Davis hit a two-run homer and Taylor Teagarden followed with a three-run home run in Baltimore’s six-run fourth. Against embattled reliever Jose Valverde, Davis hit another two-run shot for his second multihomer game of the season and the fifth of his career.

The Orioles improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 after beating the AL Central-leading Tigers twice in the three-game series.

Chris Tillman (8-2) gave up three runs and seven hits over five-plus innings. He became the third pitcher in franchise history to win his first six decisions on the road, joining Jeff Ballard (1989) and Hoyt Wilhelm (1959).

Rick Porcello (4-4) allowed six runs on nine hits, giving up a pair of homers for the third time this year.

RAYS 6, RED SOX 2

BOSTON (AP) — Desmond Jennings homered, Jeremy Hellickson pitched six strong innings and Tampa Bay Rays ended its drought at Fenway Park.

The Rays had scored a total of five runs in losing their first five games this season at the ballpark, including a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday during which they managed a pair of runs on 10 combined hits.

Jose Molina and Evan Longoria each had three of Tampa Bay’s 15 hits and the Rays ended a three-game losing streak with their second win in eight games.

Top prospect Wil Myers delivered a two-run double during Tampa Bay’s three-run seventh that broke the game open.

Hellickson (5-3) surrendered two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Ryan Dempster (4-8) gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings.

INDIANS 6, ROYALS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Justin Masterson managed to hang around for 6 1-3 innings and win for the sixth time at home, leading Cleveland over Kansas City.

Masterson (9-5) sidestepped some early trouble without giving up any runs and improved to 6-1 with a 2.29 ERA in nine starts at Progressive Field. The right-hander struck out eight while allowing two runs and nine hits.

Michael Brantley hit a pair of solo homers for the Indians, who moved within 3 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. Mike Aviles drove in two runs and Michael Bourn scored twice for Cleveland.

Unable to get a hit for four innings off Luis Mendoza (2-4), Brantley homered in the fifth and the Indians added three runs in the sixth. Brantley connected again in the eighth.

RANGERS 9, ATHLETICS 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — David Murphy had three hits and scored twice to snap out of a long slump to help Texas beat AL West-leading Oakland.

Justin Grimm (6-5) trailed when he threw his last pitch, but the Rangers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead and make him the first Texas starter this month to get a victory.

Rangers starters had gone 17 consecutive games without a win since Derek Holland beat Kansas City on May 31. The team’s previous longest such stretch was 16 in a row in 1975.

Ian Kinsler had a sacrifice fly off Tommy Milone (6-7) that tied the game in the fifth before Leonys Martin raced home on a grounder with the go-ahead run.

TWINS 7, WHITE SOX 4

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Justin Morneau homered for the first time in almost two months and the two-run shot helped Minnesota send Chicago to its sixth loss in seven games.

Morneau’s third homer of the season followed an RBI single by Josh Willingham in the sixth off Deunte Heath after ace Chris Sale’s night ended after five shaky innings. Morneau last went deep on April 28. The 2006 AL MVP has three seasons of 30-plus homers.

His teammates teased him in the dugout after he rounded the bases, pretending to ignore him. So Morneau gave out a bunch of air high-fives, a light moment on a night when several Twins enjoyed fine performances. Brian Dozier reached base four times, including a three-run homer in the second against Sale (5-6).

Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for the second game in a row, recording his 18th save in 20 tries, after Kevin Correia (6-4) pitched into the seventh.

ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — C.J. Wilson pitched two-hit ball for seven innings, Mike Trout scored the only run on a wild pitch by Joe Saunders and Los Angeles edged Seattle.

Wilson (6-5) struck out three, walked two and allowed only two runners as far as second base en route to his fifth straight victory over the Mariners.

Trout legged out a leadoff double in the sixth and moved to third on a flyout. He scored on the first pitch wild of the season by Saunders (5-7).

Scott Downs pitched a perfect eighth for the Angels and Ernesto Frieri did likewise in the ninth for his 16th save in 17 attempts.

INTERLEAGUE

YANKEES 6, DODGERS 4, 1ST GAME. DODGERS 6, YANKEES 0, 2ND GAME

NEW YORK (AP) — Hanley Ramirez capped a six-hit day with a pair of RBI singles, Yasiel Puig homered to complete a dazzling debut in New York and Los Angeles earned a split of the day-night doubleheader.

The Dodgers salvaged manager Don Mattingly’s return to the Bronx after the loss in the opener.

Chris Capuano (2-5) pitched three-hit ball for six innings in his comeback from the disabled list. The Dodgers rebounded from a sloppy loss in the opener to former teammate Hiroki Kuroda (7-5) in a matchup between injury-ravaged teams with $200 million payrolls.

In the first matchup between the teams in New York since the Dodgers clinched the 1981 World Series title with a Game 6 victory at old Yankee Stadium, Ichiro Suzuki homered, drove in three runs and made a spectacular catch on the warning track for the Yankees.

New York got help from reliever Ronald Belisario’s two errors on the same play in a three-run seventh.

In the night game, the Dodgers started out quickly against Phil Hughes (3-6), who allowed a season-high 10 hits in six innings.

BLUE JAYS 5, ROCKIES 2

TORONTO (AP) — Adam Lind hit a three-run home run, Mark Buehrle won his second straight start and Toronto earned its eighth consecutive victory, beating Colorado to complete a three-game sweep.

The streak is Toronto’s longest since a 10-game run in late 2008.

Carlos Gonzalez hit his NL-leading 21st home run for the Rockies, who lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Buehrle (4-4) allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings of the interleague game.

Neil Wagner pitched the sixth, Brett Cecil worked the seventh, Steve Delabar handled the eighth and Casey Janssen finished for his 16th save in 17 chances.

Juan Nicasio (4-3) allowed four runs, two earned, and four hits in five innings. The right-hander has not won in six starts.

BREWERS 3, ASTROS 1

HOUSTON (AP) — Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and Aramis Ramirez added a solo shot in the ninth to lift Milwaukee past Houston.

The Brewers couldn’t get anything going against Houston starter Erik Bedard as he threw a season-high 7 1-3 innings. Bedard was replaced by Hector Ambriz (1-4) with a runner on second, and Weeks greeted him with his sixth homer of the year for a 2-1 lead.

John Axford (3-3) struck out two in the seventh for the win. Francisco Rodriguez allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth for his fifth save and the 299th of his career.

Brewers starter Kyle Lohse yielded six hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings.

Jose Altuve had three hits, stole three bases and scored Houston’s only run on a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

The Whitecaps (6-5-4) posted their second consecutive win — something they had not done since the first two games of the season.

Chivas (3-9-2), meanwhile, has not won since beating the Vancouver at home on March 30.

Jordan Harvey scored the winner for the Whitecaps, who overcame an early 1-0 deficit, while Tristan Bowen replied for Chivas.

The game was turned on its head in first-half added time as Camilo and Harvey scored two minutes apart to give the Whitecaps a 2-1 lead.

Chivas saw its winless skid extended to nine games despite making an early impression on new coach Jose Luis Real, who made his MLS coaching debut after taking over from the fired Jose Luis Sanchez Sola.

Bowen opened the scoring in the seventh minute from the top right side of the Vancouver box as a result of poor marking and questionable goalkeeping. Harvey allowed Bowen to move in and fire into the top left corner past goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who appeared to misjudge the shot.

It was Chivas’ first MLS goal in a month, dating to a May 19 game against Real Salt Lake.

In the 33rd minute, Vancouver’s Kenny Miller fired a Camilo pass wide from outside the top of the Chivas box. But other scoring chances did not materialize until moments before half-time.

The Whitecaps received a scare in the 40th minute when defender Johnny Leveron went down after taking an elbow in the head from Carlos Alvarez, who received a yellow card. Leveron lay on his back for a few minutes as trainers tended to him, but he got up with his head wrapped in a black bandage and quickly returned to action.

The Whitecaps were already missing three centre backs to injuries and could not afford to lose another.

Harvey evened the score in the second minute of first-half added time when he put shot off Chivas defender Carlos Borja after Camilo inadvertently flicked a Russell Teibert pass on to him. It was Harvey’s third goal in four games.

Harvey also scored in Saturday’s 4-3 victory over New England and has seen his playing time increased after veteran defender Alain Rochat was traded to D.C. United.

Two minutes after Harvey’s goal, Camilo took a pass from Teibert, sidestepped Chivas defender Mario de Luna and fired a low shot into the left corner of the net. The goal came mere seconds before the half-time whistle, sending the jubilant Whitecaps into their dressing room with an unexpected 2-1 lead.

Camilo extended his scoring streak to three games and matched the seven goals he produced all of last season.

The Whitecaps controlled play in the first 30 minutes of the second half, prompting Chivas to make three substitutions but the moves had little effect.

Camilo extended Vancouver’s lead to 3-1 in the 81st minute as he fired a shot off a defender after Harvey’s rebound off a Chivas player came out to him.

The Brazilian had a chance for a hat-trick in added time, but his shot went off a defender, and Leveron had a shot blocked in the same sequence.

Notes: Teibert’s two assists extended his club-record streak to four games. He did not record any points in his first two MLS seasons. … Before the game, a moment of silence was held for late Chivas under-17/under-18 team captain Julio Chavez. He was killed in a car accident in his hometown of Modesto, Calif., over the weekend. … Leveron rejoined the Whitecaps after dressing as a reserve for Honduras on Tuesday night in a World Cup qualifier against the U.S.

Brandon Belt and Marco Scutaro also drove in runs and the Giants won their second straight following a three-game slide. Scutaro and Hunter Pence each had two hits.

Will Venable and Jesus Guzman each hit home runs for the Padres, who have lost two straight after a seven-game winning streak.

Madison Bumgarner (7-4) won his third straight start after allowing two runs and three hits over seven innings. He walked four and struck out eight.

Padres starter Eric Stults gave up two runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.

Luke Gregerson (4-3) did not retire a batter, giving up two runs and four hits. He took over for Stults after Tony Abreu singled with one out in the seventh.

NATIONALS 6, PHILLIES 2, 11 INNINGS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ian Desmond hit a grand slam in the 11th inning and Washington beat Philadelphia to avoid a three-game sweep.

Jayson Werth’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth tied it off Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a save for the second time in three nights after starting the season 13 for 13.

Starters Kyle Kendrick and Gio Gonzalez both were outstanding, but wound up with no-decisions.

Kendrick allowed one run and two hits, striking out six in 7 2-3 innings. Gonzalez gave up two runs and two hits, tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. He didn’t allow a hit after the second batter.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a one-out double off Mike Stutes (2-1) in the 11th. After Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked, Werth walked to load the bases. Desmond took a close 1-2 pitch that had manager Charlie Manuel screaming at plate umpire Alfonso Marquez from the dugout.

Desmond drove the next pitch out to left-centre.

Drew Storen (2-1) tossed a scoreless 10th to earn the win.

BRAVES 5, METS 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Johnson homered for the first time in more than a month, Kris Medlen overcame a defensive blunder and Atlanta bounced back from a doubleheader sweep by beating New York.

Johnson hit a three-run homer in the fourth, his first time going deep since May 13. Jordan Schafer put the Braves ahead to stay with some gutsy baserunning in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch that didn’t even roll off the dirt around home plate.

Medlen (4-7) pitched seven-plus innings for his third win in four starts this month, even though he cost himself two unearned runs with an errant throw.

Shawn Marcum (0-9) took another loss, becoming just the third pitcher in Mets history to start a season dropping nine straight decisions.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, MARLINS 1

PHOENIX (AP) — Cody Ross hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run for Arizona in the eighth inning to spoil an outstanding outing by young Miami starter Jose Fernandez.

Fernandez (4-4) retired 14 in a row before walking two of the three batters he faced in the eighth. He was relieved by left-hander Mike Dunn, who gave up the home run to Ross on a 1-2 pitch.

Arizona starter Trevor Cahill left after a line drive bruised his right hip in the first. Josh Collmenter allowed one hit in six innings of relief and David Hernandez (4-4) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the victory.

Justin Ruggiano homered off Heath Bell to start the ninth. Bell held on to get his 13th save in 15 tries.

REDS 2, PIRATES 1, 13 INNINGS

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jay Bruce ended Jason Grilli’s saves streak with a solo homer in the ninth, and Brandon Philips singled with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to rally Cincinnati past Pittsburgh.

Derrick Robinson and Shin-Soo Choo singled off Vin Mazzaro (3-2) with one out in the 13th and Joey Votto was walked intentionally. Phillips singled up the middle to end it.

The Pirates were two outs away from a second straight shutout.

Grilli started the ninth needing one save to tie a club record. He had converted all of his 25 chances this season, one shy of Joel Hanrahan’s 2011 club record to open a season.

Bruce connected on the first pitch he saw for his fourth homer in his last six games. It was the first homer Grilli had allowed this season. Cincinnati hadn’t scored in its last 17 innings since Bruce hit a solo homer during a 4-1 win on Monday night.

Manny Parra (1-1) pitched the 13th for the win.

CARDINALS 4, CUBS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina hit his fifth home run and Jake Westbrook pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in St. Louis’ victory over Chicago.

Westbrook (3-2) worked around trouble almost the entire night in his second start since coming off the disabled list with a sore elbow. He gave up no earned runs, striking out two and walking three.

Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 21st save in 21 attempts.

Edwin Jackson (3-9) was pulled after he hit Jon Jay following Molina’s blast to left field. He pitched 5 1-3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits. He struck out one and walked two.

Seabrook’s shot from the point through traffic that beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask gives the Blackhawks, who never trailed going into overtime, a new lease of life.

The teams are now tied at 2-2 heading into Saturday’s Game 5 in Chicago.

The Bruins threw everything they had at the visitors in mounting a furious comeback but came up short in the third game of the series to go to overtime.

It was a crazy contest, crammed full of offence, momentum swings and bristling with more than a little bad blood. At times, it was like a violent all-star game.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville’s decision to reunite Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell paid dividends. Toews and Kane each scored for the Blackhawks, with Michal Handzus, Marcus Kruger and Patrick Sharp getting the Blackhawks’ other goals.

But the Bruins refused to keel over.

Patrice Bergeron scored twice and Rich Peverley, Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk added singles for Boston, which found itself behind the eight-ball all night. It was a roller-coaster ride for the crowd of 17,565 — the 164th straight full house at TD Garden — as the Bruins trailed 3-1 and 4-2.

Chicago outshot Boston 41-28 after regulation time and 47-33 overall.

Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes, Chicago pulled ahead by outscoring the Bruins 3-2 in a frenetic second period that saw five goals in 10:49 and three in 2:39.

The five second-period goals matched the combined total of Games 2 and 3. And Chicago’s three-goal production for the period was one more than Pittsburgh managed to put past Tuukka Rask in four games.

Trailing 4-3 to open the third period, Bergeron pulled the Bruins even at 2:05 with a wrist shot on the glove side that Corey Crawford might want back. Jaromir Jagr, in his 200th NHL playoff game, drew the assist on Bergeron’s ninth goal of the post-season after some dogged possession in the Chicago end.

The Bruins are no strangers to comeback. Boston trailed 4-1 with 11 minutes to go in Game 7 against Toronto in the first round, only to make history by winning 5-4 in OT to become the first NHL team to win a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period.

Sharp put Chicago ahead 5-4 on the power play at 11:19 just six seconds after Boston survived a brief two-man disadvantage. Sharp stuffed the puck in from close range with Jagr trying to race back in the play from the penalty box, which still had David Krejci in it.

Boston remarkably answered back with Boychuk’s slapshot just 55 seconds later knotting the score at 5-5 before Seabrook ended in overtime to give Chicago a win it desperately needed.

Teams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series a total of 229 times and have come back to win the series on 20 occasions or 8.7 per cent of the time. But the only team to do it in a Stanley Cup final was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who rallied famously to beat Detroit.

Chicago came out with purpose in the first period and Rask had to stop Marian Hossa, back in the lineup after missing Game 3 due to an upper body injury, from point-blank range early on. By the five-minute mark, Chicago had outshot Boston 5-0. A penalty to the Blackhawks’ Johnny Oduya seemed like a reprieve but a short-handed 2-on-1 rush with Handzus and Brandon Saad put the Hawks ahead at 6:48.

Tyler Seguin lost the puck to Saad near the blue-line, allowing the Chicago duo to take off.

The goal, the first short-handed effort of Handzus’ 95-game playoff career, ended Rask’s shutout streak at 129:14 and the Bruins’ home shutout string at 193:16.

But Boston began to show signs that it was digging itself out of the hole. A Krejci chance at the side of the net just missed when the puck bounced over his stick. Several other passes also just missed their target in front of the Chicago net.

Peverley then tied it up in the dying seconds of a power play. It was a typical Bruin play, the product of hard work. Andrew Ference made a nice play at the blue-line to keep the puck in and when Saad couldn’t clear the puck, Peverley swooped in and rifled a wrist shot past a surprised Crawford on the glove side at 14:43.

It was Peverley’s first goal since Game 3 of the first-round series against the Maple Leafs.

As the first period wound down, the Bruins were moving their feet and creating chances. Outshot 7-1 earlier in the period, Boston finished with nine shots to Chicago’s 12 and had a shot ring post after one.

It was a tight second period until Toews, with his first point of the series, tipped in a Michal Rozsival point shot at 6:33 to make it 2-1 past a screened Rask. It was just Toews’ second of the playoffs and his first goal since May 25.

Less than two minutes later, Kane scooped a backhand for his seventh of the playoffs into a near empty net at 8:41 after a Bickell rebound found him all alone.

Boston coach Claude Julien called a timeout in a bid to staunch the flow of goals

Lucic pulled one back with his sixth at 14:43, stuffing in a backhand of a Zdeno Cara rebound after some fierce Boston forechecking.

But Kruger ended the celebrations 49 seconds later, tucking in the puck after a nice setup by Michael Frolik. Kruger appeared to have outdeked himself, but pulled the puck back as it went past the post and stuffed it in.

Boston got the crowd going again at 17:22 on the power play, cutting the deficit to 4-3 with an opportunistic Bergeron goal. A booming Chara shot came off the glass behind Crawford’s goal and bounced right in front of the crease where Bergeron banged it on.

An action-packed second period ended with Chris Kelly hitting the goalpost and Crawford stopping Jagr from close range. Chicago outshot Boston 13-11 in the period.

Badly beaten in the faceoff circle last time out, Chicago held a 25-20 edge in faceoffs after two periods in Game 4. The Bruins led 35-33 after three periods.

Coming into Wednesday’s game, the Bruins had won seven straight at home, outscoring their opponents 21-10.

Prior to Game 4, the Bruins were 11-2 in their last 13 games, with both losses coming in overtime. They had outscored opponents 40-21 in that span.

Note: Jagr became the 19th skater and 21st player to reach 200 NHL playoff games. … Chicago came into the game 10-5-3 in contests following shutouts against in five regular seasons under Quenneville … Wednesday’s “Fan Banner Captain” was Marc Fucarile, who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombings.

NHL

Stanley Cup final

Chicago at Boston

(Boston leads series 2-1)

–

Interleague

Toronto 5 Colorado 2

N.Y. Yankees 6 L.A. Dodgers 4

L.A. Dodgers 6 N.Y. Yankees 0

Milwaukee at Houston, 8:10 p.m.

–

Baseball

American League

Baltimore 13 Detroit 3

Cleveland 6 Kansas City 3

Tampa Bay 6 Boston 2

Oakland at Texas

Chicago White Sox at Minnesota

Seattle at L.A. Angels

–

National League

Arizona 3 Miami 1

San Francisco 4 San Diego 2

Washington 6 Philadelphia 2 (11 innings)

Atlanta 5 N.Y. Mets 3

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis

–

MLS

Montreal 2 Houston 0

Chicago 2 Colorado 1

Chivas USA at Vancouver

Portland at Los Angeles

—

The Dodgers salvaged manager Don Mattingly’s return to the Bronx after a 6-4 loss in the opener.

Chris Capuano (2-5) pitched three-hit ball for six innings in his comeback from the disabled list. The Dodgers rebounded from a sloppy loss to former teammate Hiroki Kuroda (7-5) in a matchup between injury-ravaged teams with $200 million payrolls.

In the first matchup between the teams in New York since the Dodgers clinched the 1981 World Series title with a Game 6 victory at old Yankee Stadium, Ichiro Suzuki homered, drove in three runs and made a spectacular catch on the warning track for the Yankees.

New York got help from reliever Ronald Belisario’s two errors on the same play in a three-run seventh.

The clubs played a split doubleheader because of a rainout Tuesday night. The announced attendance for both games between the old October rivals who’ve met in a record 11 World Series topped a total of 80,000, even though there were many empty seats.

The Dodgers started out quickly against Phil Hughes (3-6), who allowed a season-high 10 hits in six innings.

The first four batters reached on singles with Puig bunting for a hit and Ramirez getting his fifth hit of the day — an RBI single. Adrian Gonzalez also drove in a run but Tim Federowicz grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the rally.

Gonzalez doubled in the third and scored on Andre Ethier’s two-base hit after Ramirez made an out for the first time.

Ethier helped quash a Yankees rally in the fourth, throwing out Robinson Cano trying for a double with none out to the delight of 85-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, who was making his first foray into Twitter.

“I think Andre Ethier has done a really good job in Center Field. Especially for someone who has played Right Field for years. #VinScully,” he tweeted.

Puig homered to right field leading off the seventh to make it 6-0.

In the opener, Puig was caught trying to turn a routine single into double in the first inning — then made it work on a ball hit into only a slightly better spot in the eighth, eliciting an ovation from the very vocal Dodgers fans, who outhollered Yankees fans on many occasions.

The cheers were especially loud from all fans for Mattingly in his return — even if he was wearing the wrong shade of blue.

The Bleacher Creatures chanted “Donnie Baseball!” during each game, and fans cheered a video tribute in the opener and a live shot of Mattingly in the visitor’s dugout in the nightcap. The 1985 AL MVP tipped his cap in appreciation.

In the second game, Puig, the Cuban defector with 15 major league games of experience, bunted for a hit, was hit by a pitch, stole a base to help manufacture a run and hit his fifth homer.

“You can recognize the tools right away,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after Game 1. “There’s an awful lot to like about this kid.”

Ramirez went 4 for 4 with a two-run homer in the eighth in the day game, and drove in Puig twice to help make Capuano’s return from a strained upper back muscle easy. He entered 1-4 with a 5.45 ERA in eight games — six starts — and has been on the DL twice. But he was nasty Wednesday in his first scoreless start since August 2012.

Kuroda gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings to outpitch South Korean rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-3) in the afternoon. Ryu allowed a two-run double to Lyle Overbay and a homer to Suzuki in the sixth.

With runners on first and second in the seventh, Belisario let Vernon Wells’ meek pop in front of the mound drop for an error. Jayson Nix advanced to third on the drop and scored when Belisario threw the ball into centre field trying to get Cano at second base. Belisario hit Thomas Neal with a pitch, then Suzuki greeted Paco Rodriguez with a blooped two-run single to make it 6-2.

Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Preston Claiborne after Suzuki robbed Gonzalez of an extra-base hit in the eighth to pull the Dodgers to 6-4. But Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth and struck out Puig to end it for his 25th save.

NOTES: New Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the second game. Before the game he talked with Rivera in the dugout. “He’s the blueprint of when you talk about a career that’s gone for some time. He’s a success,” Kidd said. “He’s done it all. He’s done everything.” … The Dodgers optioned outfielder Alex Castellanos to Triple-A Albuquerque. Castellanos went 0 for 2 in the opener.

Mark Buehrle pitched five effective innings to even his record at 4-4 as the Blue Jays (35-36) inched closer to the .500 mark. Four Toronto relievers held the Rockies without a run the rest of the way, with Casey Janssen working the ninth for his 16th save.

Toronto is enjoying its longest winning streak since winning 10 in a row almost five years ago. The eight-gamer is the longest active streak in the major leagues.

Jose Bautista got things started in the opening frame when he reached on a throwing error by third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Toronto slugger moved to second on a single by Edwin Encarnacion and Lind followed by launching a 2-1 pitch over the right-field wall for his ninth homer of the year.

The Toronto first baseman has had at least one hit in 19 of his last 22 starts and is batting a stellar .340 on the season.

Colorado got on the board in the second inning when Jordan Pacheco led off with a double and scored on a single by Yorvit Torrealba.

Toronto restored its three-run lead in the fourth inning. Colby Rasmus walked and moved to third when second baseman D.J. LeMahieu booted a Maicer Izturis grounder.

Emilio Bonifacio hit a tailor-made double-play ball but used his speed to beat the throw to first, allowing Rasmus to score. Bonifacio promptly stole second but was stranded when Colorado starter Juan Nicasio (4-3) struck out Munenori Kawasaki.

Carlos Gonzalez hit a frozen rope inside the right-field pole for his 21st homer of the season to open the fifth inning to make the score 4-2.

Wilin Rosario doubled and moved to third when Kawasaki was wide with his throw to first base. With two out, Tyler Colvin worked a full count against Buehrle before swinging through a change-up after a steady stream of fastballs to end the threat.

Buehrle was steady but not spectacular, managing to keep Colorado from a big inning. The veteran left-hander gave up eight hits, a walk and two earned runs over five innings while striking out four.

Right-hander Neil Wagner came on in relief and struck out the first two batters he faced. LeMahieu then worked a 14-pitch at-bat before popping up to short.

Brett Cecil was dominant once again, striking out a pair and getting a ground-ball out in the seventh. The left-hander has not allowed a hit since May 28, a club-record span of 38 batters. With his second out, Cecil broke David Cone’s record of 36 set back in June 1995.

The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Kawasaki tripled and scored on Melky Cabrera’s single. Toronto put runners on the corners but Lind flew out to deep right-centre field with two outs.

Nicasio allowed four hits and four runs — two of them earned — over five innings. He had three strikeouts and walked a batter.

Notes: Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes is set to play a series for triple-A Buffalo this weekend. The four-time all-star has been on the disabled list since April 13 after suffering a severe left ankle sprain. … The Blue Jays have a day off Thursday before continuing the six-game homestand with a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles. R.A. Dickey (6-8) is scheduled to start Friday night’s opener against Baltimore’s Jason Hammel (7-4). … The Rockies will continue their nine-game road swing with stops in Washington and Boston. … Toronto has an all-time record of 9-6 against Colorado. The home team has swept every series. The Blue Jays are 9-0 at Rogers Centre and 0-6 at Coors Field. … Attendance at Rogers Centre was 27,235.

The Eastern Conference-leading Impact (9-3-2) improved to 6-0-1 at Saputo Stadium and won a fourth in a row at home in Major League Soccer play.

Houston (6-5-4) are winless in their last five (0-3-2).

The crowd of 17,694 saw the Impact in full attack mode as they created chance after chance against a Houston side missing some key players before switching to a more defensive game in the second half.

Daniele Paponi missed two good chances in the first eight minutes and had another called offside.

Only 13 minutes in, Patrice Bernier sent a clever sidefoot pass over the defence and Felipe chested it down and scored his third of the season.

The Dynamo wasted a glorious chance to tie it in the 20th minute when Matteo Ferrari was called for a late tackle in the area on Will Bruin. But Englishman Giles Barnes’ hooked the ball from the penalty spot well over the net.

Then it was Corey Ashe’s turn to misfire as he shanked an attempt to play the ball back to Houston goalie Tally Hall in the 32nd. Di Vaio ran it down, went in alone and calmly chipped in his 10th of the campaign. Nine of the former Bolgna star’s 10 goals have come at home.

Houston had a good chance after a free kick in the 58th, but Warren Creavalle’s left footed shot went just over the bar.

Di Vaio had the crowd on its feet in the 62nd as he headed Nyassi’s pass off the bar, then recovered the ball but shot just wide.

The crowd booed when Brian Ching subbed in for Barnes in the 78th. Ching was claimed by Montreal in the 2012 expansion draft but asked to be dealt back to Houston.

Notes: Houston was missing two players to international duty, Honduran Boniek Garcia and American Brad Davis. … Montreal made four changes after their loss in Columbus over the weekend. Paponi and Andrea Pisanu started, while Sanna Nyassi was back from playing for Gambia. Alessandro Nesta returned from a one-game suspension. Justin Mapp sat out with a thigh injury.

Hossa played after missing Game 3 on Monday night with an undisclosed upper body injury. Hossa was a late scratch from the lineup for that game. The Bruins won 2-0 and took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the team’s Wednesday morning practice, “He’s fine.”

Hossa is tied for the Blackhawks’ scoring lead in the playoffs with 15 points on seven goals and eight assists. Three of those goals have been game-winners.

During the regular season, the right wing was third on the team with 17 goals.

No matter what happens Thursday night, LeBron James and the Miami Heat, and Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs have already won NBA titles and secured a place in history.

Now is their opportunity to elevate it.

The truly memorable teams won the hard way, and that will be the case for the one celebrating at centre court this time. It’s either a Heat repeat, possible only after James led them back from what seemed certain elimination in the closing seconds of Game 6, or the Spurs shaking off as gut-wrenching a loss as a team can have to become just the fourth club to win a Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road.

“As a competitor you love it, because you know you have an opportunity and it’s up to you,” Heat guard Ray Allen said. “We have a chance in our building to make something great. All of our legacies are tied to this moment, this game. It’s something our kids will be able to talk about that they were a part of. Forever will remember these moments, so we want to not live and have any regrets.”

Allen played in the game the last time the NBA’s season went down to the very last day, the Boston Celtics fading at the finish and falling 83-79 to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. That made home teams 14-3 in finals Game 7s, with no road team winning since Washington beat Seattle in 1978.

Overcoming those odds, not to mention the NBA’s winningest team, would make this more memorable than the Spurs’ previous four titles, though this is a franchise that never dwells too much on the past or looks too far into the future.

All that matters is now.

“You know what, it’s all about just winning the title. It’s not about situation or what has led up to it,” Duncan said. “It’s a great story for everybody else, but we’re here for one reason, one reason only: It’s to try to win this game (Thursday). We have had a very good season thus far, and I think we just want to get to the game more than anything. We just want to see what happens and be able to leave everything out there.”

The teams trudged back to the arena Wednesday, some 12 hours after the Heat pulled out a 103-100 overtime victory in Game 6 to even the series. The Spurs, five points ahead with 28 seconds left in regulation, had to fight off fatigue and heartbreak, insisting neither would linger into Thursday.

By far the best game of this series, Game 6 immediately took its place among the best finishes in finals history, with everything from James’ triple-double to Allen’s tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.

It had close calls, debatable decisions, and the NBA’s best player at his very best when his team needed him most.

Games 2-5 in the series had been ugly, but that one was a beauty.

“I think — I know — that game will go down as one of the best finals games that’s been seen,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “But I think this series will go down as being one of the most competitive, bizarre series that’s been seen. So this is what you pay for to watch. You pay to watch two great teams battle to the very, very end, and that’s what we’ll do (Thursday). It will be to the very last second.”

The Heat could become the NBA’s first repeat champions since the Lakers in 2010. James and Chris Bosh moved to Miami to join Wade a few weeks later and they are in the finals for the third time in three chances.

But playing for titles is more expected than celebrated now in Miami, and a 66-win season that included a 27-game winning streak — and perhaps the whole Big Three era — goes down as a failure if the Heat fall Thursday. Yet James said he doesn’t need the victory to validate his decision to take his talents to South Beach.

“I mean, I need it because I want it and I only came here — my only goal is to win championships,” he said. “I said it, this is what I came here for. This is what I wanted to be a part of this team for.”

He, Wade and Bosh are going for No. 2, while San Antonio is getting a second shot at what would be a fourth together for Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. All their years together have given the Spurs’ trio the belief they can bounce back from Tuesday’s collapse.

The team went to dinner after the game, Duncan figuring that was better than guys sitting alone with their thoughts in their rooms. Parker and Boris Diaw discussed a similar situation with the French national team in the 2005 European championships, when they blew a late lead against Greece in the semifinals but then came back to beat Spain for the bronze medal.

“We just have to be positive and forget Game 6,” Parker said. “It was a great opportunity, but that’s life. It’s basketball and everybody will be ready.”

So will James, who was planning a relaxing night with family and friends Wednesday. He has the most at stake in the game, and when it’s over he’ll be either a two-time NBA Finals MVP or a two-time loser in a Heat uniform.

“I want to go down as one of the greatest. I want our team to go down as one of the greatest teams. And we have an opportunity to do that,” James said. “Hasn’t been many teams to win back-to-back championships. It’s so hard. It’s the hardest thing. I said last year it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, winning my first. Last year don’t even come close to what we’ve gone through in this post-season and in these finals.

“So I’ll be there (Thursday) night. I’m going to give it my all.”

The Spurs have never lost in the finals, but they’ve never faced a situation quite like this. They won a Game 7 for the 2005 championship, but that victory over Detroit was at home. The last five finals that went the distance all went to the home team.

“I don’t really care what it’s been like for anybody else at any time,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “All I know is we have had a hell of a year and we have an opportunity to win a championship. That’s all that matters.”

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