Upton, Verlander lead Tigers to 5th straight
DETROIT >> Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth inning and Justin Upton homered for the fourth time in five games as the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 on Friday night.
The Tigers have won five straight to move back into contention in both the AL Central and wild-card races.
Upton was hitting .226 when Tigers manager Brad Ausmus held him out of the starting lineup for three days last week. Since returning on Saturday, he’s batting .417 with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in six games.
Verlander (14-7) allowed two runs and four hits in 7.2 innings. He walked one and struck out eight in his ninth straight quality start. Francisco Rodriguez got the last four outs for his 36th save. INDIANS 12, RANGERS 1 >> Corey Kluber pitched six strong innings for a careerbest sixth straight victory and Abraham Almonte hit two run-scoring doubles, helping Cleveland rout Texas in a matchup of division leaders.
The Indians (73-54) snapped a three-game losing streak, which had tied a season high, and pulled within a game of the Rangers (75-54) for the best record in the American League a night after losing 9-0 to Texas ace Cole Hamels. MARINERS 3, WHITE SOX 1 >> Chris Sale struck out 14 but got outpitched by Felix Hernandez and the Seattle bullpen, and the Mariners beat Chicago to end a three-game skid.
Hernandez (9-4) improved to 5-0 in eight starts since returning from the disabled list, throwing 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Sale (15-7) gave up five hits and walked none in his fifth complete game of the season. He retired the final 16 batters, striking out 10 of them. NATIONALS 8, ROCKIES 5 >> Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy hit solo homers and drove in two runs each, and Gio Gonzalez earned his 100th career victory in Washington’s win over Colorado.
Gonzalez (9-9) threw six innings and allowed two runs and four hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Closer Mark Melancon retired Christhian Adames for the final out for his 37th save.
Melancon entered the game shortly after Nick Hundley hit a three-run homer off Shawn Kelley to pull the Rockies within three. ASTROS 5, RAYS 4 >> Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to lift Houston past Tampa Bay. ROYALS 6, RED SOX 3 >> Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon homered, and Ian Kennedy allowed one run through five innings and Kansas City beat Boston.
Kansas City has won 11 of its last 12 games and is 18-6 in August. CARDINALS 3, ATHLETICS 1 >> Jedd Gyorko homered and Luke Weaver pitched six strong innings to earn his first major league win as St. Louis beat Oakland. YANKEES 14, ORIOLES 4 >> Rookie Gary Sanchez homered for the eighth time in nine games and drove in four runs to help New York beat Baltimore. BLUE JAYS 15, TWINS 8 >> Russell Martin and Justin Smoak each homered and drove in five runs and Toronto handed Minnesota its eighth straight loss.