NEW YORK (AP) β The New York Yankees pulled out an 8-7, 10-inning win over Minnesota on Monday to increase their lead in the AL East to one full game over Toronto. The two teams combined for five home runs before Chase Headley won it with an RBI grounder. Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and a two-run double, but the Yankees needed Carlos Beltran’s two-run blast to tie it 7-7 in the sixth.
BALTIMORE (AP) β Steve Clevenger smacked a three-run homer and Chris Tillman won his seventh consecutive decision as Baltimore downed the Oakland A’s 4-2 to complete a four-game sweep. Clevenger’s fourth-inning blast put the Orioles ahead 3-1 and came after second baseman Eric Sogard (SOH’-gahr) committed an error with nobody on and two out. The win keeps the Orioles four games off the AL East lead, and a half-game ahead of the Angels for the league’s second wild-card berth.
UNDATED (AP) β The Houston Astros’ lead in the AL West is down to 2 Β½ games over the Angels and three games over Texas. Tim Beckham launched a three-run homer and Asdrubal (as-DROO’-bul) Cabrera drove in three runs in Tampa Bay’s 9-2 dismantling of the Astros in Houston. The Rangers beat Seattle 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth, and C.J. Cron’s home run in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie in the Angels’ 2-1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox.
UNDATED (AP) β The St. Louis Cardinals expanded their lead in the NL Central to six games over Pittsburgh and dropped the San Francisco Giants three games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Rookie Stephen Piscotty tripled and scored the tiebreaking run on Mark Reynolds’ groundout in the eighth inning to lift the Redbirds past the Giants 2-1. Yadier Molina (YAH’-dee-ehr moh-LEE’-nah) hit a fourth-inning homer and Piscotty had two of the Cardinals’ six hits.
PITTSBURGH (AP) β Jeremy Hellickson combined with five relievers on a seven-hitter in Arizona’s 4-1 triumph over the Pirates. Hellickson also hit an RBI single and Jake Lamb added a solo homer off Gerrit Cole, who was seeking his major league-leading 15th victory. The Bucs are two games ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the first NL wild-card berth.
