ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: Jeff Francoeur hit a solo home run and Alex Gordon had a pair of RBI as the Kansas City Royals downed the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-3, in the finale of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.
Alcides Escobar had three hits, an RBI and a run scored and Billy Butler added two hits and an RBI for the Royals, winners in 10 of their last 12 games. Wade Davis (4-5) gave up two runs on five hits over six frames to earn the win.
Greg Holland picked up his 14th save of the season despite giving up a homer in the ninth inning. Jose Lobaton cracked a solo homer while Luke Scott and Desmond Jennings drove in one run apiece for the Rays, losers in four of their last five games.
Houston 5 Chicago 4: In Houston: Jason Castro hit a two-run homer and Matt Dominguez added a three-run double to help the Houston Astros earn a 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the third test of a four-game set at Minute Maid Park.
Dallas Keuchel (4-3) tossed 6 1/3 strong innings and allowed two runs on four hits for Houston, winners of four straight. Chicago starter Hector Santiago (2-5) allowed three runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings, though he did strike out eight in the setback. Jose Veras took the hill for Houston holding a 5-2 advantage in the bottom of the ninth.
The righty looked to work around a one-out single and eventually a runner on second with two outs, but Alejandro De Aza waited for Veras’ breaking ball offering and crushed it over right-center field wall to bring the White Sox within 5-4.
Detroit 5 Minnesota 2: In Minneapolis, Torii Hunter connected on his 300th career home run to back 7 2/3 strong innings from Doug Fister as the Detroit Tigers took the rubber match of a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins by posting a 5-2 decision at Target Field.
Hunter added an RBI double in addition to his milestone homer, a two-run shot in the first inning, while Austin Jackson had a two-run blast of his own later on as part of a 2-for-5 day at the plate.
Fister (6-4), meanwhile, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and yielded just two hits and a pair of runs over his stint.
Toronto 7 Texas 2: In Arlington, Chien-Ming Wang’s terrific start and three Toronto home runs capped the Blue Jays’ four-game sweep, 7-2, and sent the Texas Rangers to their longest losing streak in three years.
Wang (1-0) gave up seven hits in seven scoreless innings, struck out five and walked two in picking up his first victory of the season. Adam Lind hit a three-run homer, J.P. Arencibia added a two-run shot and Colby Rasmus also went deep for the Jays, who have rattled off five straight wins for the first time since July 8-15, 2011.
The Rangers have gone the other way and are in the midst of their first six- game slide since April 15-21, 2010.
New York 6 LA Angels 5: In Anaheim, CC Sabathia lived up to his role as the New York Yankees’ stopper with eight-plus stellar innings, and the Bronx Bombers held off a furious comeback bid from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to record a 6-5 win and salvage the finale of a three-game series.
Sabathia (7-5) yielded five hits while striking out six and taking a shutout into the ninth before allowing a pair of baserunners that eventually scored. The ace lefty improved to 10-2 in 14 starts following a Yankees loss since the beginning of the 2012 season, though he was forced to sweat out the victory after the Angels nearly erased a 6-0 deficit with five runs in their final at-bat.
Mariano Rivera was charged with one of those runs while surrendering three hits after entering with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but struck out Albert Pujols with the bases loaded to preserve the win in the retiring closer’s final scheduled appearance at Angel Stadium.
The Yankees’ offense also came alive to help snap the club’s five-game skid, tied for its longest of the season.
Oakland 10 Seattle 2: In Oakland, Josh Reddick finished 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, while Josh Donaldson, Seth Smith and Brandon Moss also went deep as the Oakland Athletics avoided the sweep with a 10-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the finale of a three-game series.
Moss and Smith both hit solo homers and drove in two runs apiece for the Athletics, who ended a brief two-game losing skid and have won four of six. Bartolo Colon (9-2) continued his recent success and earned a victory in his sixth straight start after tossing seven innings of eight-hit, two-run ball.
Cleveland 2 Washington 0: In Cleveland, Corey Kluber fired eight outstanding innings to spoil Stephen Strasburg’s return to the mound and lead the Cleveland Indians to a 2-0 victory in the finale of a three-game interleague series at Progressive Field. Sidelined since May 31 with a strained lat muscle, Strasburg (3-6) was limited to just five innings and 82 pitches upon being activated from the disabled list prior to the contest.
