Mariners' misery
BOSTON — Jacoby Ellsbury continued his July power surge with his seventh home run of the month and John Lackey picked up his third consecutive win as the Boston Red Sox extended Seattle’s losing streak to 13 with a 7-4 win over the tumbling Mariners on Friday night.
Seattle is one loss away from tying the franchise record for consecutive losses, which was set in September 1992.
Seattle hasn’t won since July 5 and is just 6-21 since the Mariners improved to 37-35 and were a half-game out of first place on June 19.
Felix Hernandez (8-9) pitched strongly through six innings, but unraveled in the seventh as the Red Sox added five runs to break open the game.
Lackey (8-8) only had a one-run lead until Boston’s big seventh inning. He allowed one run on eight hits and struck out for in seven innings. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 22nd save.
Rangers 12, Blue Jays 2Nelson Cruz broke out of an extended slump with a career-high eight RBIs and Colby Lewis took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his 10th victory as the Rangers beat the Blue Jays.Cruz drove in runs with hits in each of his four at-bats. His RBI double in the second put Texas ahead to stay and he added a three-run homer, his 22nd, in the fourth off Jo-Jo Reyes (5-8). The slugger had only one RBI in his previous 11 games.
Angels 6, Orioles 1Ervin Santana took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, Vernon Wells hit a grand slam in the ninth, and the Angels beat the Orioles.It was the Angels’ first win against Baltimore since Aug. 17, 2009, when Santana threw six innings in an 8-5 victory. Los Angeles went 0-6 against the Orioles last year.
Yankees 17, Athletics 7Mark Teixeira hit a grand slam and Nick Swisher had a three-run drive in a nine-run third inning and the Yankees routed the Athletics.Swisher and Teixeira homered with two bases-loaded walks in between as the Yankees had their highest-scoring inning of the season.
White Sox 3, Indians 0Gavin Floyd allowed four hits over 7 2-3 innings and Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer in the fifth to give the White Sox a victory over the Indians.Floyd (8-9) earned his second straight win after going 0-4 over six previous starts. The right-hander struck out five and didn’t issue a walk for the first time in 19 starts.
Tigers 8, Twins 2Jhonny Peralta finished a triple short of the cycle and had four RBIs to lift Detroit to a victory over the Twins, the Tigers’ 11th straight win over their AL Central rivals.Max Scherzer (11-5) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings and Ryan Raburn also homered for the Tigers, who picked up a game on second-place Cleveland and pushed the Twins seven games back in the division.
Royals 10, Rays 4Melky Cabrera had three hits and drove in three runs and Billy Butler homered for the first time in six weeks as the Royals defeated the Rays.Jeff Francoeur went 3 for 5 with an RBI and Eric Hosmer drove in a pair of runs with two hits as every Royals starter had at least one hit and Kansas City finished with 16 overall.
Braves 6, Reds 4Dan Uggla’s first career pinch-hit home run lifted the Braves to a win over the Reds.Uggla, who missed the last two starts with a strained left calf, batted with two outs in the ninth inning for reliever Jonny Venters (5-1) with Alex Gonzalez on second base. He lofted a 3-2 pitch from Nick Masset (1-4) 402 feet into the right-center field seats for the go-ahead runs.
Phillies 3, Padres 1Cole Hamels tossed eight dominant innings and the Phillies beat the Padres for the eighth straight time.Hamels (12-5) allowed one run and three hits, striking out 10. The All-Star lefty bounced back from a rough outing last Saturday against the Mets, retiring the last 10 batters he faced. He’s tied with Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens for the most wins in the NL.
Cubs 4, Astros 2Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano hit fifth-inning homers and Chicago beat Houston.Ramirez’s 18th homer, a two-run shot, capped Chicago’s four-run rally in the inning. Ramirez’s 13 homers since June 24 are the most in the majors.
Brewers 4, Giants 2Jonathan Lucroy and Yuniesky Betancourt drove in two runs each, and the Brewers held on to beat the Giants.Shaun Marcum (9-3) pitched seven solid innings to push the Brewers back into first place in the crowded NL Central standings. Pittsburgh and St. Louis are one game back.
Mets 7, Marlins 6David Wright came off the disabled list swinging, and his two RBI doubles Friday helped the Mets beat the Marlins.The five-time All-Star was activated before the game after being sidelined for two months with a back injury.
Rockies 8, D’Bbacks 4Aaron Cook earned his first victory of the season, and Dexter Fowler and Mark Ellis each had three hits and drove in a run as the Rockies beat the Diamondbacks.Cook (1-5) allowed four runs and eight hits for his first win since since Sept. 8, 2010.
Nationals 7, Dodgers 2John Lannan hit his first major league home run and Jerry Hairston Jr. broke the game open with a ninth-inning grand slam to help the Nationals.
