NEW YORK: Caleb Joseph hit a home run for a fifth straight game and Baltimore also got homers from Nelson Cruz and Delmon Young as the Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3.
The Orioles increased their lead to six games over the New York Yankees and Toronto in the American League East.
Joseph became the first Orioles catcher to homer in five consecutive games. The previous record was four but the 28-year-old rookie set a new mark with his early two-run homer off St. Louis starter John Lackey.
Catcher Derek Norris hit a three-run homer and the Oakland Athletics beat Minnesota 9-4, recording a franchise record 12th straight win over the Twins.
A’s right-hander Jeff Samardzija (3-1) gave up two runs on seven hits over six innings and won a night game for the first time since Aug. 24, 2013, a span of 14 starts.
Oakland improved to 72-44, the best record in MLB.
Nolan Reimold hit a walk-off double in the 10th inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Tigers closer Joe Nathan blew his sixth save of the season and wasted a dominant performance from right-hander Max Scherzer.
James Shields threw a four-hit shutout as the Kansas City Royals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 and recorded their sixth straight victory.
Shields (11-6) has logged nine career shutouts.
San Francisco have dropped three in a row to fall 3.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
Eric Stults pitched one-run ball for 6 1/3 innings in his first road win of the season as the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1.
For the second time in as many games in the series, all of the runs were scored in the first inning.
Mike Fiers went eight innings and Khris Davis and Carlos Gomez hit home runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1.
In his first start for the Brewers since June 2, 2013, right-hander Fiers held the Dodgers to one run and three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Corey Kluber struck out 10 in six outstanding innings and the Cleveland Indians snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the New York Yankees.
Rookie shortstop Jose Ramirez had three hits, including a two-run home run, the first of his career. Tampa Bay starter Jake Odorizzi struck out nine and allowed three hits in six shutout innings as the Rays beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0.
Brad Penny, making his first Major League start since 2011, allowed one earned run in five innings, and left fielder Christian Yelich went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, lifting the Miami Marlins to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
REUTERS
