Brian Dozier’s All-Star campaign started out with a bang on Monday night.
Dozier hit a two-run home run with one out in the 10th inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Earlier in the day Dozier was selected as one of five candidates for the final roster spot on the American League All-Star team. He ended the night by lining a pitch from Tommy Hunter (2-2) into the left field seats for his 17th homer of the season. It scored Danny Santana, who singled one batter earlier.
Photo: AFP
Trevor May (5-7) pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win in his first relief appearance of the season.
David Lough led off the 10th with a single and moved to second on Manny Machado’s long fly ball. May then struck out Jimmy Paredes and retired Adam Jones on a grounder to escape the jam.
The game reached the 10th inning tied 2-2 thanks to four long solo home runs. The Orioles struck first when Machado drove Phil Hughes’ second pitch into the seats in right-center for his fourth leadoff home run of the season and 18th overall.
Torii Hunter answered with a 411-foot (125m) shot off Orioles starter Chen Wei-Yin of Taiwan in the bottom of the first.
Aaron Hicks put the Twins on top in the second with a solo shot into the bullpen, his second home run in as many days. However, Adam Jones tied it with a drive high off the left field foul pole in the sixth.
Chen struck out five and walked three while pitching seven innings of four-hit ball.
Hughes lasted 6-1/3 innings, giving up nine hits and a walk while striking out three.
The Orioles stranded seven runners, five in scoring position.
REDS 3, NATIONALS 2
In Washington, shortstop Eugenio Suarez hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Suarez, who went three-for-four to raise his average to .329, broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a single to left field off Washington starter Doug Fister.
In the eighth, Suarez connected on an 0-2 pitch from Casey Janssen (0-2) that landed in the first few rows just inside the left field foul pole for his third home run of the year.
WHITE SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 2
In Chicago, the White Sox’s left-handed ace Chris Sale pitched another gem in their 4-2 come-from-behind victory against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sale needed 10 strikeouts to become the first pitcher in major-league history to record at least 10 in nine straight starts, but finished with six in his complete game victory.
The win came courtesy of an eighth-inning rally by the White Sox (37-43), who scored three runs off Toronto (43-42) starter Mark Buehrle in the eighth when left fielder Melky Cabrera came through with a one-out double that plated two runs.
ASTROS 9, INDIANS 4
In Cleveland, Ohio, Preston Tucker had four hits, including a home run, and Dallas Keuchel pitched six solid innings as the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 9-4.
Keuchel (11-3) struck out eight and walked one in giving up three runs in six innings.
Right fielder Tucker led a 16-hit Houston attack with two singles, a double, a home run and two RBIs.
In other results, it was:
‧ Pirates 2, Padres 1
‧ Mets 3, Giants 0
‧ Cardinals 6, Cubs 0
‧ Braves 5, Brewers 3
‧ Tigers 12, Mariners 5
‧ Dodgers 10, Phillies 7
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