Dakota Hudson won his fifth consecutive start and drove home two runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the visiting San Francisco Giants 10-0 Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals won their fifth consecutive series to extend a second-half surge. They have won six of their past eight games and 12 of their past 15. The fading Giants lost for the eight time in their past 10 games. Hudson (15-6) held the Giants scoreless on one hit through six innings. He's 9-2 with one no-decision in his past 12 starts. Braves 4, Nationals 2 Max Fried allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings and pitched Atlanta over veteran Stephen Strasburg and visiting Washington in the opener of a four-game series. It was the seventh straight win for the Braves, who extended their lead in the NL East to eight games over the Nationals. The Braves have won 11 in a row at home, one shy of matching the modern-era franchise record, and 15 of their last 17 overall. Fried (16-4) retired the final 19 batters he faced and has won seven straight decisions. He did not allow a walk and struck out nine. Reds 4, Phillies 3 (11 innings) Phillip Ervin hit a walk-off solo home run in the 11th inning, and Cincinnati earned a split of the four-game series against visiting Philadelphia. Eugenio Suarez had three hits, including a home run, for the Reds. Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer and Alex Blandino added two hits. Reds starter Sonny Gray allowed one run in six innings, but came up short of winning his sixth straight decision. Gray allowed four hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. Rays 6, Blue Jays 4 Austin Meadows hit the tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning and added an insurance RBI double in the eighth, as host Tampa Bay remained atop the American League wild-card standings with a win over Toronto. With their seventh win in eight games, the Rays stayed a half-game ahead of the Oakland Athletics in the race for the top wild card in the AL. The Cleveland Indians sit a game behind the Athletics. The Blue Jays have lost four straight and 13 of their last 16. Cubs 10, Brewers 5 Kyle Schwarber capped a five-run sixth inning with a mammoth grand slam, and Chicago extended its road winning streak with a victory over Milwaukee. Willson Contreras fell a triple shy of the cycle in his second game back from a hamstring injury and had four hits. The catcher had an RBI double, a solo homer, an infield single that proceeded Schwarber's homer and doubled. Ben Zobrist reached five times by going 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and scoring three times. White Sox 7, Indians 1 Reynaldo Lopez allowed one hit and struck out 11 en route to his first career complete game as visiting Chicago breezed to a win over Cleveland. Welington Castillo belted a two-run homer to highlight his three-hit, three-RBI performance and Adam Engel and Yolmer Sanchez each drove in a pair for the White Sox, who salvaged a split of the four-game series. Kevin Plawecki had an RBI double with two outs in the second inning for the Indians, who have lost five of their last seven games. Twins 2, Red Sox 1 Willians Astudillo had a pinch-hit, tie-breaking RBI single in the seventh inning to lead visiting Minnesota past Boston in the rubber match of a three-game series. Astudillo's short liner to right field with the bases loaded was only the team's second hit of the contest, but it was enough for the Twins to finish 8-2 on their 10-game road trip. They were held to the two hits total but drew a season-high nine walks. The Red Sox were held to four hits, their only run coming on a Mookie Betts solo home run. Boston fell for the third time in its last five games. Marlins 10, Pirates 7 Neil Walker had three RBIs, and Harold Ramirez homered as visiting Miami erased an early four-run deficit to down Pittsburgh. Isan Diaz and Jorge Alfaro each added a two-run single for the Marlins, who won two of three for their first road series win since winning two of three against the White Sox in Chicago on July 22-24. Miami trailed 5-1 after one inning before reeling off nine unanswered runs. Ramirez started the comeback with a homer in the second inning, and a four-run fifth gave the Marlins the lead for good. Athletics 10, Angels 6 Pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman capped a seven-run, seventh inning with a two-out, two-run triple, helping host Oakland complete a three-game series sweep of Los Angeles. Rookie left-hander A.J. Puk (1-0), making just his fourth appearance, benefitted from the rally, recording his first major league win after allowing one run in two innings of relief. Mike Trout slammed his 45th homer of the season in the loss. Tigers 6, Royals 4 Harold Castro's three its led an 11-hit attack as Detroit snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating Kansas City. Victor Reyes (nine games) and Jordy Mercer (eight games) extended their hitting streaks with two hits apiece for the Tigers. Detroit's Matthew Boyd (8-10) threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits. Joe Jimenez picked up his fifth save in six chances. Rangers 3, Orioles 1 Nick Solak hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning that helped visiting Texas to victory over Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series. The Rangers didn't manage many scoring chances against starter John Means and the Orioles' bullpen, finishing with five hits and going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Orioles, meanwhile, ended up with 10 hits but were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Means (10-10) took the hard-luck loss, allowing two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. — Reuters
