Around the Bases: Mike Aviles grand slam lifts Indians

Royals 5, Blue Jays 0: James Shields tossed seven shutout innings, only surrendering three hits while striking out nine. Shields is 4-0 with a 1.53 ERA over his last five starts. Eric Hosmer collected a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Emilio Bonifacio went 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases.

Indians 4, Tigers 0: Mike Aviles blasted a grand slam in the top of the ninth against Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit, snapping the Indians' seven-game losing streak against Detroit. Benoit walked the bases loaded, two unintentionally, before surrendering the grand slam to Aviles. Indians rookie Danny Salazar held the Tigers offense scoreless for six innings, scattering six hits while striking out five and walking none.

Orioles 7, Yankees 3: J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones each connected on a three-run homer during a seven-run seventh inning, helping the Orioles take a 1/2-game lead over the Yankees for third place in the AL Wild Card. Matt Wieters plated the first run of the inning with an RBI single. Kevin Gausman earned the victory, striking out three Yankees over two scoreless frames in relief of Wei-Yin Chen.

Manny Machado made a great bare-handed play against Alfonso Soriano in the bottom half of the seventh, with Chris Davis securing the ball with an impressive stretch:

Cardinals 7, Pirates 2: Joe Kelly won his fourth straight start, giving up one run on four hits over six innings to propel the Cardinals back into a tie with the Pirates for the NL Central lead. Matt Holliday and David Freese drove in two runs apiece, while Allen Craig picked up his 97th RBI of the year. Justin Morneau went 1-for-3 in his Pirates debut.

Red Sox 7, White Sox 6: David Ortiz drove in three runs as the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep over the White Sox. Stephen Drew added a solo homer for Boston, while Dustin Pedroia added a pair of hits. Koji Uehera tossed a scoreless ninth for his 16th save of the season.

Astros 2, Mariners 0: Rookie starter Brett Oberholtzer threw a complete-game shutout, holding the Mariners to four hits while striking out five. Jason Castro drove in the go-ahead run with a ground-rule double in the eighth, scoring later in the inning on a Brandon Barnes' bunt single.

Angels 5, Brewers 3: J.B. Shuck drove in the game-winning run with a bases clearing double in the seventh inning, helping the Angles finish off a sweep of the Brewers. Mike Trout finished a home run shy of the cycle, while Kole Calhoun drove in a pair of runs. C.J. Wilson picked up the quality start, allowing three runs on three hits over six innings to improve to 14-6 on the year.

Cubs 7, Phillies 1: Jake Arrietta turned in a strong performance, giving up one run on three hits over 6-2/3 innings. Brian Bogusevic led the Cubs' offense with two hits, while Welington Castillo drove in a pair of runs. Ryan Sweeney added a RBI single in his first at-bat back from the 60-day disabled list.

Twins 4, Rangers 2: Kevin Correia threw seven strong innings, helping Minnesota win their first series at Texas in four years. Corriea allowed one run on five hits, forcing the Rangers to hit 14 groundouts. Josmil Pinto connected on a double in his major-league debut, while Alex Presley led the offense with three hits.

Texas smoked Felix Hernandez for nine runs on Wednesday, but followed that performance with three disappointing games against the Twins, noted by Todd Wills of ESPN Dallas:

The Rangers scored 9 runs against King Felix on Wednesday and have scored 3 runs in 3 games against Hendriks, Pelfrey and Correia.

— Todd Wills (@wtwills09) September 1, 2013

Athletics 5, Rays 1: A.J. Griffin gave up just five hits and one earned run in seven innings to improve to 12-9 on the season and hand the Rays a fourth consecutive defeat. Jamey Wright's day wasn't as great, as he lasted just 36 pitches before he was pulled in the second inning after giving up three hits, two walks and one earned run. The game featured three solo home runs, including one from James Loney of the Rays, the team's only run of the day.

Rockies 7, Reds 4: The game featured 27 hits, but none was more monumental than Todd Helton's seventh-inning double which represented his 2,500th hit in his career. Helton became the 96th player in MLB history to hit the mark.

The hero of the game was Michael Cuddyer though, who finished 4-for-4 on the day, including a solo home run in the seventh inning to extend the Colorado lead to 7-2. Adam Ottavino earned his first victory of the season after replacing Tyler Chatwood in the third inning.

Dodgers 2, Padres 1: Zach Greinke earned his sixth consecutive win in as many starts on Sunday, despite receiving only two runs of support in his seven innings on the mound. He attempted to help himself out in the fifth inning though, hitting a two-out single into shallow center off Tyson Ross. The hit boosted his already impressive batting average from .340 to .347, but he wasn't done offensively.

The last Dodgers pitcher to steal two bases in a season, before Zack Greinke, was Orel Hershiser in 1987. Before that: Erv Palica, 1950

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) September 1, 2013

Giants 8, Diamondbacks 2: Yusmeiro Petit gave up an RBI double in the first inning that gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead, but after that he allowed just one more run, striking out 10 Arizona batters en route to his second win of the year. With 15 hits, the Giants dealt another loss to the Diamondbacks, who are quickly losing their chances at earning a spot in the NL Wild Card game.

Marlins 7, Braves 0: Eight scoreless innings from Nate Eovaldi was enough to end a six-game winning streak for the Braves, despite allowing seven hits. The team with the worst record in the National League managed 13 hits against the team with the league's best record, including a five-run third inning that put the Braves in a deep hole early in the game that they never recovered from.

Nationals 6, Mets 5: A three-run rally in the eighth inning after an RBI single from Wilson Ramos in the seventh dug the Nationals out of a 5-2 hole to earn a much-needed victory on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Leading the way offensively for Washington was Ryan Zimmerman, who finished 3-for-5 from the plate, including an RBI single that tied the game in the eighth.