Elvis Andrus hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth, and the Texas Rangers bounced back from blowing an early five-run lead to beat the Colorado Rockies 10-8 on Wednesday. Rougned Odor homered and finished with three hits for the third time in the last six games for the Rangers. Carlos Gonzalez and Nick Hundley homered in Colorado’s four-run eighth. Gonzalez’s three-run shot off Tanner Scheppers (4-1) tied it at 8. Odor led off the ninth with a walk against closer John Axford (2-3). Adrian Beltre singled and one out later pinch-hitter Prince Fielder was intentionally walked. Andrus singled to left on drawn-in infield to give the Rangers the lead. Shawn Tolleson worked the ninth for his 15th save.
Wednesday Across the Majors:
Comeback player of the year in the American League? Your early favorite could be Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod connected on his 20th home run of his renaissance season, Mark Teixeira connected for an early two-run shot and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3. The Orioles have lost 11 of 15 to fall six games back of the AL East leaders. Ivan Nova ended the first three-start losing streak of his career, and the AL East leaders won for the eighth time in 10 games. Nova is 2-3.
— Yadier Molina came through with an eighth-inning bases-loaded, three-run triple to the opposite field to rally the St. Louis Cardinals past the Chicago White Sox 3-2. That’s the major league-leading 60th victory for the NL Central leaders. It was the first triple for the All-Star catcher since 2011, and only the fourth of his career.
— The AL West-leading L.A. Angels ran their winning streak to seven with a 5-2 win over Minnesota. Catcher Chris Ianetta homered for the second straight night and had two hits. Huston Street notched his 300th career save. About the only downer for the Angels was third baseman David Freese is headed to the DL after fracturing his thumb after getting hit by a pitch.
— Ex-Pirate Edinson Volquez pitched effectively into the eighth inning against his old team and Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer to lead the Kansas City Royals over Pittsburgh 5-1. Volquez is 9-5. He won 13 games last season for the Pirates. Pittsburgh opens a key four-game series tonight at home against Washington.
— Michael Taylor had a tying two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning and Danny Espinosa followed with an RBI double to give Washington a 4-3 win over the Mets. The Nationals took two of three in the series to open up a three-game lead over the second-place Mets in the NL East.
— Mike Bolsinger threw seven effective innings to help the L.A. Dodgers top Atlanta 3-1 and salvage the final game of their three-game series. Bolsinger didn’t allow an earned run and at one point retired 14 in a row. Braves starter Julio Teheran struck out seven of the first 10 batters and had the Dodgers off balance until giving up three runs in the fifth.
— Preston Tucker homered twice and drove in three runs and Evan Gattis added a solo shot to give the Houston Astros a 4-2 victory over the Boston. The Red Sox have lost a season-high seven in a row.
— Jose Fernandez struck out 11 in seven innings and the Miami Marlins held off the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3. A.J. Ramos struck out three straight with the bases loaded in the ninth for the save. Fernandez was sharp in his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery. He is 3-0.
— Taylor Teagarden singled home the tiebreaking run off Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning, completing the Chicago Cubs’ biggest comeback of the season for a 6-5 win and a doubleheader split with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs overcame a five-run deficit. Cincinnati won the opener 9-1 behind another strong showing by Mike Leake, who is the subject of trade rumors in Cincinnati.
— In a battle of underachieving AL teams, Detroit worked over Seattle 9-4. Ian Kinsler led Detroit’s 13-hit attack by going four for five with two runs scored. Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam in an eight-run third inning.
— Pinch-hitter Odubel Herrera delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Philadelphia a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay. The Phillies are 5-1 since the All-Star break after losing a franchise record 62 games before the mid-summer classic.
—Michael Brantley had four hits including a home run and drove in four runs to lead Cleveland to a 7-5 win over Milwaukee. Brantley hit a three-run homer in the third off of starter Kyle Lohse then had a tie-breaking RBI single in the fifth to put Cleveland on top to stay.
— Brandon Belt hit a tying solo home run in the sixth inning and Buster Posey hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 7-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.
— And in 10 innings, Oakland defeated Toronto 4-3. Ike Davis drove in the winning run with an infield single.