Miami Marlins shortstop Jose Reyes throws out Boston Red Sox Dustin Pedroia during their MLB interleague game at Fenway Park in Boston Thursday. — ReutersOAKLAND – Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning for his first career game-ending shot, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Thursday for a sweep. Cespedes connected with no outs off Josh Lindblom (2-1), sending a drive just inside the left-field foul pole. Oakland has won eight of nine after holding the NL's best team to eight total hits in the three-game series. Starters Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Travis Blackley each excelled. They both allowed one run on just three hits in eight innings. Blackley walked none and struck out six while the NL Cy Young winner fanned seven and walked two. The Dodgers were swept for just the second time this season. They dropped four in a row to Milwaukee at home in late May. Tigers 2, Cardinals 1: Kyle Lohse gave the St. Louis Cardinals another impressive start — except for one pitch. “I was going to bounce a breaking ball," the right-hander said. “Unfortunately, I missed bouncing it by about four feet and Prince killed it." Lohse allowed a 425-foot homer to Prince Fielder in the fourth inning, and the Cardinals went on to lose 2-1 to Detroit in 10 innings. Quintin Berry's bases-loaded single won it for the Tigers. Ramon Santiago and Jhonny Peralta started the winning rally with one-out singles off Victor Marte (0-1), who then grazed Austin Jackson's jersey with a pitch. Berry followed with a base hit up the middle through a drawn-in infield. Joaquin Benoit (1-1) got the win. The Detroit bullpen shut out St. Louis after Jacob Turner allowed a run and four hits in five innings. Nationals 5, Rays 2: Suspended Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta served up a tiebreaking, two-run double to Danny Espinosa in the sixth inning, sending the Washington Nationals over the Rays 5-2. Earlier in the day, Peralta learned that he had been penalized by Major League Baseball for eight games after being caught with pine tar in his glove Tuesday. Peralta is appealing the decision and can keep playing until a final decision is reached. In the meantime, he entered a game that was tied at 2 in the sixth. Peralta (0-3) got the first two outs of the inning before Jesus Flores doubled, pinch hitter Adam LaRoche was walked intentionally and Espinosa doubled. Gio Gonzalez (9-3) pitched six innings on a steamy night when the gametime temperature was 97 degrees. He allowed two runs and seven hits, walking two and striking out four. Red Sox 6, Marlins 5: Daniel Nava singled in the go-ahead run to cap a three-run eighth inning and the surging Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of the stumbling Miami Marlins, 6-5. Boston tied the score on a two-run homer by Will Middlebrooks, who drove in four runs. Ryan Kalish then singled, raced to third on a groundout to first and scored on Nava's single up the middle. Alfredo Aceves pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 21 opportunities. Scott Atchison (2-0) allowed one hit over the seventh and eighth. The Red Sox won their fifth straight game and the seventh in their last eight as they matched their season-best mark of three games over .500. Pirates 9, Twins 1: Liam Hendriks' performances are making his manager angry. The rookie right-hander hopes they are having the same effect on himself. Hendriks was tagged for six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings and the Minnesota Twins lost for the sixth time in their past eight games, 9-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. “I just need to get angry," said Hendriks, a 23-year-old native of Australia. National League Rockies 4, Phillies 1: The third time worked just fine for Colorado's four-man rotation experiment. Jeff Francis tossed five solid innings and four relievers combined to shut out Philadelphia the rest of the way in the Rockies' 4-1 victory over the Phillies. Chris Nelson hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and Wilin Rosario added a two-run shot in the ninth to help the Rockies snap a four-game losing streak. Josh Roenicke (2-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief of Francis to earn the victory. The Rockies' bullpen allowed just two hits. — Agencies
