Baseball-Highlights of Tuesday's MLB games

June 24 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Tuesday's Major League Baseball games - - - Dodgers 2, Royals 0 Right-hander Clayton Kershaw lost his no-hitter early, but pitched another gem as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0. Kershaw (8-2), the 2013 National League Cy Young award winner, won his fifth straight start, departing after eight scoreless innings, allowing seven singles, walking one and striking out eight, while throwing a season-high 108 pitches. In his past five starts, Kershaw has yielded 21 hits and four runs in 37 innings for a 0.97 ERA. The Dodgers added a run in the ninth when Andre Ethier's pinch single to center scored first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on catcher A.J. Ellis' single. - - - Mets 10, A's 1 Chris Young hit two of the Mets' four homers and New York remained red-hot at the plate with a 10-1 rout of the Oakland Athletics. The Mets (36-41) earned their third win in a row and their fifth victory in six games. Right fielder Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer in the second, and Young, the Mets' center fielder, followed three pitches later with his first blast of the night. Catcher Travis d'Arnaud hit a three-run shot in the third off Athletics left-hander Scott Kazmir to extend the lead to 7-1. Young homered again in the fifth. The four homers tied a season high for the Mets. - - - Blue Jays 7, Yankees 6 The Toronto Blue Jays blew a six-run lead, but came back to defeat the New York Yankees 7-6 on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth. Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes, whose error in the seventh allowed the Yankees to tie the game, led off the ninth with a double against Adam Warren (1-4). Left fielder Melky Cabrera put down a bunt and third baseman Yangervis Solarte threw wildly to first to allow Reyes to score from second. The Blue Jays led 6-0 after five innings with catcher Dioner Navarro hitting a three-run homer in the fourth and center fielder Colby Rasmus a two-run single in the fifth. - - - Pirates 6, Rays 5 Pittsburgh left-hander Jeff Locke stifled the Tampa Bay Rays for seven innings and the Pirates outfield again did most of the offensive damage as Pittsburgh beat the Rays 6-5. The Pirates have a winning record for the first time since mid-April, while the Tampa Bay Rays retained the worst record in the majors for the 21st straight day. Pittsburgh lead-off hitter and right fielder Gregory Polanco went 1-for-2 with a run and a stolen base. No. 2 hitter and left fielder Starling Marte was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and center fielder and third hitter Andrew McCutchen knocked in two runs. - - - Phillies 7, Marlins 4 Marlon Byrd hit a two-run homer and Cody Asche doubled home two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies broke out of their home hitting slump with a 7-4 victory over the Miami Marlins. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins had two hits and reached base four times for the Phillies, who ended a three-game losing streak. Byrd keyed a three-run first with his homer, his 13th of the season, and Asche highlighted a three-run sixth with his double as Philadelphia moved 7-2 ahead. - - - White Sox 4, Orioles 2 Second baseman Gordon Beckham homered, left fielder Alejandro De Aza drove in two runs and Jose Quintana threw seven solid innings to help the Chicago White Sox snap their five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Quintana (4-7) scored his first win in five starts. He gave up one run on six hits along with eight strikeouts and three walks as the White Sox (36-42) ended Baltimore's three-game winning streak. The left-hander had to work his way out of trouble, but the Orioles (40-36) could not come up with clutch hits for the second straight night. They went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. - - - Braves 3, Astros 2 Right-hander Aaron Harang rebounded from a rough start by limiting the Houston Astros to two runs over six solid innings before his bullpen protected a one-run lead down the stretch of the Atlanta Braves' 3-2 interleague victory. Right-handers Anthony Varvaro and Jordan Walden each logged a scoreless inning in advance of Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, who recorded his 22nd save by working around a one-out error by second baseman Ramiro Pena in the ninth. The Astros (33-45) stranded 10 baserunners total, seven after clawing to within one run in the fourth. - - - Tigers 8, Rangers 2 A pair of home runs powered the streaking Detroit Tigers past the Texas Rangers 8-2. The Tigers rode long balls from second baseman Ian Kinsler and right fielder J.D. Martinez. The Tigers took a 3-1 lead in the seventh on a two-run shot to center from Martinez. The second homer of the day off Texas starter Colby Lewis (5-5) proved to be the difference, but Detroit was not done. The Tigers scored three more in the inning, as the five-run outburst made a winner out of Detroit starter Drew Smyly, who improved to 4-6. - - - Nationals 4, Brewers 2 (16 innings) Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for-7 and hit a two-run home run in the 16th inning, giving the Washington Nationals a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. In the top of the 16th, first baseman Adam LaRoche hit a one-out single off Mike Fiers, the sixth Brewers reliever of the night. Zimmerman, Washington's left fielder, followed with a two-run shot to left. - - - Diamondbacks 9, Indians 8 (14 innings) Second baseman Aaron Hill singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 9-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Hill's ball landed near the warning track in left-center field in a game that tied for the longest in Chase Field history, five hours and 32 minutes. First baseman Carlos Santana capped a four-hit night with a two-run homer off right-hander Randall Delgado to give Cleveland an 8-6 lead in the top of the 11th inning. Santana reached base six times, walking twice. - - - Cubs 7, Reds 3 Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta threw six perfect innings and ended up allowing three hits over seven innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-3. The 28-year-old Arrieta struck out nine and walked none before departing after seven innings. Reds leadoff batter Billy Hamilton broke up Arrieta's bid for baseball history in the seventh with a leadoff single as Cincinnati put up three hits and scored twice in the inning. - - - Rockies 10, Cardinals 5 Justin Morneau led the Rockies to a 10-5 win over the St Louis Cardinals, ending the Rockies' seven-game losing streak. Morneau, the Rockies first baseman, went 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs. He hit a three-run homer off left-hander Nick Greenwood (1-1) in the fourth that gave the Rockies a 6-4 lead and singled home two runs in the seventh off left-hander Sam Freeman to boost Colorado's lead to 8-5. The defeat might have been costly to the Cardinals. Starting pitcher Shelby Miller had to leave the game after 2 2/3 innings due to back tightness. - - - Padres 7, Giants 2 The San Diego Padres dominated the San Francisco Giants in cruising to a 7-2 victory. The Padres ran up the score against Giants starter Tim Hudson with six runs, despite ranking last in the majors in several offensive categories, by a wide margin, including runs scored. The Giants, who have lost 11 of 14, are now just three games in front of the Dodgers at the top of the NL West. - - - Angels 8, Twins 6 Two-run singles by Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick in a five-run first inning got them started, but the Los Angeles Angels needed a two-run home run by Mike Trout in the second inning to give them an 8-6 win over the Minnesota Twins. The win was the Angels' fourth in a row and ended the Twins' win streak at four. The Angels did most of their damage in the first two innings, failing to score again until they pushed across a run in the eighth inning. - - - Mariners 8, Red Sox 2 Home runs by Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino helped the red-hot Seattle Mariners win their fifth game in a row, as the Mariners rocked Boston Red Sox starter Jake Peavy on the way to an 8-2 win. The Mariners (42-36) had 10 hits while hammering Boston (35-43) for the second night in a row. Seager, Seattle's third baseman, went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while leadoff hitter and right fielder Endy Chavez included a run-scoring triple among his three hits. (Editing by John O'Brien)