AMERICAN LEAGUE
ATHLETICS 13, ASTROS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Brandon Moss hit a grand slam and the Oakland Athletics gave Jeff Samardzija more run support Thursday than he has had all season in a 13-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
Jed Lowrie had three hits and drove in a run for the A's, who have the best record (63-38) in baseball and are a season-best 25 games over .500.
Chris Carter hit a home run for the Astros, who fell to 2-4 since the All-Star Break.
Samardzija (2-1) gave up a leadoff single to Jose Altuve and then retired 10 consecutive before Carter's 20th home run put Houston on the board. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.
He retired 12 of 13 following Carter's blast. Carter was the lone Astro to venture past second base against Samardzija.
Samardzija was 2-7 with the Cubs despite a 2.83 ERA. He entered with the third-lowest run support in the majors at 3.05 runs per outing.
Scott Feldman (4-8) allowed 6 runs on 9 hits, walking 5 and striking out 4 in 5 1/3 innings.
Feldman allowed at least six runs for just the third time this season but for the second time in three starts. He's allowed 16 runs on 27 hits over his past 17 2/3 innings.
The A's were already ahead 4-1 entering the sixth when Moss delivered his third grand slam of the year.
Feldman walked Eric Sogard and gave up a single to Coco Crisp before striking out John Jaso. Anthony Bass replaced Feldman and hit Josh Donaldson to load the bases ahead of Moss. Lowrie also drove in a run in the inning.
Stephen Vogt added a three-run double in the eighth. Josh Reddick, who had a pair of doubles, added a sacrifice fly.
Donaldson and Derek Norris, who had three hits, each drove in runs in the third. Sogard scored on a wild pitch. Crisp's sacrifice fly in the fourth put the A's ahead, 4-1.
YANKEES 4, RANGERS 2 Brandon McCarthy threw six solid innings, fellow newcomer Chase Headley delivered another timely hit and New York beat visiting Texas for its sixth victory in seven games. Brett Gardner doubled, scored a run and drove in one as the Yankees kept up their push since the All-Star break. Texas fell to 3-17 in July and dropped 22 games under .500 for the first time since the final week of the 1988 season. McCarthy improved to 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in 3 starts since the Yankees acquired him in a deal with Arizona earlier this month. He was 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA at the time of the trade. McCarthy limited Texas to one run and four hits. He struck out five, including Alex Rios to finish off an 11-pitch at-bat that ended the first inning.
BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 0 Marcus Stroman and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, and Juan Francisco drove in four runs and came within a double of the cycle as host Toronto beat Boston. Stroman's no-hit bid ended when Shane Victorino blooped a single to center to lead off the seventh. One out later, Victorino was erased on Mike Napoli's double-play grounder. Stroman (6-2) only allowed 2 other runners on walks and struck out 7 in 7 innings. The rookie right-hander is 5-1 with an 1.54 ERA in 7 home starts. Todd Redmond worked the eighth, and Rob Rasmussen finished. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz injured his lower back on a swing in the ninth inning and was replaced by Jonny Gomes, who flied out to end the game.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PHILLIES 2, GIANTS 1 Cole Hamels pitched eight strong innings and Chase Utley had an RBI single to lift Philadelphia to a victory over visiting San Francisco. Hamels (5-5) got the better of Tim Hudson in a matchup between starters who have combined for seven All-Star appearances. The Philadelphia left-hander gave up 6 hits while striking out 10 and walking 1. Hudson (8-7) gave up two runs in six innings, although both were unearned. The right-hander struck out six and walked two. The Giants, who were looking for their first four-game sweep in Philadelphia since 1998, lost for just the second time in eight games. San Francisco's lead over the idle Dodgers in the National League West dropped to 1 1/2 games entering this weekend's three-game series between the rivals at AT&T Park.
Sports on 07/25/2014