Taylor Motter belted a grand slam, and Nelson Cruz drove in five runs, three with a home run, as the Seattle Mariners snapped out of a slump on the road Sunday to crush the Oakland Athletics 11-1 and salvage one win in the four-game series. Yovani Gallardo allowed just one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings to record his first career victory over the A's, who had entered the game on a season-best, five-game winning streak. Mitch Haniger had three hits, including a double, and Robinson Cano chipped in with a pair of singles in an 11-hit Mariners attack that produced more runs than Seattle had totaled (10) in its three series-opening losses in Oakland. Nationals 6, Mets 3 Daniel Murphy continued to torment his former team when he hit a first-inning grand slam to launch Washington to a sweep of the three-game series against New York at Citi Field. The Nationals have won seven straight. The Mets have lost eight of nine to fall 5 1/2 games behind Washington just three weeks into the season. Murphy, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Mets before signing with the Nationals in January 2016, is batting.386 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 22 games against New York. Max Scherzer (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out nine over eight innings. Scherzer allowed a leadoff homer to Michael Conforto on his second pitch of the game and a two-run homer to Neil Walker in the third. Marlins 7, Padres 3 Justin Bour capped a six-run Miami sixth inning with a three-run homer in a victory over San Diego in the rubber match of a three-game series. The first six Marlins hitters in the sixth reached base after Padres starter Luis Perdomo had allowed only two hits through the first five innings as the Padres built a 3-0 lead. Tom Koehler (1-1) picked up the win, walking two and striking out seven. Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 2 Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer to cap a six-run fifth inning, and Brandon McCarthy earned his third win of the season in Los Angeles' victory over Arizona at Chase Field. Corey Seager had an RBI double to help the Dodgers avoid their first three-game sweep in Arizona since April 7-9, 2008. McCarthy (3-0) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked one. McCarthy spent 2014 and the first half of 2015 with the Diamondbacks. Blue Jays 6, Angels 2 Marcus Stroman allowed seven hits and one earned run and retired 17 straight batters at one point to provide the foundation for Toronto's win vs. Los Angeles. Stroman (2-2) needed just 100 pitches to wrap up the win and his second complete game of the season. The Angels' Daniel Wright, who made one relief appearance early in the season, worked five solid innings in his first start of 2017. He allowed three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Rockies 8, Giants 0 Kyle Freeland pitched seven scoreless innings as Colorado completed a three-game sweep by pounding slumping San Francisco. Making his fourth career start, Freeland (2-1) held the Giants to six hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, didn't allow a runner to get past first until the fifth inning and got 12 outs on ground balls. Gerardo Parra hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs for the Rockies, who put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth. Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story each drove in two runs. Rangers 5, Royals 2 Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos hit home runs, Yu Darvish struck out eight in eight innings, and Matt Bush got his first save as Texas defeated Kansas City. The Royals were on the board first. With one out in the third inning, Mike Moustakas hit an 0-1 pitch over the right field wall for a solo home run. Two pitches later, rookie center fielder Jorge Bonifacio connected for his first major league home run, a 421-foot shot to left field. The Rangers clawed back for one run in the bottom of the third and reclaimed the lead in the fourth. Cardinals 6, Brewers 4 Mike Leake continued his dominant start to the 2017 season, striking out six in six effective innings, and Seung Hwan Oh slammed the door on a potential ninth-inning rally as St. Louis beat Milwaukee. Leake (3-1) held the Brewers to two runs on three hits and three walks. He also reached on an error and scored a tying run in the third. Jimmy Nelson (1-1) battled with his command and walked a season-high six batters while striking out five and allowing five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) and struck out five. Tigers 13, Twins 4 John Hicks had three hits, including his first career home run, and five RBIs for Detroit in its win over Minnesota. Michael Fulmer settled in after a rough first inning to get the win, surrendering one run and three hits in the first inning. He finished seven strong innings, retiring 20 of the final 22 batters he faced. The only hit he allowed after the first inning was an Eddie Rosario solo homer leading off the fifth. Victor Martinez and Jim Adduci each had three hits and two RBIs for the Tigers. White Sox 6, Indians 2 Derek Holland threw six strong innings to help Chicago beat Cleveland to avoid a three-game sweep. Melky Cabrera drove in two runs, and Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu had two hits apiece as the White Sox ended a 23-inning scoreless streak and a three-game losing streak. Francisco Lindor homered for the Indians, whose season-high five-game winning streak was snapped. Pirates 2, Yankees 1 Ivan Nova dominated the Yankees for seven-plus innings in Pittsburgh's win. Nova allowed just four hits and one run to lower his ERA to 2.00 on the season. He struck out seven. A sacrifice fly by David Freese and a Gregory Polanco RBI double were good enough for the Pirates win. Jacoby Ellsbury's second home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the seventh inning, was all the offense the Yankees managed. Red Sox 6, Orioles 2 Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez set the tone with back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Boston avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Baltimore. Mitch Moreland also went deep for the Red Sox, who entered the game with just two home runs in their past six games. Andrew Benintendi had a career-high five hits for Boston. Despite the setback, the Orioles still have not lost a series this year. Astros 6, Rays 4 (10 innings) Trailing in the ninth inning, Houston rallied to force extra innings and got RBI singles from Brian McCann and Yuli Gurriel in the 10th inning to beat Tampa Bay. The Astros held the Rays to two hits in the final nine innings, with Luke Gregerson (1-1) pitching a scoreless ninth for the win and closer Ken Giles pitching the 10th for his fifth save of the season. Rays starter Matt Andriese lasted only five innings after being spotted a four-run lead in the first. Reds 7, Cubs 5 Patrick Kivlehan drove in three runs in just his third start, Scott Schebler homered and drove in two runs and Bronson Arroyo earned his second straight win as Cincinnati Reds snapped a four-game losing streak, holding off Chicago. The Reds finished 3-7 on their homestand after going 5-1 on the preceding road trip. Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer wasn't enough to prevent Cubs right-hander John Lackey's third consecutive loss. Lackey allowed six hits and seven runs, five earned, with two walks and seven strikeouts. Philadelphia 5, Braves 2 Back-to-back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled Philadelphia to a series sweep of Atlanta. Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run homer off Arodys Vizcaino to give the Phillies the lead with no outs in the eighth before Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera followed up with solo shots. In his second start of the season, Phillies starter Zach Eflin stifled the Braves, scattering just three hits over seven innings while allowing one earned run on a Matt Kemp homer. — Reuters
