AMERICAN LEAGUE
Angels 15, Rangers 8
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kendrys Morales homered from both sides of the plate during a nine-run sixth inning, capping the burst with a grand slam that sent the Los Angeles Angels romping past the Texas Rangers 15-8 Monday night.
Morales became the third switch-hitter in major league history to homer as a lefty and righty in the same inning. Carlos Baerga did it for Cleveland in 1993 and Mark Bellhorn of the Chicago Cubs duplicated the feat in 2002.
The Angels won the opener of the four-game series and closed within four games of AL West-leading Texas.
Morales connected for a two-run shot in the sixth as a lefty off Texas starter Roy Oswalt that put the Angels ahead 5-3. Morales then hit a grand slam off Robbie Ross from the right side.
Red Sox 7, Tigers 3
BOSTON (AP) — Dustin Pedroia (peh-DROY'-uh) hit a tiebreaking homer and drove in three runs to support Clay Buchholz's eight solid innings, leading the Boston Red Sox over the Detroit Tigers 7-3 Monday night for their third straight win.
The Red Sox opened a 10-game homestand — their longest of the season — after taking two of three at Yankee Stadium over the weekend.
Will Middlebrooks had a two-run homer and Carl Crawford added an RBI triple for Boston.
Austin Jackson began the game with a homer and Miguel Cabrera had an RBI single for the Tigers, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
Orioles 5, Yankees 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Markakis (mar-KAY'-kihs) drove in two runs, backing a solid outing by rookie Miguel Gonzalez, and the Baltimore Orioles held on to beat the struggling New York Yankees 5-4 Monday night.
Gonzalez (3-2) cruised through 6 2-3 innings, giving up just four hits and two runs, before he was chased by consecutive homers from Eric Chavez and Ichiro Suzuki that made it 5-4.
Suzuki had a chance to tie it with two runners on in the ninth against Orioles closer Jim Johnson but grounded into a fielder's choice. Johnson earned his 31st save of the season.
Wilson Betimet homered for Baltimore in the third off Freddy Garcia (4-5), who tied a season high by allowing nine hits in six innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Twins 7, White Sox 6
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jamey Caroll's sacrifice fly in the ninth inning scored Alexi Casilla and the Minnesota Twins won their fourth straight, beating the Chicago White Sox 7-6 Monday night.
Denard Span had two hits and two spectacular catches in center field for the Twins, and Danny Valencia added three hits and two RBIs.
A.J. Pierzynski homered in his first game after missing five with a strained oblique, and Alejandro De Aza returned from a wrist injury and matched a career high with four hits for the White Sox.
After Valencia led off the ninth with a single off reliever Brett Myers (0-1), Pierzynski's throw to first after fielding Brian Dozier's bunt sailed into right field, allowing each runner to move up.
Carroll followed with a fly ball to right, allowing Casilla to slide in with the winning run ahead of Alex Rios' throw.
Mariners 4, Blue Jays 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Hisashi Iwakuma (hy-SAH'-shee ih-wah-KOO'-muh) struck out a career-high 13 and Michael Saunders and Kyle Seager had two hits apiece to help Seattle win its fifth consecutive game 4-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Iwakuma (2-2) struck out Rajai Davis three straight times after allowing Davis' first career leadoff homer, which gave the Blue Jays a brief 1-0 lead.
Iwakuma's 13 strikeouts broke the Mariners rookie record of 12 previously shared by Mark Langston, Randy Johnson and Freddy Garcia. Iwakuma threw eight innings, allowed four hits and walked three.
Toronto starter Ricky Romero (8-8) went six innings, allowed eight hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked two. Romero has lost seven consecutive starts.
Athletics 4, Rays 3, 15 innings
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jemile Weeks hit a sacrifice fly in the 15th inning and the Oakland Athletics outlasted the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Monday night.
Weeks was 0 for 7 when he came up against the Rays' five-man infield. He lofted a fly ball and Brandon Inge easily beat the throw home from center fielder B.J. Upton.
Brandon Hicks homered for the A's, who have a major league-leading 12th walkoff wins this season.
Matt Joyce hit his 12th home run of the season for Tampa Bay.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Braves 8, Marlins 2
ATLANTA (AP) — Jason Heyward homered and scored three runs and the Atlanta Braves snapped a string of 16 straight losses on Mondays, including 12 this season, by beating the Miami Marlins 8-2.
Starting pitcher Tommy Hanson was the only Atlanta player or coach who did not wear high socks in an apparent old-school fashion attempt to end the Monday curse.
Hanson (12-5) still had his pants low to his shoes as he gave up one run on six hits in five innings. The Braves, coming off a three-game sweep of the Phillies, have won six straight.
The Braves won on a Monday for the first time since Aug. 22, 2011, a 3-0 win at the Cubs.
Atlanta, a season-best 14 games over .500, trails first-place Washington by 3 1-2 games in the NL East.
Padres 11, Reds 5
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds' 10-game winning streak came to an end Monday night as Will Venable drove in four runs that led the San Diego Padres to an 11-5 victory.
Former Reds had starring roles in stopping Cincinnati's run. Edinson Volquez (7-7) got the win, and Yonder Alonso tied a Padres record with three doubles.
The Reds were aiming for the club record of 12 consecutive wins, shared by the 1939 and 1957 teams.
Not even close.
Mike Leake (4-7) retired five batters in his shortest start. The Reds walked a season-high 11. Rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco was ejected for arguing ball-and-strike calls. He poked at plate umpire Chad Fairchild's chest protector and bumped him before leaving.
Cubs 14, Pirates 4
CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie sensation Anthony Rizzo and Darwin Barney hit three-run homers and the Chicago Cubs routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-4 in their highest-scoring game of the season.
Starlin Castro added a two-run shot and reached base four times as the Cubs won for the 11th time in their last 13 games at Wrigley Field.
Rizzo's shot off Erik Bedard (5-12) keyed a nine-run fifth inning, Chicago's biggest burst of the year. On Sunday, his 10th-inning homer beat St. Louis.
Rizzo leads all NL rookies with a .330 average, eight homers and 20 RBIs since being recalled from Triple-A Iowa on June 26.
Justin Germano (1-1) gave up two runs over five innings for his first win since Aug. 28, 2007, when he beat Arizona while with San Diego.
Brewers 8, Astros 7
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cody Ransom's homer capped a four-run burst in the eighth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers, after firing their bullpen coach, held off the Houston Astros 8-7 Monday night.
The Brewers dismissed Stan Kyles before the game, then watched their shaky relievers barely preserve this victory.
Milwaukee scored four times in the seventh for a 4-3 edge, but the Astros tied it in the eighth against Livan Hernandez (4-1). Ransom's three-run shot gave the Brewers an 8-4 lead in the bottom half before Houston rallied for three runs in the ninth against Kameron Loe and John Axford.
Axford got J.D. Martinez to ground out with runners at the corners for his 17th save in 24 chances.
D-Backs 7, Dodgers 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Johnson hit a grand slam in his first game with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Paul Goldschmidt hit a three run shot in the first inning — both off Aaron Harang — in a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
Trevor Cahill (9-9) allowed a run and six hits over six innings with four strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander, acquired from Oakland in a multiplayer trade last December, is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers.
Johnson, acquired Sunday in a trade with Houston, started at third base and gave the D-backs a 7-0 lead with his second career slam. It followed a two-out intentional walk to lefty-swinging Miguel Montero, who was 8 for 15 lifetime against Harang at that point — and had reached base safely in 18 of his previous 24 plate appearances overall.
Mets 8, Giants 7, 10 innings
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Scott Hairston hit his second homer of the game, connecting in the 10th inning to send the New York Mets past the reeling San Francisco Giants 8-7 Monday night.
The Giants have lost five in a row, all at home. They lead the NL West by one percentage point over the Dodgers.
Hairston hit two-run homer in the eighth as the Mets scored four times for a 6-4 lead. Buster Posey and Nate Schierholtz had RBI doubles in the Giants ninth to tie it.
Hairston hit a solo homer in the 10th and the Mets scored again on an error. The Giants got a run in their half before Manny Acosta earned his first save.
Santiago Casilla (4-5) took the loss. Josh Edgin (1-0) got his first major league victory.
