Baseball-Highlights of Thursday's MLB games

(Adds late games) July 2 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Thursday's Major League Baseball games: - - - Braves 2, Nationals 1 Center fielder Cameron Maybin chopped a single over the third base bag with one out in the ninth to drive in the winning run for the Atlanta Braves over the Washington Nationals. Washington starter Max Scherzer (9-6) had his three-game winning streak snapped. He allowed five hits and struck out nine in 8 1/3 innings. It was his third complete game of the season and the 13th time he allowed two earned runs or fewer. - - - Marlins 5, Giants 4 Jose Fernandez, returning to the mound for the first time in nearly 14 months, homered and pitched six innings, to lead the Miami Marlins to a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. Fernandez (1-0) -- who had not pitched in a Major League game since May last year due to Tommy John surgery -- allowed seven hits and no walks, striking out six and reaching 99 mph on the radar gun. He threw 89 pitches, 68 for strikes. His solo home run in the fifth inning sparked a four-run rally. - - - Cubs 6, Mets 1 Right-hander Jake Arrieta threw eight strong innings and third baseman Jonathan Herrera hit a two-run homer and finished with three RBIs as the Chicago Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets. The Cubs (42-35) won all seven games this season against the Mets, the first time Chicago has swept New York in a season. The Mets (40-40) scored just one run in 29 innings in being swept at home for the first time since Aug. 12-14, 2014, by the Washington Nationals. New York has scored two runs or fewer in 12 of its last 14 games. - - - Indians 5, Rays 4 (10 innings) Cleveland left fielder Mike Aviles sent the first pitch of the 10th inning over the wall in left field, giving the Indians a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Indians (37-41) completed a four-game sweep of the Rays (42-39), who had not been swept in a four-game series since September 2009 at the New York Yankees. The Rays have dropped nine of 11 games and fallen out of first in the American League East. - - - Padres 5, Cardinals 3 (11 innings) Pinch hitter Will Venable crushed a two-run homer in the 11th inning to give the San Diego Padres victory over the St Louis Cardinals. Moments earlier, shortstop Clint Barmes reached second base with two outs on a ground-rule double down the right field line. The ball was originally ruled foul but the call was overturned by replay umpires in New York City. Venable then jumped on the first pitch from Carlos Villanueva (3-3) for his sixth homer of the season as San Diego (38-43) started a 10-game road trip by handing St Louis a third straight loss. - - - Pirates 8, Tigers 4 Francisco Liriano blanked Detroit on five hits in seven innings, Neil Walker continued his hot hitting and the Pittsburgh Pirates withstood a late rally to sweep a three-game interleague series against the Detroit Tigers. Liriano (5-6) was 1-9 against Detroit in his previous 14 appearances but mixed fastballs and offspeed pitches to avoid any damage. He walked three and struck out five. - - - Red Sox 12, Blue Jays 6 David Ortiz hit a three-run homer and Hanley Ramirez added a solo blast in an eight-run first inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays. Right fielder Alejandro De Aza went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in for the Red Sox (37-44), who took three of four in Toronto. Blue Jays left-hander Matt Boyd (0-2), making his second major league start, allowed six hits, one walk and seven runs without getting an out in the first inning. - - - Rangers 2, Orioles 0 Leonys Martin and Rougned Odor hit RBI singles in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles to take three of four games in the series. Rangers right-hander Yovani Gallardo extended his scoreless streak to 29 1/3 innings, the fourth longest in franchise history. He threw six innings of two-hit ball while striking out two and walking three. He has not given up a run since June 10. - - - Twins 2, Royals 0 Minnesota Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson regained his mastery over Kansas City as the Royals lost their fourth straight, matching a season high. Gibson (6-6), who had lost his past two starts against Kansas City, limited the Royals to four hits, all singles, over eight innings. He walked four and struck out seven. - - - Brewers 8, Phillies 7 (11 innings) Adam Lind singled home the winning run in the 11th inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers completed a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. - - - Athletics 4, Mariners 0 Scott Kazmir allowed two hits over eight shutout innings as the Oakland A's blanked the Seattle Mariners 4-0. Kazmir struck out seven, including four straight at one point, and was perfect until left fielder Franklin Gutierrez doubled with one out in the fifth. He did not walk a batter. - - - Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 1 Center fielder A.J. Pollock homered and right-hander Jeremy Hellickson gave up one run and three hits in seven innings in the Arizona Diamondbacks' victory over the Colorado Rockies, who dropped their fifth in six games. (Compiled by Andrew Both; Editing by John O'Brien.)