Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

May 21 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games. - - - Athletics 3, Rays 2 The Oakland Athletics proved an economical bunch by using one hit, seven walks and two errors to edge the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 at Tropicana Field. Oakland improved its major-league-best record to 30-16 in winning its fifth straight and for the 11th time in the last 12 games. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, fell a season-worst nine games below .500 at 19-28 and dropped its fourth straight and 11th in 15 games despite out-hitting the Athletics 9-1. - - - Yankees 4, Cubs 2 (13 innings) Brendan Ryan scored the go-ahead run in the 13th inning on a wild pitch as the New York Yankees claimed a series split with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Ryan dashed home from third base on Cubs reliever Jose Veras' throw past catcher Welington Castillo with one out. Yankees catcher John Ryan Murphy then singled in third baseman Yangervis Solarte for an insurance run in the come-from-behind victory. - - - Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 4 Edwin Encarnacion pummelled the Boston Red Sox again as the Toronto first baseman, who hit two home runs in Tuesday night's 7-4 win over Boston, hit two more as the Blue Jays held on for a 6-4 victory, their seventh win in the last nine games. While the Blue Jays improved to 25-22, the Red Sox (20-25) dropped their sixth straight and seventh in the last eight games. Encarnacion, who came into the game 1-for-21 lifetime against Clay Buchholz, took the Boston right-hander deep in both the second and third innings, his 10th and 11th home runs in May (to go with 23 RBIs). - - - Rangers 4, Mariners 3 Shin-Soo Choo broke out of a mini-slump with two hits, including a solo home run in the fifth that represented the go-ahead run in the Texas Rangers' 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Choo, the designated hitter, reached base safely three times and scored two runs, all in support of right-hander Nick Tepesch, who earned his first victory in his second start of 2014. Choo, hitting third for a fourth straight game, was hit by a pitch and had a base hit and run scored in the Rangers' three-run first inning. - - - Indians 11, Tigers 10 (13 innings) Al Alburquerque's bases-loaded balk in the bottom of the 13th inning allowed the winning run to score as the Cleveland Indians rallied for two runs in a wild 11-10 win over the Detroit Tigers. After Detroit catcher Alex Avila's home run gave Detroit a 10-9 lead in the top of the 13th Alburquerque's error came while pitching to designated hitter Ryan Raburn, as he was called for a balk, forcing in Cabrera with the winning run. Trailing 9-7 in the bottom of the ninth, the Indians tied it on a two-run homer with two outs by Murphy against Detroit closer Joe Nathan. Designated hitter Victor Martinez homered and had three hits and right fielder J.D. Martinez homered and had three RBI for the Tigers. - - - Reds 2, Nationals 1 Brandon Phillips and Brayan Pena stroked RBI singles and Alfredo Simon prevailed in a pitchers' duel as the Cincinnati Reds edged the Washington Nationals 2-1. The Reds improved to 8-12 in one-run games and claimed their first series win in Washington since 2010. - - - Brewers 6, Braves 1 The Milwaukee Brewers emerged from a week-long offensive slump with a pair of home runs and got eight strong innings from starting pitcher Kyle Lohse in a 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Brewers got a grand slam from third baseman Mark Reynolds and a two-run homer from center fielder Carlos Gomez to break a four-game losing streak. Milwaukee (28-19) had scored only 14 runs over its previous seven games, five of them losses. - - - Dodgers 4, Mets 3 Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez all hit solo homers and left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out nine in six innings in his return from the disabled list as the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the New York Mets 4-3. The Dodgers (25-22) have won two in a row for only the third time this month. The Mets (20-25) dropped a season-high five games below .500 with their third straight loss and their sixth loss in seven games. Gonzalez, the Dodgers' red-hot first baseman, homered in the second and has gone deep in three straight games, a stretch in which he is 7-for-12 with five RBIs. - - - Pirates 9, Orioles 8 Left fielder Starling Marte had three hits, including a two-run triple, and scored the winning run in the seventh inning on catcher Tony Sanchez's single as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 in a game that saw 14 runs scored in the first two innings. With the score tied at 8-8 in the seventh, Marte started the winning rally with a leadoff single. Ike Davis also had three hits and two RBIs and center fielder Andrew McCutchen also had three of the Pirates' 12 hits. - - - Marlins 14, Phillies 5 Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton made a diving catch in a crucial situation and center fielder Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam to lead the Miami Marlins past the Philadelphia Phillies 14-5 in a battle of National League East rivals at Marlins Park. With two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning of a game the Marlins (24-23) led 5-3, Phillies (20-23) right fielder Cody Asche lined a shot into the right-center gap but Stanton, with a full-extension dive, made the grab, likely saving at least three runs. Ozuna's slam, the first of his career, came with two outs in the seventh on a 2-2 pitch from reliever Jeff Manship and made the score 10-3. - - - Royals 3, White Sox 1 Billy Butler drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Kansas City Royals edged the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Butler laced a 1-2 pitch to right deep enough to score Nori Aoki. Third baseman Danny Valencia drew a five-pitch walk with the bases loaded to plate Escobar with an insurance run. Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie stymied the White Sox on two singles and second baseman Gordon Beckham's double for seven innings, holding them to one run, but had to settle for a no-decision. (Editing by Ben Everill)