BALTIMORE (AP) Boston’s Mookie Betts continued his purple patch by hitting two homers and driving in all five runs as the resurgent Red Sox won 5-3 at Baltimore on Tuesday to leave the two teams level, one game off the pace in the American League East.
The Orioles and Red Sox are a game behind Toronto, which came from six runs down to win at the New York Yankees.
In the key National League encounters, East leader Washington was beaten by Colorado while the majors-leading Chicago Cubs won both games of a double-header against Milwaukee.
Betts, who had three homers and eight RBIs on Sunday, again led the Red Sox to victory, hitting a three-run drive in the fifth inning and a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh. In 11 games against Baltimore this season, he has a batting average of .426, with 12 homers and 18 RBIs.
Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez held the Orioles hitless before he left in the fifth inning with left hamstring tightness.
Toronto’s Russell Martin homered twice, including a go-ahead shot in an eight-run eighth inning as the Blue Jays overran the Yankees and won 12-6.
Troy Tulowitzki had four hits as Toronto took advantage of a complete meltdown by New York’s bullpen. Tulowitzki also hit a homer as the Blue Jays pulled off their biggest comeback of the season and moved back atop the AL East.
Martin’s opposing catcher Gary Sanchez also homered twice, making this the first AL game since 1913 in which both catchers hit multiple home runs.
Colorado’s D.J. LeMahieu had three hits and reached base for the ninth straight plate appearance as the Rockies downed Washington 6-2.
LeMahieu walked in his final plate appearance on Sunday, went 4 for 4 on Monday, and kept up that sequence against the Nationals. He singled in the first inning, hit a two-run homer in the third and tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth, and walked in the seventh.
Colorado starter Chris Rusin departed after a two-hour rain delay, and the Rockies bullpen threw six scoreless innings.
The Cubs extended their NL Central lead by winning both games of the double-header against Milwaukee, 4-0 in the opener and 4-1 in the night game.
In the opener, Trevor Cahill made his first start in nearly 16 months and pitched five scoreless innings.
In the night game, Jason Hammel threw seven commanding innings and Anthony Rizzo jumped onto a wall to make a remarkable catch of a foul ball.
Pittsburgh’s Jung Ho Kang hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning to lift the Pirates to a 4-3 victory over San Francisco, knocking the Giants out of first place in the NL West.
Kang homered off reliever Derek Law (4-2) for what was his third homer in four games.
The Giants, who had led the division comfortably, have the worst record in baseball since the All-Star break at 9-20 and fell half a game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber allowed one run in six innings to win his fourth consecutive start as the Indians won 3-1 to make it seven successive victories over the Chicago White Sox.
Kluber struck out seven, allowing his only run on a solo homer in the sixth. Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his past seven starts.
St. Louis’ Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko each homered to help the Cardinals beat Houston 8-5.
The Astros dropped their third straight, and the Cardinals won their third in a row on the day they learned outfielder Matt Holliday and reliever Seth Maness are headed for the disabled list. Holliday will have surgery on his right thumb and could miss the remainder of the regular season, while Maness will have Tommy John surgery, likely sidelining him until 2018.
Texas’ Rougned Odor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, forcing home the winning run and giving the AL-leading Rangers a 5-4 win against Oakland.
Carlos Beltran had tied the game with his fourth hit, a two-run single. Athletics closer Marc Rzepczynski walked Adrian Beltre to load the bases and Odor was hit in the shoulder on the next pitch.
The Dodgers moved ahead of the Giants into the NL West lead by beating Philadelphia 15-5, with former long-term Phillies player Chase Utley capping the rout with a grand slam in his first game back at his old stomping ground.
Kansas City starter Danny Duffy allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings to guide the Royals to a 6-1 win at Detroit.
The Los Angeles Angels ended an 11-game losing spiral by edging Seattle 7-6, with Cliff Pennington hitting a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning.
Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani responded to his first loss of the season by giving up only two runs and no walks in six innings to guide the Reds past Miami 6-3.
The New York Mets ended a run of four consecutive losses to Arizona in a week by beating the Diamondbacks 7-5, with starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard driving in two runs.
Tampa Bay’s Brad Miller hit two of Tampa Bay’s five home runs in a 15-1 thrashing of San Diego.
Minnesota’s Ervin Santana pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Twins past Atlanta 4-2.
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