NEW YORK: Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista hit back-to-back home runs off Boston ace Jon Lester in the first inning and the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three-game sweep of the reeling Red Sox with a 7-2 win.
Mark Buehrle pitched seven sharp innings to earn his Major League-high eighth win of the season, and shortstop Jose Reyes drove in two runs during a five-run second as the Blue Jays (26-22) jumped out to a 7-1 lead and won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts homered for the Red Sox (20-26), who were outscored 37-16 during their current seven-game losing streak, their longest slide since dropping eight straight to end the 2012 season.
Rays 5, Athletics 2
Sean Rodriguez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 11th inning to give the Rays their first walk-off win of the season to end a four-game losing streak.
The Rays (20-28) tied the score in the 11th with a two-out single from Desmond Jennings then surged past the Athletics (30-17).
Alex Cobb, pitching for the first time since April 12, pitched six-plus scoreless innings.
Rangers 9, Tigers 2
Yu Darvish pitched five innings of shutout ball and the Texas Rangers got two-run hits from three different players to beat Detroit, the Tigers fourth loss in a row after six straight victories.
Darvish (4-2) doled out two hits until Detroit (27-16) scored twice in the sixth on an RBI double by first baseman Miguel Cabrera, now one RBI shy of the league lead at 41, and Don Kelly’s run-scoring single.
Texas (23-24) got a two-run home run from Shin-Soo Choo while scoring four runs in the fourth inning after three in the third. REUTERS
Canadiens down Rangers in extra time
NEW YORK: Alex Galchenyuk scored 1:12 into extra time to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a needed 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in the NHL Eastern Conference finals.
With the win the Canadiens breathed life into their bid to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
They had dropped the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home, but now trail two games to one going into game four at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The Rangers had tied the game at 2-2 with 29 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Canadiens started strong in extra time, with Tomas Plekanec skating in through the middle and throwing the puck on net from the left circle.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made a left-pad save on the shot, but the rebound hit off a crashing Galchenyuk in front of the net and went in to end the game. Montreal goaltender Dustin Tokarski, making his second playoff start with Carey Price sidelined by a knee injury, made 35 saves. REUTERS
