MAJOR LEAGUES
Milwaukee pitcher Mike Fiers continued the superb form he has shown since being recalled to the major leagues, steering the Brewers to a 6-1 win over Toronto on Tuesday to deal another blow to the Blue Jays’ evaporating playoff hopes.
The Brewers’ fifth straight victory kept them 2.5 games clear atop the National League Central division.
Also on Tuesday, Oakland beat the New York Mets to stay half-a-game behind American League West leaders the Los Angeles Angels, who edged Boston, making the divisional race the tightest in the MLB.
Baltimore’s playoff place seems certain after a win against the Chicago White Sox put them 8.5 games clear in the American League East.
Milwaukee pitcher Fiers (3-1) was recalled to the majors at the start of this month and has given up only two runs over three starts.
He held the Blue Jays to two hits in seven innings on Tuesday and retired the last 18 batters he faced. He had six strikeouts; down from the 14 he recorded in his previous start.
Jonathan Lucroy and Aramis Ramirez each had a pair of doubles for Milwaukee, who had three extra-base hits in the first inning alone off J.A. Happ (8-8).
Toronto have lost six of their past seven and are now 4.5 games off the last wild-card berth.
Also on Tuesday, Oakland ended a five-game losing skid by beating the Mets 6-2, with Coco Crisp hitting a tiebreaking three-run triple in the fourth.
Coming off a miserable road trip when he went 2-for-23, Crisp had an early single, then the key hit in the fourth when he lined a pitch from Dillon Gee down the right field line with the bases loaded.
A’s starter Scott Kazmir (14-5) earned his career-best 14th win in a season, allowing one run in six innings. He retired nine of his final 10 batters.
In Chicago, Baltimore’s Chris Tillman pitched eight strong innings to steer the Orioles to a 5-1 win over the White Sox. Tillman (10-5) matched a career high with nine strikeouts, giving up one run.
Nick Hundley homered, Chris Davis had a two-run double, and Adam Jones and Delmon Young also drove in runs for the Orioles.
Atlanta’s Justin Upton smashed his 24th home run of the season as the Braves beat Pittsburgh 11-3, notching their fifth straight win.
Upton’s three-run homer in the third broke things open. He added a two-run single in the fifth as the Braves extended Pittsburgh’s losing streak to a season-worst seven.
Pirates’ slugger Andrew McCutchen went 0 for 4 in his first game back after missing two weeks with fractured cartilage in his ribs.
Los Angeles’ Chris Iannetta hit his second double of the game with a tiebreaking drive in the ninth inning that sent the Angels to a 4-3 victory over Boston.
With two outs in the ninth, Brennan Boesch had a ground-rule double off Koji Uehara (5-3) for the Angels’ first hit since the fourth. Iannetta then lined a double off the left-field wall for the winner.
Joe Smith (5-1) got the win for the AL West leaders.
In St Louis, Missouri, Jon Jay was hit by a J.J. Hoover pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth, handing the Cardinals a 5-4 win against Cincinnati.
Matt Holliday drew a leadoff walk to start the winning rally. He advanced to third on Matt Adams’ single. Jhonny Peralta walked to load the bases. Hoover (1-10) then plunked Jay to force in pinch-runner Pete Bourjos with the winning run.
The Cardinals won for the fifth time in six games to remain 2.5 games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.
Los Angeles’ Justin Turner drove in two runs and scored another pair, helping rally the Dodgers past San Diego 8-6, snapping a three-game skid.
Carl Crawford hit a two-run homer with two outs in the seventh for the Dodgers, who have won six of seven against the Padres.
Former Padres pitcher Kevin Correia (2-0) took the win, allowing eight hits over five innings in his Dodger Stadium debut.
In St Petersburg, Florida, Victor Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning and the Tigers tacked on two more to win 8-6 against Tampa Bay.
Ian Kinsler opened the 11th with a triple off Grant Balfour (1-5). Torii Hunter walked and Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked before Martinez got his free pass.
Hunter then scored on Jeff Beliveau’s wild pitch, and Bryan Holaday added a sacrifice fly that gave Detroit an 8-5 lead.
In Washington, the Nationals scored six runs in the third inning and ran their winning streak to eight games with an 8-1 rout of Arizona, while in Philadelphia, Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a season-high 11 batters in eight scoreless innings, guiding the Mariners past the Phillies 5-2.
Elsewhere in MLB play on Tuesday, Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo slammed a two-run homer to account for the only runs of a rain-shortened game, giving the Cubs a 2-0 win over San Francisco in their five-innings contest, while Kansas City’s Omar Infante had three doubles and drove in four runs to help the streaking Royals knock off Colorado 7-4.
In Minnesota, Cleveland’s Yan Gomes had three hits including a home run and rookie Tyler Holt hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning as the Indians rallied to beat the Twins 7-5.
Houston’s Chris Carter snapped a ninth-inning tie with a colossal three-run homer, extending his power surge in the second half of the season and sending the Astros to a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees.
Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Marlins to a 4-3 win over Texas.
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