Rangers hang on to edge Indians, build AL West lead
ARLINGTON, Texas: Texas survived a nervous ninth inning and beat Cleveland 2-1 on Sunday in the meeting of American League divisional leaders.
The Indians loaded the bases in the ninth but could not manage the tying run and wound up losing three of four in the key series. Their lead in the AL Central is 4-1/2 games, while the Rangers widened the gap at the top of the AL West to 8-1/2 games with five weeks left in the regular season.
Pitchers were also on top in Los Angeles as the Dodgers blanked the Cubs in a onerun game and maintained their two-game lead in the National League West.
Elsewhere, Kansas City beat Boston to drop the Red Sox two games off the pace in the AL East and only one game ahead of Baltimore after the Orioles shut out New York at Yankee Stadium.
Texas' Derek Holland, who missed two months with shoulder inflammation before returning to the majors last week, gave up only one run in six innings to lay the foundation for the Rangers victory.
He was aided by two superb catches by new left fielder Carlos Gomez, while Ian Desmond and Jonathan Lucroy each drove in a run.
Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against closer Sam Dyson, who struck out Tyler Naquin and retired Abraham Almonte on a fly ball to end it.
Los Angeles' Brock Stewart and four relievers combined to shut out the Cubs and deliver a vital 1-0 victory for the Dodgers.
Stewart struck out eight in five innings, and Jesse Chavez, Grant Dayton, Joe Blanton and Kenley Jansen finished it off.
The sole run came in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Andrew Toles was hit by a pitch, and then Chicago pitcher Trevor Cahill threw wide after Howie Kendrick's short roller, allowing Toles to reach third.
After an intentional walk and a strikeout, Adrian Gonzalez hit a grounder toward third, and Javier Baez did not glove it cleanly, so his throw to second for an innings-ending force play was too late, allowing Toles to score.
Kansas City scored eight runs in the sixth inning to overwhelm Boston and win 10-4 at Fenway Park.
Raul Mondesi hit a bases-loaded triple and Eric Hosmer added a two-run single for the defending champion Royals, who have surged into playoff contention with 17 wins from 21 games.
Boston's David Ortiz hit his 534th homer, a solo shot, for the Red Sox, tying Jimmie Foxx for 18th on the career list.
The Red Sox are only a game ahead of Baltimore, which won 5-0 at the Yankees.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking none. He posted a rare road win after going 0-16 in his previous 25 starts away from Camden Yards.
Mark Trumbo lined his major leagueleading 40th home run and Steve Pearce also connected for Baltimore, which ended New York's four-game winning streak.
Colorado's Nolan Arenado went 4 for 4, hitting his 35th home run and a triple, and drove in three runs to power the Rockies past Washington 5-3.
Arenado and David Dahl hit back-toback home runs in the third inning.
Washington has dropped six of eight to leave the NL East door slightly ajar, but the Nationals still have a comfortable eightgame lead.