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Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

[June 09, 2016] June 8 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games:

Nationals 11, White Sox 4

Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew, Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth belted home runs, and right-hander Max Scherzer pitched seven scoreless innings as the Washington Nationals ruined the White Sox debut of James Shields with an 11-4 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night.

Shields (2-8) managed only six outs in 84 pitches. He gave up seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks four days after Chicago acquired him from the San Diego Padres on Saturday.

Werth finished 3-for-5 with a walk, a home run and four RBIs as the Nationals scored double-digit runs for the third consecutive game. Espinosa, Bryce Harper and Ben Revere also contributed three hits apiece as Washington (36-23) earned its third straight win.

Melky Cabrera went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the White Sox. Chicago (29-30) lost its fifth consecutive game and fell below .500 for the first time this season.

Scherzer (7-4) took advantage of an early lead to post his third victory in the past four starts. Scherzer scattered five hits, walked one and struck out six.

Orioles 4, Royals 0

Ryan Flaherty hit a key two-run double and Chris Tillman threw 7 1/3 shutout innings as Baltimore handed Kansas City its seventh straight loss.

The Orioles (35-23) swept the three-game series and have won four straight and seven of eight. In addition, they are a season-high 12 games over .500.

Tillman (8-1) turned in a dominant performance en route to winning his seventh straight decision. He scattered eight hits while matching a career high with nine strikeouts and not walking a batter.

Astros 3, Rangers 1

Jose Altuve's two-run double proved the difference as Houston snapped a 12-game slide at Globe Life Park while defeating Texas for the first time in nine tries this season.

Astros starter Doug Fister (6-3) won his fifth straight by giving his team exactly what was needed on a muggy evening. The right-hander went six solid innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one.

Texas (36-23) continues to lead the American League West despite its first loss in six games. The Rangers need a win in the finale to set a club record with 10 consecutive home series victories.

Cubs 8, Phillies 1

Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist blasted long home runs in the sixth inning and Chicago pulled away from Philadelphia.

Cubs right-hander John Lackey (7-2) struck out eight with no walks in seven dominant innings. He gave up three hits and extended his scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings.

Phillies starter Vince Velasquez, whose fastball is usually in the mid-90s, threw two pitches topping out at 87 mph to start the game and left with "biceps soreness" in his right arm.

Yankees 12, Angels 6

Chris Parmelee homered in consecutive at-bats during his first start as a Yankee, and New York scored four runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to rout Los Angeles.

Parmelee's third career multi-homer game was accompanied by two more big hits from Carlos Beltran. Beltran followed Parmelee's first home run with a game-tying double and he hit a two-run home run into the left field seats with two outs in the seventh.

The Yankees scored double-digit runs for the third time this season and tied a season high with 17 hits en route to their eighth consecutive home victory over Los Angeles.

Cardinals 12, Reds 7

Brandon Moss homered twice, and Matt Adams and Jhonny Peralta also went deep as St. Louis outslugged Cincinnati.

It was the eighth career multi-home run game for Moss, who leads the team with 13 for the season.

Peralta's two-run shot in the eighth inning was his first of the season after being reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs as part of a 15-hit outburst by the Cardinals on Wednesday.

Zack Cozart and Tucker Barnhart homered for Cincinnati (22-37), which also collected 15 hits.

Mets 6, Pirates 5 (10 innings)

Wilmer Flores' pinch-hit bloop single drove in Yoenis Cespedes in the 10th inning to give New York the victory.

The Mets avoided a sweep and ended a nine-game losing streak against Pittsburgh that dated to June 2014.

New York took some luster off of the major league debut of Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon, who received a no-decision after giving up three runs on six hits over six innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Mets' Ty Kelly belted his first major league homer, a two-run shot to right that also produced his first two major league RBIs.

Brewers 4, Athletics 0

Chase Anderson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Scooter Gennett drove in three runs as Milwaukee swept a two-game interleague series.

A night after Zach Davies held them hitless through six innings, Oakland managed one baserunner -- Coco Crisp reached on an error in the fourth inning -- until a one-out pinch-hit single by Jake Smolinski in the sixth en route to its fifth straight loss.

Anderson (4-6) allowed one more hit, didn't walk a batter and struck out four before turning things over to the bullpen in the seventh.

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It was the latest effort in a strong stretch for Anderson, who has gone 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA in his last five starts.

Blue Jays 7, Tigers 2

Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer and Justin Smoak had a two-run shot as Toronto salvaged the finale of a three-game series.

Donaldson, who scored three runs, came up a double shy of a cycle. Kevin Pillar supplied a two-run triple for the Blue Jays, while winning pitcher R.A. Dickey (4-6) gave up two runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer for Detroit, which had its five-game winning streak snapped. Miguel Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fifth-inning single.

Twins 7, Marlins 5

Trevor Plouffe homered early and had a run-scoring double late in Minnesota's victory over Miami.

Plouffe hit a ball off the right field wall with two outs in the seventh, breaking a tie by scoring Joe Mauer from first base as the Twins (18-40) won their second straight game in a row. Taylor Rogers (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to get the win for Minnesota, which had not won a home series since April.

Nick Wittgren (1-1) took the loss for the Marlins (30-29), who have dropped four of their last five.

Rays 6, Diamondbacks 3

Corey Dickerson had three hits, including two home runs, and Desmond Jennings homered to lead Tampa Bay past Arizona.

Dickerson hit an opposite-field homer to left as the second batter of the game, and his seventh-inning homer hugged the right-field foul pole for a 5-3 lead. It was his fourth career multiple-homer game, the last April 22, 2015 while with Colorado.

Jennings had two homers and five hits in the series while making all three starts, the first time he has started three straight games since April 25-27.

Braves 4, Padres 2

Julio Teheran held San Diego to two Wil Myers home runs in eight innings as Atlanta snapped a six-game losing streak and salvaged a win in the three-game series between last-place teams in the National League East and West.

Myers' 11th and 12th homers of the season accounted for two of the five hits allowed by Teheran. He issued a walk and had eight strikeouts. Teheran, a .053 hitter entering the game, was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The top two hitters in the Atlanta batting order each had three hits. Ender Inciarte fell a home run short of a natural cycle and scored two runs. Chase d'Arnaud was 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run.

Mariners 5, Indians 0

Chris Iannetta hit two home runs and drove in all of Seattle's runs on a night when starter Taijuan Walker threw eight shutout innings to beat Cleveland.

Iannetta homered in the third and fifth innings before adding an RBI double in the seventh.

Walker earned his first win since April 25 after throwing eight innings of scoreless, three-hit ball. He matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and did not issue a walk.

Walker retired the first nine Cleveland hitters and left the game after getting the final nine he faced through the eighth. He threw 110 pitches, 76 for strikes.

Reliever Nick Vincent finished off the shutout with a scoreless ninth, striking out two to give Cleveland 13 strikeouts for the night.

Giants 2, Red Sox 1

Mac Williamson hit David Price's first pitch of the eighth inning for a tie-breaking home run, lifting San Francisco over Boston to earn a split of their two-game interleague series.

The Giants' Brandon Belt and Red Sox's Chris Young also hit solo homers to account for all the scoring in the pitchers' duel between Price and San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner before Williamson's difference-making blast.

Bumgarner left the game after six innings, having thrown 101 pitches. He did not get a decision.

The win was the Giants' 19th in 26 games since May 11, the most in baseball.

Rockies 1, Dodgers 0

Chris Rusin won a pitchers duel against Kenta Maeda at Dodger Stadium, helping the Colorado secure the series win with a victory over Los Angeles.

Rusin earned his first win since April 13 and his first this season as a starter, scattering three hits over six shutout innings. His seventh start was his best of the season, matching his season-best marks in innings pitched and earned runs while also walking only one batter and striking out three.

Jake McGee retired the side in order for his 15th save of the season. He's now converted on 15 of 17 save opportunities this season and is tied for 11th in the major leagues. (Editing by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru)

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