MLB roundup: Sale stops Jays for 13th win

CHICAGO — Chris Sale earned his major league-leading 13th victory as the Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Sunday for their second straight series win.

Sale (13-2) pitched seven scoreless innings before the Blue Jays broke the shutout with a pair of eighth-inning solo homers.

The White Sox left-hander won his fourth straight game, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven in an eight-inning effort — his longest since a 2-1 complete game victory over Houston on May 19. Reliever David Robertson worked a perfect ninth for his 20th save.

Chicago took two of three games from Toronto after winning three of four at Boston. The White Sox have five victories in their last six games after losing 18 of 24 between May 23 and June 19. Toronto suffered its fifth loss in seven games.

Twins 7, Yankees 1

NEW YORK — Tyler Duffey retired the first 17 hitters and took a shutout into the eighth inning and Minnesota hit three of its season-high six home runs in the sixth inning during a victory over New York.

Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Max Kepler hit consecutive homers in the sixth as the Twins ended a three-game skid. Danny Santana, Eduardo Nunez and Juan Centeno also homered.

Duffey (3-6) pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, but he spent a good portion of his 22nd career start flirting with perfection. The right-hander did not allow any Yankee to reach base through his first 75 pitches, getting eight groundouts, five outs in the air and four strikeouts. His bid for a perfect game ended on a 0-1 pitch to Aaron Hicks, who lined a double into right field.

Cardinals 11, Mariners 6

SEATTLE — St. Louis used 13 extra-base hits, including six solo home runs over the final four innings, to beat Seattle and salvage the final game of a three-game series.

Tommy Pham hit his first two home runs of the season with solo shots in the seventh and ninth innings. Matt Carpenter added a pair of homers, and Cardinals teammates Jedd Gyorko and Matt Holliday also hit solo home runs.

The Mariners had 12 hits and a pair of home runs in the loss. Nelson Cruz hit his 19th home run of the season in the third inning.

Pirates 4, Dodgers 3

PITTSBURGH — Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw lost for the first time in two months, giving up David Freese’s three-run double during a four-run second inning that carried Pittsburgh to the win.

Justin Turner drove in all three Dodgers runs with a two-run homer and an RBI double against Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl, who was making his major league debut, but it wasn’t enough to support Kershaw in a rare uneven start by the former NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner.

Kershaw lost for the first time since allowing five runs in seven innings against Miami on April 26 — giving up nine hits and four runs, striking out two and walking four in six innings. The left-hander hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in his 10 starts since then.

Indians 9, Tigers 3

DETROIT — Mike Napoli and Lonnie Chisenhall each hit two-run homers while Cleveland was scoring six times on four home runs off Justin Verlander in the fifth inning to overpower Detroit.

The Indians completed their third straight sweep of a three-game series with Detroit.

Josh Tomlin (9-1) struggled with his control for four innings before settling in to help Cleveland win its ninth straight game and improve to 9-0 over Detroit. Three of the six hits he allowed were solo home runs.

Verlander (7-6) allowed nine hits, walked two and struck out five in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest start since lasting 4 1/3 innings in his second outing of the year.

Braves 5, Mets 2

ATLANTA — A first-inning homer by Freddie Freeman was the only offense Atlanta could muster against New York nemesis Bartolo Colon, but Bud Norris was even better.

Norris (3-7) allowed just four singles over seven scoreless innings and the Mets’ bullpen imploded in the eighth inning as the Braves gained a split of the four-game series.

Freeman added a double, single and walk to his 13th home run, and Adonis Garcia connected for a three-run homer in the eighth inning

Reds 3, Padres 0

CINCINNATI — Anthony DeSclafani pitched eight shutout innings and Jay Bruce homered as Cincinnati Reds avoided the sweep with a victory over San Diego in the finale of a four-game series.

DeSclafani allowed just five hits to help the Reds avoid their first-ever four-game sweep at the hands of the Padres. It was the first shutout this season for Cincinnati, the last National League team to record one. DeSclafani (2-0) had five strikeouts, no walks and one hit batter. It was his fourth start since coming off the disabled list with an oblique injury suffered late in spring training.

Orioles 12, Rays 5

BALTIMORE — Chris Davis hit a first-inning grand slam and Jonathan Schoop and Mark Trumbo both homered later as Baltimore wrapped up a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay.

The Orioles now head out on a nine-game West Coast road trip on a five-game winning streak. The Rays have dropped 11 straight.

Power carried the Orioles yet again, as Davis’ homer in the first gave them a quick 4-0 lead. Schoop’s solo homer and Trumbo’s two-run blast gave the Orioles some insurance.

Royals 6, Astros 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kendrys Morales homered twice and rookie Cheslor Cuthbert blasted a two-run shot as Kansas City topped Houston to avoid being swept in the three-game series.

Morales began the five-run seventh with a shot into the Astros’ right field bullpen to break a 1-1 tie. It was Morales’ 15th career multi-home run game. He homered in the fourth for the first Kansas City run.

Alcides Escobar singled before Cuthbert’s home run, his seventh, on an 0-1 Doug Fister pitch. Left-hander Tony Sipp was summoned to get the final out of the seventh, but instead allowed a single to Alex Gordon, a double to Lorenzo Cain, which was his third hit, and a two-run double to Eric Hosmer.

Angels 7, Athletics 6

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jefry Marte hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning as Los Angeles rallied for a win over Oakland in front of 36,715 at Angel Stadium.

Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each had three of the Angels’ 13 hits, with Trout adding a two-run home run, as Los Angeles broke a six-game losing streak. Right-hander Huston Street received the win in relief.

Coco Crisp hit a grand slam for the A’s and Marcus Semien added a solo homer.

Giants 8, Phillies 7

SAN FRANCISCO — Conor Gillaspie followed a double by Ramiro Pena with a double into the right-field corner, providing San Francisco with a walk-off win over Philadelphia.

Angel Pagan had four hits, scored three runs and drove in a pair for the Giants, who provided manager Bruce Bochy with win No. 800 in his San Francisco career.

The one-run win was the Giants’ 19th of the season. They’ve now won 13 of their last 15 games overall, 13 of 16 at home and 14 of 18 against the Phillies.

Rangers 6, Red Sox 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas jumped on Boston starter Clay Buchholz for three runs before he retired a batter and eased to victory.

The win moved the Rangers 22 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 2011 season.

Martin Perez won his sixth straight decision after allowing one run in six innings. That run came in the sixth as the Red Sox cut the Texas lead to 3-1 on the first career homer by Bryce Brentz.

Rockies 9, Diamondbacks 7

DENVER — Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, giving Colorado a 9-7 win over Arizona and a split of the four-game series.

Leading off the ninth, Trevor Story, who tied the game in the seventh with his 19th homer, was hit with a Silvino Bracho pitch on the left forearm. Bracho struck out Carlos Gonzalez and got pinch-hitter Tony Wolters to fly out, before Reynolds belted his eighth homer, a 464-foot blast to center on a 2-1 pitch.

It was the Rockies’ first walk-off win of the season and the first walk-off homer of Reynolds’ career.