MAJOR LEAGUES
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver celebrated his first start since becoming a father by combining with three relievers to shut out the Boston Red Sox 3-0 on Sunday.
Boston’s lead atop the American League East Division was trimmed to 4.5 games ahead of Baltimore, who beat New York to send the Yankees down to fourth in the division, below in-form Tampa Bay.
Photo: Reuters
In other games, Cleveland ended a run of seven straight defeats by Detroit, while Oakland hit three homers to win over Kansas City.
Newly chosen All-Star Domonic Brown starred in Philadelphia’s win over Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs edged Pittsburgh in 11 innings and Arizona completed a three-game sweep of Colorado.
The Angels made it 10 wins from 12 games thanks chiefly to Weaver (3-4), who struck out six in 6-2/3 innings. It was his first outing since becoming a father on Friday, when he named his first child Aden David in honor of his late teammate and friend Nick Adenhart.
Photo: AFP
Weaver beat former teammate John Lackey (6-6), ending Lackey’s three-game winning streak.
Baltimore’s Adam Jones hit a two-run homer off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to give the Orioles a 2-1 win over New York, ending the Yankees’ longest winning streak of the season at six games.
It was Rivera’s second blown save in 31 chances this year. Baseball’s career saves leader had converted 41 tries in a row at home since the start of the 2011 season.
Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven scoreless innings for the Yankees, but they were unable to finish off a three-game sweep after Baltimore took all three games from them at Camden Yards last weekend.
Cleveland’s Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Indians to a 9-6 win over Detroit.
Brantley hit a solo homer in the sixth and had a career-high five RBIs. He drove a pitch from Al Alburquerque (1-2) over the wall in right as the Indians recovered after their bullpen blew a five-run lead.
Oakland’s Josh Reddick homered and drove in four runs, while Jed Lowrie and Eric Sogard also went deep as the A’s overpowered Kansas City 10-4.
A.J. Griffin (7-6) rebounded from a miserable start against the Cubs to go five innings for the A’s.
Philadelphia’s Domonic Brown homered, tripled and drove in two runs as the Phillies downed Atlanta 7-3.
Ben Revere hit a two-run triple for Philadelphia, which took two of three from the National League East leaders.
Chicago pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro lifted a game-ending sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, sending the Cubs to a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh.
Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano singled in the Cubs’ 11th, and both advanced when Pirates catcher Russell Martin’s attempted pickoff at second went into center field.
After an intentional walk, Navarro’s fly ball off Bryan Morris (4-3) brought in the winner.
The Pirates dropped into a tie with St Louis for the NL Central lead and the best record in the majors.
Arizona’s Patrick Corbin went eight innings to finally get his 10th victory as the Diamondbacks beat Colorado 6-1.
Corbin (10-1) struck out 10 in his seventh attempt at win No. 10. He also hit an RBI double as the Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep in which they outscored the Rockies 22-2.
Colorado also lost starting pitcher Roy Oswalt and star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to injuries.
Seattle’s Joe Saunders pitched seven efficient innings and Nick Franklin and Justin Smoak each homered to lift the Mariners over Cincinnati 3-1.
Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman hit a grand slam, while Bryce Harper added three hits and two stolen bases to lead the Nationals to an 11-7 win over San Diego.
St Louis’ Lance Lynn outpitched Marlins All-Star Jose Fernandez for his 11th win and Matt Holliday homered for the Cardinals as they wrapped up a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win over the Marlins.
Tampa Bay’s David Price pitched a complete game in only his second start since returning from injury, helping the Rays win 3-1 and finish a three-game series sweep of the Chicago White Sox.
Texas’ A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer and Nelson Cruz had a tie-breaking single in the fifth inning to lift the Rangers over Houston 5-4.
Los Angeles’ A.J. Ellis hit a three-run double in the ninth inning, while All-Star Clayton Kershaw made a third straight stellar start as the Dodgers beat slumping San Francisco 4-1.
Toronto’s Todd Redmond pitched one-hit ball over five innings for his first major league win, steering the Blue Jays to an 11-5 win over Minnesota.
New York’s Jeremy Hefner allowed just two hits over seven innings as the Mets turned two throwing errors by Milwaukee third baseman Juan Francisco into a pair of unearned runs that delivered a 2-1 win.
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