Highlights from Monday's MLB games

[May 23, 2017]  May 22 (The Sports Xchange)

Twins 14, Orioles 7

Max Kepler homered and drove in four runs, and Miguel Sano homered and finished with three RBIs as the Minnesota Twins rallied from an early five-run deficit and defeated the Baltimore Orioles 14-7.

Sano went 4-for-6 with three runs. He hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and had three singles.

Kepler finished 3-for-6 with three runs. Eduardo Escobar also drove in three runs, which came on a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth that gave the Twins an 11-6 lead. Jorge Polanco went 4-for-5 with one RBI.

The Twins finished with a season-high 21 hits and scored 12 straight runs until the Orioles posted one in the ninth.

Rockies 8, Phillies 1

Charlie Blackmon collected two hits, drove in three runs and scored twice as Colorado kept rolling, defeating skidding Philadelphia behind seven strong innings from rookie starter Jeff Hoffman.

Blackmon's key hit, a looper into shallow left field, came during a decisive third inning, which saw the Rockies collect more hits (four) and runs (three) than the Phillies had all evening.

Colorado finished with 13 hits, the fourth game in a row and 11th time this month the Rockies had a double-digit hit total.

Yankees 4, Royals 2

Chris Carter made a run-saving defensive play in the top of the seventh and hit a solo home run in the bottom of the inning as New York beat Kansas City.

Before Carter's key plays, Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius homered off Kansas City left-hander Jason Vargas (5-3).

Michael Pineda (5-2) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings to get the win. Dellin Betances recorded his third save.

Reds 5, Indians 1

Scott Schebler homered, and Scott Feldman allowed one run through six innings, lifting Cincinnati to a victory over Cleveland.

Tucker Barnhart went 2-for-3 with a double for the Reds, who won for just the second time in 10 games. The Reds lost all four games to the Indians last season.

Jason Kipnis homered for Cleveland, which was coming off three consecutive wins in Houston.

Astros 1, Tigers 0

Brad Peacock delivered a stirring effort while making a spot start, and Jose Altuve plated the only run with a hit in the first inning of Houston's win over Detroit.

Peacock did not complete five innings and therefore was unable to pick up the victory. But he was stellar during his 70-pitch outing, allowing one hit and two walks with eight strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Chris Devenski (3-2) worked 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief for notch the win. Astros right-hander Ken Giles posted his 12th save with a perfect ninth inning.

Braves 5, Pirates 2

A career-best 5-for-5 performance from Ender Inciarte sparked a 13-hit attack and helped Atlanta defeat Pittsburgh at soggy Sun Trust Park.

Inciarte had five singles, one better than his previous high mark, drove in one run and scored one run as Atlanta won for the sixth time in its last eight games. Inciarte raised his batting average 21 points to .279.

Brandon Phillips, Matt Adams and Tyler Flowers added two hits each for Atlanta, which beat Pittsburgh the first time this season. The Pirates swept a three-game series with Atlanta in April.

Angels 3, Rays 2

Los Angeles got a solid start from JC Ramirez and scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the seventh inning for a victory over Tampa Bay.

The Angels won a battle of .500 teams, with their bullpen holding up better than that of Tampa Bay, which couldn't maintain an early lead for starter Jake Odorizzi in the opener of a four-game series.

Odorizzi held the Angels to two runs in six innings, but the bullpen let the first batter it faced score the go-ahead run in the seventh.

Giants 6, Cubs 4

Joe Panik went 3-for-4 with a home run, and starter Ty Blach pitched into the eighth inning to get his second win as San Francisco held on to beat Chicago.

The Giants made it eight wins in their past 10 games and the Cubs fell for the second time in their past three.

Panik struck quickly with a first-inning homer and added a third-inning RBI double.

Diamondbacks 5, White Sox 1

Zack Greinke threw 8 2/3 innings, and Daniel Descalso hit a three-run homer as sizzling Arizona downed Chicago.

Greinke (6-2) allowed just one run and four hits while striking out a season-high 12 and walking one. He lowered his ERA to 2.82. Archie Bradley threw one pitch to record the final out.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo homer for the D-backs and went 2-for-4. Gregor Blanco also went 2-for-4.

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