Sunday afternoon was highlighted by high-scoring games and games that witnessed teams both avoid sweeps and become victims of the dreaded broom.
As far as individual performances, the Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Sweeney drove in a career-high six runs in the 14-run barrage waged against the Houston Astros.
In addition to the conclusion of both three and four-game series, Sunday saw the continuation of recent hot streaks.
Below are the recaps and highlights of today’s major league games.
Games in AL Stadiums
Oakland 3, Seattle 6
Seattle DH Raul Ibanez accounted for the Mariners’ first three runs, launching a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fourth. However, it would be Kendrys Morales who would lift the Mariners over the Athletics in 10 innings, slugging a walk-off three-run shot to right and cementing the 6-3 victory for Oakland (and the 2-1 series victory).
Pittsburgh 10, Los Angeles 9
10 of the 19 total runs scored between both teams were scored in the last two innings on Sunday, as the Pirates rallied to score three in the ninth to force extra innings. The Pirates would add four more in the top of the tenth, wherein the Angels would respond with three of their own in the bottom of the frame, but would fall just short, dropping the game 10-9 and succumbing to a three-game sweep at the hands of Pittsburgh.
Chicago 6, Kansas City 7
Chicago brought a 6-4 lead into the eighth, however, the White Sox would implode in the bottom of the frame. Jesse Crain surrendered a bases loaded walk to Alex Gordon, scoring Mike Moustakas, which would be followed by a costly fielding error by Alexei Ramirez on an Alcides Escobar groundout, allowing two runs to score. The go-ahead eighth would propel the Royals to a 7-6 victory and allow them to avoid being swept by Chicago.
Tampa Bay 3, New York 1
After both teams scored a run in the first, the game would remained tied 1-1 until Tampa Bay’s James Loney broke the game open with a two-run single in the top of the seventh, scoring Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist, as the Rays split the four-games series with their AL East rivals.
Boston 5, Detroit 7
The Tigers capped off the series finale with 7-5 victory, as Prince Fielder‘s two-run single in the bottom of the eighth helped cemented the victory for the Tigers, who took three out of four games against the Red Sox.
Baltimore 5, Toronto 13
Toronto scored 13 runs on Sunday to sweep the Orioles and register their 11th straight victory, as Edwin Encarnacion launched his 21st home run of the season and drove in four to help the Blue Jays continue their recent hot streak.
Minnesota 5, Cleveland 3
Despite walking six batters, Pedro Hernandez was able to hold the Indians to two runs over five innings of work, as the Twins held on to avoid the three-game sweep and best Cleveland by a score of 5-3.
Games in NL Stadiums
Cincinnati 4, Arizona 2
Coming off of a walk-off loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Reds struck back on Sunday afternoon behind a dominant performance by starter Mat Latos. Latos pitched 7 1/3 innings of one run ball and struck out 13 batters, backed by a first inning offensive barrage led by home runs from Shin-Soo Choo and Brandon Phillips.
Los Angeles 3, San Diego 1
Despite a strong outing by Padres starter Andrew Cashner who went eight innings and surrendered just one run, the Dodgers took advantage of Huston Street in the top of the ninth, as Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez homered for the second straight day, helping Los Angeles split the four game series against San Diego.
Miami 7, San Francisco 2
Justin Ruggiano led the offensive charge for the Marlins on Sunday, launching a solo homer in the first and highlighting a four-run ninth with another solo shot, as Miami took the four-game series 3-1. Miami has now won 10 of their last 11 games against the defending World Series champion Giants in San Francisco.
Houston 6, Chicago 14
The Cubs rebounded from Saturday’s loss to take the three-game series against the Astros by way of a 14-6 victory on Sunday. Chicago was led by Ryan Sweeney who drove in a career-high six runs, highlighted by a three-run homer in the seventh.
Atlanta 7, Milwaukee 4
Despite a four-run rally in the fifth by the Brewers, the Braves would hold on to avoid a sweep by Milwaukee, led by Brian McCann‘s grand slam in the first inning.
New York 8, Philadelphia 0
Matt Harvey pitched six scoreless innings and ripped an RBI double in the fifth to help the Mets shut down the Phillies 8-0 and take the three-game series two games to one.
Colorado 7, Washington 6
Colorado right fielder Michael Cuddyer collected three hits and drove in four to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, as the Rockies were able to hold off the Nationals to split the four-game series.
Texas vs. St. Louis – Delayed
