B.J. Upton's three homers, Shields spark Rays
Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton, right, is congratulated by Jeff Keppinger after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Sept. 9, 2012) Credit: AP
B.J. Upton hit three home runs and James Shields threw a two-hitter yesterday as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0.
Upton hit solo homers in the first, fourth and sixth innings. He received a standing ovation before hitting a broken-bat grounder to third in the eighth.
Upton joined Evan Longoria (2008) and Jonny Gomes (2005) as the only Tampa Bay players with three-homer games.
Shields (14-8) permitted only three baserunners.
Tampa Bay took two of three in the series against the AL West leaders. The Rays trail the Yankees by two games in the AL East and the Orioles by one game for the second AL wild card. Texas leads Oakland by 3 1/2 games in the AL West.
Royals 2, White Sox 1: Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the top of the 10th and Jeff Francoeur followed with a single for an insurance run in Chicago. The White Sox are two games ahead of Detroit in the AL Central.
Angels 3, Tigers 2: Zack Greinke (5-2) pitched seven innings of five-hit ball as the host Angels completed their second straight series sweep. The Angels are one game behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card. The Tigers are 4 1/2 games behind the Orioles.
Athletics 4, Mariners 2: Jonny Gomes hit a three-run homer in the fifth in Seattle. Oakland is 11/2 games in front of Baltimore for the first AL wild card.
Giants 4, Dodgers 0: Barry Zito (11-8) and five relievers pitched a five-hitter for host San Francisco, which increased its NL West lead over L.A. to 51/2 games. The Dodgers are 11/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild card.
Reds 5, Astros 1: Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer, Tyler Greene had a solo shot and Edgar Gonzalez (2-0) allowed two hits and one run in five innings in Cincinnati. The Reds have an 8 1/2-game lead on St. Louis in the NL Central.
Cardinals 5, Brewers 4: Allen Craig hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning in St. Louis.
Marlins 8, Nationals 0: Ricky Nolasco (12-12) tossed a four-hitter and Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third straight day in Washington. The Nationals have a 5 1/2-game lead on Atlanta in the NL East.
Cubs 4, Pirates 2: Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as Chicago completed a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild card.-- AP
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