Jack Flaherty struck out nine in six shutout innings and the host St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 8-3 on Friday night. Marcell Ozuna homered and drove in three runs, Yadier Molina went 3-for-5, and three other St. Louis batters had two hits each. The Cardinals moved a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central. Nolan Arenado had two hits and reached all four times he came to the plate for Colorado, which has lost four of five since sweeping a home series against Miami. Flaherty (8-6) didn't allow a hit until Yonathan Daza led off the fifth inning with a single. Before that, the Rockies only had three baserunners – a walk and two hit batsmen. Red Sox 11, Padres 0 J.D. Martinez hit two homers and drove in a career-high seven runs, and Eduardo Rodriguez blanked San Diego on five hits over seven innings as visiting Boston won in a rout. Rodriguez (15-5) entered the game with the highest run-support average in the major leagues at 7.85 runs per game. The Red Sox scored three runs in each of the first two innings, one in the fourth and four in the sixth. Martinez hit a three-run homer in the first off Padres starter Chris Paddack, a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a three-run homer in the sixth off Eric Yardley. He finished the night 3-for-4. Nationals 9, Cubs 3 Anibal Sanchez held Chicago to one hit in 8 1/3 innings, and Adam Eaton and Juan Soto homered to lead visiting Washington to victory. The sizzling Nationals have won 10 of 12 and kept their hold on the top wild-card spot in the NL. Chicago's five-game winning streak came to an end. Sanchez (8-6) struck out six and allowed a single earned run in his longest outing of the season, and he also logged his second career two-hit game. He hasn't taken a loss since May 10. Yankees 10, Dodgers 2 Didi Gregorius hit two home runs, including a grand slam, while Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres also went deep as visiting New York took the opener of a showdown series by crushing Los Angeles. In an interleague battle between the teams with the best records in the majors, Gregorius followed an intentional walk to Sanchez in the fifth inning with his fifth career slam. He hit a solo shot in the ninth inning. Three of the home runs, including one by Gregorius, came against Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, who entered with a National League-leading 1.64 ERA that increased to 2.00. Yankees starter James Paxton (10-6) gave up two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts, including three against NL MVP candidate Cody Bellinger. Braves 2, Mets 1 (14 innings) Billy Hamilton laced the tiebreaking single in the 14th inning night to cap a taut pitchers' duel and lift visiting Atlanta to a win over New York in the opener of a three-game series. The Braves have won six straight. The Mets had their five-game winning streak snapped. Tyler Flowers led off the 14th by drawing a walk against Jeurys Familia (4-2), the Mets' eighth pitcher. Adeiny Hechavarria, who was designated for assignment by the Mets on Aug. 9 and signed by the Braves seven days later, followed with a ground-rule double to center field that got wedged in the bottom of the fence. After Rafael Ortega struck out, Hamilton followed with his single past a drawn-in infield. Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 1 Jordan Lyles pitched six no-hit innings, and Eric Thames and Keston Hiura homered to help Milwaukee cruise past visiting Arizona. Lyles (8-8) struck out five and walked two before being pulled after 99 pitches. Three relievers followed Lyles and finished a combined two-hitter. Lyles, who also had an RBI single, is 3-1 in five starts since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline. Arizona's first hit came with two outs in the seventh inning when Christian Walker blooped a single to center off Devin Williams. Astros 5, Angels 4 Zack Greinke remained unbeaten over his four starts since joining Houston at the trade deadline despite pitching in and out of trouble in a victory over visiting Los Angeles. After falling into a 2-0 hole in the second inning, Greinke (14-4) wound up departing with two outs in the seventh inning holding a one-run lead despite allowing 10 hits and recording only one strikeout. Greinke induced an inning-ending double play in the third, worked around leadoff doubles from Kole Calhoun in the fourth and Matt Thaiss in the fifth, and initiated another inning-ending double play in the sixth after the Angels scratched across an unearned run in the inning that cut the deficit to 4-3. Greinke helped his own cause by not allowing a walk. Tigers 9, Twins 6 Ronny Rodriguez hit a grand slam to highlight a five-run sixth inning, and Dawel Lugo and Harold Castro each had two doubles and a single to lead Detroit over Minnesota in Minneapolis. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base, and Miguel Cabrera, Jordy Mercer and Travis Demeritte each had two of Detroit's 17 hits. Drew VerHagen (4-2), making just his fourth start of the season and the eighth of his six-year career, held the Twins to three runs on five hits while striking out a career-high 11. He fanned five in a row during the third and fourth innings. Rays 7, Orioles 1 Austin Meadows belted a grand slam, the key hit in a seven-run second inning that helped visiting Tampa Bay defeat Baltimore. Meadows also homered Thursday in the Rays' come-from-behind 5-2 win over the Orioles, but that was a solo shot. This game was a different story, as Meadows' first career grand slam broke things open pretty quickly and gave the Rays command. Tampa Bay received a strong effort from starter Trevor Richards (4-12). This was just his second game – and start – since coming to the Rays from Miami in a July 31 deal, and he threw six shutout innings, giving up only two hits while striking out five and walking one. Marlins 19, Phillies 11 Starlin Castro came off the bench to slug two homers and drive in five runs as host Miami rallied from a seven-run deficit with 19 hits to set a season high in runs and defeat Philadelphia. The Marlins, who have the worst record in the National League, rallied from a 7-0 deficit, tied the score with a seven-run third, fell behind again and then produced a five-run fifth. The 19 runs were the second most the Marlins have ever scored at home. Not all news was good for the Marlins, however, as Brian Anderson was hit by a pitch and sustained a broken left hand, likely ending his season. Indians 4, Royals 1 Francisco Lindor belted a two-run homer to highlight a four-run second inning as host Cleveland beat Kansas City. Tyler Naquin also drove in two runs, and Carlos Santana had two singles to post his seventh multi-hit performance in 12 contests. The offense proved to be enough for the Indians, who snapped a three-game losing skid overall and improved to 11-6 against the Royals this season. Rookie Zach Plesac (7-4) allowed one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. The 24-year-old improved to 3-0 in four starts against Kansas City this year. Pirates 3, Reds 2 Pablo Reyes' pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning gave Pittsburgh a walk-off win over visiting Cincinnati. With the Pirates trailing 2-1 in the ninth against Reds closer Raisel Iglesias (2-9), Colin Moran led off with a single, then left for pinch runner Erik Gonzalez. Jose Osuna singled, and Adam Frazier tied it at 2-2 with a bloop single to drive in Gonzalez. Joe Musgrove replaced Osuna at second, and he and Frazier moved up on Jacob Stallings' sacrifice bunt. Reyes then lined a 1-1 slider to left to give the Pirates eight straight home wins against the Reds. Rookie sensation Aristides Aquino was 3-for-4 with a homer and an RBI double for Cincinnati, which had its two-game win streak snapped. White Sox 8, Rangers 3 Dylan Cease struck out a career-high nine batters in six strong innings, and Yoan Moncada homered for the second time in as many games since returning to from the injured list to lift host Chicago over Texas. The White Sox won their second straight to open the four-game series and prevailed for the fourth time in five games overall. Moncada, Leury Garcia, Tim Anderson and Jon Jay had two hits apiece. The White Sox scored eight unanswered runs to close the game. Moncada punctuated Chicago's three-run sixth with a two-run home run against Shawn Kelley. Moncada also hit a home run in Thursday's series opener, his first action since sustaining a strained right hamstring on July 30 against the New York Mets. Mariners 7, Blue Jays 4 Omar Narvaez and J.P. Crawford hit home runs as Seattle defeated visiting Toronto. The Mariners won for the fifth time in their past six games while the Blue Jays dropped their sixth in a row. The Mariners broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the sixth inning against Sam Gaviglio (4-2). Matt Wisler (3-2) was credited with the victory after pitching two-thirds of an inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. Matt Magill pitched the ninth for his third save. Seattle's Dee Gordon and Toronto's Bo Bichette finished with three hits apiece. — Reuters
