Jul 2, 2014 5 min read

Tyson Ross threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout and Rene Rivera hit a three-run single off big league ERA leader Johnny Cueto as the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 Wednesday for their first three-game sweep since September.

The Padres, who tied their season high with their fourth straight win, hadn’t swept a series since Sept. 6-8 against Colorado.

Ross (7-8) was dominating in throwing his first complete game in 55 career starts. He struck out nine and walked none.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Rivera hit a blooper to the gap that hit off the heel of the glove of diving center fielder Billy Hamilton to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.

Cueto (8-6) came in with the best ERA in the majors, 1.88. It rose to 1.99.

Cleveland 5, L.A. Dodgers 4: Mike Aviles capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run single against Brian Wilson, rallying the Cleveland Indians past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Wednesday.

Ryan Raburn homered off Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was lifted after seven with a 3-2 lead.

But Wilson (1-3) retired only one of the six batters he faced, giving up a tying single by pinch-hitter David Murphy and Aviles’ clutch hit after an intentional walk to Lonnie Chisenhall.

Brian Shaw (3-1) pitched a scoreless seventh to get the victory.

Scott Atchison gave up a solo homer by Scott Van Slyke in the eighth. Cody Allen got four outs for his eighth save, retiring Matt Kemp on a flyball to the warning track with the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Toronto 7, Milwaukee 4: Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Milwaukee 7-4 Wednesday, handing the Brewers their third straight loss.

Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco also connected for the Blue Jays, who have hit a major league high 113 home runs this season.

Facing Will Smith (1-1), Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a double that left fielder Elian Herrera dove for but couldn’t handle. Melky Cabrera was intentionally walked and Brandon Kintzler came on to face Anthony Gose, who failed to advance the runners with a bunt when Reyes was forced at third.

Darin Mastroianni struck out but Encarnacion ended it with a drive into the second deck in left, his 26th.

American League

Tampa Bay 6, N.Y. Yankees 3: Sean Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs, helping the streaking Tampa Bay Rays extend their longest winning string this year to five and handing the New York Yankees their season-worst fifth straight loss, 6-3 Wednesday.

Ben Zobrist doubled twice among his three hits for the Rays, but ran into two outs. With manager Joe Maddon encouraging his team to be more aggressive on the bases, Rodriguez was thrown out trying to stretch an RBI single to the wall in right field in the fourth.

The Rays won all three games at Yankee Stadium for their first road sweep since taking three in the Bronx Sept. 24-26.

Detroit 9, Oakland 3: Justin Verlander knows he isn’t going to make a sixth straight All-Star team.

A few more performances like the one Wednesday might mean he’s heading in the right direction, however.

Verlander overcame a pair of long home runs in the first inning and left with a comfortable lead after the sixth as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 9-3 for a three-game sweep.

Verlander (7-7) started the day looking like the pitcher who has been searching for his mechanics for most of the season. Coco Crisp began the game with a shot over the access tunnel down the right-field line, and Brandon Moss went even deeper into the right-field stands with two out.

Kansas City 4, Minnesota 0: Jason Vargas threw seven scoreless innings, Raul Ibanez homered in his second game for Kansas City and the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 Wednesday.

Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base.

Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. With Joe Mauer missing, placed on the disabled list before the game because of a strained muscle on his right side, the Twins didn’t cause Vargas any trouble. They were shut out for the sixth time this season and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games.

Seattle 5, Houston 2: Logan Morrison drove in two runs in Seattle’s big sixth inning, Chris Young pitched seven strong innings and the Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-2 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

The Mariners were down by two before a four-run sixth inning, highlighted by Morrison’s double to right field off Brad Peacock (2-5) that put them on top. James Jones scored on a wild pitch in the inning and John Buck had an RBI single.