Brian Roberts hit a grand slam, Adam Jones homered and had three RBIs, and the Orioles beat the Athletics 9-7 last night in Baltimore to gain ground in the wild-card race.
Roberts and Jones connected in a six-run fourth inning that put Baltimore up 6-3. After Oakland rallied to take the lead, Jones drove in the go-ahead run during a three-run seventh.
The victory moved the Orioles past the Indians into third place in the wild-card hunt. The Red Sox, who lost to the Dodgers 2-0 and are percentage points behind the Rays in the AL East, are on top and the Orioles now stand two games behind the A’s. The top two teams make the playoffs.
Coco Crisp homered, had a career-high tying four hits and scored three runs for the A’s, who have lost four of six and are 15-17 since the All-Star break.
Dodgers 2, Red Sox 0
In Los Angeles, Ricky Nolasco pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the fourth and the Dodgers blanked the Red Sox in the opener of an interleague series that began as a matchup between first-place teams.
The Dodgers won their fourth in a row, while the Red Sox lost for the sixth time in eight games. With the loss, Boston fell percentage points behind Tampa Bay in the AL East standings.
Twins 5, Indians 1
In Cleveland, Samuel Deduno pitched six solid innings and Josh Willingham busted out of a slump with a two-run double in the seventh, leading the Twins to victory and slowing the Indians’ climb toward a wild-card spot.
Rangers 11, White Sox 5
In Chicago, Ian Kinsler raced around the bases for a bizarre inside-the-park homer and Adam Rosales had a conventional two-run shot, helping the Rangers, who hits five homers in all, beat the White Sox to move a season-high 22 games over .500.
Cardinals 3, Braves 1
In St. Louis, Adam Wainwright earned his NL-leading 15th win with his fifth complete game and had a key sacrifice fly and Matt Holliday hit a tiebreaking, 432-foot home run to lead the Cardinals over the Braves.
Brewers 6, Reds 4
In Cincinnati, Khris Davis hit a pair of two-run homers in consecutive at-bats for the first multihomer game of his career, powering the Brewers over the Reds.