Baltimore’s Davis Gits 45th Home Run In Win Over Rockies – MLB Roundup For Aug. 19th

UNDATED (AP) — Ryan Dempster might receive a few thank-you cards from major leaguers this week, players who've been embarrassed by steroid use in baseball.

Dempster plunked Alex Rodriguez with a pitch in the second inning of Boston's 9-6 loss to the New York Yankees, leading to the ejection of manager Joe Girardi. Dempster's first pitch of the at-bat went behind A-Rod's knees, and the next two were inside before the fourth hit the Yankees third baseman. The benches and bullpens emptied following the plunking, but order was quickly restored without further incident.

Rodriguez got the better of Dempster four innings later, hitting his 649th career homer to pull within 11 of tying Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list. It sparked a four-run rally that allowed the Bombers to turn a 6-3 deficit into a 7-6 lead.

It marked the second time A-Rod has been hit by a pitch since receiving a 211-game suspension for his participation with Biogenesis, a shuttered anti-aging facility that sold performance-enhancing drugs to major leaguers.

Brett Gardner had the game's key hit, a bases-loaded triple that allowed the Yanks to take the rubber match of the series.

The loss cuts the Red Sox's lead in the American League East to one game over Tampa Bay.

Jose Lobaton hit a solo homer in the 10th inning to push the Rays past Toronto 2-1. Rays starter Chris Archer was working on a three-hit shutout until Edwin Encarnacion homered with two outs in the seventh.

The Detroit Tigers have a seven-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central following one more homer by Miguel Cabrera and another victory by Max Scherzer.

Cabrera banged out his 40th homer and drove in three as the Tigers earned a 6-3 victory and a four-game split with Kansas City. He's just the third player since 1921 to have at least 40 homers, 120 RBIs and a .350 average through 116 games. Cabrera tops the majors with a .360 average and 120 RBIs.

Scherzer added to his major league-leading win total, joining Roger Clemens as the only pitchers since 1919 to open a season 18-1. Scherzer limited the Royals to two runs and five hits in eight innings.

Oakland was a 7-3 winner against the indians to pull within one game of first-place Texas in the AL West. Chris Young and Alberto Callaspo (ky-AS'-poh) hit solo homers in the fifth inning, Josh Donaldson had three RBIs and the Athletics' bullpen pitched shutout ball for 4 1/3 innings.

Seattle beat the Rangers 4-3 on Kyle Seager's RBI double with two outs in the ninth. Yu Darvish picked up a no-decision after fanning seven in 7 1/3 innings, raising his major league-leading strikeout total to 214.

The Philadelphia Phillies have earned their first victory under new manager Ryne Sandberg while cooling off baseball's hottest team.

Hanley Ramirez committed two errors in the ninth inning, the second of which allowed Casper Wells to score the winning run in the Phillies' 3-2 verdict over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers held a 2-0 lead by the top of the fourth before ending a 10-game winning streak.

Darin Ruf began the Phils' comeback with a solo homer, snapping Philadelphia's 22 2/3-inning scoreless streak. Carlos Ruiz had four hits as the Phillies handed the Dodgers just the ninth loss in their last 51 games.

L.A. also lost for only the second in its last 21 road games, slicing their large lead in the National League West to 7 ½ games over Arizona.

The Diamondbacks gained ground by outlasting Pittsburgh 4-2 in 16 innings. Adam Eaton snapped a two-all deadlock with a two-run double that also capped his four-hit afternoon. Aaron Hill also had four hits and an RBI for the D-Backs, who remain five games behind Cincinnati for the final NL wild-card berth.

The Pirates' lead in the NL Central is down to one game after second-place St. Louis knocked off the Cubs 6-1 in Chicago. Jon Jay hit a three-run homer and collected four RBIs to back 14-game winner Adam Wainwright, who struck out 11 over seven innings. Matt Carpenter's two-run single also helped Wainwright win for the first time since July 21.

Checking out the rest of the major league schedule, Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson hit RBI singles in the first inning before Julio Teheran and the Atlanta bullpen made the runs stand up in a 2-1 verdict over Washington. Teheran allowed a run and stranded nine runners in six innings as the Braves stretched their lead in the NL East to 15 ½ games over the Nationals.

Cincinnati clobbered Milwaukee 9-1 as Homer Bailey held the Brewers to a run and three hits in eight innings. Ryan Hanigan had three RBIs and Brandon Phillips drove in a pair to help Bailey beat the Brewers for only the second time in nine career decisions.

Chris Davis went 4 for 5 with his major league-leading 45th home run as Baltimore earned a 7-2 win against Colorado to stay three games behind Oakland for the final AL wild-card berth. Adam Jones went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and two runs scored to help Scott Feldman pick up his first victory in nearly a month.

Jeff Mathis hit an early homer and doubled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning of Miami's 6-5 win over San Francisco.

Alexei Ramirez homered and had three RBIs as the Chicago White Sox downed Minnesota 5-2.

Houston has back-to-back series victories for the first time since June after Matt Dominguez tied a career high with four hits and provided a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning of the Astros' 7-5 win over the Angels.

Will Venable homered leading off the bottom of the ninth to give San Diego a 4-3 victory and a four-game split with the New York Mets.