scribblerme blog: Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics, The Oakland Athletics doubled their lead over the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball's American League West with a tense win over the Boston Red Sox.The A's were frustrated by pitcher Brandon Workman for six innings and trailed 2-0 before Josh Donaldson's two-run homer tied the game, and the same hitter produced the walk-off single to score Chris Young in the bottom of the 11th inning.Texas, meanwhile, suffered a 5-0 defeat to the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers as All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the seventh and Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta hit solo homers.That kept Detroit 1.5 wins ahead of the Cleveland Indians, who beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 to complete a series sweep. Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera batted in two runs each.In the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays moved within 2.5 games of the Red Sox with a 5-0 win and a series success against the Houston Astros. Chris Archer pitched a complete-game shutout and Desmond Jennings hit a two-run homer.Chris Davis' fourth homer in successive games, and AL record-equalling 37th before the All-Star break, helped the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 10-4, the Philadelphia Phillies saw off the Chicago White Sox 4-3 in 10 and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels by the same score in regulation.Lead regainedIn the National League Central, the St Louis Cardinals regained their one-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates with a thrilling 10-6 win over the Chicago Cubs.Pittsburgh lost 4-2 to the New York Mets, Dillon Gee's strong pitching display backed by the hitting of Marlon Byrd and the reliable John Buck.Jay Bruce and Shin-Soo Choo went yard to earn the Cincinnati Reds an 8-4 win and a series split against the Atlanta Braves, allowing the Washington Nationals to close the gap slightly in the NL East.Denard Span hit two RBI doubles, the second in a three-run 10th inning, to earn the Nats a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins but they remain six wins behind the Reds. The Phillies are a further half-game back.Wily Peralta pitched seven innings of one-run ball as the struggling Milwaukee Brewers upset NL West leaders the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1. Logan Schafer hit a solo homer, having earlier batted in Jeff Bianchi with a sacrifice bunt.Carlos Quentin's two-run dinger rounded off the San Diego Padres' 10-1 win over the San Francisco Giants, adding to earlier homers by Nick Hundley, Chris Denorfia and Will Venable. It was quite a turnaround for the Padres after losing the previous three meetings 9-0, 10-1 and 4-2.Michael Cuddyer warmed up for the home run derby with a two-run shot as the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1.
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