Best of MLB: Jake Odorizzi, Lucas Duda help Rays stay in thick of wild-card hunt

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in front of a tiny home crowd, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Lucas Duda homered and drove in both runs for the Rays, who improved to .500 on the season and got within two games of Minnesota for the second AL wild card.

Joe Mauer got the Twins' first hit -- and extended his hitting streak to 14 games -- with a grounder that caromed off second base with one out in the seventh. Odorizzi (8-7) was lifted for reliever Dan Jennings after striking out the next batter, Jorge Polanco.

The only other batter to reach base against Odorizzi was Eddie Rosario, who walked leading off the fifth.

The game was played before a crowd of 6,509, the smallest-ever announced attendance for a Rays home game. Nearly 400 fewer fans attended last Wednesday's relocated game between the Astros and Rangers at Tropicana Field (see full recap).

Pirates rally past Cubs for 4th straight win
PITTSBURGH -- Max Moroff and David Freese delivered RBI singles off Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday night.

John Jaso led off the eighth with a pinch-hit walk then later scored when Moroff hit a bloop single to left off Edwards (3-4) to tie the game. Freese drove home Moroff three batters later after the Cubs intentionally walked Pirates rookie Josh Bell.

Jordan Luplow hit the second home run of his career for Pittsburgh. Wade LeBlanc (5-2) earned the win in relief. Felipe Rivero worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save. The Pirates ran their winning streak to four on the same day the club announced contract extensions for manager Clint Hurdle and general manager Neal Huntington.

Ian Happ had a two-run single for Chicago. Alberto Almora Jr. and Kris Bryant had two hits apiece but the Cubs left eight men on base to drop their third consecutive game (see full recap).

Jones, Hicks blast 2 homers each in Tigers’ victory
DETROIT -- JaCoby Jones and John Hicks hit two home runs and the Detroit Tigers had six homers in all in a 13-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez threw only five pitches and was knocked out of the game in the first inning after getting hit by Whit Merrifield's single in the right leg. Sanchez, who was charged with one earned run when Merrifield later scored, left the game with a calf injury.

Reliever Myles Jaye (1-0) replaced Sanchez and pitched 2 1/3 innings. He allowed one hit, two walks and a wild pitch, leaving in the third inning with the Tigers holding a 7-1 lead.

Jason Vargas (14-10) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs and six hits, a walk and a hit batter in two innings of work (see full recap).

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