Moustakas powers Royals past Orioles
BALTIMORE: Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and finished with a franchise-record nine RBIs to lead the Royals to a 14-6 win at Baltimore on Saturday.
The victory pushed the Royals’ lead in the American League Central division to a seemingly unbeatable 11 games while Toronto strengthened their grip on the AL East by winning both games of a doubleheader at the New York Yankees.
Lowly Cincinnati also won a doubleheader against St Louis, eroding the Cardinals’ lead over Pittsburgh in the National League Central.
The Los Angeles Dodgers moved closer to sealing the NL West by defeating Arizona.
Kansas City’s Moustakas singled home two runs in the sixth inning, hit his second career slam in the seventh and capped his record-setting performance with a threerun drive in the ninth.
The previous team record for RBIs in a game was seven, by Billy Butler against Philadelphia two years ago.
Salvador Perez had two hits and three RBIs for the AL Central leaders, who won for only the second time in eight games.
Toronto opened a season-high 4½-game lead in the AL East, sweeping a doubleheader from sagging New York 9-5 and 10-7 at a sodden Yankee Stadium.
The Blue Jays lost boom recruit Troy Tulowitzki to a cracked shoulder blade.
In the day game, Jose Bautista homered twice, Chasen Shreve forced in three runs with bases-loaded walks in the 11th inning, and the Blue Jays rallied from a 4-1 deficit.
Bautista hit two of Toronto’s four home runs, including an eighth-inning drive that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-4 and increased his season total to 35.
In the night game, Cliff Pennington hit a two-run homer and former-Yankee Russell Martin added a two-run double in a decisive six-run second inning.
Los Angeles’ Corey Seager had four hits, including his first career homer, as the Dodgers went deep four times in a 9-5 win at Arizona.
Seager, playing shortstop in place of injured veteran Jimmy Rollins, had three RBIs, scored three times and stole a base. He got help from a Diamondbacks fan who reached over the padding down the leftfield line in the fifth inning to take a seemingly catchable foul ball away from two Arizona players and Seager then homered in the same at-bat.
Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford also homered for the Dodgers.
Cincinnati beat St Louis 4-2 in the completion of a game that was rained out on Friday, and then won the scheduled Saturday game 5-1.
Adam Duvall’s two-run homer in the eighth lifted the Reds to a win.
In the second contest, Skip Schumaker hit a three-run homer against his old team; his first long shot of the season.
Rookie Anthony DeSclafani (9-10) struck out 10 and allowed one earned run in six strong innings.
St Louis are 3-8 in September and their lead in the NL Central was shaved to 2½ games.