Baseball-Highlights of Friday's Major League Baseball games

April 25 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Friday's Major League Baseball Games. - - - Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 1 Second baseman Dustin Pedroia and third baseman Will Middlebrooks each drove in two runs and right-hander Jake Peavy pitched seven innings as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1. Designated hitter David Ortiz homered for the Red Sox (11-13) who handed the Blue Jays (11-12) their third straight loss. Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit in the Red Sox 16-hit attack. Peavy (1-0) held the Blue Jays to five hits, two walks and one run, on a seventh-inning homer by designated hitter Juan Francisco, while striking out seven in seven innings. The Red Sox struck for four runs in the second inning keyed by Pedroia's two-run single. They added one in the third, two in the sixth and one in the ninth. - - - Angels 13, Yankees 1 The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim belted four home runs, including the 501st of Albert Pujols' career, in a 13-1 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Angels (11-11) lead the majors with 35 home runs and set a new franchise record for round-trippers in April. In addition to Pujols' solo homer, third baseman Ian Stewart belted a two-run homer, shortstop Erick Aybar hit a three-run home run and right fielder Colin Cowgill added a solo shot. C.J. Wilson (3-2) worked six innings, scattering four hits while striking out five and walking three to earn the win. Designated hitter Alfonso Soriano drove in New York's (13-10) run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. - - - Mets 4, Marlins 3 Right fielder Curtis Granderson's RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning capped a wild two-run rally by the New York Mets, who edged the Miami Marlins 4-3 at Citi Field. Shortstop Omar Quintanilla singled to left to score Duda and tie the game before pinch-hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a double. Granderson, who entered the night hitting .137 and was hitless in his first four at-bats of the night, hit a scorching grounder to first base that skipped under the legs of Garrett Jones as Quintanilla trotted home for the walk off. - - - Braves 5, Reds 4 Left fielder Justin Upton hit a three-run homer in the first inning and the Braves held on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 at Turner Field. Closer Craig Kimbrel started the ninth inning by giving up a walk and single before rallying to post his seventh save in eight opportunities. The Braves could not celebrate, though, until a video review of more than two minutes confirmed that Freddie Freeman had held first base on a wide throw from third baseman Chris Johnson to retire Reds first baseman Joey Votto for the final out. - - - Royals 5, Orioles 0 Yordano Ventura threw eight shutout innings, and Billy Butler broke out of a recent slump with two hits and two RBIs as the Kansas City Royals scored a 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Ventura (2-1), a hard-throwing 22-year-old right-hander, scattered seven hits over the eight innings and worked his way out of a few jams. He struck out eight and walked just two while shutting down a Baltimore offense that had scored 21 runs in its last two games. Butler, the designated hitter, had not had a hit in nine at-bats before his RBI single in the first gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. He added an RBI double in the ninth for the final Kansas City run and finished 2-for-5 overall. Left fielder Alex Gordon, right fielder Nori Aoki and second baseman Omar Infante also had RBI singles. - - - Nationals 11, Padres 1 Left fielder Bryce Harper drove in a career-high four runs before leaving the game with a possible wrist injury and Stephen Strasburg threw seven scoreless innings as the Washington Nationals beat the San Diego Padres 11-1 in a game that featured 27 hits. Harper, who entered the game with five RBIs this season, singled in a run in the first and then crushed a three-run triple with the bases loaded in the third to give the Nationals a 5-0 lead. But Harper, who later scored to make it 6-0, grimaced after his headfirst slide into third as he held his left wrist. Strasburg (2-2) allowed just seven hits in seven innings and fanned 11 batters, the 14th time in his career he reached double digits in strikeouts. - - - Cardinals 1, Pirates 0 Shelby Miller finally cracked the code against Pittsburgh as the St Louis starting pitcher worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings for his first win in six career decisions against the Pirates, leading the Cardinals to a 1-0 win at Busch Stadium. Miller (2-2), who walked four and struck out four, gave up nine homers and pitched to a 5.93 ERA in his previous five starts against Pittsburgh. Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal whiffed the side in the ninth for his seventh save as St. Louis (13-11) opened a six-game homestand with just its third win in eight games. Gerrit Cole (2-2) was a tough-luck loser for the Pirates (9-15), who lost for the 12th time in 15 games. - - - Brewers 5, Cubs 2 Right-hander Matt Garza easily handled his former team, working seven strong innings in the Milwaukee Brewers' 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. Garza (1-2) held the Cubs to two runs on four hits and a walk and struck out seven to pick up his first victory of a season and first with the Brewers. Right-hander Francisco Rodriguez threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save of the season while he Brewers' offense did their part to back up Garza. Center fielder Carlos Gomez and right fielder Ryan Braun each collected three hits while first baseman Lyle Overbay and catcher Jonathan Lucroy had two apiece. - - - Tigers 10, Twins 6 A monster top of the third inning by the Detroit Tigers staked the visitors to a big lead against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Eight straight Tigers reached base in a seven-run inning as Detroit hammered Minnesota 10-6. Detroit third baseman Nick Castellanos blasted a two-run homer in the second inning and followed with an RBI single in the third. Outfielder Torii Hunter also had two hits and drove in a pair of runs with a two-run single in the third. By the time the frame was over, Detroit had nine runs and 11 hits. - - - Athletics 12, Astros 5 First baseman Daric Barton delivered a two-run single against the Houston Astros' drawn-in infield and the Oakland Athletics rallied in the ninth inning for a 12-5 victory at Minute Maid Park. With no outs, the bases loaded and Astros closer Josh Fields (0-2) attempting to preserve a 5-5 tied game, Barton slapped a sharp single into right field past flailing Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, scoring Brandon Moss and Alberto Callaspo. Right fielder George Springer followed with a throwing error, the Astros' third error of the game, allowing Craig Gentry to score for a three-run Oakland lead. Second baseman Nick Punto chased Fields with a double before Oakland (15-8) tacked on four more runs. - - - White Sox 9, Rays 6 White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu drilled a walk-off grand slam off Rays closer Grant Balfour to defeat Tampa Bay 9-6 at U.S. Cellular Field. It was Abreu's second home run of the game and made him the lone rookie in major-league history to hit nine homers in the month of April. Abreu went 3-for-5 with six RBs in the game, which appeared to be headed toward a Tampa Bay victory entering the bottom half of the ninth. Rays third baseman Evan Longoria launched a two-run homer off Chicago closer Matt Lindstrom in the top of the ninth for a 6-4 lead. White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton made it 6-5 with a groundout to shortstop that was nearly a game-ending double play before third baseman Marcus Semien walked to load the bases for Abreu. - - - Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 4 Second baseman Aaron Hill doubled, homered and drove in three runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks ran their winning streak to a season-long three games with a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Hill's two-run homer in the fourth inning broke a scoreless tie. He doubled in the final run during a two-run fifth for a 4-0 lead to help right-hander Josh Collmenter (1-2) to his first home victory as a starter since July 27, 2002. Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock had two hits, including a bases-empty homer in the eighth. - - - Giants 5, Indians 1 Left fielder Michael Morse smacked his third home run in the last two games to back the strong pitching of right-hander Tim Hudson, propelling the San Francisco Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Kicking off a six-game homestand, the Giants extended Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco's streak of winless starts to 17, getting to him for four runs on five hits, including Morse's sixth home of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning. Center fielder Angel Pagan singled twice and scored two runs, and right fielder Hunter Pence drove in a pair of runs with a triple and a single, as the Giants snapped the Indians' two-game winning streak. - - - Mariners 6, Rangers 5 Justin Smoak's bases-loaded double in the eighth inning drove in two runs and he then made a game-saving stab on an Adrian Beltre lineout in the ninth to lead the Seattle Mariners to a come-from-behind victory. Smoak's double into the left-field corner scored the tying and go-ahead runs as the Mariners rallied for a 6-5 win over the streaking Texas Rangers at Safeco Field. - - - Rockies 5, Dodgers 4 Three runs in the 11th inning lifted the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pinch-hitter Brandon Barnes doubled off the right-field wall with one out in the 11th off reliever Jamey Wright before Charlie Blackmon bounced a single up the middle off reliever J.P. Howell to score Barnes. The Rockies added two more runs when Blackmon scored on a fielder's choice and Justin Morneau drove in Nolan Arenado in what turned out to be the difference. Arenado extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the inning. The Rockies (13-11) handed the Dodgers (13-11) their second consecutive defeat and the fourth in the past five games. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off LaTroy Hawkins in the bottom of the 11th to close the margin to a run, but the closer regrouped and nailed down his seventh save. - - - (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly/Peter Rutherford)