ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Bartolo Colon pitched a four-hitter for his third shutout this season and center fielder Chris Young robbed Albert Pujols of a home run to help the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-0 on Sunday.
Eric Sogard hit a two-run homer to back Colon (13-3), who struck out five and walked one. The 40-year-old right-hander, making his first start since returning from his third All-Star game, tied Max Scherzer and Adam Wainwright for the major league lead in wins while reducing his ERA to 2.52. Colon is 10-1 with a 1.46 ERA over his last 12 outings.
The 116-pitch complete game was Colon's 35th in 395 big league starts, and the shutout was the 12th of his career. Young preserved Oakland's ninth shutout of the year when he pulled back Pujols' bid for his 492nd homer leading off the seventh.
ORIOLES 4, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Chris Tillman pitched into the ninth inning in his return from the All-Star game, and Baltimore beat Texas to sweep a three-game series between 2012 playoff teams.
Matt Wieters had two hits and scored twice to help the Orioles (56-43) move a season-high 13 games over .500 with their seventh victory in eight games. They sure seem comfortable in Texas, where Baltimore won last year's AL wild-card game.
Tillman (12-3) gave up two runs and six hits while striking out seven, making Baltimore starters 7-1 in the last eight games. The 25-year-old righty was three outs from his first career complete game when Adrian Beltre chased him with a leadoff homer in the ninth.
Darren O'Day got two outs to earn his second save.
Martin Perez (3-3) pitched 6 1-3 innings for the Rangers, giving up four runs and nine hits. He didn't get much help from his defense.
Texas has dropped four straight and seven of eight.
TIGERS 4, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Miguel Cabrera and Andy Dirks homered as the Tigers beat the Royals to avoid being swept.
Doug Fister (8-5) picked up the victory with six strong innings, yielding a run, while allowing six hits and striking out five and walking one.
Cabrera, who is second in the league with 31 home runs to Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, drove a 1-1 pitch out to left in the first inning.
Miguel Tejada tied it in the second with his third home run of the season and the 307th of his career. Tejada took an 0-1 Fister pitch out to left.
Dirks broke the tie with a home run with one out in the fifth to straightaway center, just eluding Jarrod Dyson's leap at the wall.
James Shields (4-7), who has won only one of 10 home starts, took the loss.
INDIANS 7, TWINS 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Justin Masterson took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Michael Brantley hit a bases-loaded triple and the Indians beat the Twins to avoid a three-game sweep.
Masterson (11-7) had faced the minimum through six, allowing only a hit batter, when Brian Dozier led off the seventh with a broken-bat blooper to center field that dunked in under the glove of a sliding Drew Stubbs for a double.
The Indians led 3-0 on Mike Aviles' sacrifice fly and two-run homer by Jason Kipnis when they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on a walk to Kipnis and consecutive singles by Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana off starter Scott Diamond (5-9).
RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) - Luke Scott and Kelly Johnson hit back-to-back home runs, Evan Longoria also went deep and the Rays survived a late scare to beat the Blue Jays, completing a three-game sweep.
The surging Rays have won 13 of their past 14 games and 20 of their past 24. After starting the season 14-18, Tampa Bay is a major league-best 44-23 since May 8.
Rays right-hander Chris Archer pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight decision, improving to 4-0 with an 1.62 ERA in his past six starts, including his first career shutout against Houston on July 14.
Archer (5-3) allowed five hits, walked four and struck out one.
R.A. Dickey (8-11) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings, walked one and struck out eight. He gave up three home runs for the third time this season.
MARINERS 12, ASTROS 5
HOUSTON (AP) - Nick Franklin hit his first career grand slam in Seattle's big second inning to back up a scoreless start by Felix Hernandez, and the Mariners rolled past the Astros for their season-best sixth straight victory.
Franklin's slam, Seattle's fifth this season, came off Jordan Lyles (4-4) in a seven-run second.
Hernandez (11-4) scattered four hits with seven strikeouts over six innings to lower his AL-leading ERA to 2.43. He is 6-0 in his last 10 starts and hasn't lost since May 25.
Brad Miller, Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders drove in two runs each to help the Mariners wrap up a three-game sweep.
Lyles yielded eight hits and 10 runs, with a career-high nine earned, in four-plus innings to lose his third straight decision.
INTERLEAGUE
WHITE SOX 3, BRAVES 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Left fielder Casper Wells robbed Reed Johnson of a home run in the eighth inning to help the White Sox beat the Braves.
With the White Sox leading 3-1, Wells leaped up against the left-field wall to make a spectacular catch and rob Johnson of the game-tying homer. It was one of several great defensive plays by the White Sox.
Alex Rios added two hits and an RBI for Chicago and Jose Quintana scattered nine hits in 5 2-3 innings for the win.
up against the left-field wall to make a spectacular catch.
White Sox relievers Ramon Troncoso and Donnie Veal each retired the two batter they faced and Nate Jones pitched a scoreless eighth. Closer Addison Reed pitched scoreless ninth for his 25th save in 29 chances.
Braves starter Mike Minor (9-5) pitched his first career complete game in the loss.