Blanco’s perfect bunt down the first-base line.
Cabrera hit a tying homer off Hamels in the eighth, while Buster Posey hit a two-run shot for the NL West-leading Giants, who are 7-1 since the All-Star break.
Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer, while Chase Utley also went deep for the last-place Phillies, who have lost three in a row, seven straight at home.
Hamels allowed five runs and 10 hits, including three homers, in 7-2/3 innings on a career-high 128 pitches.
Cain gave up five runs and five hits, including three homers, in eight innings.
Sergio Romo (3-1) retired the two batters he faced in the ninth, while Santiago Casilla finished for his 24th save.
DIAMONDBACKS 12, ASTROS 3
In Phoenix, Arizona, Jason Kubel became the seventh player in Diamondbacks’ history to homer three times in a game and he drove in six runs as Arizona dominated Houston for the second straight game.
Kubel hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a three-run shot in the fourth off starter Dallas Keuchel (1-2). He added a solo homer in the sixth. He struck out in his other two at-bats.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Braves 4, Nationals 0, 1st game
‧ Nationals 5, Braves 2, 2nd game
‧ Dodgers 8, Mets 5
‧ Reds 6, Brewers 2
‧ Cardinals 12, Cubs 0
‧ Pirates 5, Marlins 1
‧ Rockies 8, Padres 6, 12 inns
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