Ortiz homer in 10th saves Red Sox

David Ortiz hit a leadoff home run in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6, yesterday in Oakland to avoid a four-game series sweep.

Ortiz was the only Boston starter without a hit until he lined a 1-and-2 pitch from Fernando Abad (2-3) over the wall in left-center.

The Red Sox had to go extra innings after they blew a 6-1 lead. The A's, who had won five in a row, scored three runs in the eighth, then homered twice in the ninth against Koji Uehara (3-1), who had converted 31 consecutive save opportunities dating to 2013.

Tigers 10, Indians 4: Max Scherzer (9-3) pitched six strong innings and Miguel Cabrera homered as visiting Detroit won its fourth straight.

Royals 2, Mariners 1: Rookie Roenis Elias (7-5), a 25-year-old lefthander from Cuba, allowed one run in 62/3 innings as visiting Seattle completed a three-game sweep. After winning 10 straight to move into first place in the AL Central, the Royals have dropped four in a row.

Reds 4, Blue Jays 3: Johnny Cueto pitched eight effective innings, and Todd Frazier broke a tie at 2 in the fifth with a two-run homer off R.A. Dickey (6-6) in Cincinnati.

Nationals 4, Braves 1: Tanner Roark (7-4) won his fourth straight start as host Washington increased its NL East lead over Atlanta to 11/2 games.

Dodgers 2, Padres 1: Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-3) pitched six solid innings for visiting Los Angeles after the Padres fired general manager Josh Byrnes. Byrnes had been their GM since October 2011.

Angels 5, Rangers 2: Kole Calhoun's two-run homer capped a four-run fourth in Anaheim.

Giants 4, Diamondbacks 1: Buster Posey and Joe Panik had RBI doubles in a three-run ninth in Phoenix.-- AP