Baseball-Highlights of Friday's MLB games

May 2 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Friday's MLB games. - - - Cubs 6, Cardinals 5 Anthony Rizzo reached base three times and provided the winning run with a solo homer as the Chicago Cubs rocked St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright on the way to a 6-5 victory. The normally reliable Wainwright (5-2) saw a 25-inning scoreless streak end as the Cubs collected 10 hits and six runs through his five innings, Wainwright's shortest outing of the season. Cubs left-hander Travis Wood (2-3) worked seven innings, matching his longest outing of the season, and picked up his first victory since April 21. Rizzo, 2-for-3 with a walk, clubbed a solo home run off Wainwright in the fifth for a 6-3 lead. Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta closed the gap in the eighth with a two-run homer to center off right-handed reliever Justin Grimm, scoring third baseman Matt Carpenter and trimming the lead to 6-5. - - - Brewers 2, Reds 0 Right-hander Wily Peralta allowed three hits over eight shutout innings and drove in the decisive runs with a two-run double, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 2-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Peralta (4-1) overcame a rough first inning and walked two and struck out seven in his 110 pitches. Cincinnati (13-16) could not take advantage of its few opportunities against Peralta, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy went 3-for-4 with a double for Milwaukee, who improved their Major League-leading record to 21-9. Aside from Peralta's double, Reds right-hander Mike Leake (2-3) was equally impressive, pitching eight innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. - - - Nationals 5, Phillies 3 Adam LaRoche singled in the go-ahead run in a three-run eighth inning as the Washington Nationals rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Jayson Werth, an ex-Phillie, went 3-for-4 and Tyler Moore homered for Washington (17-12), who have won three straight and five of six. Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the Phillies (13-14), who have dropped two straight. - - - Marlins 6, Dodgers 3 The Miami Marlins got the better of Josh Beckett to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 at Marlins Park. Miami (15-14) snapped the Dodgers' (17-13) three-game winning streak. Right-hander Tom Koehler (3-2) picked up the win, pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks. Beckett, the second overall pick in the 1999 draft who helped the Marlins win the 2003 World Series as the MVP, struck out eight but trailed 2-0 after six innings. The Marlins added four runs in the seventh, with most of the damage coming against reliever Jose Dominguez, to make it 6-0. - - - Indians 12, White Sox 5 Designated hitter Carlos Santana and left fielder Michael Brantley hit home runs as the Cleveland Indians snapped their six-game losing streak with a 12-5 win over the Chicago White Sox. Right-hander Danny Salazar became just the third Indians starting pitcher to win a game this year by pitching five innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits. The Indians scored in five of the first six innings, including five runs in the first and four in the sixth. - - - Giants 2, Braves 1 Michael Morse continued to live up to his reputation as a 'Braves killer' with two hits, one of them a solo home run that proved the difference in the San Francisco Giants' 2-1 win over Atlanta. Morse broke up a 1-1 game with a one-out homer in the sixth inning off Atlanta starter Mike Minor (0-1). It was the seventh homer of the year for Morse and the 10th of his career against Atlanta, most of those during the four years he played for Washington. San Francisco have won three straight and seven of their last eight games while Atlanta have lost four in a row. - - - Orioles 3, Twins 0 While Minnesota's bats stayed quiet all night, Baltimore's woke up in the sixth inning and provided enough offense for starter Ubaldo Jimenez, as the Orioles took the first of a three-game series against the Twins 3-0. The embattled Jimenez, who entered the game on Friday 0-4 with a 6.59 ERA, looked like the Ubaldo of old, tossing 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out a season-high 10 and walking only one for his first win of the season. The 10 punch-outs were the most by a Baltimore starter this season. A hard single off the wall by Orioles third baseman Manny Machado in the sixth set up a towering home run into the third deck in left field from Nelson Cruz, his eighth homer of the season. - - - Pirates 6, Blue Jays 5 Pedro Alvarez tied the game with a two-run home run in the ninth inning and Starling Marte won it shortly thereafter with the first walk-off home run of his career as the Pirates came back to beat Toronto 6-5. Alvarez hit his seventh homer of the season off Sergio Santos (0-2) to draw the Pirates even for the first time since the fourth inning. After Ike Davis flew out to center as a pinch-hitter, Marte followed with the game-winning home run to center field. The victory spoiled the return of former Pirate Jose Bautista, who doubled twice and drove in a run for Toronto. Colby Rasmus hit a two-run home run and Brett Lawrie finished 2-for-4. Walker finished 3-for-4 and scored three runs for Pittsburgh, while McCutchen finished 3-for-5 and drove in two runs. - - - Tigers 8, Royals 2 Right-hander Rick Porcello pitched a stout seven innings and designated hitter Victor Martinez stroked three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs as the Detroit Tigers crushed the Kansas City Royals 8-2. The Tigers have won three straight and five of six to take a three-game lead in the American League Central over the second-place Royals. The Tigers' 14-hit offensive splurge included catcher Alex Avila hitting a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez doubling home two runs in a three-run seventh. Torii Hunter collected two hits, extending his hitting streak to nine games, and scored two runs. Every Tiger had at least one hit. - - - Red Sox 7, A's 1 Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam to move into elite company with his 100th career homer, leading the Red Sox to a 7-1 win over the Oakland Athletics. Pedroia's slam moved him into the 100/100 club with the Red Sox, joining Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski as the only Boston players to collect 100 homers and 100 stolen bases. 'Yaz' had 452 homers and 168 stolen bases. Pedroia stole a base in the first inning, giving him 121. Clay Buchholz (2-2) got the win, pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out five. - - - Rays 10, Yankees 5 (14 innings) Right fielder Wil Myers' RBI single in the 14th inning keyed a five-run outburst and lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a marathon 10-5 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In surviving a game that lasted five hours and 49 minutes and ended at 12:57 a.m., the Rays (14-16) won their third in a row, tying a season high. The Yankees (15-13) lost their season-high third straight and fell a half-game behind Baltimore in the AL East. Myers' second RBI single of the game came a mere 10 innings after his first. - - - Rockies 10, Mets 3 For the second straight game, the Colorado Rockies built an early lead and overpowered the New York Mets 10-3. The victory was the fifth in six games for the Rockies, who scored six runs in the first two innings after scoring six in the first four on Thursday on their way to a 7-4 win. Center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored to raise his average to .380, five points behind major-league leading Troy Tulowitzki, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. - - - Astros 5, Mariners 4 (11 innings) Right fielder George Springer bounced a single over the head of third baseman Kyle Seager to drive in the winning run and lift the Houston Astros to a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners in 11 innings. Springer, 0-for-5 with four strikeouts before his final at-bat, followed Jose Altuve, Dexter Fowler and Carlos Corporan, who reached in succession via two singles and a fielder's choice. Springer followed by chopping a 1-0 fastball from Charlie Furbush (0-3) toward the backpeddling Seager, who failed to field the ball cleanly as Altuve scored. - - - Diamondbacks 2, Padres 0 Struggling Arizona right-hander Bronson Arroyo blanked San Diego on three hits over seven innings to lead the Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory in the opener of a 10-game homestand for the Padres. The shutout was the fifth of the season, and the third in the last six games, for a Padres team that ranks last in the National League in hitting (.214) and last in the Major Leagues in runs scored (2.6 runs per game). - - - Rangers 5, Angels 2 Left fielder Shin-Soo Choo and right fielder Alex Rios each hit homers in a three-run sixth inning to rally the Texas Rangers past the Los Angeles Angels 5-2. Choo homered to lead off the inning against Angels lefty Hector Santiago. Two outs later, first baseman Prince Fielder had an infield single, and Rios followed with a two-run homer to erase the Angels' lead for good. (Editing by Peter Rutherford/John O'Brien)