Highlights of Friday's MLB games

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[July 16, 2016]  July 15 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Major League Baseball games on Friday:

Nationals 5, Pirates 1

Stephen Strasburg remained unbeaten and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, thanks to several defense breakdowns by the visitors in the key inning.

Strasburg (13-0), who gave up one run and three hits with six strikeouts in eight innings, plated the winning run in the four-run seventh on a strange play.

With runners on first and third and no outs, Strasburg laid down a nice bunt up the first-base line.Reliever Neftali Feliz picked up the ball and looked home before throwing to first.

Danny Espinosa, who led off with a walk and was on third, took off for home and scored while Strasburg reached first.

The pitcher was credited with an RBI sacrifice when first baseman David Freese, who was credited with an error, did not touch the bag while his throw to home was too late to retire Espinosa.

Cubs 6, Rangers 0

Kyle Hendricks allowed just three hits over six strong innings while the Chicago Cubs' bats contributed with a five-run sixth in a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Hendricks (8-6) struck out three and walked two while throwing 87 pitches.

Martin Perez (7-6) lost his second consecutive start and was chased with two outs in the sixth inning after giving up four earned runs.

Red Sox 5, Yankees 3

Steven Wright retired the first 14 hitters he faced as the Boston Red Sox began the second half with a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

Ryan Hanigan, Travis Shaw and Xander Bogaerts homered off Yankees starter Michael Pineda for the Red Sox (50-38), who won for the eighth time in 10 games.

Carlos Beltran drove in two runs and Brian McCann had the other RBI for the Yankees (44-45), who fell 8-1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles.

Mets 5, Phillies 3

Neil Walker hit a three-run homer and Juan Lagares added a solo shot as the New York Mets opened the second half of their season with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Asdrubel Cabrera went 3-for-5 and Bartolo Colon (8-4) picked up his fifth victory in his last six decisions, helping the Mets snap a three-game losing streak.

Jeurys Familia, the last of five New York pitchers, worked a perfect ninth to post his 32nd save.

Colon worked 5-2/3 innings and allowed three unearned runs and four hits while striking out four and walking two.

Orioles 4, Rays 3

Jonathan Schoop's solo homer in the eighth inning was the deciding run as the Baltimore Orioles came out of the All-Star break with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles (52-36) have won five of six games, overcoming a rough start from Yovani Gallardo. The Rays (34-55) have lost seven straight and a franchise-record 23 of their last 26.

Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer (4-13) leads the majors with 13 losses.

Tigers 4, Royals 2

Justin Verlander tied his season high with 10 strikeouts and Victor Martinez knocked in the go-ahead runs with a rare infield hit as the Detroit Tigers downed the Kansas City Royals.

Verlander (9-6) reached the 10-strikeout mark for the fourth time this season while holding the Royals to two runs -- one earned -- and four hits in seven innings. Francisco Rodriguez notched his 25th save.

Ian Kinsler and Tyler Collins, who was recalled from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day, had solo home runs for the Tigers.

Reds 5, Brewers 4

Tucker Barnhart cued a go-ahead, two-run double down the left field line as the Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game losing streak, holding on for a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Reds All-Star Adam Duvall just missed hitting a three-run homer, settling for a run-scoring double that helped set up Barnhart's sixth-inning hit.

Jay Bruce added an RBI double in the seventh to help Anthony DeSclafani (4-0) overcome Jonathan Villar's run-scoring single and a Scooter Gennett solo home run.

Rockies 11, Braves 2

Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez celebrated his 1,000th game with three hits and an RBI to spark the Colorado Rockies to an 11-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a walk, scored a run, drove in a run and threw out a runner at the plate.

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Teammate Nolan Arenado reached base five times with two singles, two walks and once on a wild pitch following a strikeout. He scored twice and drove in a run.

Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn put the game away with a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth off reliever Dario Alvarez.

Indians 5, Twins 2

Jose Ramirez had a pair of hits and knocked in two runs and Carlos Carrasco pitched 6-2/3 strong innings to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Ramirez's RBI single to left field got the Indians on the board in the fourth inning and his run-scoring single in the sixth gave Cleveland the lead for good.

Carrasco struggled early, giving up a first-inning run, but retired eight-straight Twins until Brian Dozier's one-out solo homer in the fourth inning.

The right-hander improved to 6-3 and was charged with two earned runs on four hits and a walk, striking out three.

Marlins 7, Cardinals 6

The Miami Marlins took advantage of the St. Louis Cardinals' shaky bullpen and defense to capture a 7-6 win.

Second baseman Miguel Rojas' two-out, two-strike RBI single off closer Seung Hwan Oh (2-1) scored Marcell Ozuna with the winning run in the top of the ninth.

Miami (48-41) had tied it in the eighth with a two-out RBI single from Martin Prado that scored Ichiro Suzuki, whose pinch-single was the 2,991st hit of his major league career.

Fernando Rodney (1-2) picked up the win with a clean eighth and closer A.J. Ramos worked the ninth for his 28th save.

Dodgers 13, Diamondbacks 7

Chris Taylor had three hits including a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 13-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Taylor had a two-run triple in a five-run fourth inning for a 7-3 lead the Dodgers never lost, doubled and scored in the fifth and hit his slam -- his first career homer -- in a four-run sixth.

Angels 7, White Sox 0

Hector Santiago threw seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Santiago (7-4) gave up five hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter to earn his third victory in his last three starts.

White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez (2-5) pitched well through six innings before the Angels knocked him out of the game in the seventh when they batted around and scored five runs.

Astros 7, Mariners 3

George Springer and Marwin Gonzalez homered as the Houston Astros continued their mastery of the Seattle Mariners with a 7-3 win.

Solo home runs by Springer and Gonzalez, wrapped around a five-run fifth inning, powered the Astros to a fifth consecutive win over the Mariners (45-45).

Carlos Correa went 2-for-4 with a two-run double, while Gonzalez and Jake Marisnick also added a pair of hits for Houston.

Padres 4, Giants 1

Right-hander Andrew Cashner and three relievers held San Francisco to five hits, and solo homers by Adam Rosales and Wil Myers capped a four-run assault against Madison Bumgarner as the San Diego Padres defeated the Giants.

The win was the Padres' first in 10 games against the Giants, who entered the second half of the season with a major league-best 57-33 record.

Cashner, left-handed relievers Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter and closer Brandon Maurer retired 22 of the last 25 Giants they faced.

Athletics 8, Blue Jays 7

Khris Davis, Josh Reddick and Stephen Vogt hit home runs, powering the Oakland A's to an 8-7 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Davis hit a two-run blast in the fifth inning, his 20th homer of the season. Vogt followed with a solo shot, his eighth home run. Reddick hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo blast in the third.

Davis went 3-for-4, drove in three runs and scored once, while Vogt went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and scored twice.

Reddick went 2-for-2 with an RBI, walked twice and scored four runs.

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