Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB Games

(Adds late games) July 23 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball Games. - - - Rays 3, Cardinals 0 Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Alex Cobb tossed seven shutout innings and knocked in the only run the Rays needed as they swept a two-game interleague series from the St. Louis Cardinals with a 3-0 decision. Cobb (6-6) allowed five hits and struck out 10 with no walks as Tampa Bay (49-53) swept a two-city road trip for the first time in 17 seasons. It was also the eighth consecutive road victory for Tampa Bay, which moved within 4 1/2 games of the Seattle Mariners for the American League's second wild-card spot. - - - Twins 3, Indians 1 The Minnesota Twins, behind a terrific start from right-hander Anthony Swarzak and a three-hit effort from center fielder Danny Santana, defeated the Cleveland Indians 3-1. Swarzak, starting in place of an injured Kyle Gibson, allowed only one run on two hits in five innings of work. Santana and right fielder Oswaldo Arcia had multi-hit games to pace the Minnesota offense. - - - Brewers 5, Reds 1 Mark Reynolds hit two home runs and Kyle Lohse worked into the seventh as the Brewers finished off a three-game sweep of the Reds with a 5-1 victory. Reynolds' two home runs came as part of a 3-for-4 day and the first baseman was one of three Brewers with multiple hits. Center fielder Carlos Gomez picked up a pair and scored and catcher Jonathan Lucroy recorded his second consecutive multi-hit game, singling his first two times up. Lohse (11-4) matched Wily Peralta for the team lead with 11 victories by holding the Reds to a run on four hits with three strikeouts. - - - Royals 2, White Sox 1 A strong outing by James Shields plus another stifling relief performance from the bullpen gave the Kansas City Royals their second straight win. Shields, who didn't get a decision, allowed one run through seven innings and the back end of the bullpen slammed the door on the Chicago White Sox in a 2-1 victory. A single to shallow center by right fielder Nori Aoki led to third baseman Mike Moustakas scoring the deciding run with one out in the ninth, although he needed Chicago catcher Tyler Flowers to drop the ball after a great throw by center fielder Adam Eaton. - - - Mets 3, Mariners 2 Veteran starter Bartolo Colon showed the rookie a thing or two about pitching when the 41-year-old New York Mets right-hander flirted with a perfect game before beating the Seattle Mariners and 21-year-old Taijuan Walker 3-2. Colon came within seven outs of the first perfect game in Mets history after retiring the first 20 batters he faced. Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh inning. Colon (9-8) was charged with two earned runs and gave up three hits in 7 1/3 innings as the Mets led 3-0 through seven innings and held on late. - - - Tigers 11, Diamondbacks 5 Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer and center fielder Austin Jackson and catcher Alex Avila added three RBIs apiece as the Tigers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5. Avila had a two-run double in the second inning off right-hander Trevor Cahill (1-7) and Jackson had a three-run double in a five-run fourth for a 7-0 lead. Cabrera had two hits, and his 15th homer of the season capped a four-run eighth inning for an 11-5 lead after Arizona got within two in the seventh. - - - Rockies 6, Nationals 4 Jorge De La Rosa pitched into the eighth inning and the Rockies beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 to end their seven-game losing streak. The left-hander held the Nationals to two runs, one earned, in a season-high 7 1/3 innings with no walks and a season-high 11 strikeouts. Down 1-0 early, the Rockies quickly wiped out that deficit with three runs in the bottom of the first. - - - Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 4 Jose Bautista had two RBIs with a homer and a double and R.A. Dickey pitched six innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-4. Dickey (8-10), a right-handed knuckleballer, allowed nine hits and four runs, including three in the first inning on the fourth home run in three games by Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. Bautista, who played first base, doubled in a run in the bottom of the first inning and hit his 18th homer of the season in the seventh. - - - Pirates 6, Dodgers 1 Francisco Liriano won for just the second time in 17 starts this season and Josh Harrison's two-run double capped a four-run first inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1. Liriano (2-7) allowed only one run and four hits in seven innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Harrison and Travis Snider had two hits each with Snider claiming a home run, and scoring the game's final run on center fielder Andrew McCutchen's double in the seventh inning. - - - Braves 6, Marlins 1 Freddie Freeman ended his season long frustration against Miami with his first home run in nearly a month to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 win over the Marlins. Freeman, Atlanta's All-Star first baseman, entered the game with a .088 batting average in 11 games against Miami this season but changed his luck in the second inning with a long three-run home run to the opposite field in left against Marlins starter Nathan Eovaldi (5-6). Freeman's home run gave Atlanta a 5-0 lead. - - - Giants 3, Phillies 1 Madison Bumgarner pitched eight scoreless innings and right fielder Hunter Pence delivered a three-run double in the ninth to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Pence blooped a double to right field with two outs after Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon (2-2), who blew a save on Tuesday, hit a batter and walked two others to load the bases. Bumgarner (12-7) was spectacular, needing only 93 pitches to breeze through eight shutout innings in which he yielded just five hits, struck out six and walked none. - - - Yankees 2, Rangers 1 Brett Gardner hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the third inning and David Phelps won his fourth straight decision as the New York Yankees edged the Texas Rangers 2-1 in a rain-shortened game. The game was delayed with one out in the fifth and Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli on second following his second double of the game before eventually being called. Before the delay, the Yankees scored twice in the third against Texas right-hander Yu Darvish (9-6), capped by Gardner's blast. - - - Padres 8, Cubs 3 San Diego's newest arrivals, Yangervis Solarte and Jeff Francoeur, went a combined 3-for-7 with three runs scored to lead the Padres to a 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Yangervis, a second baseman acquired in Tuesday's trade with the New York Yankees, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI while Francouer, a veteran right fielder called up from Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday, was 1-for-3 with a run and RBI. First baseman Tommy Medica went 3-for-5 with two RBI and third baseman Luis Valbuena had a three-run homer. - - - Angels 3, Orioles 2 Kole Calhoun's two-out, bases-loaded walk forced in the game-winning run in the eighth inning of the Los Angeles Angels' 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Angels starter Jered Weaver went eight strong innings to get the win, thanks to the Angels' two-run rally in the eighth. In the eighth, Angels left fielder Josh Hamilton led off against Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter with a broken-bat single to right, then scored on a double to the left-center field gap by shortstop Erick Aybar, tying the game at 2-2. - - - A's 9, Astros 7 Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hit two home runs and drove in a career-high-tying five runs, leading the Oakland A's to a 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros. Cespedes, who won the All-Star Home Run Derby on July 14 for the second consecutive year, snapped a career-high-tying 25-game homerless streak. The Astros trailed 9-2 after seven innings but scored five times and sent 10 batters to the plate in the eighth inning when the A's bullpen had a meltdown. - - - (Editing by Ben Everill)