Washington’s Gio Gonzalez allowed two hits in seven innings in Friday’s win. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Trea Turner and Wilson Ramos homered and Washington beat San Francisco 5-1 in a matchup of first-place teams on Friday.
Washington jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Jeff Samardzija (9-8), and Gonzalez made it stand up. Coming off a 3-1 loss in San Francisco on Sunday, Gonzalez (7-9) struck out seven, walked one and had five three-up, three-down innings. The two hits he allowed were a solo homer by Angel Pagan in the fourth and a single by Denard Span in the sixth.
Sammy Solis gave up two hits in the eighth and Mark Melancon got three straight outs to complete the four-hitter. It was the fourth straight win for the NL East-leading Nationals.
The Giants remained atop the NL West, though their lead is dwindling. Since the All-Star break, San Francisco is 5-14 and has allowed 32 home runs. Samardzija gave up five runs in seven innings and is 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA in his four starts since the break.
YANKEES 13, INDIANS 7: Starlin Castro hit a third-inning grand slam off Josh Tomlin that gave the Yankees a six-run lead, and Mark Teixeira got two hits after tearfully announcing this will be his final big league season.
Jacoby Ellsbury had a four-hit game, and Michael Pineda (6-10) won for the third time in four outings following a six-start winless streak, allowing four runs and six hits in six-plus innings.
New York’s Gary Sanchez made his first league start behind the plate and threw out Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli trying to steal second base in the first two innings. The rookie, called up from the minors on Wednesday, doubled in the fifth for his first big league RBI and walked with the bases loaded in the sixth.
The Yankees had 16 hits, including at least one by every starter, and the Indians failed to retire New York in order in any inning. Cleveland lost for the fourth time in five games, and its AL Central lead over second-place Detroit was cut to two games
Slowed by injuries, Teixeira said he will retire after this season at age 36. He doubled in the first inning and legged out a single in the third on a ball stopped by Kipnis, the second baseman, in short right field. At .202, Teixeira’s average reached .200 for the first time since before play on May 20.
Tomlin (11-4) allowed a season-high seven earned runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings and is 3-3 in 10 outings since an 8-1 start.
CUBS 7, ATHLETICS 2: Jorge Soler hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat following a two-month absence, Jon Lester pitched seven innings, and Chicago beat Oakland.
Dexter Fowler also homered, and Javier Baez added a two-run double to help Chicago win its fifth straight. The Cubs also improved to a major league-best 67-41.
Lester pitched for the A’s over the final two months of the 2014 season. He returned to the Coliseum for the first time since then and faced a distinctly different Oakland team than the one he left.
Lester (12-4) had eight strikeouts, allowed two runs and nine hits while winning for the third time in his last four starts. Dillon Overton (1-3) gave up seven runs in three innings.
RED SOX 9, DODGERS 0: Knuckleballer Steven Wright threw a three-hitter, Mookie Betts had one of Boston’s three homers and the Red Sox routed Los Angeles with David Ortiz out of the lineup in an NL park.
Wright (13-5) had nine strikeouts in his third complete game this season. He retired 15 in a row and won his fifth straight decision.
Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer in the fourth and had four RBIs. Travis Shaw also homered, connecting for the 14th time this season.
Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir (9-5) has lost two straight since a 13-start unbeaten streak. He allowed four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Ortiz is expected back in the lineup Saturday, according to Red Sox manager John Farrell. He’ll play first base.
TIGERS 4, METS 3: Victor Martinez homered and Detroit ace Justin Verlander limited New York to four hits in six innings to help the Tigers to their ninth victory in their last 10 games.
Verlander (12-6) allowed only two runs and struck out nine, but the Mets ran his pitch count up to 103 to force him out of the game. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 31st save.
James Loney drove in a ninth-inning run with a groundout, and Rodriguez retired Kelly Johnson to end the game. Johnson homered in the fourth for the Mets. They have lost four straight.
Noah Syndergaard (9-6) also ran into pitch-count trouble, needing 112 to get through his six innings.
CARDINALS 1, BRAVES 0: Jaime Garcia pitched eight scoreless innings and had an RBI single to lead St. Louis past Atlanta.
Garcia (8-8) struck out 11 to top the 100-strikeout mark for the third time in his career.
He pitched out of a two-on, no-out jam in the fourth, striking out Freddie Freeman and Matt Kemp before getting Adonis Garcia to ground out. Freeman and Kemp, third and fourth in the Braves’ lineup, were a combined 0 for 6 against Garcia with five strikeouts.
Garcia’s two-out single in the second drove in Matt Holliday.
Seung Hwan Oh got the last three outs for his ninth save. Joel De La Cruz (0-4) was the loser.
ORIOLES 7, WHITE SOX 5: Pedro Alvarez hit two solo shots to extend his homer streak and Baltimore had 16 hits to overpower Chicago and keep pace with Toronto for first place in the AL East.
Alvarez has five homers in his last three games. Manny Machado doubled in two runs and scored in the third in a three-hit night, and Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy also had three hits each to help the Orioles win for the fourth time in five games.
Yovani Gallardo (4-3) pitched six innings of two-run ball for his first victory since June 29. Zach Britton struck out three in the ninth for his 34th save in 34 chances.
Jose Abreu homered for Chicago. Miguel Gonzalez (2-6) was the loser.
BLUE JAYS 4, ROYALS 3: Devon Travis hit his second homer of the game in the ninth inning to lift Toronto past Kansas City.
Travis led off the game with a home run, then ripped a 1-2 pitch from Kelvin Herrera (1-3) into the Royals’ bullpen for his first career multihomer game.
Brett Cecil (1-6) pitched the eighth for the victory, and Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth for his first save since Sept. 3 while with San Diego.
Francisco Liriano made his first start for Toronto after being acquired Monday from Pittsburgh. He allowed three runs, seven hits and two walks.
Paulo Orlando homered for Kansas City.
TWINS 6, RAYS 2: Eddie Rosario had a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh inning, Miguel Sano homered and had three hits and Minnesota beat Tampa Bay.
Rosario’s seventh homer put the Twins up 3-2 after Erasmo Ramirez (7-9) walked Eduardo Escobar. Sano connected off Ramirez in the eighth. Joe Mauer drove in two more runs with a double in the ninth.
Brad Miller’s solo homer off starter Ervin Santana gave the Rays a 2-1 lead in the sixth. It was the fifth homer in seven games for Miller and his 20th of the season. Santana (5-9) struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings.
MARLINS 5, ROCKIES 3: Martin Prado hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a four-run rally in the ninth inning that sent Miami over Colorado in a matchup of NL wild-card contenders.
After a throwing error by second baseman Dee Gordon helped the Rockies score three times in the eighth, the Marlins bounced back. Miami ended a three-game skid and stayed even with St. Louis for the second wild-card spot, with Colorado falling four games behind.
Marlins pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki struck out on three pitches and remains two hits away from 3,000. He is in an 0-for-11 slump.
The first three Marlins reached base in the ninth as Adeiny Hechavarria’s RBI single cut the lead to 3-2 off closer Carlos Estevez (2-6). Prado singled with the bases loaded and Christian Yelich added a sacrifice fly. Brian Ellington (2-1) finished the eighth, and A.J. Ramos got his 32nd save.
MARINERS 6, ANGELS 4: Mike Zunino capped Seattle’s six-run first inning with a three-run home run off Tim Lincecum, and the Mariners held off Los Angeles.
Seattle overcame a rough first from starter Felix Hernandez and rallied with its largest first-inning output since scoring seven runs on May 15, 2013, against the New York Yankees. Seattle sent up 10 batters and had seven hits against Lincecum (2-6), capped by Zunino’s sixth homer of the season.
Hernandez (6-4) settled down after giving up a three-run shot to Mike Trout in the first. He retired 12 of the next 13 after Trout’s 20th homer and picked up his second win since coming off the disabled list. Rookie Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth for his third save in three chances.
ASTROS 5, RANGERS 0: Dallas Keuchel threw a three-hitter and Houston beat Texas for just the second time in 11 tries this season.
Keuchel (7-11) allowed a career low in hits while throwing his fourth major league shutout. He struck out seven and walked two.
Jose Altuve had two hits and drove in two runs to help the Astros close within 5 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Rangers. Houston had lost three in a row overall. Houston got to Martin Perez (7-8) for four runs in the third. Altuve hit an RBI double, Carlos Correa followed with a two-run single before Tyler White had an RBI single.
PIRATES 3, REDS 2: Sean Rodriguez homered leading off the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh past Cincinnati.
Rodriguez connected off Ross Ohlendorf (5-7), a 413-foot drive to the left-field bleachers that gave the Pirates their second win in seven games in the midst of 12 straight games against teams who are at least 10 games under .500. It was Rodriguez’s second career game-ending homer and his 11th home run of the season.
The Reds tied it at 2 in the top of the ninth on pinch-hitter Ramon Cabrera’s sacrifice fly off Tony Watson (2-3).
DIAMONDBACKS 3, BREWERS 2, 11 INN.: Welington Castillo drew a one-out walk with the bases loaded to drive in Paul Goldschmidt with the winning run.
Goldschmidt led off the inning with a single off Blaine Boyer (1-2) and moved to second on Jake Lamb’s single. One out later, David Peralta reached on an error to load the bases and Castillo walked on a 3-1 pitch.
Reliever Adam Loewen (1-0) struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Yasmany Tomas hit two solo home runs.
PHILLIES 5, PADRES 4: Cameron Rupp homered and tied a career high with four RBIs to lift Philadelphia.
Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (9-7) allowed three runs, six hits and two walks. Jeanmar Gomez pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.
Christian Friedrich (4-7) lost for the sixth time in his last seven decisions, surrendering four runs and five hits.