Nationals edge Astros in 11th inning

(TSX / STATS) -- HOUSTON -- Nationals manager Dusty Baker had pushed the proper strategic buttons to no avail in the eighth and ninth innings, so when the decision to play small ball paid lasting dividends in the 11th, it felt as if things balanced justly for Washington.

Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters delivered run-scoring plate appearances in the 11th inning, and the Nationals took advantage of some fortuitous bounces for a 5-4 interleague victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.

Rendon (2-for-3) produced a sacrifice fly that gave the Nationals the lead. Wieters (2-for-4) followed with a two-out single to right-center field that scored Ryan Zimmerman from first base. Zimmerman had reached on a wild pitch following a strikeout.

Wilmer Difo scored the first run of the frame after reaching on a bunt single, just beating the throw from rookie third baseman J.D. Davis, who approached the ball with a casual pace. Difo advanced to third on the wild pitch by Astros right-hander Tyler Clippard (2-7).

"The ball just rolled our way," said Rendon, who played his high school and college ball in Houston. "Difo got a little bunt down. He's a quick guy, so he beat it out, and Zim had that play to get runners in scoring position. I got jammed and was able to hit it far enough to get a run home. Everything just happened to fall our way, so we were fortunate."

Davis slugged his first career home run in the bottom of the 11th off Nationals left-hander Sammy Solis, who recovered to retire the next three batters and record his first save.

Houston native Matt Albers (7-2) earned the win for the Nationals with a perfect 10th inning.

Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Astros (77-50) rallied against Brandon Kintzler. The Nationals right-hander flipped roles with southpaw closer Sean Doolittle after Doolittle allowed a run in the eighth when he was summoned to face a lefty-heavy part of the order.

Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick recorded singles against Kintzler, with Bregman scoring on the Reddick hit to slice the deficit to one run. One batter later, Yuli Gurriel, a right-handed hitter like Bregman, doubled to the left-center gap, and Reddick rounded the bases from first to tie the game at 3-3.

"I like the way we swung the bats tonight," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We can build on that."

Stephen Strasburg worked six scoreless innings for the Nationals, retiring his first seven batters. He sidestepped the only significant trouble he encountered by inducing an inning-ending double-play grounder from Gurriel with the teams locked in a scoreless tie in the fourth.

After surrendering a two-out double to Bregman and being visited by trainers for a left calf cramp in the sixth, Strasburg got Jose Altuve to fly out to left field to cap his appearance. He allowed three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over 90 pitches, including 60 strikes.

"Command has been pretty good," said Strasburg, who departed early as a precaution. "Changeup's been really good, so I'm just trying to keep it together and hopefully do it again next time."

Rendon doubled twice to pace the Nationals (76-49), who scratched across two runs in the fifth off Astros starter Dallas Keuchel. Michael Taylor added a run-scoring double to right-center field in the seventh to plate Wieters from first base to extend the Washington lead to 3-0.

Keuchel allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts over seven innings. The walks came in succession to open the fifth and ignite the Washington rally, one aided by a throwing error by Keuchel, a three-time Gold Glove winner.

"I was not trying to throw balls for sure," Keuchel said. "Rendon is a really good hitter. I made a mistake there my first at-bat, and that one didn't hurt, but the one to Wieters did to put two on. Then I get a 45-footer that I usually make a good play, and I just happened to throw it up the line. It kind of snowballed from there for a little bit."

NOTES: Astros C Brian McCann was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. McCann missed nine games due to right knee soreness. ... Nationals RHP A.J. Cole will start the series opener against the Mets on Friday, with LHP Gio Gonzalez bumped back to Saturday. Gonzalez threw a season-high 121 pitches in his previous start on Sunday at San Diego, and based on that workload, Nationals manager Dusty Baker deemed it prudent to give Gonzalez an extra day of rest. ... With Double-A Corpus Christi cancelling games this weekend in deference to Hurricane Harvey bearing down on the Gulf Coast, Astros C Evan Gattis (concussion) returned early from his rehab assignment. Gattis could be reinstated from the disabled list this weekend, when the Astros play at the Los Angeles Angels.

Valaika's blast lifts Rockies over Royals

(TSX / STATS) -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Pat Valaika got the pitch he expected and in words "didn't miss it."

Valaika homered in the eighth inning as the Colorado Rockies came from behind to down the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Thursday afternoon.

"An educated guess, I'd say," Valaika said on what Minor might serve up with the count full. "Just watching video, I think that's his pitch, so kind of in the back of my mind."

Valaika homered with two outs with Gerardo Parra aboard off left-hander Minor. That snapped a four-game Rockies' losing streak.

"He's had a nice year for us," Rockies manager Buddy Black said. "But, that's what it takes. A big swing changes the complex of all three games and today was our turn. Yesterday was their turn. We had a chance in game one in the ninth, with Pat, when two outs and (Scott) Alexander came in and made a pitch.

"But, those are three really good games, when you think about the excitement at the end. A little bit of the drama of a tight game where every pitch is critical as the game moves into the later innings, those are three good games."

Minor called it a "terrible pitch" to Valaika.

"I don't want to walk him, but obviously there are bases open," Minor said. "I wanted to make a quality pitch. I threw three in a row right there and all three were bad. (To) Valaika, I just didn't make any good pitches. I'll be out there again. I've got to move on."

Greg Holland, who blew a save Wednesday when he allowed a three-run walk-off home run to former teammate Eric Hosmer, logged his 36th save in 40 chances with a 1-2-3 ninth.

"I wish I'd have pitched a little better last night and we took two out of three, but it was really special to get to see some of those guys and wish them luck going down the stretch because we're kind of in the same thing with the wild-card race," Hosmer said.

"They've been there, done that. We've got some players on our side that have been there and done that, too, so it should be fun for both teams."

Whit Merrifield homered, his 15th, to lead off the Kansas City first. It was Merrifield's third career leadoff homer.

Brandon Moss hit his 17th home run to lead off the second. Moss hit German Marquez's first pitch out to right. But that was it for the Royals' scoring. Marquez is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four career interleague starts.

Jake Junis gave up a single to Parra and a double down the right-field line to Carlos Gonzalez on a 2-2 pitch to start the Rockies' sixth. After Valaika popped up to shortstop Alcides Escobar, manager Ned Yost summoned left-hander Scott Alexander from the bullpen to face left-handed hitting Raimel Tapia.

Tapia drilled a RBI single to left, scoring Parra and moving Gonzalez to third. On Alexander's next pitch, Trevor Story grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Junis gave up one run on seven hits, walked one and struck out seven, matching his career best, in 5 1/3 innings.

"I was commanding the slider to both sides of the plate, early and late in the count," Junis said.

Junis had a moment of truth in the fifth inning when No. 9 hitter Tony Wolters walked and Charlie Blackmon singled with one out. Junis struck out DJ LeMahieu and retired Nolan Arenado, who had singled in his first two at-bats, on a fielder's choice grounder to third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert.

"Junis was very impressive," Royals manager Ned Yost said.

NOTES: Royals 3B Mike Moustakas was held out of the lineup with a tender knee. He was used as a pinch hitter in the ninth and flied out to Charlie Blackmon in center. Manager Ned Yost said it is not serious and Moustakas would play Friday. Cheslor Cuthbert replaced him at third. ... The Rockies will continue this two-city trip with three games in Atlanta. Braves RHP Julio Teheran and Colorado RHP Chad Bettis are the Friday probables. ... Kansas City is 35-30 at Kauffman Stadium. ... The Royals will play a weekend series at Cleveland, which leads the American League Central. Kansas City LHP Jason Vargas and Indians LHP Ryan Merritt are the Friday starters.

Rangers inch closer to contention with win over Angels

(TSX / STATS) -- ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister has some recommended viewing for left-handed pitcher Martin Perez when the team continues its road trip this weekend in Oakland.

Perez threw seven shutout innings Thursday night to help the Rangers move within a game of the second American League wild-card spot with a 3-0 victory against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.

"When (Perez) looks back and watches video of his starts, he needs to look at this one and really pay attention to what he did," Banister said.

Drew Robinson and Mike Napoli homered in support of Perez, a left-hander who came in with a 5.26 ERA in 24 starts this season. Perez (9-10) allowed seven hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter while throwing 73 of 99 pitches for strikes.

"They're an aggressive team, and I know that I have to throw the ball down because they're going to swing," Perez said. "When I stay down and I throw a lot of pitches for strikes, I get good outings."

The Angels remain a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins for the second AL wild card, tied with the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners.

"Definitely playoff baseball," Robinson said. "It makes it a lot more fun too, especially when you can come in and get three wins (in the four-game series), so it's big for us and hopefully we can build on it."

After the Angels pressured Perez early in the game, he retired 10 in a row and 12 of 13 during the middle innings.

"We just had some points in the game where we didn't square the ball up," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Give Perez some credit, he made some pitches when he had to."

The first two batters reached base in the eighth off reliever Jason Grilli, who escaped the jam, and the Angels finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

"We had two guys on and had some guys we wanted up there," Scioscia said of the eighth inning. "(Grilli) made some pitches. Sometimes you have to tip your cap."

Ricky Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first career save.

Capturing the series against a wild-card rival was "huge" for the Rangers, according to Banister.

"Especially against a team that's in front of us," he said. "To come in their ballpark, get three out of four. ... We've had our struggles on the road."

Angels right-hander Troy Scribner, called up from Triple-A Salt Lake for the start, took the loss. The 26-year-old right-hander replaced JC Ramirez, the team leader with 11 wins who experienced pain in his right elbow following his start Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.

Scribner (2-1) surrendered the two home runs that provided the Rangers a 3-0 lead. He went five innings, allowing three runs on three hits, striking out six and walking two.

"Even though there weren't many hits, he lost a lot of counts," Scioscia said.

Brett Nicholas doubled just inside the right field line with one out in the third for Texas' first hit. Robinson, hitting in the No. 9 spot, then lifted an 0-1 pitch deep into the seats in right-center for a 2-0 lead, his fourth home run of the season.

Napoli followed with a solo home run with one out in the fourth. It was his 27th home run of the season and 13th at Angel Stadium since he was traded by Los Angeles following the 2010 season.

NOTES: The Rangers moved RHP Tyson Ross to the bullpen. Ross (3-3, 7.04 ERA) made his most recent start in a 10-1 loss to the Angels on Tuesday, giving up three runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, the seventh consecutive outing he failed to last at least six innings. ... RHP Nick Martinez is expected to start in Ross' place at Oakland on Friday. Martinez (3-4, 5.38 ERA) last pitched for the Rangers on Aug. 6, allowing five runs and five hits in four innings of 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. ... Los Angeles RHP Troy Scribner and Ross each have a brother who plays in the major leagues, two of five sets of brothers who have played in the big leagues this season. ... The Angels start a three-game series with the visiting Houston Astros on Friday.

Holland pitches White Sox to victory over Twins

(TSX / STATS) -- CHICAGO -- Even when he was off his game, Chicago White Sox left-hander Derek Holland knew he wasn't that far away from where he wanted to be.

Despite his struggles, Holland attempted to remain positive, believing that if he kept chipping away, everything would come together at some point.

On Thursday night against the Minnesota Twins, everything finally clicked.

Holland allowed just one run over six innings, and the White Sox gave him with plenty of offensive support in a 5-1 victory over the Twins.

"I didn't let (the struggles) affect me -- obviously, I was frustrated, but the main thing was, I kept plugging away," said Holland, who allowed three hits, walked four and struck out five. "It can be a lonely place when you're struggling like that, but the main thing is you've got to stay positive no matter what."

Yolmer Sanchez homered and Kevan Smith had an RBI double for the White Sox, who also capitalized on some sloppy play by the Twins to build their lead and finish off the five-game series with back-to-back victories.

Chicago took three of five against Minnesota.

Holland (7-13) won for just the second time in his past 13 outings. He surrendered Minnesota's lone run on a Byron Buxton home run in the sixth inning.

The Twins put runners on second and third with one out in the ninth inning, but Juan Minaya pitched out of trouble to preserve the victory as the White Sox.

Minnesota heads to Toronto attempting to get things back on track after dropping the series to the last-place White Sox.

"Just not enough offense the last couple of nights," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "They outplayed us, we made mistakes, and they took advantage and we just couldn't get back in the game."

Jose Berrios (11-6) took the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) over 5 1/3 innings. Berrios struck out nine and walked three while giving up only four hits. He was let down more than once by Minnesota's defense.

Sanchez gave Chicago a 1-0 lead with two outs in the second inning when he hit a solo shot for his seventh home run of the season.

The White Sox took advantage of two Twins errors to score three runs in the fourth inning and build a 4-0 lead.

After Yoan Moncada walked and stole second, the rookie second baseman scored when Nicky Delmonico reached on an error by first baseman Mitch Garver.

Smith and Sanchez followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases before Tim Anderson drove in Delmonico with a fielder's choice grounder. Smith scored on Berrios' wild pick-off attempt.

"Hopefully, there's a little lesson learned here -- you've got to have that intensity from the first inning," Molitor said. "We have to come out ready to play from the get-go."

The White Sox did just that, and once they built up the lead, Holland took over and finally put together the kind of start he has been looking for in a season full of frustrating disappointments.

The Thursday game marked the kind of turnaround Holland -- and the White Sox -- have been waiting for from the veteran lefty.

"He did a nice job keeping us in the ballgame," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He gave up a solo homer, but other than that, he had three walks, struck out two or three, induced a few double plays. Honestly, he seemed pretty much in control the whole ballgame, even though he worked in a little bit of traffic, got out of it. He looked a lot more comfortable out there today."

NOTES: Chicago RF Leury Garcia left the game in the third inning due to back stiffness. He is considered day-to-day. ... White Sox 2B Yoan Moncada exited the game with shin splints in his right leg, an ailment Moncada told reporters Wednesday he expected to linger the rest of the season. ... Twins C Jason Castro was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion after being hit by several foul balls on his catcher's mask Wednesday. Manager Paul Molitor said backup Chris Gimenez and rookie Mitch Garver would split the catching duties until Castro returns. OF Zack Granite was called from Triple-A Rochester to fill the roster spot. ... White Sox RF Avisail Garcia missed Thursday's game after his wife gave birth to their second child earlier in the day. Manager Rick Renteria said Garcia should be available to play o

Indians pound Sale again, beat Red Sox 13-6

(TSX / STATS) -- CLEVELAND -- Most teams in a mini-slump would prefer not to face Chris Sale. The Cleveland Indians aren't one of those teams.

Jay Bruce and Francisco Lindor homered, Yandy Diaz had four hits, and the Indians continued their domination of Sale with a 13-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Progressive Field.

Giovanny Urshela added a career-high four RBIs as Cleveland unleashed an 18-hit attack in a game started by Sale, the leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award.

The two teams, both American League division leaders, split their four-game series.

In his shortest outing of the season by far, matching the shortest outing of his career, Sale (14-6) pitched three innings, giving up seven runs, six earned, on seven hits. He walked a season-high three and struck out a season-low three as his career record against Cleveland fell to 5-8 with a 4.78 ERA.

In two starts against the Indians this year, Sale has a 14.63 ERA, having given up 13 runs on 15 hits in eight innings.

"I wish I knew why I haven't had much luck against this team," Sale said. "Tonight, I stunk. Everything I threw was out over the plate, center cut. Right there."

Boston manager John Farrell said, "Cleveland is a good fastball hitting team. It's a matter of throwing your fastball to both sides of the plate and then slowing them down with your secondary stuff."

In the previous two games, Cleveland was held to a total of four hits and two runs by Boston pitching, with the Red Sox winning both times. Thursday was a different story.

"I don't know," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "It's not like our guys say, 'Oh good, Sale's pitching!' We've done better than most teams against him, but he's really good."

Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (13-8) needed 104 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.

"It was kind of a struggle," Bauer said. "I wasn't sharp and didn't command the ball very well, but the team picked me up."

Boston's Mitch Moreland had three hits, including two home runs, and four RBIs.

The Indians, held to four hits in their previous 18 innings, had four hits in their first eight batters. Cleveland opened it up with a four-run second inning against Sale.

RBI hits by Roberto Perez, Urshela and Lindor led that charge.

Boston got a run back in the third. Moreland, leading off the inning, hit a 1-2 pitch from Bauer deep into the lower deck in right field for his 16th home run, cutting the Cleveland lead to 4-1.

"He gets into those hot streaks and is a power threat in that part of the lineup," Farrell said of Moreland, the seventh-place hitter.

In the bottom of the third, the Indians continued their assault on Sale. Edwin Encarnacion led off the inning with a walk. Bruce struck out, but Brandon Guyer also walked. Diaz, who had a single, two doubles and a triple, then ripped a double off the right field wall, scoring Encarnacion to make it 5-1.

Perez grounded out to the mound for the second out, but Urshela followed with a two-run single to center, scoring Guyer and Diaz and giving Cleveland a 7-1 lead.

"We really did a good job offensively and made one of the best pitchers in baseball work hard," Francona said.

A two-run triple by Xander Bogaerts and an RBI single by Moreland in the fourth shaved Cleveland's lead to 7-4.

An RBI single by Urshela in the bottom of the fifth pushed the Indians' lead to 8-4.

Bruce's solo home run and an RBI double by Perez in the sixth inning made it 10-4. Lindor capped a three-hit night with a solo homer in the Indians' three-run seventh inning.

"We couldn't slow them down even after Chris left," Farrell said.

The Red Sox scored twice in the eighth, the runs coming on a two-run homer by Moreland.

NOTES: Boston RF Mookie Betts left the game in the eighth inning due to a bruised right knee. ... OF Rajai Davis, acquired in a trade with Oaklandon Wednesday, joined the Red Sox on Thursday. He took over in the field for Betts and went 0-for-1. ... The Red Sox also activated RHP Blaine Boyer from the 10-day disabled list while optioning INF Deven Marrero and RHP Hector Velazquez to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Indians RHP Josh Tomlin will make a rehab start Friday with rookie-level Mahoning Valley (Ohio). Tomlin has been on the disabled list since July 31 due to a left hamstring strain. ... Cleveland 1B Carlos Santana missed his third consecutive game with a lower back strain. Manager Terry Francona said he hopes Santana will be able to return to the lineup Friday.

Dickerson's bat, Kiermaier's glove lifts Rays past Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Kevin Kiermaier is known as "The Outlaw" to many Tampa Bay Rays fans because of his ability to steal extra-base hits from opponents.

His latest victim -- the Toronto Blue Jays.

Kiermaier made two impressive defensive plays and Corey Dickerson added a late home run to lift the Rays to a 2-0 win against the Blue Jays on Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Kiermaier robbed Steve Pearce and Justin Smoak of potential extra-base hits as the Rays (63-66) closed out their six-game home stand by winning three of the final four games.

Toronto (60-67) has lost five of its last six games.

Despite the low score the game was not a pitcher's duel as Rays' starter Alex Cobb didn't get out of the fifth inning thanks in part to a high-pitch count. Cobb gave up four hits and struck out five but threw 94 pitches (53 strikes) in 4 1/3 innings.

The Rays bullpen, however, came through strong as Steve Cishek, Brad Boxberger, Sergio Romo and Alex Colome combined to give up two hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

Cishek (2-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning to get the win and Colome struck out two in the ninth for his major-league leading 38th save.

"Really good performance from all of our pitchers," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I thought Alex did a good job of competing. He felt good, which was most important. We needed to manage his workload given that he had 18-19 days off. The bullpen came in and stepped up in a huge way."

Blue Jays starter Tom Koehler did make it through five innings and took the loss (1-6), giving up four hits and one run while striking out seven.

"I felt good, I definitely threw more pitches earlier than I would like to," Koehler said. "After five innings you don't really want to be pushing 100 pitches and you're asking a lot from your bullpen. Early in the game I had a lot of adrenaline, it had been a while since I pitched so there was definitely some excitement. I was able to settle down late and get some quick outs."

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead when it loaded the bases against Koehler in the second inning and Dickerson scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Robertson.

Dickerson made it 2-0 in the eighth inning with a solo home run to straight-away center field off Blue Jays reliever Danny Barnes.

Toronto's best opportunity to score came in the top of the fifth when Miguel Montero and Ryan Goins got on base with no outs. Darwin Barney failed to bunt them over and instead grounded into a fielder's choice that got Montero out at third.

Kiermaier robbed Pearce of an extra-base hit with an amazing running, diving catch in the right-center gap.

"Any time you can take away hits like that, especially in a game like this, where runs are limited, it's huge. It was quite crazy. That's why it can be a game of inches."

The next batter, Donaldson, appeared to hit a two-run double down the left-field line but the Rays challenged the call and it was determined that the ball did not clip the chalk.

"Yeah, that foul ball...they must have better cameras up there," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Because that looked like it caught something. But that's why they have replay."

After Donaldson walked, Justin Smoak hit a bloop to short center field and Kiermaier made another diving catch.

"Kiermaier, unbelievable," Gibbons said. "The first one and then of course to come in and get Smoak's ball the last time. That's what he does. We get the same stuff out of (Kevin) Pillar. Those guys win you games."

NOTES: Blue Jays RHP Tom Koehler hit Rays 2B Brad Miller with a 94-mph fastball between the shoulder blades. Miller, however, jogged to first base and stayed in the game until the fifth inning when he left with a right shoulder contusion). ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons confirmed that RHP Marco Estrada is pitching Saturday against the Twins. ... Gibbons also said RHP Aaron Sanchez is throwing again after having problems with blisters on his finger. .. Rays RHP Jake Faria (left abdominal strain) was scheduled to do soft-toss catch Thursday after being shut down for three days.

Tigers beat Yankees in brawl-filled encounter

(TSX / STATS) -- DETROIT -- Pitches buzzed heads, tempers flared, fists flew and thumbs were extended. The New York Yankees-Detroit Tigers game on Thursday turned in a giant fiasco.

The Tigers emerged with a tension-packed 10-6 victory that included eight ejections and three benches-clearing incidents at Comerica Park.

"You don't see games like this very often, for good reason, because of injury concerns," said Detroit manager Brad Ausmus, who drew one of the ejections. "I hope I never see one again."

Tigers cleanup hitter and 11-time All-Star Miguel Cabrera and Yankees catcher Austin Romine were tossed after a benches-clearing brawl during the sixth inning. Yankees manager Joe Girardi and relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle had just been ejected after Kahnle threw a pitch behind Cabrera in the sixth.

Yankees reliever Dellin Betances and bench coach Rob Thomson were ejected in the bottom of the seventh after Betances drilled Tigers catcher James McCann in the helmet with a 98 mph fastball.

Detroit reliever Alex Wilson was tossed after hitting New York third baseman Todd Frazier with a pitch in the eighth. Ausmus was ejected after that incident.

The scuffle between Cabrera and Romine began after reliever Aroldis Chapman finished his warmup pitches following Kahnle's ejection. Cabrera approached the plate and exchanged words with Romine. Romine removed his mask and Cabrera shoved him with both hands and then threw punches while Romine wrestled him to the ground.

Ironically, Romine is the brother of Tigers utility player Andrew Romine.

"First of all, when they threw at me, it was OK. I was cool with that," Cabrera said. "They started to argue with the umpire and I said to Romine to calm down. He said, "I'm not talking to you" and I said 'Oh, wow.' ... When I got back to home plate, I tell him, 'You got any (bleeping) problem with me?' He said, 'Why?' I said because I try to calm (things) down and you try to act tough. And he said something like, 'You want to fight?'"

Detroit starter Michael Fulmer hit Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez with a pitch the previous inning. Sanchez homered four times during the series, including a fourth-inning solo blast on Thursday.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Fulmer hit Sanchez intentionally. The Tigers said Fulmer, who recently came off the disabled list with elbow irritation, felt a 'zinger' when he released the ball.

"If you can't see that Fulmer clearly hit Sanchez on purpose, there's something wrong," Girardi said. "I think it could have really been avoidable."

Girardi was steamed at the umpires in general afterward. He was especially upset that Betances was tossed by crew chief Dana DeMuth after home plate umpire Carlos Torres didn't. Girardi also felt Torres expanded his strike zone in the latter innings.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense to me," Girardi said of the Betances ejection. "To me, there's a lot of confusion and that's not to mention the strike zone late in the game. Just a very poor job on their part, very, very poor."

The game was essentially decided three batters after Betances hit McCann, who didn't feel Betances did it intentionally. Jose Iglesias hit a bases-clearing double to break a 6-all tie.

Iglesias had three hits and drove in four runs, while Justin Upton and McCann hit solo homers for Detroit (55-71). Wilson (2-4) pitched an inning-plus of scoreless relief to collect the win. Shane Greene got five outs to record his fourth save.

Sanchez and Aaron Hicks drove in two runs apiece and Brett Gardner had four hits for the Yankees (68-58).

New York scored three runs the inning after the Cabrera-Romine brawl to tie it at 6-6. Gardner and Sanchez had run-scoring singles and Hicks contributed a sacrifice fly, though left fielder Upton robbed him of a homer.

Iglesias answered with his bases-clearing double in the bottom off the inning off left-center off David Robertson. Betances (3-5) was tagged with the loss.

"We did a nice job fighting back, excuse the expression, and holding on for the win," Ausmus said.

NOTES: Detroit DH Victor Martinez got the day off. Martinez had just three hits in 17 at-bats (.176) during the homestand. ... Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler has 13 home runs this season and all have been solo shots. He's the first major leaguer to have 13 consecutive solo homers from the start of a season since the first 14 of Shin-Soo Choo's 21 home runs for Cincinnati in 2013 were solo shots. ... The Yankees play 24 of their remaining 36 games at home. ... Yankees manager Joe Girardi has now been ejected 36 times in his managerial career, including four this season.