MLB roundup: Cowgill’s 14th-inning HR puts Angels past A’s 2-1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — About two hours after Yoenis Cespedes made a defensive play for the ages, Collin Cowgill decided not to watch while the Oakland left fielder chased after his long drive in the 14th inning.

Cespedes couldn’t do a thing about this one as Cowgill delivered another resilient win for the Los Angeles Angels.

Cowgill hit a two-out homer, and the Angels outlasted the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive victory.

The Angels bounced back after Cespedes kept it tied in the eighth with a throw that will be a fixture on highlight reels for years, cutting down Howie Kendrick at the plate with a 300-foot heave on the fly from deep down the left-field line.

After five ensuing scoreless innings, Cowgill abruptly connected against Jeff Francis (0-1), driving a two-strike pitch just over Cespedes’ head into the bullpens beyond left field.

“I was just hoping it had enough on it to get it over his head,” said Cowgill, who had three hits. “That guy has made some incredible plays on us the last couple of times.”

Josh Hamilton drove in Mike Trout in the sixth for the Angels, who trimmed Oakland’s lead in the AL West to 2 1/2 games.

The Angels could have ended it earlier, but Albert Pujols and Kendrick both were thrown out at the plate — although it was tough to blame Kendrick after Cespedes made his mind-boggling throw in the eighth.

“He’s capable of doing just about anything on the baseball field, and that’s just another example,” said Jed Lowrie, who drove in Oakland’s only run.

The Cuban left fielder bobbled Trout’s double and chased it down before his soaring throw went straight to catcher Derek Norris to nip Kendrick, who had already rounded third when Cespedes released it.

“When that ball rolled to the corner, I thought Howie was going to score standing up,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He threw a guided missile that was right on the money.”

Cory Rasmus (2-0) pitched two hitless innings for Los Angeles’ maligned bullpen, which yielded one run in eight excellent innings even without closer Ernesto Frieri, who had pitched in four straight games.

Nick Punto doubled and scored on Lowrie’s sacrifice fly in the eighth for the AL-leading A’s, who have lost four of six.

“Hey, what can you do?” manager Bob Melvin said. “They played as hard as they could, both teams did. After a while, everybody is trying to win it with one swing. Unfortunately, we weren’t at our best today offensively.”

Pitching and defense dominated the latest meeting of California’s division rivals. Neither starting pitcher allowed a runner into scoring position until the sixth.

Hector Santiago struck out eight during six innings of three-hit ball in his first start in five weeks for the Angels. Drew Pomeranz pitched seven innings of four-hit ball for the A’s, allowing only an unearned run.

The Angels got a terrific fill-in start from Santiago, recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake after Tyler Skaggs went on the disabled list. Santiago lost his spot in Los Angeles’ rotation May 7 after going 0-6, but the Angels’ offseason acquisition from the White Sox limited powerful Oakland to three singles and one walk.

“I had clean mechanics and felt like everything was smooth,” Santiago said. “That’s what I went down there to work on, and the results came out.”

Santiago faced no real trouble until the sixth, when he struck out Josh Donaldson to strand two runners.

Pomeranz yielded just two singles before Trout drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. Pujols reached on a throwing error when Donaldson, who made three throwing errors from third base Monday, tried to start a double play.

Hamilton’s single scored Trout, but Pujols ran straight through third-base coach Gary DiSarcina’s stop sign and was easily thrown out at the plate.

Oakland tied it against reliever Mike Morin after Punto hit a leadoff double.

After Cespedes kept it tied, the A’s put two more runners on in the ninth, but Joe Smith got John Jaso to ground out.

CARDINALS 1, RAYS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Adam Wainwright became the NL’s first nine-game winner and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Tampa Bay 1-0 on Tuesday night, the Rays’ third straight shutout loss.

The Cardinals have three consecutive shutouts for the first time since April 2013. St. Louis, with 13 shutouts this season, was coming off 5-0 victories over Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.

Tampa Bay has been blanked an AL-leading 10 times. The Rays, who have lost 14 of 15, have not scored in 28 innings.

Wainwright (9-3) scattered seven hits over seven innings. Trevor Rosenthal got four outs, including a bases-loaded pop fly by Matt Joyce in the eighth, for his 17th save.

Matt Holliday put the Cardinals ahead with his fourth homer, a long drive to left-center in the sixth off tough-luck loser Jake Odorizzi (2-7).

YANKEES 3, MARINERS 2

SEATTLE — Jacoby Ellsbury lined an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch to score Derek Jeter with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, sending New York past Seattle.

Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 14 games — the longest for a Yankees player since Jeter’s 19-game streak in 2012 — and gave New York its fourth victory in 11 games. Ellsbury’s hit came after Jeter’s ground-rule double ended the night for Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma (4-3), who had not been threatened since the first inning.

Dellin Betances (4-0) got the win in relief of starter Vidal Nuno despite giving up the lead in the seventh on Dustin Ackley’s RBI single.

TWINS 4, BLUE JAYS 0

TORONTO (AP) -—Brian Dozier hit a two-run home run, Kevin Correia won for the first time in four starts and Minnesota beat Toronto.

Newly signed slugger Kendrys Morales had two hits and scored a run as the Twins avoided falling a season-worst five games below .500.

The Blue Jays were shut out for the third time in four games.

Correia (3-7) allowed six hits, walked one and struck out one in six innings. It was his first scoreless outing since Aug. 27, 2013, with seven innings against Kansas City.

J.A. Happ (5-3) lost for the second time in three starts for Toronto, allowing four runs, three earned, and six hits in 3 2-3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.

ROYALS 9, INDIANS 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jason Vargas cooled down hot-hitting Cleveland, Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer and Kansas City held on to beat the Indians.

Hosmer also drove in a run during a four-run fourth inning. Alex Gordon homered in the eighth and Mike Moustakas hit a two-run shot later that inning as the Royals (32-32) moved back to .500 by matching their second-best run total of the season.

Vargas (6-2) gave up six hits and hit three batters with pitches, but didn’t allow a run until Jason Kipnis drove in a pair with a two-out double in the eighth. Aaron Crow got four outs for his first save of the season.

Corey Kluber (6-4), who dominated the Royals earlier this season, allowed six runs — three earned — and six hits over five innings.

RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0

BALTIMORE — Brandon Workman allowed one hit over 6 2-3 innings, and Boston beat Chris Tillman and the Baltimore Orioles for its second win in eight games.

Mike Napoli’s third-inning RBI single was all the offense the Red Sox needed to come out on the positive end of a pitchers’ duel for the first time this season. Boston was 0-18 when scoring fewer than three runs.

Workman (1-0) walked one and struck out four in earning his first win as a starter since last July. The right-hander held the Orioles hitless until Ryan Flaherty singled with two outs in the sixth.

Baltimore’s only other hit was a single by Steve Pearce in the ninth off Koji Uehara, who earned his 13th save.

Workman will have a hearing Friday on his appeal of a six-game suspension. He was disciplined for intentionally throwing in the “head area” of Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria on May 30.

Tillman (5-3) seven hits in six innings. It was his first loss in six starts since May 11.

Manny Machado started at third base for the Orioles despite receiving a five-game suspension and a fine for intentionally throwing his bat in Sunday’s game against Oakland. Machado appealed the suspension, batted second and went 0 for 4, making the final out on a strikeout.

The game was twice delayed by rain, both times in the second inning, for a total of 1 hour, 33 minutes.

NATIONALS 2, GIANTS 1

SAN FRANCISCO — Doug Fister flipped the script from his previous start in San Francisco during the 2012 World Series, tossing seven scoreless innings to help Washington beat Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner and the Giants foiled Fister and the Detroit Tigers 2-0 in Game 2 of their Series sweep. The rematch at AT&T Park played out in Fister’s favor.

Jayson Werth and Denard Span each drove home a run in the fifth to snap Bumgarner’s career-best, six-game winning streak. Werth also threw out a runner at the plate from right field in the sixth.

Fister (5-1) allowed eight hits and walked one in his fifth straight win.

Tyler Clippard escaped a jam in the eighth and Rafael Soriano gave up a run in the ninth before earning his 13th save. Washington has won three in a row and nine of 11.

Bumgarner (8-4) yielded eight hits in seven innings. He hadn’t lost since April 28 against San Diego.

CUBS 7, PIRATES 3

PITTSBURGH —Anthony Rizzo homered, doubled twice and drove in three runs to lead Chicago over Pittsburgh, spoiling Gregory Polanco’s much-anticipated debut.

Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Francisco Liriano, who left in the fourth with discomfort on his right side. Rizzo also doubled and scored in the fourth and hit an RBI double in the seventh, a drive to deep right-center that struck Polanco’s left wrist as the touted rookie tried to make the catch.

Polanco went 1 for 5 after getting called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, where the right fielder was leading the International League with a .347 batting average and 49 RBIs in 62 games.

Pinch-hitter Luis Valbuena’s two-run double off Casey Sadler (0-1) broke a 3-all tie in the sixth.

Travis Wood (6-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer for the Pirates.

DODGERS 6, REDS 1

CINCINNATI — Josh Beckett allowed two hits in six shutout innings, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run single and Los Angeles defeated Cincinnati in a game delayed more than 2 hours by rain.

Beckett (4-3) also singled in a three-run fifth for the Dodgers, who have won three straight and four of five. The right-hander, who had endured two consecutive 2-1 losses since his no-hitter May 25 in Philadelphia, finished with seven strikeouts and one walk.

Mike Leake (3-6) allowed five runs and a season-high nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Leake, who lost seven games last season, had seven strikeouts and one walk.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto went 1 for 3 in his return from the disabled list after missing 23 games.

BRAVES 13, ROCKIES 10

DENVER — Andrelton Simmons hit his first career grand slam as part of a seven-run first inning, and Atlanta outslugged Colorado at Coors Field.

Evan Gattis had a home run among his three hits and Freddie Freeman also homered for the Braves, who set season highs for runs and hits (16).

Atlanta slugger Justin Upton left early with a strained left hamstring. He is day to day.

The teams combined for 29 hits and neither starter made it out of the fifth. David Hale (2-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings of relief for the win. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances.

Wilin Rosario homered for Colorado, which has lost 10 of 11 and 15 of 18 to fall six games under .500. Juan Nicasio (5-5) allowed 10 runs and 11 hits in 3 2-3 innings.

PHILLIES 5, PADRES 2

PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Burnett threw 7 1-3 sharp innings and Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer in Philadelphia’s victory over San Diego.

Back from a 1-5 trip that left them tied with the Cubs for the worst record in the NL, the Phillies opened a six-game homestand with their 13th win at Citizens Bank Park.

Burnett (4-5) allowed two runs and three hits to earn his first win since May 20. Jonathan Papelbon left the bases loaded in a scoreless ninth to record his 300th career save, becoming the 26th pitcher to reach that mark. He has 14 consecutive saves after blowing his first try.

Will Venable hit a solo homer for the Padres. Ian Kennedy (5-7) gave up five runs and seven hits in seven innings.

METS 6, BREWERS 2

NEW YORK — Taylor Teagarden hit a grand slam in his Mets debut, Daniel Murphy had a two-run shot and New York beat Milwaukee to snap a six-game skid.

Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday to replace demoted catcher Travis d’Arnaud, Teagarden connected for his second career slam after Marco Estrada walked the bases loaded in the sixth.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-0) pitched six effective innings and Murphy homered off Estrada (5-3) in the third.

Before the game, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said manager Terry Collins’ job is secure after the team returned from a 4-7 road trip a season-worst seven games under .500.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, ASTROS 1

PHOENIX (AP) — Bronson Arroyo pitched seven strong innings and Aaron Hill had two late RBIs for Arizona.

Arroyo (6-4) matched Houston starter Brad Peacock through seven innings before the Diamondbacks scored two runs off Josh Fields (1-4) in the seventh.

Hill hit a sacrifice fly in the inning and Cody Ross knocked him in with a double to right-center after an error by Astros shortstop Jonathan Villar. Hill added a run-scoring double in the eighth inning to put Arizona up 4-1.

Paul Goldschmidt also homered and Addison Reed worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save. Arizona has won six of eight.

Jon Singleton had three hits for the Astros.

MARLINS 8, RANGERS 5

ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Yelich set career highs with four hits and four RBIs as Miami beat Texas for its record-tying 13th consecutive interleague victory.

Yelich’s single in the seventh inning sent home two unearned runs and put the Marlins ahead to stay.

The 13-game interleague winning streak matched the major league record shared by the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, who both reached that mark in 2004. The Marlins wrap up their two-game set in Texas on Wednesday.

Bryan Morris (5-0) struck out two in 1 1-3 scoreless innings. Steve Cishek worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his 15th save in 16 chances.

Jason Frasor (1-1) took the loss.