MLB ROUNDUP \ Thursday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Royals 1, Twins 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kyle Davies pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning in his home debut for Kansas City and combined with three relievers to help the Royals beat the Twins. Acquired in the trade that sent reliever Octavio Dotel to Atlanta, Davies (1-1) struck out five and walked two over 62⁄3 innings in his second start for Kansas City. The 23-year-old right-hander walked Alexi Casilla leading off the game and then retired 14 in a row before Jason Kubel doubled with two outs in the fifth. Tony Pena Jr. doubled down the left-field line leading off the third for the Royals’ first hit. Joey Gathright sacrificed him to third and Jason LaRue hit a sacrifice fly. Joakim Soria got four outs for his 12th save in 15 opportunities, helping Kansas City take two of three in the series.

Devil Rays 8, Tigers 1

DETROIT — Scott Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, Carl Crawford homered and the Devil Rays won consecutive road games for the first time in nearly two months. Kazmir (9-7) gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked one. Before beating the Tigers 7-1 on Wednesday, Tampa Bay had lost eight straight road games and 19 of 21.

Mariners 13, Orioles 8

BALTIMORE — The Seattle Mariners put on another offensive show at the expense of the Baltimore Orioles, getting three hits and three RBIs apiece from Ichiro Suzuki and Yuniesky Betancourt. Jose Guillen homered for the Mariners, who scored 31 runs on 49 hits in their first three-game sweep in Baltimore since September 2000. Seattle moved one game ahead of Detroit and 11⁄2 games ahead of idle New York in the AL wild-card race.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 7, Mets 6

NEW YORK — Left fielder Willie Harris robbed Carlos Delgado of a tying home run in the ninth inning and the Braves held off the Mets. The Mets scored three times in the ninth inning, capped by David Wright’s homer that finished Tyler Yates with one out. Oscar Villarreal relieved and Delgado met him with an opposite-field drive. Harris ran back, jumped in front of the wall and caught the ball above the fence. Villarreal earned his first major league save.

Dodgers 5, Reds 4, 11 innings

CINCINNATI — Rafael Furcal homered in the 11th inning and the Dodgers snapped a season-high six-game losing streak. Furcal’s fifth homer of the season came off Victor Santos (1-4) and helped Los Angeles avoid a three-game sweep. The Dodgers went 28 innings without scoring before pushing across a run in the first. They were shut out in their previous three games.

Nationals 3, Giants 1

SAN FRANCISCO — Jon Rauch retired pinch-hitter Barry Bonds in a key spot and Felipe Lopez hit a two-run homer for the Nationals. Bonds stepped to the plate with the Giants down by two and runners on first and third with one out in the eighth inning. After starting Bonds with a ball, Rauch got the slugger to foul out to third base. Rauch got out of the inning by catching Pedro Feliz straying too far off first after faking a pickoff throw to third. Chad Cordero then pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 33 chances, giving the Nationals a split of the four-game series. Lopez broke a 1-all tie with his home run to left field with one out in the fifth against Pat Misch (0-2).

Cardinals 5, Padres 0

ST. LOUIS — Failed pitcher Rick Ankiel hit a three-run homer to cap his debut as a major league outfielder, and Joel Pineiro worked seven scoreless innings for St. Louis. The Cardinals took three of four from the NL West-contending Padres, spoiling the return of Chris Young in the finale. The day began with utilityman Scott Spiezio going on the restricted list for a substance problem that the Cardinals did not specify, allowing for the callup of Ankiel to take his spot on the roster. Ankiel, who led the Pacific Coast League with 32 homers for Triple-A Memphis, launched a 2-1 pitch from Doug Brocail over the right-field wall in the seventh with an effortless swing that put the Cardinals ahead 5-0.

Marlins 4, Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA — Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs in his return to Florida’s lineup, leading the Marlins. Pinch-hitter Alfredo Amezaga drove in the tiebreaking run on a fielder’s choice grounder with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to help Florida avoid a three-game sweep.

Associated Press