SEATTLE - Adam Jones hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning and Baltimore won its 15th straight extra-innings game with a 3-1 victory over Seattle on Wednesday night.
A night after the teams played an 18-inning marathon that lasted nearly 6 hours, Jones, the one-time Mariners prospect, gave Baltimore a huge boost in its race with the Yankees for the lead in the AL East. Even with New York sweeping a doubleheader from Toronto on Wednesday, the Orioles stayed just a half-game back in the division race. The Orioles moved into the top spot in the AL wild-card race after Oakland was handed a 6-2 loss in Detroit.
According to the Orioles, with information from the Elias Sports Bureau, the 15 straight extra-inning wins is the longest streak since the Cleveland Indians won 17 straight in 1949.
Jones' turned on a 3-2 pitch from Seattle's Josh Kinney (0-3) for his 30th homer.
Jim Johnson pitched the bottom of the 11th for his major league-leading 45th save.
YANKEES 4, BLUE JAYS 2, 1st game
YANKEES 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 2nd game
NEW YORK (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, his seventh hit of the day, to help New York complete a doubleheader sweep of Toronto that ensured they remained atop the AL East — by a half-game over Baltimore.
Suzuki made a difficult catch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener to preserve a lead for Andy Pettitte.
Suzuki had three hits in the opener batting leadoff in place of Derek Jeter, who rested his sore ankle in the first game of the day-night doubleheader. Jeter started at shortstop for the first time in a week and got his 200th hit on Ricky Romero's first pitch.
Rafael Soriano closed both games, notching his 41st and 42nd saves, the first time he saved two in one day.
The Blue Jays, playing their first doubleheader against the Yankees since 1986, were without shortstop Yunel Escobar, who began a three-game suspension for wearing eyeblack displaying an anti-gay slur written in Spanish during a game last weekend against Boston.
Toronto dropped to 66-81, guaranteeing it will not have a winning record this season.
With the score 1-1, Curtis Granderson was walked by Steve Delabar (4-3) to open the eighth. He moved up on a sacrifice and stole third. With two outs, Suzuki slapped an opposite-field hit to left for the lead. Suzuki stole two bases in the inning to give him four.
The Yankees had seven steals in the nightcap, their most in a game in three years.
Cody Eppley (1-2) got one out for his first win since April 27, 2011.
Romero remained tied for the Blue Jays record with 13 straight losses and walked five to up his AL-leading total to 99. It was his third game in which he allowed one run and didn't win — two no-decisions.
Adeiny Hechavarria's RBI single in the second after Phelps walked was just the 24th run Toronto has scored in Romero's last 13 starts.
In the opener, Pettitte (4-3) gave up four hits in his first start since a hot shot off the bat of Cleveland's Casey Kotchman broke his left fibula on June 27.
TIGERS 6, ATHLETICS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera homered, Omar Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings to help Detroit.
Verlander (15-8) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five.
The Tigers have won two straight over the A's — and 28 of their last 36 games at home — in their chase to catch the AL Central-leading Chicago.
Oakland, clinging to an AL wild-card spot, has dropped three straight and might have had a costly loss on the mound because Brett Anderson (4-2) left the game after two-plus innings with a strained right oblique.
Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta had an error in the fifth — snapping a 75-game errorless streak — but he helped turn a double play to end the inning. He chipped in at the plate in the home half, hitting an RBI single to put Detroit ahead 4-0.
Cabrera hit his 41st home run and got his 130th RBI.
RAYS 13, RED SOX 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Desmond Jennings hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay's seven-run sixth-inning, and the Rays snapped a four-game losing streak.
Jennings scored following his triple against reliever Alfredo Aceves when the throw from the outfield eluded third baseman Pedro Ciriaco. Four Boston pitchers walked six in the sixth, including passes to Carlos Pena and Jose Molina with the bases loaded. Luke Scott had a sacrifice fly, and Jeff Keppinger added an RBI single.
Keppinger hit a solo homer, and Pena added a two-shot off Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-6) as Tampa Bay went ahead 5-3 in the fourth.
Chris Archer (1-3) allowed three runs and five hits over five innings for the Rays, who won for the second time in nine games. It was the rookie's first major league win.
The Red Sox (68-82), assured of their first losing season since 1997, got two RBIs from Jacoby Ellsbury.
TWINS 6, INDIANS 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Willingham had four hits and four RBIs and Minnesota's Liam Hendriks finally got his first career win as Cleveland dropped into last place in the AL Central.
Willingham belted a tie-breaking two-run homer off Zach McAllister (5-8) in the fifth inning, giving Minnesota a 4-2 lead. He also had three singles.
Hendriks (1-7) pitched six effective innings to get the win in his 18th career start. Glen Perkins worked the ninth for his 14th save.
Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera homered, but left in the seventh with a sore right wrist.
Cleveland fell to 11-39 since July 26 and has dropped 11 of its last 13 at home. The Indians led the AL Central for 40 days and held a four-game advantage on May 17, but are 39-72 since.
Hendriks allowed two runs and two hits. The right-hander, who made four starts in 2011, was the fifth pitcher since 1920 to go winless in his first 17 starts, three shy of the record shared by Bill Caudill of the Chicago Cubs (1979-81) and Mike Mohler of Oakland (1993-97).
ROYALS 3, WHITE SOX 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bruce Chen pitched into the seventh inning and Alex Gordon hit a two-run double as Kansas City snapped Chicago's five-game winning streak.
Billy Butler hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning, but that was it until Gordon connected off Chris Sale (17-7) with two outs in the seventh.
Chen (11-12) scattered five hits and three walks over 6 2-3 innings to win for just the second time in six starts.
Kelvin Herrera pitched around two base runners in the eighth, and Greg Holland yielded a two-out double in the ninth before finishing for his 14th save.
Escobar finished with three hits for the Royals, who staved off official elimination for one more day. The White Sox (81-67) had their AL Central lead over Detroit trimmed to two games.
The White Sox, 3-2 winners in the series opener, wound up going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
RANGERS 6, ANGELS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Derek Holland pitched seven innings of six-hit ball and Geovany Soto hit a late two-run homer for Texas.
Elvis Andrus, Michael Young and Mike Napoli had run-scoring extra-base hits in the third inning as the Rangers chased former teammate C.J. Wilson (12-10), who flopped in his second-shortest start for Los Angeles.
One night after the Angels scored 11 runs without Albert Pujols, the Rangers dominated offensively and improved the AL's best record to 88-60 without sluggers Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre, who sat with injuries.
Alberto Callaspo hit a two-run homer for the Angels (81-68), who had won 15 of 20. Wilson and his teammates blew a chance to pull within 2 1/2 games of slumping Oakland (84-64) for the second AL wild-card slot with 13 games to go.
Soto homered and Nelson Cruz had an RBI double in a three-run eighth.
Holland (11-6) struck out four and walked one to remain unbeaten since July 31 while getting his first victory of the season over the Angels.
© The Canadian Press, 2012
20 Sep, 2012
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