Vargas, Twins Power Past Padres 3-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kennys Vargas hit a three-run homer in his first home game for Minnesota, powering the Twins past Jesse Hahn and the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Phil Hughes had a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings to snap a three-start losing streak. Glen Perkins earned his 28th save in 31 attempts despite giving up a pair of singles in the ninth.

Yonder Alonso hit his first home run almost two months after spending much of the summer on the disabled list but his drive to the upper deck in right field in the fifth inning was all the Padres put together against Hughes.

In the sixth, Vargas made his first major league homer a memorable one, a two-out drive that was the first off Hahn since his debut on June 3.

Game two today.  Kevin Correia pitches for the Twins.  Pre-game coverage begins at 11:40 this morning, first pitch at 12:10 on 1340 KROC AM.

Tigers win Price's debut

UNDATED (AP) — David Price wasn't at his best in his Detroit Tigers debut on Tuesday, but he was good enough to help his new team earn a victory.

Price struck out 10 and allowed three runs and eight hits in 8 2/3 innings before the Tigers pulled out a 4-3, 12-inning win over the Yankees in New York. The lefty gave up solo homers by Brian McCann and Martin Prado in his first start since being traded by Tampa Bay last week.

Alex Avila snapped a 3-3 deadlock with a solo homer to help the AL Central leaders stay 4 ½ games ahead of Kansas City.

The Royals had an easy win. Nori Aoki belted a grand slam and Billy Butler was 4-for-5 with a three-run homer as Kansas City mauled Arizona 12-2. Salvador Perez also hit a three-run shot for the Royals, who produced 10 of their 15 hits during an eight-run fifth inning.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— The Dodgers beat the Angels 5-4 on a throwing error by third baseman David Freese in the bottom of the ninth. Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer and scored the winning run as the Dodgers stretched their lead in the NL West to 2 ½ games over San Francisco while leaving the Angels two games behind Oakland for the AL West lead.

— The Athletics were 3-0 winners against Tampa Bay. Jason Hammel pitched shutout ball despite allowing seven hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. Coco Crisp snapped a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the fifth before Oakland's bullpen came through with 3 1/3 hitless innings.

— Javier Baez had a memorable major league debut. The highly-touted Cubs prospect was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts before belting a home run in the 12th inning to give Chicago a 6-5 win at Colorado. Wellington Castro had two RBIs for the Cubs, who went extra innings with the Rockies for the third time in a week.

— Homers by Chris Davis, Caleb Joseph and Jonathan Schoop powered Baltimore's 9-3 romp in Toronto. Davis, Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy drove in two runs apiece as the Orioles increased their lead in the AL East to five games over the Blue Jays.

— Zack Wheeler surrendered seven hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings, but he allowed just one run as the Mets whipped the Nationals 6-1 in Washington. Wheeler improved to 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA in seven starts since lasting a season-low two innings against Oakland on June 25. The Nats' second straight loss keeps the NL East leaders three games ahead of Atlanta.

— The Braves suffered their seventh consecutive loss as Felix Hernandez allowed one run in eight innings of Seattle's 4-2 triumph against the Braves. Hernandez improved to 12-3 with a 1.97 ERA while extending his major league record streak of games with at least seven innings and two or fewer runs to 15.

— Gerardo Parra hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning to push Milwaukee past San Francisco 4-3. Carlos Gomez hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs as the Brewers ended a two-game skid and kept their one-game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central.

— The Cardinals pulled out a 3-2 win over Boston on Jon Jay's RBI single with two out in the bottom of the eighth. Lance Lynn gained a no-decision after holding the Red Sox to one earned run and four hits in seven innings.

— Marcell Ozuna and Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked out consecutive bases-loaded walks while Miami put together a five-run eighth to beat Pittsburgh 6-3. Ozuna had two RBIs for the Marlins, who dropped the Pirates 2 ½ games behind the Brewers.

— Ramon Santiago hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put Cincinnati ahead to stay in a 9-2 pounding of the Indians in Cleveland. Jay Bruce was 3-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBIs to support Johnny Cueto, who tossed a five-hitter and lowered his ERA to 2.04 while becoming baseball's latest 13-game winner.

— Robinson Chirinos hit two of the Rangers' five homers and Colby Lewis tossed a six-hitter in a 16-0 laugher against the White Sox in Chicago. J.P. Arencibia was 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs in the Rangers' most lopsided shutout victory in franchise history.

— Philadelphia beat Houston 2-1 on Ryan Howard's RBI single with two out in the bottom of the 15th. Howard also hit a solo homer for the Phillies.

McCutcheon has broken rib

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pirates have regained outfielder Starling Marte (mahr-TAY'), lost third baseman Pedro Alvarez and aren't sure how long they'll be without the reigning National League MVP.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen hopes to avoid a stint on the disabled list after breaking a bone in his ribcage. McCutchen wasn't sure he was injured while being hit by a pitch in Saturday's game against Arizona. McCutchen left in the eighth inning of Sunday's loss to the Diamondbacks after feeling pain in his side when he swung at a pitch.

McCutchen is hitting .311 with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and a league-leading 68 walks.

Marte has been activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list. He had been out since July 22 and was hitting .255 with five home runs and 21 stolen bases in 86 games.

The Pirates also announced that Alvarez was placed on the bereavement list.

Tigers give struggling reliever minor league deal

NEW YORK (AP) — Reliever Jim Johnson has found a new team after being released by Oakland last week. A person who reviewed the deal tells The Associated Press the Detroit Tigers have signed him to a minor league contract. Johnson had a combined 101 saves with Baltimore the previous two seasons but was just 4-2 with a 7.14 in 38 games for the A's this year.

Also in baseball:

— Blue Jays infielder Brett Lawrie has been activated off the 15-day disabled list. Lawrie had been sidelined by a broken finger since he was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto on June 22.

— Milwaukee right-hander Matt Garza has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Garza left Sunday's game against St. Louis after allowing just one hit in six shutout innings.

— The Washington Nationals claimed Matt Thornton off waivers from the New York Yankees. The 37-year-old Thornton went 0-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 24 2/3 innings across 46 appearances with the Yankees this season.

— The Miami Marlins have designated pitcher Jacob Turner for assignment. He went 8-19 in 47 games over three seasons with the Marlins, including a 4-7 mark with a 5.97

Bosch arrested

MIAMI (AP) — Anthony Bosch has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids, more than a year after the owner of a now-defunct Florida clinic was accused of providing performance-enhancing drugs to New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and other players.

Court documents say that Bosch willfully conspired to distribute the anabolic steroid testosterone from October 2008 through December 2012.

Also arrested in connection to a drug conspiracy was Yuri Sucart, a cousin of Rodriguez.