Twins sweep to Central lead
Ervin Santana and the Minnesota Twins are on top of the AL Central again.
Santana struck out seven in six innings, Jason Castro drove in three runs and the Twins swept the Indians with a 4-0 victory yesterday in Cleveland.
Santana (10-4) allowed nine hits, but Cleveland’s lineup struggled again. The Indians were shut out twice, went 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position and stranded 30 baserunners in the weekend series.
It was one sweet stay in Cleveland for the Twins, who were swept in a fourgame set against the Indians at Target Field last weekend. Minnesota moved a halfgame ahead of Cleveland for the division lead and start a four-game series with the Red Sox tonight at Fenway.
Rangers 7, Yankees 6 — Adrian Beltre, Shin-Soo Choo and Drew Robinson each homered off Michael Pineda to build a seven-run lead, and visiting Texas held on to nip New York.
Robinson’s solo shot was his first career hit and put the Rangers up 7-0 in the fourth. Texas improved to 11-5 over its past 16 games but had to resist the Yanks’ powerful offense to do it.
Orioles 8, Rays 5 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Joey Rickard hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and Baltimore, boosted by three homers, topped Tampa Bay.
Caleb Joseph, Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop homered for the Orioles.
Blue Jays 8, Royals 2 — Toronto closer Roberto Osuna struck out three in a scoreless ninth inning a day after saying he was dealing with anxiety issues, and the visiting Jays avoided a sweep by thumping Kansas City.
Jose Bautista homered and drove in four runs.
Astros 8, Mariners 2 — George Springer, Yuli Gurriel and Evan Gattis hit long home runs and visiting Houston stomped Seattle.
Athletics 5, White Sox 3— Sonny Gray pitched four-hit ball over seven innings, Adam Rosales and Matt Joyce hit back-to-back homers in the ninth, and Oakland rallied to beat host Chicago.
National League
Dodgers 12, Rockies 6 — Host Los Angeles found a new way to extend its winning streak to 10, scoring five runs on four wild pitches to go along with two more homers from rookie sensation Cody Bellinger in rallying by Colorado.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 4 — Randal Grichuk homered in his return to the majors, Yadier Molina had three hits and host St. Louis beat Pittsburgh. Grichuk, who was sent to the minors on May 29 after struggling with consistency, had two hits and scored twice.
Marlins 4, Cubs 2 — Chicago wasted a fine pitching performance by Mike Montgomery, stranding 11 runners and allowing three unearned runs to fall to host Miami.
Diamondbacks 2, Phillies 1— In Phoenix, Daniel Descalso lined a run-scoring single in the 11th inning and Arizona extended the best start in team history with a win over Philadelphia.
Brewers 7, Braves 0 — Travis Shaw became the first player to reach SunTrust Park’s right-field roof, belting a two-run homer that helped visiting Milwaukee beat Julio Teheran and Atlanta.
Reds 6, Nationals 2 — Scooter Gennett homered and got four hits, and visiting Cincinnati scored five times in the first inning off Tanner Roark en route to a win over Washington.
Mets 8, Giants 2 — Rene Rivera homered twice, Rafael Montero pitched into the sixth inning in a spot start and visiting New York swept sliding San Francisco.
Interleague
Tigers 7, Padres 5 — Mikie Mahtook drove in three runs, including a tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth inning, to help visiting Detroit snap an eight-game losing streak with a win over San Diego.