Russell Martin’s homer powers Yankees over Rays
Russell Martin’s three-run homer highlighted an early burst and the Yankees kept their AL East lead by holding off the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-4, Sunday in New York.
The Yankees won the last two in the three-game series, and have a one-game lead on the Orioles, who beat Oakland.
Minus ejected manager Joe Maddon, the Rays fell five games behind the Yankees and trail the Orioles and Angels in the wild-card scramble. Matt Joyce also was tossed as Tampa Bay finished 1-5 on its visit to Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards.
Hiroki Kuroda (14-10) struck out 10 in six innings and beat Tampa Bay for the second time this month. Rafael Soriano earned his 40th save in 43 chances.
Matt Moore (10-11) lost his fourth straight start. The rookie and Kuroda started out well in the last scheduled game between the teams, with the first nine outs overall on strikeouts. Each team finished with only five hits.
Martin made it 5-0 with his 17th homer. Two batters later, Moore threw a 95 m.p.h. fastball behind the helmet of Curtis Granderson and plate umpire Paul Emmel immediately warned each side against any trouble. Maddon jawed from the dugout, got tossed and came out for a protracted discussion with Emmel.
Orioles 9, Athletics 5 — Matt Wieters hit two solo home runs and Endy Chavez had four hits as Baltimore beat host Oakland.
Josh Reddick and Stephen Drew hit two-run homers for the Athletics, who are two games ahead of the Orioles for the first wild-card spot. Brian Matusz (6-10) retired all six batters he faced for the victory. Jim Johnson got the last out for his 43rd save.
White Sox 9, Twins 2 — Jake Peavy (11-11) allowed two runs in six innings, Dayan Viciedo and Adam Dunn homered, and Chicago won in Minneapolis.
Joe Mauer homered in his return after missing five games with back spasms, but the Twins couldn’t avoid the sweep and lost to Chicago for the 13th time in 16 games.
Angels 4, Royals 3 — Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer and Dan Haren (11-11) pitched effectively into the sixth inning as Los Angeles beat host Kansas City.
Trumbo, who had hit just .177 with 62 strikeouts in his previous 37 games to drop his average from .306 to .268, homered off Will Smith (5-8) in the second inning.
Rangers 2, Mariners 1 — Matt Harrison pitched into the ninth inning for his 17th victory and Adrian Beltre hits his 33d homer as Texas beat visiting Seattle. Harrison (17-9) got within one out of his fourth complete game of the season, but came out after Jesus Montero’s two-out single put runners at first and third. Koji Uehara struck out Michael Saunders to end it.
Indians 7, Tigers 6 — Lonnie Chisenhall singled in the winning run with one out in the ninth to give Cleveland a victory over visiting Detroit. Esmil Rogers (2-1) pitched one inning for the win. Miguel Cabrera homered for Detroit.
Braves 5, Nationals 1 — Mike Minor (9-10) threw six strong innings, Dan Uggla broke it open with a two-run single, and host Atlanta denied Gio Gonzalez his 20th win, finishing a sweep of Washington.
Cubs 13, Pirates 9 — Former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo hit two homers, including his first grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs to lift host Chicago over Pittsburgh. Pedro Alvarez had two homers and five RBIs for the Pirates.
Cardinals 5, Dodgers 2 — Jon Jay hit a go-ahead RBI double during a three-run 12th inning and St. Louis split a four-game series at Los Angeles, regaining undisputed possession of the second NL wild card spot.
Astros 7, Phillies 6 — Justin Maxwell hit a two-run double to highlight a four-run seventh as host Houston rallied past Philadelphia. Carlos Corporan and Scott Moore homered for the Astros, who remained one loss away from reaching 100 for the second straight season.
Reds 5, Marlins 4 — Ryan Ludwick’s RBI single in the 11th lifted Cincinnati over host Miami. Ludwick, Dioner Navarro, and Didi Gregorius each had three hits for the Reds, who tied a season high with 17 hits.
Brewers 3, Mets 0 — Ryan Braun hit two homers and rookie Wily Peralta (2-0) gave up two singles in eight innings to lead host Milwaukee over New York. The reigning NL MVP has 201 home runs in his career and leads the NL with a career-high 40 as Milwaukee won its 20th in 26 games.
Diamondbacks 10, Giants 2 — Rookie lefthander Patrick Corbin (6-7) pitched eight innings and drove in four runs with a triple and single, leading Arizona over visiting San Francisco. Justin Upton had a solo homer and two-run double as the Diamondbacks averted a three-game sweep.
Padres 12, Rockies 11 — Rookie Yonder Alonso singled in the winning run in the ninth, leading host San Diego over Colorado. The Rockies scored six runs in the eighth to tie the game, including rookie Josh Rutledge’s grand slam.
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