ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The World Series champion Boston Red Sox lost their 10th straight game, skidding to their longest slump in 20 years and brawling with the Tampa Bay Rays during an 8-5 defeat Sunday.
Rays pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez connected for a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run double later in the inning and then took third on defensive indifference, setting off the fracas.
Escobar, Rodriguez and Boston’s Jonny Gomes were all ejected.
This is Boston’s worst losing streak since an 11-gamer from June 8-19, 1994. The Red Sox have been outscored 52-24 over their last 10 games.
RANGERS 12, TIGERS 4
DETROIT (AP) - Alex Rios tripled and drove in three runs, and the Rangers rolled to another Texas-sized rout of Detroit, beating Justin Verlander and the Tigers.
Texas took three of four in the series, scoring 35 runs in the process. The Tigers have lost six of seven, and even Verlander (5-4) couldn’t come close to stopping the slide.
The Detroit right-hander allowed nine runs - six earned - in 5 1-3 innings in one of the worst starts of his career.
Michael Choice homered for the Rangers in the second, and Texas broke the game open with five runs in the fifth.
Colby Lewis (4-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings.
BLUE JAYS 3, ATHLETICS 1
TORONTO (AP) - Edwin Encarnacion homered, J.A. Happ won his third straight start and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Oakland, beating the Athletics.
The Blue Jays, who lead the AL East, won their season-best sixth straight. It’s Toronto’s longest streak since an 11-game run last June. The Blue Jays have won 11 of 13 and 16 of 21.
The AL West-leading Athletics lost their fourth straight, their longest losing streak of the season. Oakland, which came in leading the AL in runs, has scored just seven times in the past four games.
Happ (4-1) allowed four hits in a season-high seven innings. He walked three and struck out a season-high seven.
ORIOLES 4, INDIANS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) - Manny Machado and Nelson Cruz homered, Steve Pearce had three hits and the Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians for a split of the four-game series.
Miguel Gonzalez (3-3) bounced back from a shaky start to hold the Indians to two runs and four hits over six innings. He’s 3-0 in three career starts against Cleveland.
Zach Britton, the third Orioles reliever, worked a perfect ninth to earn his second save and complete the five-hitter.
Back in the lineup after missing two days with a right groin strain, Machado hit an opposite-field drive to right against Trevor Bauer (1-2) to put Baltimore ahead 3-2 in the fifth.
One out later, Cruz hit his major-league leading 16th home run on a 3-2 pitch.
YANKEES 7, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Derek Jeter had four hits and Masahiro Tanaka rebounded nicely from his first major league loss, leading the Yankees to a victory over the White Sox.
Brett Gardner had a big two-run single in New York’s four-run second inning as the Yankees closed out an extended stay in Chicago with a pair of wins against the White Sox. Brian Roberts added a solo homer in the eighth in his return to the lineup after missing a game with a sore right knee.
Tanaka (7-1) pitched into the seventh inning as New York improved to 3-3 on its unusual nine-game trip to Chicago and St. Louis. The Yankees split two games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and then had another split in their four-game set on Chicago’s South Side.
ANGELS 4, ROYALS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Chris Iannetta hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning Sunday, lifting the Angels over the Royals.
Reliever Tim Collins (0-3) retired the first batter in the eighth before Iannetta lined a drive into the lower seats in the left-field corner for his fifth homer of the season and second of the series.
Michael Kohn (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning. Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his sixth save, retiring Alcides Escobar on a popup with a runner on third.
ASTROS 4, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE (AP) - Dallas Keuchel pitched a four-hitter for his second complete game in his last three starts, leading the Astros to a victory over the Mariners.
Keuchel (6-2) struck out six, walked none and allowed just an unearned run that scored on a throwing error in the second inning. He went 8 2-3 innings in a victory over the Angels in his last start, the only thing keeping him from three straight complete games.
George Springer and Marc Krauss hit two-run homers off Hisashi Iwakuma (3-1), who allowed a season-high nine hits.
Springer hit his seventh home run of the month in the sixth inning.
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