OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched just well enough to earn his 200th career win and the Houston Astros hit five home runs, beating the Oakland Athletics 9-4 Sunday to avoid a sweep and retake sole possession of the AL West lead.The surging A's had won the first two games at the Coliseum to tie shaky Houston atop the division. But Yuli Gurriel hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Evan Gattis, Alex Bergman, Marwin Gonzalez and Martin Maldonado later homered for the defending World Series champions. Maldonado also tripled and doubled.Verlander (12-8) gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings while becoming the 114th pitcher with at least 200 career wins.Oakland's Sean Manaea (11-9) was charged with six runs and nine hits in four-plus innings.DODGERS 12, MARINERS 1SEATTLE (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched seven sharp innings for his 150th career win, Justin Turner homered and drove in five runs, and Los Angeles routed Seattle.Kershaw (6-5) gave up four hits, struck out seven and... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics, far behind in the AL West standings earlier this summer, tied Houston for the division lead by beating the Astros 7-1 Saturday.Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Josh Phegley and Stephen Piscotty each hit two of Oakland's team record-tying eight doubles as the A's won for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics trailed the defending World Series champion Astros by 11 1/2 games on June 24 and were still 10 out on July 10.Houston has lost seven of eight and dropped 12 of 19 since owning a six-game lead on July 24. The next day, reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the disabled list, and the star second baseman is still out.Cahill (5-2) struck out seven, walked one and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch.Tony Kemp homered in the ninth for Houston's only other hit. Dallas Keuchel (9-10) gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings.ROCKIES 5, BRAVES 3, 10 INNINGSATLANTA (AP) — Colorado struck... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics, far behind in the AL West standings earlier this summer, tied Houston for the division lead by beating the Astros 7-1 Saturday.Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Josh Phegley and Stephen Piscotty each hit two of Oakland's team record-tying eight doubles as the A's won for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics trailed the defending World Series champion Astros by 11 1/2 games on June 24 and were still 10 out on July 10.Houston has lost seven of eight and dropped 12 of 19 since owning a six-game lead on July 24. The next day, reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the disabled list, and the star second baseman is still out.Cahill (5-2) struck out seven, walked one and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch.Tony Kemp homered in the ninth for Houston's only other hit. Dallas Keuchel (9-10) gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings.ROCKIES 5, BRAVES 3, 10 INNINGSATLANTA (AP) — Colorado struck... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter David Bote smashed a grand slam against Ryan Madson with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday night.Bote's long drive to center field came after Washington's Max Scherzer and Chicago's Cole Hamels delivered simply dominant starts.Madson (2-5) came in with a 3-0 lead to start the ninth and quickly ran into trouble. He gave up an infield single to Jason Heyward with one out and hit Albert Almora with a pitch. Madson then retired Kyle Schwarber on a foul pop before hitting Contreras to load the bases, but Bote drove a 2-2 pitch well beyond the center-field wall.Bote's drive made a winner of Justin Wilson (4-3), who got the final two outs in the ninth.RED SOX 4, ORIOLES 1BALTIMORE (AP) — Chris Sale celebrated his return from the disabled list by striking out 12 over five dominant innings, and the Boston Red Sox moved 50 games over .500 by completing a sweep of the lowly Orioles.Sale (12-4)... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Chris Sale celebrated his return from the disabled list by striking out 12 over five dominant innings, and the Boston Red Sox moved 50 games over .500 by completing a sweep of the lowly Baltimore Orioles with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.Sale (12-4) was placed on the DL on July 28 with left shoulder inflammation. Judging by his performance, the injury is no longer an issue.The left-hander allowed just one hit, a clean third-inning single to left field by Renato Nunez, and walked none. Craig Kimbrel, the last of five Boston relievers, worked the ninth for his 35th save.Steve Pearce homered for the Red Sox, who have won 10 of 11 to improve to 85-35.Alex Cobb (3-15) took the loss despite allowing only two runs, one earned, over seven innings.MARINERS 4, ASTROS 3, 10 INNINGSHOUSTON (AP) — Ryon Healy hit a tying homer with two out in the ninth inning, Mitch Haniger delivered an RBI double in the 10th and the Mariners swept a four-game series from the AL West-leading Astros.It's the... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Chris Sale celebrated his return from the disabled list by striking out 12 over five dominant innings, and the Boston Red Sox moved 50 games over .500 by completing a sweep of the lowly Baltimore Orioles with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.Sale (12-4) was placed on the DL on July 28 with left shoulder inflammation. Judging by his performance, the injury is no longer an issue.The left-hander allowed just one hit, a clean third-inning single to left field by Renato Nunez, and walked none. Craig Kimbrel, the last of five Boston relievers, worked the ninth for his 35th save.Steve Pearce homered for the Red Sox, who have won 10 of 11 to improve to 85-35.Alex Cobb (3-15) took the loss despite allowing only two runs, one earned, over seven innings.MARINERS 4, ASTROS 3, 10 INNINGSHOUSTON (AP) — Ryon Healy hit a tying homer with two out in the ninth inning, Mitch Haniger delivered an RBI double in the 10th and the Mariners swept a four-game series from the AL West-leading Astros.It's the... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Chris Sale celebrated his return from the disabled list by striking out 12 over five dominant innings, and the Boston Red Sox moved 50 games over .500 by completing a sweep of the lowly Baltimore Orioles with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.Sale (12-4) was placed on the DL on July 28 with left shoulder inflammation. Judging by his performance, the injury is no longer an issue.The left-hander allowed just one hit, a clean third-inning single to left field by Renato Nunez, and walked none. Craig Kimbrel, the last of five Boston relievers, worked the ninth for his 35th save.Steve Pearce homered for the Red Sox, who have won 10 of 11 to improve to 85-35.Alex Cobb (3-15) took the loss despite allowing only two runs, one earned, over seven innings.YANKEES 7, RANGERS 2NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia threw six shutout innings, Giancarlo Stanton homered again and the Yankees won for the sixth time in seven games.Didi Gregorius also homered and turned in a nifty defensive play for New York.... [More]

INF Jose Peraza belted his eighth home run on Wednesday. His playing time has been reduced with Scooter Gennett getting the bulk of the time, but Peraza continues to put in the work and produce results. "He's stayed positive," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He's done some really nice things. He's impacted our roster all year. He's going to be a constant here." Peraza is batting .318 (27-for-85) in his past 30 appearances with three doubles and nine RBIs.

SS Jose Peraza went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored to stretch his hitting streak to five games. He has started the past eight games at shortstop or second base, going 9-for-27.

SS Jose Peraza made his 27th start of the season at shortstop and started the 30th triple play in Reds history and first since Sept. 12, 1995 against the Miami Marlins. He also drew his first unintentional walk since May 21 in the eighth inning against RHP Dellin Betances. The walk ended a streak of 197 plate appearances without one, the longest in the majors this season. Earlier this season, Peraza went 53 straight plate appearances without striking out from April 5-20.

2B Jose Peraza is still viewed as an everyday player in the Reds' organization, but manager Bryan Price believes he could benefit from a mental break. Price also wanted to get Scooter Gennett's hot bat into the lineup. Peraza is 5-for-21 on the current homestand and hasn't drawn an unintentional walk in 191 plate appearances. "He's put some pressures on himself," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "It gives Jose a little bit of a blow from the grind. He's a professional."

INF Jose Peraza is experiencing the ups and downs indicative of most young players, but Reds manager Bryan Price chooses to look at the big picture when evaluating the 23-year-old. "Certainly, I think as he develops, we'll see better strike zone discipline which should increase the on-base percentage," Price said. "I am not at all disappointed and I have not lost any confidence in his ability to be an outstanding player. I think he's going to be an impact player for us here." Peraza is batting .250 in 74 games after going 0-for-4 on Thursday.

SS Jose Peraza was at short and hitting in the leadoff slot Wednesday because Reds manager Bryan Price was gave both CF Billy Hamilton (sore thumb) and SS Zack Cozart (sore quad muscle) the day off to heal going into Thursday's day off. Peraza opened the game with the first game-opening homer of his career and the first for the Reds this season.

2B Jose Peraza, a former Dodger, drove in a run to end LHP Alex Wood's scoreless innings streak at 28 with a third-inning single. Peraza was 1-for-4 and has a five-game hitting streak against his former club.

2B Jose Peraza had an RBI single in the second inning against the Dodgers. Peraza recorded a season-high three hits, going 3-for-4. Peraza has a hit in 11 of his past 12 road games, batting .338 with two doubles, a triple and four RBIs during the stretch.

2B Jose Peraza extended his hitting streak to 13 games in Sunday's series finale. It's the best streak of the 23-year-old's career. Peraza went 2-for-5 on Sunday and led off the game with a single.

2B Jose Peraza extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Friday night. Peraza went 1-for-4 and knocked in two runs with a two-out single in the fifth inning. The 23-year-old is hitting .318 during the streak.

2B Jose Peraza extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Friday night. Peraza went 1-for-4 and knocked in two runs with a two-out single in the fifth inning. The 23-year-old is hitting .318 during the streak.

2B Jose Peraza's fifth inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. That's the longest hitting streak by a Reds player this season. Peraza is hitting .325 during the streak.

2B Jose Peraza was 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. He has consecutive multi-hit games for the first time this season.