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Highlights of Monday's MLB games

[June 21, 2016] June 20 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games:

Pirates 1, Giants 0

Erik Kratz hit a home run and starter Jeff Locke led a contingent of four Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers in shutting down the high-flying San Francisco Giants 1-0 Monday.

The Pirates not only busted up a five-game losing streak, but they did it against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and against a San Francisco team that had won eight games in a row.

Locke (6-5), who had given up a combined 18 runs over his previous two starts, both losses, pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits, striking out three and walking none. He was pulled after Jarrett Parker hit a two-out double to the center-field wall in the seventh.

Against San Francisco, Locke had been 0-1 with a 9.42 ERA in three career starts.

Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his 20th save.

Bumgarner (8-3), who entered the game with a career-best seven-game winning streak, threw a five-hit complete game in the loss.

In the fifth, with two outs, Kratz sent the first pitch from Bumgarner to left. The ball barely cleared the wall, and left fielder Angel Pagan timed it well and leaped -- only to have the ball go off of his glove. Pagan slammed the glove onto the warning track in disgust. It was Kratz's first home run since Aug. 18, 2014.

Rockies 5, Marlins 3

In a game that featured eight solo home runs, Mark Reynolds hit the go-ahead homer in the sixth inning to lead the Rockies to victory.

It was Reynolds' second homer of the game and it came off reliever Brian Ellington (1-1), snapping a streak of 15 straight scoreless innings by Miami's bullpen in the past week. The Marlins' relievers allowed just two hits in that span.

The eight solo homers are the most in a major-league game this season. In addition, it also set a major-league record for most solo blasts in a game in which all the runs scored were courtesy of the homers.

Two of the blasts were hit by Miami center fielder Marcell Ozuna, who has 15 homers this season, including three in two games.

Indians 7, Rays 4

Francisco Lindor belted a solo home run to snap a tie in the eighth inning and Juan Uribe added a two-run blast to lead the Indians' victory.

Leading off the eighth, Lindor hit the first pitch thrown by reliever Erasmo Ramirez (7-5) into the seats for his eighth home run. One out later, Carlos Santana singled and Uribe followed two batters later with a home run over the wall in center, marking the third consecutive game in which he has gone deep.

The Indians extended their winning streak to four games and Tampa Bay's losing streak to five straight.

Bryan Shaw (1-3) struck out the side in the top of the eighth to get the win. Cody Allen pitched the ninth to earn his 14th save.

Evan Longoria then belted his 18th home run over the left-field wall, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 1

The Diamondbacks scored three runs before Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson could even get an out and rode those runs all the way to a win and a four-game series sweep over the Phillies.

For the Phillies (30-41), their seventh loss in a row matches a season high and drops the club to season-worst 11 games under .500.

The damage was done on exactly 10 pitches: three for a Jean Segura double, two for a Phil Gosselin RBI single to score the second baseman and five for a Jake Lamb home run to bring home Gosselin.

Arizona starter Shelby Miller (2-6) went 6 2/3 innings in his return from a right index finger sprain that sent him to the 15-day disable list.

White Sox 3, Red Sox 1 (10 innings)

Reliever Zach Duke pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the ninth inning and Jose Abreu delivered a two-run double in the 10th to give the struggling Chicago White Sox a victory.

Abreu hammered a 2-2 pitch from Craig Kimbrel (0-3) to right-center field with two outs in the 10th to give the White Sox only their 11th win in 37 games after a 23-10 start. A walk to Avisail Garcia and a single by J.B. Shuck set up the winning hit.

Kimbrel had 17 straight scoreless outings at Fenway Park since the season opener and turned in 17 scoreless outings in his last 18 tries.

Duke (2-0) used two strikeouts around a force at the plate to escape the ninth and deny Red Sox starter Steven Wright his ninth victory of the season.

Rangers 4, Orioles 3

The Rangers rallied from a three-run deficit to win a battle of first-place clubs.

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Texas (46-25) extended its season-high winning streak to seven after coming from behind for the 23rd time this season. That's the most in the majors, with three in the last three days.

Baltimore squandered a 3-0 lead and missed several chances to extend the lead against Rangers starter Derek Holland. The O's outhit the Rangers 15-9.

Shin-Soo Choo drove in the two go-ahead runs and Ian Desmond hit his 11th home run of the season for Texas in the opener of a six-game homestand.

Shawn Tolleson (2-2) picked up the win in relief, with Sam Dyson working the ninth for his 14th save of the year. The Texas bullpen pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

Cardinals 3, Cubs 2

Brandon Moss and Jhonny Peralta each homered and starter Jaime Garcia tossed seven strong innings as the visiting Cardinals claimed a victory.

The Cardinals (36-33) snapped the Cubs' three-game winning streak and trimmed their gap to 11 1/2 games behind Chicago in the NL Central race in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

Garcia (5-6) worked 6 2/3 innings, allowed two runs on six hits, walked two and struck out six. Trevor Rosenthal permitted three baserunners in a shaky but successful ninth to claim his 13th save of the season.

Cubs starter John Lackey (7-3) lost for the first time in three starts this season against his former team and suffered his first setback since May 11 against San Diego. He worked six innings, allowed three earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three.

Ben Zobrist had three hits to pace the Cubs.

Astros 10, Angels 7

Doug Fister extended his winning streak to seven games and the Astros provided him ample run support in their win.

Five Houston starters recorded multi-hit games and every member of the lineup reached base at least once, with catcher Jason Castro joining the hit parade with his sixth home run to lead off the seventh inning.

Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa also went deep in support of Fister (8-3) as the Astros (35-36) won for the 10th consecutive time in a game Fister started. Carlos Gomez and Colby Rasmus recorded three hits apiece to pace an offense in which seven different starters scored at least once.

Second baseman Gregorio Petit belted his first career grand slam - and the first for the Angels this season - off Astros left-hander Tony Sipp with one out in the ninth. Pat Neshek got the final two outs for his first save.

Tigers 8, Mariners 7 (12 innings)

Justin Upton hit his second home run of the game to lead off the 12th inning as the Tigers snapped a three-game losing skid.

With Vidal Nuno (0-1) working his third inning, Upton cranked a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left-center to end the contest. It was his eighth home run of the season.

Anibal Sanchez (4-7) received the victory for working a scoreless top of the 12th and stranding a runner on third with one out.

Upton hit a two-run home run to dead center field with one out in the seventh inning to give Detroit a 7-6 lead, but Seattle tied it in the eighth on a two-out double by Ketel Marte followed by an RBI single by Leonys Martin.

Dodgers 4, Nationals 1

Justin Turner and Joc Pederson homered and Clayton Kershaw won his 10th consecutive start in the Dodgers' victory.

The anticipated pitching matchup between Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals didn't materialize after Strasburg (10-0, 2.90 ERA) was scratched with an upper back strain less than two hours before the opening pitch.

Kershaw (11-1) limited the Nationals to a run and six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. Kershaw beat Washington for the eighth straight time.

The Nationals (43-28) have dropped three in a row.

Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season, becoming the Dodgers' franchise leader with 162 and breaking Eric Gagne's mark. Jansen also is the first Dodger with 20 saves in five seasons.

Yusmeiro Petit replaced Strasburg. Petit (2-1) gave up three runs and five hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six innings. (Editing by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru)

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