Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

(Adds later games) May 18 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games: Tigers 6, Twins 3 Justin Verlander recorded his 2,000th strikeout, Ian Kinsler homered for the fourth straight game and the Detroit Tigers complete a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 6-3 win on Wednesday. Verlander (3-4) did not give up a run until the seventh as the Tigers won their fourth straight. He was charged with three runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings while striking out 10. Phillies 4, Marlins 2 Jeremy Hellickson settled down to throw six strong innings and Cameron Rupp knocked in two runs as Philadelphia took the rubber game of a series with Miami. Hellickson (4-2) allowed two runs and five hits, striking out four after a shaky start. David Hernandez and Hector Neris threw a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively, before Jeanmar Gomez came on for his major-league-leading 16th save of the season. Royals 3, Red Sox 2 (Game 1) Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer, while Jarrod Dyson tripled, scored the go-ahead run and threw out a runner at third base as Kansas City edged Boston in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. Alcides Escobar led off the first with a single and scored on Hosmer's eighth home run and his second in as many games. Hosmer hammered a 2-1 Steven Wright pitch over the center field fence, an estimated 428 feet. Red Sox 5, Royals 2 (2nd game) David pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts homered as the Boston Red Sox toppled the Kansas City Royals to earn a doubleheader split. Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer, while Jarrod Dyson tripled, scored the go-ahead run and threw out a runner at third base in the eighth inning. A's 8, Rangers 1 Khris Davis homered again, and Oakland completed its first home sweep of the season, taking three in a row from Texas. The Athletics swept a series of three or more games at the Coliseum for the first time since taking four in a row against the Toronto Blue Jays in July 2014. Davis, the hero Tuesday night's win with a walk-off grand slam, went deep again as part of a 2-for-2 game with a two walks and two runs. Rich Hill (6-3) went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk. He struck out six. Braves 3, Pirates 1 The Braves became the last team in the major leagues to reach the 10-win mark, using a strong start by right-hander Julio Teheran to end Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak. Teheran (1-4) held the Pirates to five hits and struck out three in 7-2/3 innings. Tyler Flowers had a home run and Chase d'Arnaud drove in another run with a double in the ninth. Jung Ho Kang homered in the ninth for the Pirates. Rays 6, Blue Jays 3 Logan Morrison, Desmond Jennings and Kevin Kiermaier hit home runs for Tampa Bay while Jake Odorizzi pitched five innings for his first win of the season. Morrison had three hits and Kiermaier had two RBIs. Jimmy Paredes, Michael Saunders and Edwin Encarnacion homered for Toronto. Blue Jays right-hander R.A. Dickey (2-5) allowed three home runs among eight hits, one walk and five runs (four earned). Orioles 5, Mariners 2 Mark Trumbo and Matt Wieters both homered for the Orioles, and Baltimore starter Chris Tillman stretched his winning streak to five games. Tillman allowed two runs on four hits in 6-1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed just his second homer of the year, a solo shot from Leonys Martin. Cardinals 2, Rockies 0 Adam Wainwright had his best start of the season, shutting out Colorado for 6-2/3 innings, and Matt Holliday drove in two runs to lead St. Louis to a shut out victory. Making his ninth start of the season, Wainwright snapped a streak in which he had allowed at least three earned runs in all eight of his previous starts. He still won three of the last four, getting a no-decision in the other game. Astros 5, White Sox 3 Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Jason Castro went 2-for-3 and scored three runs to lead Houston to a win against Chicago. Doug Fister (4-3) allowed three runs on nine hits in 6-1/3 innings to earn the win. Luke Gregerson, who had blown three of his past four save opportunities, picked up his ninth save. Nationals 7, Mets 1 Anthony Rendon laced a tie-breaking two-out single in the fifth inning and left-hander Gio Gonzalez continued his mastery at Citi Field by throwing 6-1/3 solid innings as Washington beat New York. Ex-Met Daniel Murphy had two RBIs, via a third-inning single and a seventh-inning sacrifice fly, for the Nationals. Danny Espinosa drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh while Wilson Ramos added a two-run single in the ninth. Jayson Werth scored three runs and reached base in all five plate appearances (2-for-2 with three walks). Indians 8, Reds 7 (12 innings) Francisco Lindor's home run in the top of the 12th inning lifted the Cleveland Indians to an 8-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. After Rajai Davis' second home run of the night, a two-run shot, tied the score in the ninth, Lindor went deep on the first pitch from Keyvius Sampson leading off the 12th. Sampson (0-1) was recalled from Triple-A prior to Wednesday's game. Giants 2, Padres 1 Johnny Cueto hurled a complete-game gem, and Hunter Pence smacked a two-run homer as the streaking San Francisco Giants defeated the San Diego Padres. Cueto (6-1) was masterful as he notched his second nine-inning victory over the Padres this season. He allowed one run, four hits and two walks while striking out eight. Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 2 Nathan Eovaldi allowed one hit in six innings and retired the final 18 hitters he faced to help the New York Yankees earn a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Brett Gardner's first-inning, two-run homer gave the Yankees the lead for good. Jacoby Ellsbury had three of New York's 11 hits and drove in the third run with a sixth-inning single against Arizona starter Shelby Miller, who was in trouble from the start but wiggled out of several jams. Angels 8, Dodgers 1 The Los Angeles Angels broke open a tight game with a five-run fifth inning, and they rode the right arm of Nick Tropeano to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mike Trout had three hits and a walk and scored three times to lead an Angels offense that tallied 12 hits. Albert Pujols, C.J. Cron and Rafael Ortega each had two hits, and Cron and Ortega both drove in two runs. Tropeano gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. Cubs 2, Brewers 1 (13 innings) Travis Wood worked out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the bottom of the 12th, then drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk in the top of the 13th as the Chicago Cubs rallied late to beat the Milwaukee Brewers.