Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's Major League games

Sept 11 (Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games. - - - - Angels 5, Blue Jays 4 C.J. Wilson matched a career high by earning his 16th game of the season, helping the Los Angeles Angels squeak past the Toronto Blue Jays. After allowing three runs in the first inning, Wilson (16-6) settled down. The lefty lasted seven innings, surrendering four hits and four runs (three earned) while walking four and striking out six. Josh Hamilton finished 3-for-3 and the Angels did most of their damage against Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey. The knuckleballer labored through 5 1/3 innings - snapping a string of 15 consecutive starts completing at least six frames - and surrendered four runs on seven hits in a no-decision. - - - - Red Sox 7, Rays 3 (10 innings) Mike Carp's pinch-hit grand slam in the 10th inning led the Boston Red Sox to a win over the Tampa Bay Rays, extending Boston's American League East lead to 9 1/2 games. The Rays rallied from a two-run deficit scoring on Evan Longoria's RBI double in the seventh and tying the game on James Loney's solo homer in the eighth. Tampa Bay is clinging to the second AL wild-card spot over the New York Yankees into Thursday's series finale against Boston. - - - - Yankees 5, Orioles 4 Robinson Cano led off the top of the ninth with a tiebreaking home run, and Lyle Overbay added an RBI infield single that helped the Yankees pull out a victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles tried to rally late. Nate McLouth hit a two-out double off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth and scored on a Brian Roberts single. However, Rivera struck out Manny Machado to lock up his 43rd save. The victory moved the Yankees (78-68) one-half game ahead of the Orioles (77-68) and the Cleveland Indians (77-68) in the battle for the second American League wild card. - - - - A's 18, Twins 3 The Oakland Athletics put on a hitting clinic, collecting 22 hits to wallop the Minnesota Twins. Among the 22 hits banged out by the A's hitters in the game, there were seven doubles and three home runs. - - - - Cardinals 5, Brewers 1 St Louis tallied four runs in the bottom of the eighth and took a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Beltran's one-out sacrifice fly with the bases loaded scored Matt Carpenter with the tiebreaking run. A throwing error by catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who was trying to pick Matt Holliday off first as Jon Jay stole third, plated Jay to make it 3-1. Matt Adams lined a two-run homer to right-center, capping the outburst. St Louis (85-60) stayed a game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates and three games up on the Cincinnati Reds. It was the Cardinals' fifth straight win. - - - - Nationals 3, Mets 0 Dan Haren allowed one hit over six innings and Ryan Zimmerman snapped a scoreless tie with a leadoff homer in the sixth inning and the Washington Nationals defeated the New York Mets. The Nationals (76-69) tied a season high with their fifth straight win as they remained six games behind the Reds for the National League's second wild-card spot. - - - - Marlins 5, Braves 2 Rookie Jose Fernandez pitched seven strong innings, hit his first career homer, nearly sparked a brawl and led the Miami Marlins to a win over the Atlanta Braves. Fernandez (12-6, 2.19 ERA) allowed five hits and one run on the mound. At the plate, the 21-year-old right-hander homered in the sixth inning, and rubbed the Braves the wrong way after he stood at the plate to admire his blast. Braves catcher Brian McCann objected to his theatrics, and Fernandez responded with some choice words of his own as both benches emptied. No punches were thrown. - - - - Phillies 4, Padres 2 Cliff Lee pitched eight strong innings, and Freddy Galvis went 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres. Jimmy Rollins also homered for Philadelphia, and Cesar Hernandez drove in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning infield out. - - - - Giants 4, Rockies 3 Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with opposite-field hits in the eighth inning, rallying the San Francisco Giants to a victory over the Colorado Rockies. Nolan Arenado drove in two runs, Corey Dickerson scored twice and Michael Cuddyer had three hits for the Rockies. - - - - Royals 6, Indians 2 Alex Gordon homered on the first pitch of the game and James Shields pitched eight strong innings as the Kansas City Royals never trailed in a win over the Cleveland Indians. Shields (11-9) held Cleveland to two runs and four hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking one. The Royals are now two games out of the second American League wild card spot while Cleveland is 1 1/2 games behind. - - - - Reds 6, Cubs 0 Jack Hannahan hit a pinch-three-run homer and catcher Devin Mesoraco added a solo shot, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a victory over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a three-game series. Cincinnati (83-64) avoided a sweep after dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 11-1. - - - - Tigers 1, White Sox 0 Detroit Tigers second baseman Omar Infante hit a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning to break a scoreless game and Joaquin Benoit picked up his 18th save in as many chances with a perfect ninth in a win. Anibal Sanchez (14-7) did not surrender a run in 7 1/3 innings, giving up five hits. He also walked four and struck out 10. - - - - Pirates 7, Rangers 5 Justin Morneau had four hits and A.J. Burnett pitched 4 1/3 perfect innings to help the Pirates complete a three-game sweep and stay one-game behind St Louis in the NL Central. Texas (81-64) dropped its sixth in its last seven games to fall 2 1/2 games back of the Athletics in the American League West. - - - - Astros 6, Mariners 1 Grabbing another early lead and another strong performance from a starting pitcher, the Astros earned their first series sweep since mid-June by beating the Seattle Mariners. Brad Peacock (5-5) allowed one run on three hits over six innings, following a similar outing from starter Jordan Lyles the previous night. - - - - Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1 Paul Goldschmidt had four hits and two RBIs, and the Arizona Diamondbacks stopped a two-game losing streak. Willie Bloomquist had three hits for Arizona, and A.J. Pollock, Aaron Hill and Tuffy Gosewisch each added two. Yasiel Puig ended Patrick Corbin's shutout bid with his 16th home run of the season, but Corbin finished 6 2/3 innings in the win. (Editing by Jahmal Corner)