Baseball-Highlights of Tuesday's MLB games

(Adds later games) Sept 8 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Major League Baseball games on Tuesday: - - - - Orioles 2, Yankees 1 Chris Davis led off the top of the ninth inning with his 41st home run, lifting the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees. Until Davis homered, the Orioles mustered only a solo home run by first baseman Ryan Flaherty in the sixth. Alex Rodriguez tied the score in the bottom of the sixth when he sent a full count fastball into the first row of the left field seats for his 30th home run. - - Mets 8, Nationals 7 Pinch-hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a pinch-hit solo homer with two outs in the eighth off Jonathan Papelbon as the first-place New York Mets came back from a six-run deficit to stun the Washington Nationals. The Mets (77-61) extended their lead to six games over the Nationals (71-67). - - Pirates 7, Reds 3 Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run home run while Francisco Liriano allowed only three hits in six innings to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Liriano (10-7) issued one walk, 10 strikeouts, and a pair of hits, including a double. Third baseman Kang Jung Ho hit a solo homer and Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with a double and run scored for the National League wild-card leading Pirates (82-55). - - Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 1 (10 innings) Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson led off the 10th inning with a triple that highlighted a four-run inning which gave the Blue Jays an important 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The win, coupled with the Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in New York, increased the Jays' lead in the AL East to 1-1/2 games. - - Royals 4, Twins 2 Edinson Volquez pitched seven resolute innings that allowed the Kansas City Royals to beat the Minnesota Twins. Volquez (13-7) limited the Twins to six hits and two runs, walked none and struck out three. - - Marlins 6, Brewers 4 Rookie catcher J.T. Realmuto hit two solo homers, including one inside the park, to lead the Miami Marlins to a 6-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee loaded the bases in three successive innings, the third through the fifth, but could not score in any. In total, they stranded 14 runners. - - Phillies 5, Braves 0 Aaron Nola outduelled fellow rookie Ryan Weber to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Nola (6-2) threw seven shutout innings with a career-high seven strikeouts. - - Cubs 8, Cardinals 5 Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo combined for seven RBIs to lead Chicago to an 8-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals and tightening the National League Central Division race. Castro went 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring three runs and driving in four, while Rizzo collected two hits and knocked in three runs as the Cubs (80-57) won their fifth successive game and pulled within 6-1/2 games of first place St. Louis. - - White Sox 7, Indians 4 Carlos Rodon got plenty of run support while leading the Chicago White Sox to a 7-4 win against the Cleveland Indians. Rodon went seven innings and allowed one run on five hits and a walk. He struck out eight. Catcher Rob Brantly hit a three-run home run in the second inning and first baseman Jose Abreu went 3-for-4 with his 26th home run while right fielder Trayce Thompson finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. - - Tigers 8, Rays 7 (13 innings) Rajai Davis' sacrifice fly brought home James McCann with the game-winning run as the Detroit Tigers edged the Tampa Bay Rays in the 13th inning. The left fielder also hit a home run in the third inning, while right fielder J.D. Martinez added his 36th homer. Third baseman Andrew Romine drove in two runs. - - Giants 6, Diamondbacks 2 San Francisco's Gregor Blanco and Tim Hudson hit back-to-back homers in a five-run third inning in a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hudson conceded only one run and four singles in six innings in his first start since July 26. Second baseman Joe Panik doubled in a run in the third inning and hit a solo homer in the ninth. - - A's 4, Astros 0 Sonny Gray threw seven shutout innings in leading the Oakland Athletics to a 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros. Gray (13-7) gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two. - - Padres 2, Rockies 1 Pinch-hitter Brett Wallace's fielder choice shot in the 10th inning lifted the San Diego Padres past the Colorado Rockies, 2-1. Wallace hit a hard grounder to shortstop Jose Reyes but his throw to catcher Dustin Garneau was too late to get a sliding Corey Spangenberg. - - Rangers 9, Mariners 6 Cole Hamels survived both a line drive to the jaw and a shaky seventh inning while pitching the Texas Rangers to a 9-6 win over the Seattle Mariners. The left-hander rebounded from a line drive off the left side of his face in the third inning and got plenty of offensive help from four Texas home runs. Hamels (3-1) allowed four runs on eight hits in seven innings, with four of the hits and three of the runs coming in his final inning. The Rangers (73-64) pulled within one game of Houston in the American League West standings. - - Dodgers 6, Angels 4 Corey Seager's RBI double in the sixth inning ignited a four-run rally to help lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The 21-year-old shortstop had two hits to continue his fast start in the majors since his call-up on Sept. 3. He is hitting .381 (8 for 21) in his first six games. - - - - (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)