AL roundup: Smyly, Rays shut down Orioles
8/28/2014BALTIMORE — Drew Smyly allowed two hits over seven innings in his second straight overpowering performance, and the Tampa Bay Rays jumped to an early lead against rookie Kevin Gausman in a 3-1 victory against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
Evan Longoria had three hits for the Rays, who won for only the fourth time in 11 games. Tampa Bay scored all its runs in the first two innings and Smyly (9-10) made the margin stand.
Smyly gave up a solo homer to Chris Davis in the second inning and a single to Steve Pearce in the seventh. The left-hander struck out six and walked one in his fifth start for the Rays since coming from Detroit in a trade involving David Price.
Brad Boxberger worked the eighth, and Jake McGee got three outs to earn his 15th save and complete the two-hitter.
ROYALS 6, TWINS 1: At Kansas City, Nori Aoki drove in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning that sparked the Royals.
Billy Butler and Salvador Perez each drove in a pair of runs during the surge, which came after the Twins’ Phil Hughes (14-9) had stymied the Royals for the first seven innings.
Wade Davis (8-2) pitched a perfect eighth to earn his second straight win, and All-Star closer Greg Holland worked around a single in the ninth to cap a second straight late-game win.
Minnesota has lost four straight and eight of 11 overall.
BLUE JAYS 5, RED SOX 2: At Toronto, pinch-hitter Danny Valencia had a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning, leading the Blue Jays to victory.
Jose Bautista homered for the second straight night, a two-run drive in the first that helped the Blue Jays improve to 7-16 in August.
With Boston leading 2-1, Edwin Encarnacion doubled off Joe Kelly starting the seventh, and left-hander Tommy Layne (0-1) relieved.
Dioner Navarro’s at-bat was prolonged when catcher David Ross dropped his foul popup for an error. and Navarro singled.
RANGERS 12, MARINERS 4: At Seattle, Rougned Odor hit a third-inning grand slam to back Colby Lewis, and last-place Texas took two of three from the Mariners.
Erasmo Ramirez (1-6), recalled from Triple-A Tacoma for the start, allowed 10 runs and nine hits in three-plus innings. Seattle, which began the day a half-game ahead of Detroit for the second AL wild-card spot, had been the only major league team not to allow 10 or more runs in a game this season.
Lewis (9-11) allowed seven hits, struck out seven and walked one in his second complete game of the season and second in August. He had been 0-3 since pitching a five-hit shutout at the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 5.