Orioles stay top, Rays keep hitting

Omnisports

May 19, 2016 4:35 AM

The Baltimore Orioles remain the team to catch in the Eastern Division, while the Tampa Bay Rays poured more misery on the Toronto Blue Jays

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The Baltimore Orioles remain atop the American League (AL) Eastern Division following their 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners in MLB on Wednesday.

Orioles closer Zach Britton had to see out the lead with bases loaded and one out in the eighth before tossing a scoreless ninth to seal the win after Mark Trumbo and Matt Wieters went back-to-back off Taijuan Walker in the second.

The Tampa Bay Rays just kept on hitting as they took a third-straight win over the Toronto Blue Jays, triumphing 6-3 on the back of Logan Morrison, Desmond Kennings and Kevin Kiermaier homers for the series sweep, handing their Canadian opponents a fifth consecutive loss.

The in-form Oakland Athletics crushed the Texas Rangers 8-1, the Detroit Tigers defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-3 and the Philadelphia Phillies ran out 4-2 winners over the Miami Marlins.

Elsewhere, the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 and the Cleveland Indians edged the Cincinnati Reds 8-7 after 12 innings.

The Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals split their double-header with one victory apiece, with the World Series champions winning 3-2, before the former responded with a 5-2 effort.

New York Mets cult hero Bartolo Colon struggled at the mound as he allowed five walks as the Washington Nationals put in a strong performance to win 7-1, the Houston Astros saw off the Chicago White Sox 5-3 and the St Louis Cardinals shut out the Colorado Rockies 2-0.

The streaking San Francisco Giants overcame the San Diego Padres 2-1, the New York Yankees beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2, the Los Angeles Angels got the better of the neighbouring Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 after 13 innings.

VERLANDER VANQUISHES TWINS

Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander fanned 10 as he claimed strikeout number 2,000 during his team's fourth-straight win.

"A lot of great moments along the way," Verlander said after his seven-plus innings. "A lot of great moments in this stadium in front of these fans. A lot of great seasons. It really kind of brings all that back to the forefront pretty quickly."

WHITE SOX DEFENCE ON POINT

The White Sox became the first team in almost 40 years to record two triple plays in a season when they pulled one off against the Cardinals and it is still only May.

Omnisports

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