Baseball roundUP \ Sunday’s games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Royals 7, Indians 0

CLEVELAND — Kyle Davies carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight start. Davies (8-9) held the Indians hitless until Shin-Soo Choo lined a single to center to open the sixth. The right-hander walked six and struck out three over six innings. Matt LaPorta lined a two-out single off Royals reliever Carlos Rosa in the ninth for Cleveland’s only other hit. John Buck and Billy Butler each had two RBIs in the Royals’ sixth win in seven games. Carlos Carrasco (0-2) gave up a solo homer to Buck.

Red Sox 3, Rays 1 Red Sox 4, Rays 0

BOSTON — Jon Lester allowed two hits in eight innings as Boston beat Tampa Bay for a doubleheader sweep, handing the AL champion Rays their 11th consecutive loss. Tampa Bay’s losing streak is the longest by a major league team this season. In the opener, Dustin Pedroia’s tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning sent Boston to victory behind Clay Buchholz and two relievers.

Yankees 13, Orioles 3

NEW YORK — Hideki Matsui homered and drove in five runs, CC Sabathia became the AL’s first 17-game winner and the Yankees avoided a three-game sweep against last-place Baltimore. Melky Cabrera finished with four RBIs for New York, which totaled 20 hits after getting 19 in the first two games of the series combined. Derek Jeter went 3 for 5 and scored three times to give him 101 runs on the season, reaching the century mark for the 12th time.

Angels 3, White Sox 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Torii Hunter hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the seventh inning against Mark Buehrle. The AL West leaders took two of three from the White Sox, who dropped into third place in the AL Central. They are six games behind division-leading Detroit, and a half-game back of Minnesota.

Tigers 7, Blue Jays 2

DETROIT — Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge each had two RBIs, helping the Tigers snap a season-worst five-game skid. Rick Porcello won a matchup with fellow rookie Ricky Romero. Porcello (13-8) gave up two runs on four hits in six innings to improve to 3-0 in his last four starts.

Twins 8, Athletics 0

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Mauer had three hits, including his 27th home run, and rookie Brian Duensing helped Minnesota avoid a sweep.

Rangers 7, Mariners 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Tommy Hunter threw a six-hitter for his first complete game and the Rangers hit three homers to beat the Mariners in the rain-delayed opener of a doubleheader. Rain that pelted the area for the past four days caused the game to begin 4 hours, 31 minutes after the originally scheduled start time of 12:35 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 2, Astros 1

HOUSTON — Paul Maholm pitched eight shutout innings and Pittsburgh snapped a 13-game road losing streak. Ryan Doumit homered and Garrett Jones had an RBI single for the last-place Pirates, who had dropped five in a row overall. Maholm (8-8), who lost four of his previous five decisions, scattered six hits and two walks. He struck out two. Matt Capps allowed Lance Berkman’s leadoff homer in the ninth before earning his 25th save. Felipe Paulino (2-9) lost his fifth straight decision. He went five innings and allowed one run on six hits and a walk. He struck out six.

Braves 9, Cardinals 2

ST. LOUIS — Javier Vazquez took a shutout into the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves roughed up Chris Carpenter to complete a three-game sweep. Vazquez allowed a leadoff single to Skip Schumaker and then retired the next 17 batters before Schumaker reached on an infield single in the sixth.

Giants 7, Dodgers 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Brad Penny kept his emotions in check and pitched seven strong innings to beat his former club, Juan Uribe hit a two-run homer and the Giants avoided a sweep by with a victory over the first-place Dodgers. Los Angeles’ lead in the NL West remains at three over Colorado. The Giants moved within 41‚Ñ2 games of Colorado in the NL wild-card race.

Padres 7, Rockies 3

SAN DIEGO — Tony Gwynn drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in a three-run sixth inning, lifting San Diego to a win over Jason Marquis and the Rockies. Marquis (15-11) carried a 3-2 lead into the sixth when San Diego rallied. Marquis walked four batters in the inning, including one with the bases loaded.

Cubs 5, Reds 2

CHICAGO — Ted Lilly pitched six scoreless innings and Derrek Lee homered and singled twice, helping the Cubs beat the Reds. Andres Blanco had three hits and two RBIs for the Cubs, who won the season series 10-5.

Nationals 7, Marlins 2, 81‚Ñ2 innings

MIAMI — John Lannan won for the first time in seven starts and Pete Orr hit his first home run of the season for Washington. The game was called after a 53-minute delay in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Marlins had a runner on base with nobody out. Rain also halted play for 2 hours, 10 minutes in the sixth. Lannan (9-11) allowed one run and six hits in five innings. He did not return after the first delay. Florida starter Chris Volstad (9-12) gave up five runs — four earned — and five hits over three innings.

Brewers 5, Diamondbacks 3

PHOENIX — Prince Fielder homered to tie Milwaukee’s single-season RBI record, Alcides Escobar had a two-run single in a four-run seventh inning and the Brewers completed a three-game sweep of Arizona. Fielder’s fourth-inning home run, his 39th of the season, gave him a major league-leading 126 RBIs and tied him with Cecil Cooper for the Brewers’ franchise record. Cooper, Houston Astros’ manager, set the mark in 1983.

Daniel Schlereth (0-4) was the loser. Carlos Villanueva, the fourth of seven Milwaukee pitchers, retired all six batters he faced to improve to 3-10. Trevor Hoffman got his 32nd save in 35 chances with a perfect ninth.

Phillies 5, Mets 4 Phillies 1, Mets 0

PHILADELPHIA — Pedro Martinez outdueled Tim Redding and looked again like a free-agent bargain, leading Philadelphia to the night win win over New York and a doubleheader sweep. Martinez (5-0) tossed six-hit ball, struck out seven and threw 130 pitches in eight shutout innings. He retired 10 straight at one point and the NL East-leading Phillies are now 7-0 when he starts. Ryan Madson tossed a scoreless ninth for his eighth save after Brad Lidge finished the opener, won 5-4 by the Phillies. Tim Redding (2-6) was just as effective over six innings and retired 14 straight at one point. Chase Utley had an RBI single in the first inning. In the day game, Kyle Kendrick pitched into the eighth inning and Shane Victorino and Ben Francisco each homered. Brad Lidge, who was temporarily demoted from his Phillies closer role this week, gave up two runs in the ninth but finished for his 29th save in 39 opportunities.

Associated Press