Baseball-Highlights of Monday's MLB games

Aug 29 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games: Blue Jays 9, Twins 6 Josh Donaldson hit three home runs and Troy Tulowitzki added another one as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-6 on Sunday afternoon to complete a sweep of the three-game series. Donaldson's second homer of the game was a two-run shot that put Toronto into a 6-5 lead during the four-run seventh. His home run in the eighth gave him the first three-homer game of his career. It was the 10th loss in a row for the Twins, while the Blue Jays remain at the top of the American League East. Toronto reliever Scott Feldman pitched two-thirds of an inning to pick up the win and Twins reliever Pat Light allowed three hits and three runs over 1 1/3 innings to take the loss. Padres 3, Marlins 1 Luis Perdomo induced six double-play balls and Luis Sardinas had the go-ahead RBI double as San Diego defeated Miami at Marlins Park. The six double plays are a Marlins record. It is also a record for the Padres in a nine-inning game. It was the first complete game in the career of Perdomo, who threw 99 pitches. Perdomo, a 23-year-old rookie who had never pitched above Class A before this season, has the best ground-ball rate (59 percent) of any NL pitcher with at least 100 innings this year. Orioles 5, Yankees 0 Kevin Gausman pitched seven effective innings for his first road win in over two years and Mark Trumbo became the first player in the majors to reach 40 home runs as Baltimore salvaged a frustrating weekend with a victory over New York. Steve Pearce drove in Baltimore's first three runs with a solo home run off CC Sabathia and a two-run single off Adam Warren. Trumbo added some insurance with a 427-foot drive off Ben Heller into the visiting bullpen beyond the left-center field wall. Those hits were more than enough for Gausman, who won his third straight start and turned in his second straight scoreless outing. Angels 5, Tigers 0 Jefry Marte tormented his old teammates with a two-run home run plus a sacrifice fly while Tyler Skaggs and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout to help Los Angeles knock off Detroit for the second game in a row. Marte came up after Andrelton Simmons singled to open the fifth inning and hit a 1-2 fastball that was right down the middle for his 10th home run of the season. It broke a scoreless tie and was Marte's second home run and third hit in four at-bats against Anibal Sanchez. Marte hit his sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 4-0. Phillies 5, Mets 1 A.J. Ellis' first hit as a member of Philadelphia, a two-run double in the seventh inning, snapped a tie and jump-started a four-run outburst in a win over New York at Citi Field. The Phillies salvaged the finale of the three-game series. The Mets had their three-game winning streak snapped as they lost for just the second time in the last eight games. Right-hander David Hernandez earned the win with a scoreless sixth in relief of Vince Velasquez, who allowed one run on five hits and one walk while striking out seven over five innings. Rockies 5, Nationals 3 Nolan Arenado was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and Chad Bettis allowed just two runs in seven innings as Colorado posted a series victory with a win over host Washington. Bettis leads the team in wins after he struck out six with one walk while throwing 106 pitches. The Rockies are 4-2 this year against the Nationals. Washington is 8-9 in the midst of a string of 20 games in 20 days and has lost six of its last eight. White Sox 4, Mariners 1 Melky Cabrera went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and an RBI, and Chicago pulled away for a win over Seattle. Justin Morneau finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. The White Sox won three of four games in the series and concluded a nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record. Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a solo home run to power the Mariners. Kyle Seager finished 3-for-4 with a triple as Seattle lost for the sixth time in its past eight games. Pirates 3, Brewers 1 John Jaso, Gregory Polonco and Starling Marte all hit solo home runs while Ivan Nova struck out four over six innings as Pittsburgh finished off their first-ever four-game sweep of Milwaukee at Miller Park. Nova stayed undefeated since joining the Pirates, holding the Brewers to just a run -- a solo homer by Jonathan Villar in the third - on two hits without a walk. In five starts for Pittsburgh, Nova is 4-0 with a 2.47 ERA. He needed just 75 pitches to get through his six innings of work but left the game because of discomfort in his left hamstring. Athletics 7, Cardinals 4 Andrew Triggs recorded his first major league win, tossing six innings as Oakland knocked off St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Triggs allowed three runs on four hits, walked none and fanned a career-high eight. Three relievers took care of the last nine outs, with Ryan Madson pitching the ninth to notch his 27th save in 33 chances. Jaime Garcia was tagged with the loss after going seven innings, yielding five runs and seven hits. Garcia walked one and struck out six. Rays 10, Astros 4 Chris Archer produced another quality start at Minute Maid Park and Tampa Bay averted a series sweep with a late power surge over Houston. Archer scuffled through the fourth inning but was otherwise outstanding, limiting the Astros to three runs on four hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts. He reached 200 strikeouts on the season to close the sixth inning for his second consecutive 200-strikeout campaign. The Rays built a four-run lead against right-hander Doug Fister before exploding for five runs in the eighth. Matt Duffy socked a two-run home run, his fifth on the season, and Corey Dickerson hit his 18th home run five batters later. Rangers 2, Indians 1 Derek Holland allowed one run in six innings and won for the first time since June 5 as Texas edged Cleveland. Holland, making his second start since missing two months because of shoulder inflammation, didn't walk a batter and struck out five on four hits. Elvis Andrus drew a one-out walk in the third, stole second and scored on a two-out single to right by Ian Desmond. The Rangers made it 2-0 in the fifth after Adrian Beltre opened the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jonathan Lucroy's single to center brought Beltre home. Dodgers 1, Cubs 0 Adrian Gonzalez hit a fielder's choice that brought home Andrew Toles with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Los Angeles a win over Chicago at Dodger Stadium. Right-hander Joe Blanton received the victory in relief. In his lone inning of work, Blanton conceded just one hit in facing four batters. Closer Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout for this 39th save, ensuring that the Dodgers would remain two games ahead of the second-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West. Giants 13, Braves 4 Joe Panik highlighted an 18-hit attack with two home runs, leading San Francisco to a shellacking of Atlanta. Madison Bumgarner benefited from the Giants' highest scoring game in more than two months, helping San Francisco post just its second series win since the All-Star break. The win also allowed the Giants to take the season series from the Braves after the clubs split the first six games. Diamondbacks 11, Reds 2 Yasmany Tomas homered, Welington Castillo drove in four runs and right-hander Archie Bradley won his first home start in almost three months in Arizona's victory over Cincinnati. Chris Owings, Michael Bourn and A.J. Pollock had three hits apiece as Arizona tied a season-high with 18 hits. Bourn scored three times and Pollock had two stolen bases. The Diamondbacks won four of seven games on the homestand, their first winning homestand this year not counting an abbreviated three-game sweep of the Mets earlier this month. Royals 10, Red Sox 4 Surging Kansas City exploded for eight runs in the sixth inning and blew past Boston for a win in the rubber game of a three-game series. The win, the 13th in the past 15 games and 17th in the 21 for the defending World Series champions, moved the Royals within two games of an American League wild-card spot. Raul Mondesi ripped a three-run triple and Eric Hosmer collected a two-run single as seven consecutive Kansas City batters reached base in the sixth. Salvador Perez hit his third homer in two games, his 20th of the season, in the second inning, and Kendrys Morales had three hits for the Royals. (Editing by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru)