Orioles co-lead in AL East
UNDATED (AP) — Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer to lead Baltimore to a 12-0 pounding of Toronto, moving the Orioles into a tie for the lead in the American League East. It’s the first time since 1997 that Baltimore has held at least a share of the lead.
Reynolds went 3 for 4 with four RBIs as the Orioles pounded out a season-high 18 hits. Zach Britton pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight start.
Baltimore caught up with the Yankees for the AL East lead after Tampa Bay beat New York 5-2. Evan Longoria, Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton homered for the Rays, who are now just 1 1/2 games back of the Yankees and Orioles.
Chris Parmelee homered to cap a 10-run fifth inning and the Minnesota Twins routed the Chicago White Sox 18-9. The Twins also batted around in a seven-run second against rookie Jose Quintana, but first-place Chicago remained one game ahead of Detroit in the AL Central. The Tigers lost 3-2 to Cleveland.
Minnesota pecked away methodically with 17 hits — only three went for extra bases.
Parmalee drove in four runs while Ryan Doumit had three hits including a homer and three RBIs.
In other American League play;
— Zack Greinke stopped Oakland on a run and four hits over seven innings to pace the Angels to a 6-1 win. The victory kept the Angels 3 1/2 games out of an American League wildcard spot.
— Alex Gordon hit the go-ahead two-run homer to lead Kansas City to 6-3 win over AL West leading Texas.
— Justin Masterson pitched six solid innings, and the Cleveland Indians beat Detroit 3-2 for their second straight victory over the playoff-chasing Tigers.
— Cody Ross hit a three-run homer and Ryan Lavarnway had the go-ahead solo shot in a four-run sixth inning as Boston topped Seatte 4-3. Franklin Gutierrez and Kyle Seager homered for the Mariners. Boston ends its seven-game losing streak.
Adam LaRoche hit two of Washington’s franchise-record tying six home runs in an 11-5 rout of the Cubs. Ian Desmond started the home run derby in the first inning with a two-run shot and added a two-run double in his next at-bat. Jesus Flores, Tyler Moore and Ryan Zimmerman also went deep for the Nationals, who open up a season-high 7 1/2 game lead over second-place Atlanta in the NL East.
Elsewhere around the National League;
— Jay Bruce homered for the third straight game to pace Cincinnati to a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. The Phillies Jimmy Rollins doubled in the fifth inning for his 2,000th career hit.
— Jason Kubel drove in the go-ahead run with a triple and scored on Miguel Montero’s single to lift Arizona to an 8-6 win over San Francisco in 11 innings.
— Logan Forsythe’s two-run single in the top of the 11th inning propelled San Diego to a 6-3 win over the Dodgers. The loss dropped Los Angeles 1 1/2 games back of St. Louis for the final wildcard spot.
— Andrew McCutchen had his major league-leading sixth four-hit game of the season and drove in three runs to lead Pittsburgh past Houston 6-2. The Pirates came in losers in 10 of their previous 13, including a 5-1 setback to the Astros on Monday.
— Jaime Garcia carried a shutout into the eighth inning to lead St. Louis to a 5-1 win over the Mets. Yadier Molina got it 1000th career hit as part of the Cardinals three-run second inning.
— Norichika Aoki and Jeff Bianchi each homered and drove in three runs in Milwaukee’s 8-4 win over Miami.
Rain wins at US Open
NEW YORK (AP) — Rain put a damper on Day 9 play at the US Open. Night action was suspended forcing matches to be reshuffled in order to make up the backlog.
Among the matches affected was the Andy Roddick- Juan Martin del Potro fourth rounder, that was tied 6-6 in the first set. The 20th seeded Roddick is playing on a day-to-day basis, literally, after announcing last week that he would retire following the tournament.
Among the other matches stopped in progress was second-seed and defending champ Novak Djokovic against Stanislas Wawrinka.
The completion of the quarterfinal match between third seed Maria Sharapova and No. 11 Marion Bartoli has been postponed until Wednesday due to the rain. Bartoli leads 4-love in the first set.
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer advanced to the quarterfinals coming back from an hour-long rain delay to close out a 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 victory over No. 13 Richard Gasquet. Ferrer joined Rafael Nadal as the second Spanish player to make the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams in one year.
In women’s play, top-seed Victoria Azarenka advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 win over No. 7 Sam Stosur. Azarenka was pushed to the limit by the defending champ in the 2 hours, 23 minute match.
Union sues to halt bounty suspensions
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The NFL Players Association has asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order that would allow players suspended in connection with the NFL’s bounty investigation to rejoin their teams in time to play regular season openers.
The union, which filed the motion Tuesday on behalf of New Orleans defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita, and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, argues the players will suffer irreparable harm if they are forced to miss games while their case against the league proceeds.
Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma had already filed a similar motion when his full-season suspension began earlier. The other three players’ suspensions began this week.
The players ultimately want their suspensions thrown out because they argue the disciplinary process was fundamentally flawed and unfair.
U.S. team completed
NEW YORK (AP) — Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III has filled out his 12-man American team with Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker. Johnson and Snedeker played their way onto the team over the last two weeks. They were the only Americans to finish among the top six in both FedEx Cup playoff events.
Furyk is a captain’s pick for the first time in 15 Ryder Cup or President Cup matches.
Love left out Hunter Mahan, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year.
The Ryder Cup is Sept. 28-30 at Medinah outside Chicago. For all its dominance, Europe has won only twice in America the last 20 years.
‘Bama takes over No. 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Alabama is the new No. 1 in The Associated Press football poll. The Crimson Tide replaces Southern California, which dropped to No. 2. Alabama swayed more than enough voters with its 41-14 win over Michigan Saturday night. USC beat Hawaii 49-10.
The Tide receives 45 first-place votes, up 28 from last week. USC draws 11 first-place votes and No. 3 LSU four. The fourth ranked team is Oregon with Oklahoma fifth.
It’s the 47th time Alabama has been No. 1, the 16th under coach Nick Saban.
This is the 86th time in the 76-year history of the AP media poll that the top-ranked team won and dropped in the rankings. It’s happened at least once every year since 2007.
Deal set for Kenseth
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Matt Kenseth has made his move to Joe Gibbs Racing official, more than two months after he told Roush (rowsh) Fenway Racing he was leaving. Kenseth won his second Daytona 500 this season and is one of the top contenders for this year’s Sprint Cup championship. He decided in June that his 13th Cup season with Jack Roush would be his last.
Kenseth will drive the No. 20 Toyota at JGR and replace Joey Logano. JGR had hoped to keep Logano, but AJ Allmendinger’s failed drug test opened a seat at Penske Racing that Logano has pursued.
Injury update for Giants and Cowboys
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York cornerback Prince Amukamara and Dallas starting nose tackle Jay Ratliff will not play when the Giants and Dallas open up the 2012 NFL season tonight in East Rutherford, N.J. The Super Bowl champion Giants also report that defensive tackle Marvin Austin and offensive tackle James Brewer would miss the game with back injuries. Amukamara is out with a sprained ankle suffered in a preseason game on Aug. 24.
Ratliff is out with an injured ankle while rookie safety Matt Johnson has a hurt hamstring and won’t play for Dallas. Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten and backup safety Danny McCray are doubtful.
