RANGERS 6, ASTROS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers overtook the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West, winning 6-5 on Mitch Moreland's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night.
Adrian Beltre's fourth hit put the Rangers in position to win a night after Prince Fielder pulled them within a half-game of the Astros with a tiebreaking two-run home run in the eighth. Houston had been in first place since July 28.
Fielder opened the ninth with a single to left off Oliver Perez (2-3), and pinch-runner Drew Stubbs went to third on Beltre's third single. Moreland sent a 1-0 pitch from Will Harris to Colby Rasmus in shallow center field, but Rasmus' throw was off target and bounced, allowing Stubbs to score easily.
Texas closer Shawn Tolleson (6-3) pitched a scoreless ninth as the Rangers (77-67) moved into first place for the first time this year, at a season-high 10 games over .500. Houston (77-68) holds the second AL wild card.
Houston's Evan Gattis finished a rally from an early four-run deficit with a two-out, two-run single for a 5-4 lead in the fourth. His soft two-strike liner over leaping shortstop Elvis Andrus kept Texas starter Derek Holland from escaping after the Astros put runners at the corners with nobody out.
The Rangers answered with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Fielder singled and scored from first on a groundball double down the left-field line from Beltre, who drove in two runs.
Astros starter Collin McHugh allowed the first five Texas hitters to reach in a four-run first inning after giving up just four runs over 19 innings in his first three career starts against the Rangers.
McHugh allowed five runs for the second consecutive start in 3 2/3 innings, leaving after Beltre's tying double.
Holland couldn't hold a 4-0 lead, immediately allowing the first four hitters to reach in the second before Jake Marisnick's sacrifice squeeze bunt scored Jonathan Villar to get the Astros to 4-3.
All nine Houston starters had at least one hit off Holland, who gave up 10 hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
ROYALS 2, INDIANS 0 Kris Medlen pitched five-hit ball over 6 1/3 innings and Alex Rios hit a home run that launched some unintentional fireworks, leading Kansas City to a victory over host Cleveland. Ryan Madson struck out two in the seventh, Wade Davis got through the eighth and Greg Holland worked around a two-on, no-out mess he created in the ninth for his 31st save.
RAYS 6, YANKEES 3 Nick Franklin hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the sixth inning and Tampa Bay beat visiting New York. Hobbled Alex Rodriguez and Greg Bird homered for the Yankees, who remain three games behind AL East-leading Toronto, which lost 3-2 at Atlanta. Franklin put the Rays up 4-3 on his home run off Nick Rumbelow (1-1).
ORIOLES 6, RED SOX 5 (13) Chris Davis singled in the winning run in the 13th inning, and host Baltimore got home runs from Manny Machado and Steve Pearce in a victory over Boston. Gerardo Parra led off the 13th by drawing a walk from rookie Jonathan Aro (0-1). Machado singled, advancing Parra to third, and Robbie Ross came in to face Davis. Davis lined a 2-1 pitch past the drawn-in infield and into right field to collect his 107th RBI and end the 4-hour, 20-minute marathon.
ATHLETICS 17, WHITE SOX 6 Josh Reddick homered and drove in four runs during a 10-run fourth inning to power visiting Oakland to a rout of Chicago. Billy Butler had three hits and three runs batted in, and Eric Sogard and Jake Smolinski each had a pair of RBI as the Athletics snapped a six-game losing streak against Chicago.
TIGERS 5, TWINS 4 Victor Martinez had three hits and two RBI, and Detroit beat Phil Hughes and host Minnesota. James McCann also had three hits for Detroit, and Alfredo Simon (13-9) pitched into the seventh inning. Bruce Rondon allowed a run in the ninth before finishing for his fifth save. The Tigers (66-78) were officially eliminated in the AL Central after winning the division title each of the last four years.
Sports on 09/16/2015