MLB ROUNDUP | Thursday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Athletics 11, Twins 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Frank Thomas won in his return to Oakland. Rajai Davis got three hits in his Athletics debut. With two new and familiar faces in the starting lineup, the A’s jumped on Minnesota starter Francisco Liriano for six runs in the first inning on the way to a victory over the Twins in the rubber game of the series. Donnie Murphy hit solo shots in the fifth and sixth innings for his first and second homers of the season and first career multihomer game. Mike Sweeney — whose playing time will probably diminish with the addition of Thomas — had a two-run double off the wall in left in the fourth, a day after connecting for his first home run in 40 games.

Angels 7, Red Sox 5

BOSTON — Joe Saunders pitched six solid innings to win his fourth consecutive decision, and Gary Matthews Jr. singled in the go-ahead runs in the Angels’ four-run seventh inning as Los Angeles beat Boston. Saunders (4-0) left trailing 3-1. The Angels rallied in the seventh, when three Red Sox relievers allowed four singles and three walks to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead.

Tigers 8, Rangers 2

DETROIT — Magglio Ordonez hit two of Detroit’s five homers to lead the Tigers over Texas. Detroit outscored Texas 37-10 in the three-game series, and has now won a season-best four straight. The Rangers have lost seven in a row. Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman (1-2) didn’t get a decision after dealing with severe control problems. Bonderman only allowed two hits, but needed 111 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings thanks to a hit batter and a career-worst seven walks. Zach Miner (1-1) followed with 3 1/3 hitless innings as the Tigers pulled away.

Rays 5, Blue Jays 3

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Four different players drove in runs to back the pitching of Andy Sonnanstine and help Tampa Bay beat Toronto for a three-game sweep of a home-away-from-home series at Disney World. Evan Longoria tripled and had a sacrifice fly for Tampa Bay, which got two RBIs from Eric Hinske and one each from Carl Crawford and Dioner Navarro to sweep a “home” series for the first time since beating Texas three straight at Disney last May.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 7, Marlins 4

ATLANTA — Chipper Jones celebrated his 36th birthday by going 3-for-3, including a homer, to lead Atlanta past NL East-leading Florida. Jones also singled in the fifth, and was walked intentionally in his final at-bat while the crowd booed loudly. He’s on one of the hottest tears of his career, raising the best average in the majors to .442, and has seven homers and 20 RBIs.

Rockies 4, Cubs 2

DENVER — Aaron Cook pitched eight strong innings and Brian Fuentes earned his first save in 10 months to help Colorado end a four-game skid. Cook (3-1) won his third straight start and halted the Cubs’ six-game win streak. Jason Marquis gave up eight hits and struck out four in seven innings. Kevin Hart (2-1) took the loss in relief.

Phillies 3, Brewers 1

MILWAUKEE — Pat Burrell’s two-out, two-run double broke a tie in the eighth and Philadelphia held on for a victory over Milwaukee. Burrell’s deep drive to the left field corner capped the Phillies’ two-out rally off Brewers reliever David Riske (0-1), who got the first two outs of the inning before walking Greg Dobbs and giving up a single to Chase Utley.

Astros 5, Reds 3

CINCINNATI — Lance Berkman hit his 18th homer at Great American Ball Park — the most by any visiting player — and drove in three runs, leading Houston to its fifth straight win. Berkman had a two-run homer and a run-scoring double off rookie Johnny Cueto (1-2), whose 96 mph fastball wasn’t enough to slow the Astros’ surging offense or get the Reds out of their slump. The Astros haven’t done this well in a whole year. Houston’s last five-game winning streak was April 16-20 last season.

Nationals 10, Mets 5

WASHINGTON — Felipe Lopez’s grand slam and two-run single gave him a career-high-tying six RBIs and led Washington to its fourth victory in 20 games. The Nationals fell behind 3-0 while being held in check through four innings by Mets starter Oliver Perez. But Washington’s weak offense — 3.5 runs per game and a major league-low .227 batting average coming in — broke out for three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh. Washington finished with 13 hits.

Associated Press