MINNEAPOLIS — Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer to move into at least a tie for the lead in all three triple crown categories, and Justin Verlander struck out eight in seven innings to help the Detroit Tigers stay in front in the AL Central with a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
MINNEAPOLIS — Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer to move into at least a tie for the lead in all three triple crown categories, and Justin Verlander struck out eight in seven innings to help the Detroit Tigers stay in front in the AL Central with a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Cabrera’s blast in the eighth inning off Casey Fien was his 43rd home run for the year, moving him into a tie with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the AL lead. He also leads the AL in batting average (.327) and RBIs (136) as he looks to become the first player since 1967 to lead the league in all three categories.
Verlander (17-8) allowed four hits and one unearned run to drop his ERA to 2.64 for the Tigers, who moved two games ahead of the Chicago White Sox in the division.
RAYS 10, WHITE SOX 4
CHICAGO — Matt Moore pitched one-hit ball into the sixth, Matt Joyce homered twice and the Rays stayed three games behind in the chase for the second AL wild card by beating the sliding White Sox.
Tampa Bay, with nine wins in 10 games, remained three games out of the second wild card behind Oakland, which beat Seattle 7-4 Saturday.
Moore (11-11) went 5 1/3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Jeff Keppinger and Chris Gimenez also homered for the Rays.
With the White Sox trailing 10-0 in the eighth, pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson hit a grand slam off reliever Chris Archer — Chicago’s fourth hit all day.
Chris Sale (17-8) gave up five runs and seven hits in just 3 1/3 innings, his shortest start of the season.
A’S 7, MARINERS 4 (10)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Donaldson hit a tying two-run home run in the ninth inning, Brandon Moss hit a game-ending three-run homer in the 10th, and the Athletics gained ground on the first-place Texas Rangers with a stunning win over the Mariners.
Coco Crisp singled off Oliver Perez (1-3) leading off the final inning for his fourth hit. Stephen Pryor entered with one out and walked Yoenis Cespedes on four pitches.
Moss hammered the first pitch against Pryor well over the wall in right for his 21st home run, sending Oakland streaming out of the dugout to celebrate its major-league leading 14th walk-off win.
The A’s are two games back of Texas in the division and two ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the final wild card.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 2
TORONTO — Adeiny Hechavarria doubled home the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning, and the Blue Jays beat the Yankees.
Toronto’s Rajai Davis homered and had three hits as the Blue Jays increased the pressure on the Yankees, who wasted several opportunities early.
Shawn Hill (1-0) pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the win, and Casey Janssen closed it out for his 21st save in 24 chances.
Andy Pettitte’s stretch of 11 scoreless innings since his return from a broken lower left leg was halted in the first when Davis hit a one-out solo homer to left, his eighth.
ORIOLES 4, RED SOX 3
BALTIMORE — Chris Davis hit his 30th home run, rookie Manny Machado lined a go-ahead shot in the seventh inning, and the Orioles climbed into a tie atop the AL East by defeating the Red Sox.
After finishing in the division cellar in each of the previous four seasons, Baltimore (91-67) is now in first place with the New York Yankees. Both teams have four games left.
The Yankees lost to Toronto before this game started, so the Orioles knew they would earn a share of the lead with a win.
Baltimore went ahead 3-0 in the fourth, then let Boston pull even before Machado homered a liner into the second row of the left-field seats off Felix Doubront (11-10).
ROYALS 7, INDIANS 6 (14)
CLEVELAND — Tony Abreu’s two-out single in the 14th inning gave Kansas City a win over the Indians, snapping the Royals’ six-game losing streak.
Scott Maine (2-3) walked Mike Moustakas on four pitches to start the inning. Jeff Francoeur and Brayan Pena struck out, but Maine’s wild pitch moved Moustakas into scoring position. Abreu blooped a single to center to score the go-ahead run.