J.A. Happ on Saturday won his eighth straight decision and Devon Travis homered as the Toronto Blue Jays used a seven-run fifth inning to beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-1 and take sole possession of the AL East lead for the first time since early April.
Kevin Pillar had two hits and drove in four runs to match his career high. Major league RBI leader Edwin Encarnacion drove in his 89th run.
Toronto won for the 16th time in 22 games. They had not been alone atop their division since a 2-0 start.
Photo: AFP
Pedro Alvarez hit a solo homer for the Orioles. They matched a season high by losing their fifth straight and fell a half-game behind the Blue Jays.
Happ (14-3) allowed one run and three hits in seven-plus innings, walked three and matched his season high with 11 strikeouts.
Yovani Gallardo (3-3) was the loser.
Photo: AFP
MARINERS 4, CUBS 1
In Chicago, Leonys Martin hit a go-ahead, two-run double off new Chicago closer Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning, lifting Seattle past the Cubs.
Wade Miley (7-8) took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before allowing Kris Bryant’s single and Javier Baez’s RBI groundout.
Jake Arrieta (12-5) walked Mike Zunino and Shawn O’Malley starting the eighth, pinch hitter Luis Sardinas sacrificed against Hector Rondon and Nori Aoki grounded to third, where Bryant threw out pinch runner Guillermo Heredia at the plate, a call upheld in a video review.
Making his third appearance for the Cubs since he was acquired from the New York Yankees, Chapman allowed Martin’s double to left-center that put Seattle ahead 2-1. Martin stole third and scored on a wild pitch, and Seattle added a run in the ninth.
Steve Cishek pitched the ninth for his 25th save.
GIANTS 5, NATIONALS 3
In San Francisco, Joe Panik hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning as the Giants beat Washington to snap a three-game losing streak.
Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer in the third for the Nationals, who could not protect an early 3-0 lead hours after acquiring All-Star closer Mark Melancon from Pittsburgh to replace struggling Jonathan Papelbon.
San Francisco loaded the bases against former Giants reliever Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) with one out in the seventh to bring up Panik.
The Giants won for only the third time in 14 games since the mid-season All-Star break.
Derek Law (4-1) pitched the seventh for the win.
Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
ROCKIES 7, METS 2
In New York, Jorge De La Rosa earned his 100th career victory and Colorado eventually caught up with Bartolo Colon, beating New York in the rain for their fifth straight win.
The Rockies won to improve to 12-4 since the All-Star break, despite losing NL home run leader Trevor Story to a jammed left thumb. He seemed to get hurt on a scrambling slide in the fourth, exited early and X-rays on the rookie shortstop were negative.
On the day the Mets retired Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza’s No. 31, the Mets lost their fourth in row.
Colon (9-6) faltered in his first start on three days’ rest since 2005, while slugger Yoenis Cespedes left mid-game because of a nagging quad injury.
The Rockies retired all of New York’s final 16 batters.
Mets manager Terry Collins was ejected in the ninth after umpires overturned their original call and took away a home run from Wilmer Flores, ruling a fan reached over the wall and prevented left fielder David Dahl from making a catch.
D.J. LeMahieu drove in three runs and Dahl hit his second home run since making his major league debut this week, helping the Rockies reach .500 for the first time since late May.
De La Rosa (7-7) gave up two runs in six innings. He is 100-82.
In other results, it was:
‧ Angels 5, Red Sox 2
‧ Rays 6, Yankees 3
‧ Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2
‧ Marlins 11, Cardinals 0
‧ Rangers 2, Royals 1
‧ Padres 2, Reds 1, 10 innings
‧ Tigers 3, Astros 2
‧ Brewers 5, Pirates 3
‧ Phillies 9, Braves 5
‧ Indians 6, Athletics 3
‧ White Sox 6, Twins 5
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