Orioles’ Chris Davis ties American League home run mark

With one final power surge before the All-Star break, first baseman Chris Davis earned a place in the record book.

Davis hit his 37th home run to tie the American League record for home runs before the break, and the Baltimore Orioles cruised past the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-4, Sunday.

Davis doubled in two runs in the first inning and hit a two-run home run in the third to give him 93 runs batted in, second-most in the majors behind Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera. He and Cabrera are the only players in major league history to have 30 home runs and 90 RBIs before the All-Star game.

By hitting a home run for a fourth consecutive game, Davis equaled Reggie Jackson’s AL mark of 37 home runs before the break, set in 1969. The major league record is 39, by Barry Bonds in 2001.

Davis already has reached career highs in home runs and RBIs with 66 games left in the regular season.

Tigers’ Justin Verlander toys with no-hitter

Justin Verlander fell seven outs short of his third career no-hitter, but the Detroit ace looked sharp in his final start before the All-Star break, and the Tigers backed him with three home runs in a 5-0 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Mitch Moreland’s two-out double to right-center field broke up Verlander’s no-hit bid. Verlander (10-6) left after the seventh inning because of a tight right quadriceps, having given up the one hit and three walks. He was selected to the AL All-Star team but will not pitch in the game.

Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta hit home runs against starter Martin Perez (3-2). The Rangers finished with two hits.

Red Sox rookie Brandon Workman loses no-hitter in seventh inning

Boston Red Sox right-hander Brandon Workman took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of his first major league start but Coco Crisp of the Oakland Athletics broke it up with a leadoff infield single.

Third baseman Josh Donaldson then hit a score-tying, two-run home run against Workman and hit a walk-off two-out single in the 11th against Matt Thornton (0-4) to lift the A’s, 3-2.

Workman had pitched once in the majors, getting roughed up over two innings in relief at Seattle. He became the third rookie in four days to pitch no-hit ball into the sixth inning of his first big league start — Houston’s Jarred Cosart and Cleveland’s Danny Salazar did it in their major league debuts.

All-Star teams reshuffle rosters

Pittsburgh pitcher Mark Melancon was picked as a replacement for the National League All-Star team, giving the Pirates five players in the game for the first time since 1972.

NL Manager Bruce Bochy also selected Sergio Romo, his San Francisco Giants closer, as a replacement along with Atlanta catcher Brian McCann. Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke, Washington Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann and Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, all on the original NL All-Star roster, are injured and will sit out Tuesday night’s game at Citi Field in New York.

Baltimore pitcher Chris Tillman, Kansas City closer Greg Holland and Oakland closer Grant Balfour were chosen by AL Manager Jim Leyland of Detroit to replace Verlander, Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma and Oakland’s Bartolo Colon, who all started Sunday.

Under baseball’s labor contract, pitchers who start on the Sunday before the All-Star game may opt not to participate. Verlander was the AL starter and loser of last year’s All-Star game at Kansas City.

The other Pirates on the NL roster are third baseman Pedro Alvarez, center fielder Andrew McCutchen and closer Jason Grilli. In 1972, the defending World Series champions had Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Steve Blass, Al Oliver and Manny Sanguillen at the All-Star game in Atlanta.

Kansas City has three All-Stars for the first time since George Brett, Mark Gubicza and Kurt Stillwell in 1988.

There are a record 38 first-time All-Stars after the additions of Melancon, Romo, Tillman, Holland and Balfour, three more than the mark set two years ago in Arizona.

Tigers agree to minor league deal with Jeremy Bonderman

The Tigers have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Jeremy Bonderman, who pitched for the team from 2003 to 2010.

Bonderman, 30, is expected to join triple-A Toledo on Thursday at Buffalo.

Bonderman was 67-77 during his stint with the Tigers. He made it back to the majors this year with Seattle, where he was 1-3 with a 4.93 earned-run average.

Seattle designated Bonderman for assignment and he chose to become a free agent.

Cubs add Cole Gillespie, drop Henry Rodriguez

The Chicago Cubs added outfielder Cole Gillespie to their roster and designated reliever Henry Rodriguez for assignment.

The Cubs claimed Gillespie, 29, off waivers from San Francisco on Saturday. He was hitless in nine at-bats over three games with the Giants before he was designated for assignment Tuesday.

The right-handed-hitting Gillespie probably will get most of his playing time when there is a left-hander on the mound. He is a .218 hitter in 53 games over parts of three seasons with the Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Rodriguez, 26, was acquired in a trade with Washington on June 11. The right-hander had no record and a 4.50 ERA in five appearances with the Cubs.