AMERICAN LEAGUE
Clay Buchholz pitched seven shutout innings to earn his major league-leading sixth win, while Mike Napoli hit two of Boston’s five home runs as the Red Sox routed the Toronto Blue Jays 10-1 on Wednesday.
Stephen Drew hit a two-run shot in the second inning and Napoli went back-to-back with Daniel Nava in the fourth as the Red Sox won their majors-best 19th game.
Buchholz (6-0) allowed two hits, walked three and struck out eight, improving to 7-0 in his past eight starts at Toronto. The right-hander lowered his ERA to an American League-best 1.01.
Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle (1-2) surrendered three home runs for the second straight start, giving up five runs and seven hits in 6-2/3 innings.
ROYALS 9, RAYS 8
In Kansas City, Missouri, Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur delivered a two-out, two-run single to cap a five-run rally in the sixth inning and hold a 9-4 lead to edge Tampa Bay.
Billy Butler recorded three hits and an RBI while Lorenzo Cain knocked in a pair of runs for the Royals, who trailed 5-0 in the third.
Luke Scott was three-for-three with a solo homer and an RBI single for Tampa Bay.
WHITE SOX 5, RANGERS 2
In Arlington, Texas, Conor Gillaspie and Alejandro De Aza homered in the seventh inning as Chicago ended a three-game losing streak with a win over Texas.
Chris Sale (3-2) settled down after a rough second inning to make it through seven. The left-hander struck out seven and walked two.
Texas managed only two runs in the second despite a homer, three singles and a walk.
Gillaspie’s homer leading off the seventh against rookie Nick Tepesch (2-2) broke a two-all tie.
ANGELS 5, ATHLETICS 4
In Oakland, California, Mark Trumbo went deep for the third consecutive day, whike Howie Kendrick and Mike Trout also homered as Los Angeles beat Oakland to end a four-game losing streak.
C.J. Wilson (3-0) remained undefeated despite a season-high five walks. He allowed two runs on six hits in 6-1/3 innings, struck out five and stranded six runners in scoring position.
Josh Donaldson, Nate Freiman and Luke Montz each had an RBI double for the A’s, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Tommy Milone (3-3) gave up four runs on seven hits over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and matched his career-high of 10 strikeouts.
YANKEES 5, ASTROS 4
In New York, Robinson Cano homered and Eduardo Nunez scored the tie-breaking run after a sixth-inning double to send New York past Houston.
Ben Francisco hit his first home run for New York and three relievers supplied spotless work after fill-in starter David Phelps wasted a four-run lead.
With the score tied four-all, Nunez doubled down the left-field line against Paul Clemens (1-1) to begin the sixth. Nunez advanced on a wild pitch and Wesley Wright was brought in to face Ichiro Suzuki, who put the Yankees ahead.
Boone Logan (2-1) got the win and Mariano Rivera closed for his 11th consecutive save.
TWINS 6, TIGERS 2
In Detroit, Michigan, Scott Diamond pitched six solid innings as Minnesota got to Anibal Sanchez early in a win over Detroit that snapped the Tigers’ five-game winning streak.
Sanchez (3-2) fanned five in the first two innings, but the Twins scored two runs in the first and another in the second. Diamond (2-2) did not allow a hit until Jhonny Peralta’s single in the fifth.
The Tigers fought back after trailing 3-0, but reliever Bruce Rondon allowed two more runs in the seventh to make it 5-2. Chris Parmelee hit a solo homer in the eighth.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, Atlanta, Georgia
Jordan Zimmermann turned in another dominant performance, allowing two hits over eight innings, as Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in the fourth to see the Washington Nationals finally beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Wednesday.
The Braves had won five in a row this season over their NL East rival and nine straight dating to last season.
Zimmermann (5-1) made sure that streak ended with another dominating performance, snapping a three-game losing streak that had knocked the Nationals under .500.
Atlanta starter Paul Maholm (3-3) nearly matched Zimmermann. He allowed only three hits in eight innings, retiring the last 13 batters.
However, Desmond provided all the runs that Washington needed, homering to left-center on a 1-1 pitch in the fourth after Bryce Harper led off with a walk.
PIRATES 6, BREWERS 4
In Milwaukee, Starling Marte hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Brandon Inge had a go-ahead RBI single to rally Pittsburgh to a victory over Milwaukee, snapping the Pirates’ nine-game losing streak against the Brewers.
Pedro Alvarez added a run-scoring single to cap a four-run eighth as Pittsburgh won for the 10th time in their last 15 games.
Bryan Morris (1-1) got the last two outs of the seventh for his first career victory. Mark Melancon pitched the eighth and Jason Grilli the ninth for his 11th save.
John Axford (0-3) gave up all four runs while getting just two outs in the eighth for the Brewers.
CUBS 6, PADRES 2
In Chicago, Illinois, Scott Feldman retired 18 straight on his way to his first career complete game and the Cubs took advantage of former No. 1 pick Andrew Cashner’s wildness in a 6-2 win over the Padres.
Feldman (2-3) earned his second straight win, allowing two runs and three hits while walking one. After Chase Headley singled with two outs in the first, Feldman retired the next 18 batters he faced.
Feldman had 12 strikeouts to set a new career high. He also had an RBI double in the second to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
Starlin Castro was 2 for 4 with two runs scored for the Cubs.
GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 6
In Phoenix, Arizona, Brandon Belt hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied against Arizona’s bullpen for the third straight game, beating the Diamondbacks to complete a three-game sweep.
Belt finished off the series of comebacks with his homer off David Hernandez (1-2), giving San Francisco their first road sweep over the Diamondbacks since 2010.
Angel Pagan led off the game with a homer, Hunter Pence added a 460-foot solo shot and George Kontos (2-1) pitched 1-2/3 innings after starter Tim Lincecum struggled.
Chad Pennington homered and matched a career-high with four RBIs for the Diamondbacks.
In other NL play it was:
‧ Rockies 7, Dodgers 3
‧ Mets 7, Marlins 6
‧ Cardinals 4, Reds 2
In Wednesday’s only interleague game it was:
‧ Indians 6, Phillies 0
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