Around the Bases: Alfonso Soriano homers twice in Yankees’ win

Yankees 7, Orioles 5: New York traded for Alfonso Soriano to add some power for the stretch run, and that's exactly what he did on Tuesday night. Soriano blasted two home runs, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the eighth inning, and has now hit 15 homers in his 43 games with the Yankees.

All four of Baltimore's runs came in the fifth inning, including Chris Davis's MLB-leading 49th home run of the season. Other than that frame, Yankees starter Ivan Nova kept the Orioles' offense from doing much damage.

Davis ties Frank Robinson for most HRs in Baltimore in 1 season with 27. Frank did it at Memorial Stadium, of course #orioles

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) September 11, 2013

Red Sox 2, Rays 0: Pitching was the name of the game in this contest. David Price was phenomenal as he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but started off the frame by allowing a double to Mike Napoli. A Jonny Gomes single brought home the first run of the game before Gomes himself scored later in the inning. Price ended up taking the loss despite eight innings of three-hit ball and nine strikeouts. Clay Buchholz matched him for five innings, allowing three hits and striking out six in his first start off the DL. The Boston bullpen secured the win with four shutout frames.

Nationals 6, Mets 3: Washington took the lead in the first inning on a Jayson Werth home run and never gave it up. The Nats scored two more in the next two innings, then added on an extra run in the sixth. Trailing 4-1 at that point, the Mets threw up a two-spot in the bottom half of the sixth inning. That wouldn't be enough to tie up the game, though, and a two-run ninth-inning Scott Hairston home run clinched the victory for the Nationals.

Braves 4, Marlins 3: Five of the seven total runs between the two teams came in the first inning. Atlanta led off with two runs, then Miami put up all three of theirs in the bottom of the inning. Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson each drove in a run in the third to take the lead back and neither pitching staff gave up much of anything after that. The Braves magic number to clinch the NL East stands at seven. Hopefully the win didn't come at too much of a cost for Atlanta: Justin Upton is day-to-day after hitting a foul off his knee and leaving the game early.

Kimbrel's past 46 appearances: 36/36 saves, 0.19 ERA, .139 batting average allowed. #Braves

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 11, 2013

Royals 6, Indians 3: The Indians drew first blood when Michael Bourn drove in Jarrod Dyson in the first inning. It wasn't until the fifth inning until the Royals tied up the game on an Alcides Escobar solo homer. Kansas City scored three more in the sixth, then one apiece in the seventh and eighth innings. Both teams entered the day within striking distance of the Rays for the second wild card spot. With Tampa Bay losing, the Royals picked up a game in the WC chase with Tuesday's win.

Cardinals 4, Brewers 2: Wily Peralta was phenomenal for the Brewers, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning and consistently throwing a 96-98 MPH fastball. Unfortunately for the Brewers, the hit that broke his no-no bid was a two-run homer off the bat of Matt Holliday. St. Louis scored two more runs in the subsequent innings. Those proved useful when Logan Schafer hit a two-run home run of his own in the top of the ninth. That was as close as the Brewers would get as the Cardinals maintained their lead in the NL Central.

Tigers 9, White Sox 1: The Tigers' powerful offense was in full force on Tuesday night, putting up 15 hits and drawing three walks en route to a blowout victory over the White Sox. Detroit scored nine runs with just four extra base hits, instead maximizing a whopping four errors by Chicago. Their only homer was a solo shot off the bat of Prince Fielder. Fielder was 4-for-5 on the day with a pair of RBIs to lead Detroit's offense. Rick Porcello pitched a complete game for the Tigers, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out five.

Pirates 5, Rangers 4: Having already clinched their first winning season since 1992, the Pirates can now focus entirely on making the playoffs. The team remains just one game behind the Cardinals for first in the NL Central as they won in a wild finish. The Rangers had to wait until Francisco Liriano left the game before they could get their offense going. Liriano held them to just one run over six frames, but the Rangers cut the lead to two in the eighth. The Pirates scored a much-needed insurance run at the top of the tenth as Texas roared back in the bottom of the frame while trailing 5-2. With two outs, Texas hit four straight singles to come within a run, but Adrian Beltre struck out to end the game.

Cubs 9, Reds 1: The National League wildcard race isn't nearly as exciting as it is in the American League, but the Nationals win moved them six back of the Reds for the second WC spot after Cincinnati was walloped by the Cubs on Tuesday. Edwin Jackson pitched seven strong innings and scored two runs while Reds' rookie Tony Cingrani couldn't even last two frames. Welington Castillo led the Cubs offense, going 3-5 with two home runs and three RBI.

Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 3 (11): Scott Van Slyke hit a two-run walk-off home run off Josh Collmenter to give the Dodgers their second straight win and lowered their magic number to six to clinch the National League West over Arizona. As for the Diamondbacks, they are used to playing late.

The record for most extra innings played in a season is 76 by the 1969 Twins. The 11th inning tonight is the Dbacks' 75th extra inning.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) September 11, 2013

Padres 8, Phillies 2: Andrew Cashner allowed just four hits over 7⅔ innings while striking out seven. The Padres bats scored seven innings between the fourth and fifth innings to take the easy victory.

Wow - @Mtrumbo44 is first #Angels player ever with five hits and five runs in a game.

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 11, 2013

Angels 12, Blue Jays 6: Both team's put up a four-spot in the early going, but it was the Angels' offense who kept scoring while the Blue Jays ran out of gas.

Twins 4, Athletics 3: Josh Willingham hit two homers, including a two-run shot to put the Twins ahead by a run in the eighth inning.

Astros 13, Mariners 2: The Astros scored early and often, slamming eight doubles and two home runs. That was all Jordan Lyles needed as he shut down the Mariners' offense over six strong innings of work.

Rockies 9, Giants 8: Michael Cuddyer homered in the ninth inning to give Colorado a road win.