Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

[May 26, 2016]  May 25 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Wednesday:

Cubs 9, Cardinals 8

Jake Arrieta survived his worst regular-season outing to win his 20th straight decision, dating back to last year, as Chicago outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals.

Arrieta (9-0) lasted five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts.

The Cubs (31-14) backed up Arrieta with a 10-hit attack and their second six-run inning in as many games, erasing an early 1-0 deficit in the top of the second.

Indians 4, White Sox 3

The Cleveland Indians closed to within one-half game of the AL Central lead as they held off a late Chicago White Sox rally.

The Indians (25-20) took three of four in the series at U.S. Cellular Field to close the gap on first-place Chicago.

Indians starter Corey Kluber (4-5) departed after 7-1/3 innings with a 4-1 lead and a runner on first. Kluber allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits while striking out nine and walking just one.

Right-handed reliever Cody Allen struck out two of three batters in a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

Lefty starter Steven Matz pitched eight scoreless innings and retired 16 batters at one point in the longest outing of his career as the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals.

Matz (7-1) allowed four hits with seven strikeouts and set down 16 in a row before pinch hitter Clint Robinson had a two-out single in the eighth. Matz then retired pinch hitter Bryce Harper on a grounder to end the eighth.

Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth for his 16th straight save this year and 32nd in a row dating back to last year.

Phillies 8, Tigers 5

Odubel Herrera hit a three-run homer and Peter Bourjos added a solo shot to help power Philadelphia over Detroit.

Aaron Nola (4-3) went six innings for the Phillies and while he gave up four runs, three of them came in the fifth after Philadelphia had fashioned a 5-1 lead.

David Hernandez allowed a run in the seventh but Hector Neris choked off further damage with two strikeouts and then pitched a scoreless eighth. Jeanmar Gomez notched his 17th save for getting the last three outs.

Twins 7, Royals 5

Eduardo Nunez had three hits, including a leadoff home run, as Minnesota salvaged the final game of a three-game series with Kansas City.

Nunez hit the second pitch of the game from Royals starter Dillon Gee over the fence in left field for his fourth home run of the season. It was the first career leadoff homer for Nunez.

Two pitches later, Brian Dozier hit one into the second deck in left for his fifth homer of the year and a quick 2-0 lead for the Twins.

Rangers 15, Angels 9

Rookie Nomar Mazara's tape-measure home run was the biggest hit of many for the Texas Rangers in a 15-9 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Mazara's second-inning solo blast was measured at 491 feet by Major League Baseball's Statcast system, making it officially the longest home run in the majors this season.

The 491-foot distance also would make it the longest homer in the stadium's history, topping a 490-foot rocket by Josh Hamilton in 2010.

Giants 4, Padres 3 (10 innings)

Brandon Crawford singled off the center-field fence to score Matt Duffy from second base with two outs in the 10th inning as the San Francisco Giants recorded a second walk-off win in three days to complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres.

Right-hander George Kontos pitched out of a jam in the top of the 10th inning, setting up the game-winning uprising in the bottom of the inning, as the Giants recorded a franchise-record ninth consecutive win over the Padres this season.

Blue Jays 8, Yankees 4

Russell Martin hit his first two home runs of the season in consecutive at-bats as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees.

Martin had not homered in his first 124 at-bats this year, but he ended the drought on consecutive swings in the sixth and seventh innings.

Martin opened the sixth by sending a 1-0 fastball from Ivan Nova (3-2) into the left field seats. An inning later, he drove a 1-2 pitch from left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve into the right field seats for a two-run home run and a 7-1 lead.

Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 4

The Pittsburgh Pirates pounded out 11 hits, two of them home runs, as they erased a three-run deficit in a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Pirates starter Jeff Locke evened his record at 3-3 while allowing four runs on seven hits through 7-1/3 innings.

Sean Rodriguez and David Freese hit homers and Gregory Polanco was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Pirates, who won for the fifth time in their past six games.

Red Sox 10, Rockies 3

Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts extended their respective hitting streaks and Travis Shaw drove in three runs as the Boston Red Sox roughed up the Colorado Rockies.

Bradley singled in the fourth inning to extend his career-high and major league-leading streak to 29 games, tying him with Johnny Damon for the fourth-longest in Red Sox history.

He also had an RBI and is five games shy of tying Dom DiMaggio's franchise-record 34-game stretch in 1949.

Bogaerts also stretched his hit streak to a career-best 18 games with a solo homer.

Marlins 4, Rays 3

The Marlins got a go-ahead single from Cole Gillespie in the eighth inning and a strong night from the bullpen, edging the Tampa Bay Rays.

Gillespie's single scored J.T. Realmuto, who had led off the inning with a single off Tampa Bay rookie Tyler Sturdevant. Gillespie had been hitless in 12 games this season.

Sturdevant gave up three hits and the go-ahead run in 0.1 innings.

Astros 4, Orioles 3

Luis Valbuena homered for a second consecutive game and Houston turned another strong bullpen performance into a win and series victory over Baltimore.

Valbuena smacked a two-out, opposite-field home run off Orioles right-hander Tyler Wilson (2-3) in the sixth inning to snap a 3-3 tie.

His fourth blast on the season handed the decision to right-hander Pat Neshek, the first of four Houston relievers, who entered in relief of right-hander Collin McHugh and recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning for the Astros.

Brewers 3, Braves 2 (13 innings)

Jonathan Villar singled home the tiebreaking run, and the Brewers edged the Atlanta Braves in a game that featured 16 pitchers and took nearly five hours.

Villar's hit came off Casey Kelly, a Braves starter working his third inning of relief.

Dodgers 3, Reds 1

Cincinnati dropped its 10th consecutive game overall and its ninth straight to the Dodgers as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep with a win at Dodger Stadium.

Dan Straily (2-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out 11 in seven innings.

Mariners 13, Athletics 3

Seattle's Adam Lind hit two home runs and added six RBIs, and teammates Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano also homered, as the Mariners hammered Oakland.

Seattle had a season-high 17 hits, with Lind accounting for four. He had a solo homer in the second inning, a three-run shot in the third, an RBI single in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh as the Mariners rolled out to a 12-3 lead.

The 13 runs were also a season high for Seattle.

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