Baseball-Highlights of Saturday's Major League Baseball games

April 26 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Saturday's Major League Baseball games. - - - Giants 5, Indians 3 Hunter Pence capped a four-run fifth inning with a two-out, two-strike, two-run single, and catcher Buster Posey added an insurance run with a solo home run in the sixth, helping the San Francisco Giants rally from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Cleveland Indians 5-3. Four Giants relievers combined to shut out the Indians without a hit over the final 4 1/3 innings, securing San Francisco's second consecutive win in the interleague series. Indians ace Zach McAllister (3-1) carried a one-hit shutout and a 3-0 lead into the fifth before Giants left fielder Michael Morse got the home team headed in the right direction with a leadoff single. Posey's home run led off the sixth against Indians reliever C.C. Lee and provided the final run of the day. - - - Yankees 4, Angels 3 Rookie catcher John Ryan Murphy hit a home run and drove in a career-high three runs while guiding five Yankees pitchers through a 4-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Murphy's first career multi-hit game began with the score tied 1-1 with two out in the second and the bases loaded against Angels' left-handed starter Hector Santiago (0-4), who issued the tying run on a balk. On the sixth pitch, Murphy lined a slider into right field, scoring Brett Gardner and Brian Roberts. When Murphy led off the fifth, he broke a 3-3 tie by driving a first-pitch fastball that hung over the outer edge of the plate into the left field seats. - - - Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 6 Catcher A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam and right-hander Clay Buchholz pitched seven innings as the Boston Red Sox held on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6. The Red Sox (12-13) used a six-run third inning to win their second straight game and give the Blue Jays (11-13) their fourth loss in a row. Will Middlebrooks also hit a home run for the Red Sox, who took advantage of a career-high eight walks by Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow (1-2), who lasted only 2 2/3 innings and was charged with four runs. Buchholz (1-2) overcame a three-run first inning to earn his first win of the season, allowing six hits, three walks and three runs. - - - Twins 5, Tigers 3 The Minnesota Twins only had four hits against the Detroit Tigers but starting pitcher Phil Hughes made sure they did not need any more. The Twins took advantage of a wild Tiger bullpen, which walked five Minnesota hitters in the fifth inning, in a 5-3 victory over Detroit at Target Field. Hughes gave up two hits and two runs in the first inning, staking the Tigers to a 2-0 lead. But in the fifth, the Twins, still without a hit, took advantage as Tigers reliever Jose Ortega walked the first two men he faced before Minnesota pushed their first run across on a throwing error by catcher Bryan Holaday. On a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Eduardo Escobar, Holaday's throw to third sailed into left field, allowing Sam Fuld to score. Another walk loaded the bases and Ortega was lifted for Phil Coke, who walked first baseman Joe Mauer on four pitches, tying the game at 2-2. Trevor Plouffe ripped a 3-and-1 pitch up the middle for a two-run single, Minnesota's first hit of the day, giving the Twins a 4-2 lead. After the rocky first inning, Hughes (2-1) was on cruise control, retiring 16 straight batters through the middle innings. - - - Nationals 4, Padres 0 Tanner Roark pitched a three-hit shutout for his first complete game and shortstop Ian Desmond collected three hits as the Washington Nationals defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0. Roark retired the first 16 Padres before catcher Rene Rivera lined a single to center beyond the reach of second baseman Danny Espinosa. In his 10th start in the majors, the 27-year-old Roark (2-0) extended his scoreless innings streak to 18. Roark threw 105 pitches, striking out eight and walking only one. - - - Pirates 6, Cardinals 1 Six Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers stymied the St. Louis Cardinals' bats again in a 6-1 victory. The win snapped the Pirates' four-game losing streak and handed the Cardinals their third loss in four games. The Cardinals left nine batters on base in the loss and had just five hits. The Pirates used five relievers after starter Francisco Liriano left the game in the bottom of third inning because of dizziness and flu-like symptoms. Lyons, who had breezed through the first three innings, retiring nine consecutive batters on only 26 pitches (21 strikes), ran into trouble in the fourth. The first four batters of the inning reached base and all scored to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. - - - Braves 4, Reds 1 Rookie right-hander David Hale made his case to remain in the Atlanta Braves starting rotation by allowing only one run in eight solid innings of a 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Hale (1-0) successfully kept the ball down against the Cincinnati hits and retired 12 batters on ground balls. He allowed only two hits, both in the first inning when the Reds scored their only run, and struck out four. Hale, aided by a double-play in the fourth, retired the last 22 batters he faced. The Braves supported Hale with three home runs, a two-run shot by Freddie Freeman, and solo homers by Justin Upton and Evan Gattis. - - - Brewers 5, Cubs 3 Khris Davis hit his second home run of the season and right-hander Marco Estrada worked into the eighth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 at Miller Park. Shortstop Jeff Bianchi, who entered the game in the first inning after starter Jean Segura was struck in the head while outfielder Ryan Braun took practice swings in the dugout, singled his first two times up and gave Milwaukee a 3-0 lead in the second with a two-run single to right. Estrada (2-1) retired 10 in a row to open the game before second baseman Luis Valbuena connected on a 2-0 fastball for a home run, his first of the season, in the fourth inning. - - - Orioles 3, Royals 2 (10 innings) Nick Markakis hit a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Baltimore Orioles a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Camden Yards. Left hander Zach Britton (3-0) picked up the win after getting the final out of the top of the 10th inning. The Orioles (12-11) scored twice in the first. The Royals (11-12) chipped away to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth on Justin Maxwell's two-out bloop single off Orioles starter left hander Chen Wei-Yin Chen. - - - Rays 4, White Sox 0 First baseman James Loney went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. Rays starting left-hander Cesar Ramos (1-1) worked five shutout innings for his first career win over the White Sox. Shortstop Yunel Escobar and catcher Ryan Hanigan had two hits apiece as the Rays (11-13) snapped a three-game losing streak. Designated hitter Paul Konerko and second baseman Gordon Beckham each had two hits for the White Sox (12-13) while starting pitcher John Danks (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season. - - - Astros 7, Athletics 6 Marwin Gonzalez, Jose Altuve and Dexter Fowler opened the bottom of the eighth inning with successive hits against Oakland left-hander Sean Doolittle as the Houston Astros rallied for a 7-6 victory in their final at-bat at Minute Maid Park. Gonzalez and Fowler, both switch-hitters, and the right-handed-hitting Altuve exploited their matchups with Doolittle and so did Astros left-handed-hitting catcher Jason Castro. His RBI single to right field scored Altuve, boosted the Astros' lead to 5-3 and chased Doolittle (0-2). Fowler and Castro later scored on RBI groundouts from George Springer and Marc Krauss, which proved to be insurance when Oakland rallied in the ninth. Brandon Moss' three-run homer against Houston right-hander Jerome Williams (1-1) in the ninth cut the deficit to one run. - - - Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 5 Philadelphia center fielder Ben Revere had two hits and two RBIs, and drove in the tiebreaking run to cap a four-run eighth inning in the Phillies' 6-5 victory over Arizona at Chase Field. Revere's popped single to short center field drove in catcher Carlos Ruiz, who singled in the first run of the inning as the Phillies overcame a 5-2 deficit. Pinch hitter Cody Asche tied the game with a two-run double. Ruiz had three singles and scored twice for the Phillies (12-12), who have won five of their last seven games. - - - Marlins 7, Mets 6 (10 innings) Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered leading off the 10th inning as the Miami Marlins came back from a four-run deficit to beat the New York Mets 7-6 at Citi Field. Left-hander Mike Dunn earned the win with two hitless innings of relief for the Marlins, who trailed 5-1 after five innings but scored five runs on five hits, all delivered on the first pitch, in the sixth. Giancarlo Stanton, the second batter of the inning, hit a two-run homer while pinch-hitter Reed Johnson ended the frame with a two-run double. - - - Rangers 6, Mariners 3 The Texas Rangers tagged Seattle starter Felix Hernandez for three fifth-inning runs and got back on the winning track by beating the Mariners 6-3. The first six batters in the top of the fifth reached base as Texas (15-9) scored three times off Hernandez to tie the score 3-3. Mitch Moreland's sacrifice fly in the eighth gave the Rangers their first lead at 4-3 and Texas added two insurance runs off Joe Beimel in the ninth. Texas closer Joakim Soria retired all three batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth for his sixth save of the season. The Rangers have won nine of their past 11 games. - - - Dodgers 6, Rockies 3 Los Angeles center fielder Matt Kemp and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez homered and the Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-3 at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers starter Paul Maholm (1-2) allowed two runs and six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in seven innings for the Dodgers (14-11), who won for only the fourth time in their past six games at home. The victory also allowed Maholm to end a seven-game losing streak to the Rockies (13-12). Yasiel Puig went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs for Los Angeles. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)