Associated Press
Associated Press
TORONTO — After slumping for so long, Josh Reddick is struggling to comprehend his sudden power surge.
Reddick hit two home runs, a day after connecting three times for Oakland, but the Toronto Blue Jays got shots from Jose Bautista and Jose Reyes to beat the Athletics 5-4 Saturday.
Reddick matched the major league record for homers over two games.
“The confidence is definitely there right now, especially the way I’ve swung the bat the last two days,” Reddick said. “I’m going into the batter’s box a lot more comfortable and feeling like they can’t get me out right now.”
Reddick had five home runs coming into the series but has doubled that total in just two games. He hit 32 last year in his first full season.
“He’s on fire,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “His home runs have been down this year, but he seems to be picking it up.”
After launching a trio of longballs Friday night in a 14-6 romp, Reddick kept up the pace with a two-run drive off Mark Buehrle in the second inning and a leadoff home run in the ninth against Casey Janssen.
“He must be seeing a softball right now because he’s hitting everything out,” Buehrle said.
It was Reddick’s fourth career multihomer game, and the first time this season he’s homered in consecutive games.
“It’s kind of unbelievable,” Reddick said.
Mark McGwire is the only other Oakland player to go deep five time in two games. McGwire did so twice, most recently in June 1995.
“Constant work is finally paying off, watching video is finally paying off,” said Reddick, who snapped an 0-for-20 slump with Friday’s first homer. “Hopefully this is something I can stick with and continue doing it for the rest of the year.”
Oakland began the day in a virtual tie with Texas for the AL West lead. The A’s lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Buehrle (8-7) won his third straight decision. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.
TIGERS 9, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK — Miguel Cabrera homered against the Yankees again and had three hits while playing on a bandaged leg and Torii Hunter connected and drove in four runs.
Anibal Sanchez (10-7) tossed seven easy innings against a Yankees lineup that was without Alex Rodriguez. Manager Joe Girardi said he was giving the third baseman a day off after he struck out three times in his season debut in the Bronx.
WHITE SOX 5, TWINS 4
CHICAGO — Conor Gillaspie lined a go-ahead single in the sixth inning and the Chicago White Sox rallied past Minnesota.
ANGELS 7, INDIANS 2
CLEVELAND — C.J. Wilson won his fourth consecutive decision and Los Angeles sent Cleveland to its sixth straight loss.
Wilson (12-6) allowed two runs in 5 1-3 innings for his eighth win in his last 11 decisions. The left-hander hasn’t lost since July 5.
RANGERS 5, ASTROS 4
HOUSTON — Alex Rios starred in his Texas debut, tying the game with an RBI triple in the eighth inning and scoring the go-ahead run in a comeback victory over Houston.
Elvis Andrus added a two-run homer as the Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high six games.
RED SOX 5, ROYALS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jacoby Ellsbury matched a career high with four hits and drove in a pair of runs to lead Boston over Kansas City.
Ellsbury had RBI-doubles in the fourth and sixth innings and also stole his major league-leading 42nd base.
BREWERS 10, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE — Scooter Gennett capped a six-run seventh inning with a three-run homer off the glove of right fielder Michael Morse to lead Milwaukee to victory on a night Seattle honored former star Ken Griffey Jr..
Griffey was inducted to the team Hall of Fame before the game, then saw his old club give up two big innings to the Brewers. The first three Brewers reached in the seventh without the ball leaving the infield, but Gennett’s homer was the big blow. The Brewers added four more in the ninth against Seattle’s bullpen.
NATIONALS 8, PHILLIES 5
WASHINGTON — Jayson Werth launched a two-run homer in the seventh inning for his 1,000th career hit, highlighting a five-run rally that sent Washington over Philadelphia.
PADRES 3, REDS 1
CINCINNATI — Will Venable homered for the second game in a row, and San Diego’s depleted offense took advantage of Cincinnati’s season-high four errors for the victory.
Third baseman Jack Hannahan had three of the errors — two on off-target throws to first base, another on a grounder that got through him. All San Diego managed off the errors was two unearned runs.
CUBS 6, CARDINALS 5
ST. LOUIS — Pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro hit a run-scoring double in the eighth inning to cap a three-run rally that gave Chicago its first series win in St. Louis in nearly three years.
Matt Holliday homered for twice St. Louis, which lost its fourth in a row. Chicago won for the third time in four games.
METS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1
PHOENIX — Rookie Wilmer Flores drove in three runs to extend his RBI streak to four games and Zack Wheeler pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lead New York past Arizona.
Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, Flores had a run-scoring single off Brandon McCarthy (2-6) in the fourth inning and a two-run single in the eighth, giving him eight RBIs in his first five games in the majors.
ROCKIES 6, PIRATES 4
DENVER — Dexter Fowler had two hits and two RBIs and Colorado used a big sixth inning to beat Pittsburgh.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 48 minutes because of a weather cell that slowly moved into the area before the first pitch. Heavy rain and lightning hit Coors Field after the scheduled 6:10 MDT start.
GIANTS 3, ORIOLES 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Hunter Pence hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning as San Francisco’s stagnant lineup finally got to starter Wei-Yin Chen.
Chris Davis hit his majors-leading 42nd home run for the Orioles leading off the eighth against Santiago Casilla, then grounded out against closer Sergio Romo to end it with a runner on first.