BLUE JAYS 5, ROYALS 2
TORONTO -- Marcus Stroman made sure he didn't have to wait any longer for his career-high 12th victory.
Stroman pitched seven innings to win for the first time in six starts, Darwin Barney hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Tuesday night.
"It all started with Stroman," Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons said. "He did a heck of a job. Seven strong innings in a tight ball game."
Kansas City outfielder Alex Gordon's solo home run off Ryan Tepera in the eighth was the 5,694th of this major league season, breaking the record set in 2000 at the height of the Steroids Era. The record was broken with just less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
"A pretty cool thing to be a part of," Gordon said. "I didn't hit many this year but I guess I made one count."
Gordon, who has eight home runs this season, didn't intend to keep the ball from his milestone home run.
"I'm going to give it to Cooperstown," Gordon said. "I figured they'd probably have much more reason to have it than I do. I don't really want to remember too much about this season, so I'll probably just give it away and let them take care of it."
There were 5,610 home runs last year, an average of 2.31 per game, and this year's average of 2.53 entering Tuesday projects to 6,139. That would be up 47 percent from 4,186 in 2014.
"I don't know what to make of it," Royals Manager Ned Yost said. "Guys are bigger and guys are stronger, but so are the pitchers. There sure are a lot of home runs being hit."
Barney went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI as the Blue Jays opened their final homestand on a winning note.
Stroman (12-8) allowed one run and four hits for his first victory since Aug. 16 against Tampa Bay.
"He was really good tonight," Yost said. "He was changing speeds, had a lot of action on his fastball, moving all over the place. Good slider, really good changeup."
Stroman has pitched 191 1/3 innings this season, and has two starts left to eclipse his record of 204, set last season.
RED SOX 1, ORIOLES 0 (11) Jackie Bradley Jr. scored the game's lone run on a wild pitch by Brad Brach in the 11th inning, and Boston used six pitchers to silence host Baltimore.
YANKEES 5, TWINS 2 CC Sabathia recovered from a shaky start to pitch six innings, Brett Gardner had a pair of tying hits and New York beat visiting Minnesota to ensure its sixth consecutive series victory.
ATHLETICS 9, TIGERS 8 Jed Lowrie hit a go-ahead grand slam against Alex Wilson, and Oakland overcame a four-run deficit to beat host Detroit.
ASTROS 3, WHITE SOX 1 Jose Altuve homered, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double and AL West champion Houston extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over visiting Chicago.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PHILLIES 6, DODGERS 2 Rhys Hoskins had four RBI, including a tiebreaking, three-run double off Pedro Baez in seventh inning that led host Philadelphia over Los Angeles and prevented the Dodgers from moving closer to the NL West title.
BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0 Chase Anderson had eight strikeouts in six innings, Domingo Santana homered and visiting Milwaukee shut out Pittsburgh for the second consecutive day.
MARLINS 5, METS 4 (10) J.T. Realmuto homered in the 10th inning and host Miami beat New York after rallying for three runs in the ninth against former teammate A.J. Ramos.
CARDINALS 8, REDS 7 (10) Dexter Fowler hit a tying home run in the eighth inning and a go-ahead double in the 10th, helping visiting St. Louis knock off Cincinnati.
NATIONALS 4, BRAVES 2 Max Scherzer allowed five hits in seven innings, and Washington tuned up for the playoffs with a victory over host Atlanta.
INTERLEAGUE
CUBS 2, RAYS 1 Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit his 28th home run and visiting Chicago extended its winning streak to a season-high seven by beating Tampa Bay in Manager Joe Maddon's return to Tropicana Field.
Sports on 09/20/2017