ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Texas put its first six hitters on base to lay the foundations for a 6-2 win against Boston on Sunday, pushing the Rangers’ lead in the American League West division out to double figures.
While Texas bolstered its lead as the season heads toward the All-Star break, the Red Sox fell further off the pace in the AL East, dropping four games off Baltimore.
In the AL Central, Cleveland continued to set the pace while beating Detroit yet again, and in the key National League contests, Miami downed the injury-hit and faltering Chicago Cubs while San Francisco edged Philadelphia.
Texas batters Shin-Soo Choo, Ian Desmond, Nomar Mazara and Adrian Beltre opened Texas’ three-run first with four straight singles, with the last two driving in a run apiece.
The strong start at the plate made for a comfortable day for Ranger starter, who did not give up a run until the sixth inning, and recorded his sixth successive win.
Texas has won 11 and drawn one series since being swept at Oakland in mid-May.
Cleveland pushed its winning streak to nine games with a 9-3 victory over Detroit, extending its perfect record against the Tigers this season.
Lonnie Chisenhall had four hits, including one of Cleveland’s four home runs off Justin Verlander in the fifth inning. Juan Uribe, Tyler Naquin and Mike Napoli also went deep for the Indians. Chisenhall was 4 for 4 with a triple and three RBIs.
Only once before had Verlander allowed four homers in a game; also against the Indians in 2007. According to the Elias Sports Bureau and Fox Sports Detroit, he became the first pitcher in franchise history to give up four in one inning.
Cleveland swept Detroit for the third time this year. The Indians have outscored the Tigers 60-20 over those nine games.
Miami’s Jose Fernandez delivered another pitching gem at Marlins Park, striking out 13 and allowing one run in seven innings to help the hosts beat the Cubs 6-1.
Fernandez improved his extraordinary career record at home to 24-1 with a 1.48 ERA.
The injury-depleted Cubs went 1-6 for the week but still have the best record in the majors.
At 41-35, the Marlins are six games above a .500 winning percentage for the first time in four years.
San Francisco closed within 1-1/2 games of the Cubs in the fight for the best record in the NL.
The Giants made up ground when Conor Gillaspie hit a game-ending double with one out in the ninth inning to secured an 8-7 win against Philadelphia.
Ramiro Pena doubled off Severino Gonzalez and scored comfortably on Gillaspie’s hit.
The teams combined for 28 hits, with the Phillies rallying to tie the score twice in the final three innings but still falling short.
Manager Bruce Bochy notched his 800th win with the Giants, who have won 13 of their past 15 games.
Chicago’s Chris Sale pitched eight strong innings to steer the White Sox to a 5-2 victory over Toronto and become the first pitcher in the majors to reach 13 wins this season.
Sale (13-2) struck out seven in his fourth straight victory.
Pittsburgh’s Chad Kuhl won his major league debut and ended Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw’s nine-game winning streak as the Pirates edged the Dodgers 4-3.
Kuhl allowed four hits in five innings after being called up from the minor league Indianapolis Indians before the game.
Kershaw took only his second loss of the season, giving up nine hits in six innings.
David Freese hit a three-run double that capped a four-run second for the Pirates, who have won the opening three games of the four-match series against a Dodgers side that came into it on a run of six straight wins.
Washington ended a seven-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory at Milwaukee, with Tanner Roark pitching seven scoreless innings.
Roark struck out seven in a fill-in performance for team ace Stephen Strasburg, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game with an upper back strain.
Kansas City ended Houston’s seven-game winning sequence with a 6-1 victory.
Ian Kennedy struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing only one run and one walk in a timely performance for a Royals starting rotation that had taken punishment in the opening two games of the series.
St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter and Tommy Pham each homered twice as the Cardinals went deep six times to beat Seattle 11-6.
Baltimore completed its first-ever four game sweep of Tampa Bay as Chris Davis hit a grand slam to power the Orioles to a 12-5 victory and send the Rays to an 11th successive loss.
Colorado’s Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Rockies a walk-off 9-7 win against Arizona.
Atlanta’s Bud Norris pitched seven scoreless innings to guide the Braves to a 5-2 win against the New York Mets.
The Los Angeles Angels halted a six-game losing run by edging Oakland 7-6 when Jefry Marte drove in Mike Trout with a game-ending sacrifice fly.
Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani pitched eight scoreless innings and also drove in a run as the Reds beat San Diego 3-0.
Minnesota’s Tyler Duffey retired the first 17 New York batters and gave up only two hits in eight innings to lead the Twins past the Yankees 7-1.
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