MAJOR LEAGUES
Oakland’s Jarrod Parker pitched his way into the club record books and helped the Athletics to an 11-4 win over Texas on Wednesday that once again tied the two teams together atop the American League West Division.
With 23 regular-season games to go, there is nothing to separate the two teams as the surging A’s refuse to give way in the season-long fight.
Photo: AFP
Oakland’s Parker (11-6) allowed two runs in six innings to extend his unbeaten streak to 18 straight starts, eclipsing Catfish Hunter’s mark in 1973.
Brandon Moss, Daric Barton and Coco Crisp each hit two-run homers, and Josh Donaldson added a three-run drive for the Athletics.
In Boston, the Red Sox’s David Ortiz hit two of club-record-equaling eight homers and doubled to bring up his 2,000th career hit as Boston romped to a 20-4 win over Detroit.
In other key AL games, Cleveland edged to within 6.5 games of Detroit by beating Baltimore 6-4 and Tampa Bay rookie Wil Myers hit two homers to power the Rays to a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
In the National League, St Louis won a 16-inning epic against Cincinnati 5-4 to open a gap in the tight Central race, with leaders Pittsburgh losing 9-3 to Milwaukee, while runaway East and West leaders Atlanta and the Los Angeles Dodgers both suffered defeats.
Colorado ended the Dodgers’ six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory, while New York’s Lucas Duda had three hits — including a home run — and Andrew Brown added a two-run shot to lead the Mets to a 5-2 win over the Braves.
Elsewhere, Seattle’s Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to give the Mariners a 6-4 win over Kansas City and Arizona’s Willie Bloomquist lined his third hit for a run-scoring single in the 10th to lift the Diamondbacks 4-3 over Toronto.
In Philadelphia, Jordan Zimmermann became the NL’s first 16-game winner as he led the Nationals past Philadelphia 3-2, while in New York, struggling ace C.C. Sabathia steered the Yankees to a 6-5 win over the White Sox.
San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval hit three homers and drove in six runs to lead a rare power show by the Giants in a 13-5 win over San Diego, while in Chicago a four-run rally in the seventh inning boosted the Cubs to a 9-7 victory over Miami and in Houston, the Astros edged Minnesota 6-5.
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