Rays’ bid for perfect game ends in ninth

The Tampa Bay Rays took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single against Ryan Yarbrough, wrecking history in the making and taking some of the edge off their 4-1 victory over the host Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Ryne Stanek pitched the first two innings before Yarbrough took over. Mixing a cut fastball with a sinker and a deceptive change-up, Yarbrough (8-3) was literally unhittable — until the ninth.

The right-handed hitting Alberto — hitting around .400 against lefties — pushed a grounder to the right side, precisely where the second baseman usually stands. Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single, and an RBI single by Anthony Santander off Oliver Drake enabled Baltimore to break up the shutout.

Emilio Pagan struck out Trey Mancini for his sixth save.

The Rays' only nohitter was on July 26, 2010, by Matt Garza against the Detroit Tigers.

ASTROS 12, RANGERS 4:

Justin Verlander (11-4) followed a two-run first inning with five no-hit innings and Jose Altuve hit Houston's franchiserecord ninth grand slam of the season as the Astros beat host Texas.

BRAVES 4, PADRES 1:

Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and Mike Soroka (10-1) struck out a career-high nine to win his 10th straight decision for visiting Atlanta.

ATHLETICS TRADE FOR BAILEY: The Kansas City Royals traded Homer Bailey to the Oakland Athletics for minor league infielder Kevin Merrell. Bailey, 33, is 7-6 with a 4.80 ERA, but he's been especially good over his past seven starts, giving the A's some additional help as they seek a playoff run in the second half.