Moustakas goes yard to push Royals to victory

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Moustakas hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning Saturday night, lifting the Kansas City Royals over the Los Angeles Angels 3-2.

Moustakas connected off Jose Alvarez (0-1) for his fifth home run this season.

Los Angeles had tied the score in the seventh when Cameron Maybin led off with a single against Mike Minor, Martin Maldonado walked with one out and Ben Revere hit a two-out single against Joakim Soria (1-0), who threw 38 pitches over 12/3 innings while striking out four.

Royals starter Nathan Karns allowed Albert Pujols' RBI grounder in the first and four hits over six innings. Karns escaped a bases-loaded jam when Andrelton Simmons lined out to Alex Gordon on the left-field warning track on his final pitch.

Kansas City starters Jason Vargas, Danny Duffy and Karns have allowed two runs over 20 2/3 innings for a 0.87 ERA.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Eric Hosmer hit an RBI single in a 33-pitch bottom of the first and Brandon Moss homered in the fourth against Matt Shoemaker, who gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1 /3 innings while striking out seven.

RED SOX 2, RAYS 1 Chris Sale was dominant with 12 strikeouts over seven innings for his first victory with Boston, Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer and the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Saturday. Sale (1-1) allowed one run on three hits with three walks, striking out seven of the last nine batters he faced. Boston acquired the 6-foot-6 left-hander from the White Sox for four prospects during the offseason. The Red Sox had lost five of eight. The Rays dropped their fourth in five games. Tampa Bay’s Jake Odorizzi left his start after throwing one pitch in the second inning with left hamstring tightness.

ASTROS 10, ATHLETICS 6 George Springer hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning after Nori Aoki put Houston ahead with one of his two RBIs, and the Astros rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Oakland Athletics 10-6 on Saturday.

Sean Manaea and Ryan Dull combined to pitch six hitless innings for Oakland, which led 5-0 before allowing two unearned runs in the sixth to start Houston’s rally. Aoki singled against Liam Hendricks leading off the seventh for Houston’s first hit of the game and later scored on Alex Bregman’s single. Springer also scored that inning on a fielder’s choice.

INDIANS 13, TIGERS 6 Jose Ramirez was 4 for 4 with a pair of three-run homers for Cleveland, and Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander matched a career high by allowing nine runs Saturday in a 13-6 loss to the Indians. Ramirez had a career-high six RBIs with home runs in the first off Verlander (1-1) and in the eighth against Anibal Sanchez. Verlander (1-1) gave up 11 hits in four-plus innings, including home runs by Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall. Santana had three of Cleveland’s 19 hits and four RBIs. NATIONAL LEAGUE PIRATES 8, CUBS 7 Andrew McCutchen hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in a five-run seventh inning that led the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Chicago Cubs 8-7 on Saturday. Pittsburgh has won two straight against the Cubs after going 4-14 against Chicago last season, including 1-8 at Wrigley Field. Francisco Cervelli and Starling Marte also homered for Pittsburgh on a hot, windy afternoon. Chicago led 6-2 before Marte’s solo drive in the sixth inning off starter Jake Arrieta. BRAVES 4, PADRES 2 Winless at Turner Field, R.A. Dickey got a victory in his first appearance SunTrust Park. Atlanta has won three straight following a five-game losing streak, including the first two games at its new ballpark.

Dickey (1-1) gave up two runs and seven hits in six-plus innings with six strikeouts, allowing consecutive home runs in the second to Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges. The 42-year-old knuckleballer was pitching in his third Atlanta ballpark. He got two victories for the U.S. team that won the 1996 Olympic bronze medal at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium but was 0-3 against the Braves at Turner Field in six starts and three relief appearances. Brandon Phillips and Adonis Garcia homered in the sixth off Clayton Richard (1-2). INTERLEAGUE

YANKEES 3, CARDINALS 2 Cardinals ace Carlos Martinez put on a historically uneven performance, walking a career-high eight while striking out 11 and handing CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees a 3-2 win Saturday. The Yankees won their sixth straight despite tying a team record by fanning 17 times. They got plenty of help from sloppy St. Louis, which at 3-8 is off to its worst start in 20 years and has the poorest record in the NL. Martinez’s misadventures on the mound — he also airmailed a tapper to the backstop and threw a wild pitch — stood in sharp contrast to Sabathia (2-0), who took a shutout into the eighth. Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty homered late for St. Louis. Martinez (0-2) couldn’t be touched at the start, and not always to his benefit. Of the first 12 batters, none put the ball in play.