Pujols lifts Halos to win
Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly to cap a four-run fifth inning and the Los Angeles Angels added six runs in the seventh, routing the Tigers, 11-4, yesterday in American League play in Detroit.
Detroit opens a threegame series against the Red Sox tonight at Fenway.
JC Ramirez (6-4) gave up four runs — allowing the Tigers to take an early 4-1 lead — and 10 hits over five innings.
Michael Fulmer (6-4) allowed five runs on nine hits over 41⁄3 innings. Detroit relievers Arcenio Leon and Daniel Stumpf combined to give up six runs to let the Angels pull away and win the threegame series.
Danny Espinosa had three hits and three RBI and Andrelton Simmons had three hits and two RBI for the Angels, who got two runs batted in by C.J. Cron.
Astros 6, Royals 1 — Lance McCullers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in a five-run ninth as visiting Houston beat Kansas City.
Altuve’s ninth home run came off Kelvin Herrera (12) with Josh Reddick, who walked on four pitches to lead off the inning, aboard.
Before the game, the Astros placed ace Dallas Keuchel (neck) on the disabled list. Keuchel leads the majors at 9-0 with a 1.67 ERA.
Rays 7, White Sox 5 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Derek Norris homered in consecutive innings and Jake Odorizzi (43) pitched into the seventh, leading Tampa Bay to the win against Chicago, which has lost 7-of-8.
Peter Bourjos and Colby Rasmus also homered for the Rays. Twins 2, Mariners 1 — Kyle Gibson pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning and visiting Minnesota took advantage of two errors on one play by Robinson Cano in beating Seattle.
Minnesota avoided a three-game sweep and snapped Seattle’s five-game winning streak thanks in part to unexpected blunders from one of the best defensive second basemen in the game.
With two out in the fifth inning and a runner on second, Cano misplayed Joe Mauer’s slow grounder. He compounded the mistake by trying to catch Ehire Adrianza at third base, but Cano’s throw was low, skipped past Kyle Seager and allowed Adrianza to score.
National League
Rockies 4, Cubs 1 — Tyler Chatwood pitched fourhit ball over six innings, DJ LeMahieu hit a three-run homer and visiting Colorado topped Chicago for its season-high fifth straight win.
The NL West leaders got all their runs in the second inning after Jon Lester (3-4) struck out the first two batters. LeMahieu’s drive to the right field basket made it 4-1, and with Chatwood dominating, that was more than enough.
Lester lost at Wrigley Field for the first time in nearly 13 months.
Reds 5, Cardinals 2 — Joey Votto had a two-run homer among his four hits, Adam Duvall had three hits off Mike Leake and host Cincinnati topped St. Louis to complete a four-game sweep.
The Reds hadn’t swept the Cardinals in four games since 2003 in Cincinnati, during the first season at Great American Ball Park. St. Louis has lost seven in a row overall for the first time since 2013. Giants 9, Brewers 5 — Hunter Pence’s RBI single opened the scoring in a fourrun 10th inning, and visiting San Francisco overcame a rough outing by closer Mark Melancon for a wild win over Milwaukee.
Denard Span added an RBI double in the 10th off Brewers reliever Jacob Barnes (11), who gave up five hits and four runs without retiring a batter. Diamondbacks 15, Padres 3 — In Phoenix, Chris Iannetta drove in a career-high seven runs with a home run and a pair of doubles, and Arizona routed San Diego to finish a three-game sweep.
Iannetta hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Clayton Richard (4-7) for a 4-3 lead in the fifth, a three-run double against Kevin Quackenbush in the sixth and a two-run double off Brandon Maurer in the eighth.
Marlins 7, Pirates 1 — Edinson Volquez (3-7) followed his no-hitter by pitching seven scoreless innings and visiting Miami beat Pittsburgh.
Volquez allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two while winning his third straight start. He raised his career record to 4-0 against the Pirates, a team he pitched for in 2013.
Braves 3, Phillies 1 — R.A. Dickey (4-4) allowed only three hits and struck out eight in seven innings to earn his first win in five weeks and lead host Atlanta by Philadelphia.
Dickey struck out a season-high eight, and the 42-year-old knuckleballer gave up no walks for the first time this year.
Interleague
Nationals 6, Orioles 1 — Joe Ross (3-2) had a career-high 12 strikeouts, Stephen Drew homered and Trea Turner had three hits and three steals, helping host Washington breeze by Alec Asher (24) and Baltimore.
The Nationals took control with a four-run first inning against Asher.