Ichiro Gets 7 Hits in Sweep
Atlanta Wins 21st Straight Medlen Start
NEW YORK — Ichiro Suzuki had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, his seventh hit of the day, to help New York complete a doubleheader sweep of Toronto with a 2-1 win Wednesday night that ensured they remained atop the AL East.
Suzuki made a difficult catch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener to preserve a lead for Andy Pettitte in a 4-2 victory.
TIGERS 6, ATHLETICS 2: In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera homered, Omar Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings to help Detroit.
The Tigers have won two straight over the A’s — and 28 of their last 36 games at home — in their chase to catch AL Central-leading Chicago.
ROYALS 3, WHITE SOX 0: In Kansas City, Mo., Bruce Chen pitched into the seventh inning and Alex Gordon hit a two-run double as Kansas City snapped Chicago’s five-game winning streak.
The White Sox (81-67) had their AL Central lead over Detroit trimmed to two games.
ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 1 (11): In Seattle, Adam Jones hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning and Baltimore won its 15th straight extra-innings game with a victory over Seattle.
The Orioles stayed just a half-game back in the AL East race. Additionally, the Orioles moved into the top spot in the AL wild-card race after Oakland lost.
RANGERS 6, ANGELS 2: In Anaheim, Calif., Derek Holland pitched seven innings of six-hit ball and Texas beat Los Angeles.
RAYS 13, RED SOX 3: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Desmond Jennings hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay’s seven-run sixth-inning, and the Rays snapped a four-game losing streak.
TWINS 6, INDIANS 4: In Cleveland, Josh Willingham had four hits and four RBIs and Minnesota’s Liam Hendriks finally got his first career win as Cleveland dropped into last place in the AL Central.
National League
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 0: In Miami, Kris Medlen pitched eight innings of four-hit ball and Atlanta won his start for the 21st straight time, beating Miami on Wednesday night.
Medlen (9-1) lost the first two starts of his career in 2009. He hasn’t taken a loss in any of his 26 starts since, with the Braves prevailing in the last 21 of those — making them the first team since the New York Yankees won 22 straight times when Whitey Ford started games from 1950 through 1953, a span interrupted by Ford serving in the Korean War.
NATIONALS 3-6, DODGERS 1-7: In Washington, Matt Kemp scored a phantom run early, then hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning — right after Washington rallied with a six-run eighth — and Los Angeles grabbed a 7-6 victory for a doubleheader split.
Kemp was credited with crossing home to give Los Angeles a 6-0 lead in the fourth, even though TV replays showed the inning’s last out already had been recorded on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s reaching tag of Adrian Gonzalez. The Nationals won the opener 3-1. GIANTS 7, ROCKIES 1: In San Francisco, Matt Cain pitched eight solid innings to earn his career-best 15th win, Pablo Sandoval homered for his first time in two months and San Francisco lowered its magic number to clinch NL West title to five with a victory over Colorado.
PHILLIES 3, METS 2: In New York, Ryan Howard hit a go-ahead homer with two outs in the ninth inning and the Phillies rallied for a dramatic victory.
CARDINALS 5, ASTROS 0: In St. Louis, David Freese and Yadier Molina each hit their 20th home run of the season to lift the St. Louis to the win.
St. Louis now leads the Los Angeles Dodgers by two games in the race for the second wild-card spot.
BREWERS 3, PIRATES 1: In Pittsburgh, Marco Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie shortstop Jean Segura hit a double and triple as surging Milwaukee stayed in contention for a postseason berth with a victory over fading Pittsburgh.
REDS 6, CUBS 5: In Chicago, Drew Stubbs hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the 11th inning and Cincinnati beat Chicago hours after Reds manager Dusty Baker left the ballpark for chest X-rays.
A team spokesman said the tests were to “rule out pneumonia.”
DIAMONDBACKS 6, PADRES 2: In Phoenix, Adam Eaton tripled to spark a threerun fifth inning and Arizona rallied to beat San Diego.