american league

Cleveland wins with walk-off slam • CLEVELAND 5, TORONTO 4: Travis Hafner hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap the Indians' five-run rally in a victory over the Blue Jays on Thursday. Hafner hit the first pitch from Luis Perez deep into the right-field seats for Cleveland's second walk-off slam of the season. Carlos Santana also did it to beat Detroit 9-5 on April 29.

"It's awesome, there's nothing like it." Hafner said of the feeling he had. "It's the most fun you can have on a baseball field."

Hafner's 12th career slam made a winner of Tony Sipp, who yielded Jose Bautista's 29th homer in the eighth to give Toronto what seemed like a comfortable 4-0 lead.

• DETROIT 3, KANSAS CITY 1: Max Scherzer held the Royals in check while pitching into the seventh inning, Ryan Raburn belted a two-run homer and the Tigers bullpen held on vs. the host Royals.

• BOSTON 10, BALTIMORE 4: Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run homer and the host Red Sox added three consecutive home runs in the seventh on their way to taking over first place in the AL East.

• TAMPA BAY 5, NEW YORK 1: Jeff Niemann gave up Derek Jeter's 2,998th hit but little else, B.J. Upton homered and drove in three runs, and the Rays beat the host Yankees.

• LOS ANGELES 5, SEATTLE 1: Jered Weaver pitched a six-hitter for his 11th victory, and fellow All-Star Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to 16 games for the Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

• TEXAS 6, OAKLAND 0: Derek Holland rebounded from his shortest outing ever with a four-hitter for his third career shutout and Josh Hamilton had four RBI for the Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

Hand scores first victory, demoted • FLORIDA 5, HOUSTON 0: Brad Hand finally earned his first victory in the major leagues, then he was sent back to Class AA Jacksonville. The 21-year old rookie lefthander from Chaska gave up two hits over seven innings as the Marlins beat the Astros in Miami. Hand lowered his ERA to 2.77 in five starts.

Hand received the news of his demotion from manager Jack McKeon after the game. "I feel I belong up here and hope I stay up here one time," Hand said.

With the All-Star break approaching, Hand will be able to stay on a regular pitching schedule with Jacksonville, but McKeon did not confirm Hand would return to the Marlins after the break.

• CHICAGO 10, WASHINGTON 9: Darwin Barney's tiebreaking ninth-inning double capped off a wild comeback and the Cubs rebounded from an eight-run deficit to beat the host Nationals.

• ARIZONA 4, ST. LOUIS 1: Justin Upton hit a two-run homer and Joe Saunders pitched five innings for the Diamondbacks. The host Cardinals fell into a first-place tie with Milwaukee in the NL Central.

• MILWAUKEE 5, CINCINNATI 4: Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer and the host Brewers' bullpen held on to beat the Reds to open an important four-game series for both clubs before the All-Star break.

• ATLANTA 6, COLORADO 3: Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer, his fourth of the series, and the host Braves completed their first four-game sweep of the Rockies in 18 years.

• LOS ANGELES 6, NEW YORK 0: Clayton Kershaw pitched eight strong innings and the host Dodgers scored five sixth-inning runs.

• SAN FRANCISCO 2, SAN DIEGO 1: Barry Zito won his third start in a row since coming off the disabled list for the host Giants.

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