Nationals take victory over Cubs.
CHICAGO (AP) — Postseason or regular season, Daniel Murphy keeps crushing the ball at Wrigley Field.
Murphy hit two home runs to back Tanner Roark, and the Washington Nationals won the opener of a series between division leaders by beating the Chicago Cubs 4-2 on a chilly Friday afternoon.
With the game-time temperature at 63, Murphy hit a two-run homer in the first and connected off Kyle Hendricks leading off the sixth for a 3-0 lead.
"We started this series off the right way and, hopefully, gave ourselves a chance to win the series tomorrow," he said. "We're really excited about coming in and seeing if we can win a series. That's what it's all about this time of year.
Counting the postseason, Murphy is 20 for 38 with four home runs in his last 10 games at Wrigley. With the Mets in the 2015 NL Championship Series, he hit two homers in Chicago and four overall to help New York sweep.
Roark (9-7) didn't allow a run until Javier Baez chased him with a two-run homer with one out in the seventh. The right-hander allowed five hits while improving to 3-1 in his past four starts.
Hendricks (4-4) gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings in his longest outing since May 24. Baseball's ERA leader last season, he missed about seven weeks because of tendinitis in his right hand before returning on July 24.
"Pitch efficiency is much better," Hendricks after his third start back. "It clicked right there about the fourth inning. I started getting some quicker outs, quicker innings. When you get through seven, it felt real good."
Chicago has lost three straight after winning 14 of 17 following the All-Star break. After giving up three homers to Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt on Thursday, the Cubs got pounded by Murphy this time.
He hit a two-run shot halfway up the bleachers in right-center in the first and went the opposite way in the sixth, driving his 19th home run to left-center. That gave him two multi-homer games this season and five in his career.
After Baez cut the lead to one in the seventh with his 15th home run, Brian Kintzler got the final two outs of the inning.
Anthony Rendon hit a sacrifice fly against Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth.
Ryan Madson worked the bottom half, and Sean Doolittle finished for his fifth save in as many chances since he was acquired from Oakland on July 16. He gave up a leadoff single to Jason Heyward before striking out Baez and getting Ian Happ to ground into a double play.
DODGERS 6, METS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Yu Darvish fit right in with the steamrolling Dodgers, striking out 10 over seven innings of three-hit ball during his Los Angeles debut to pitch the top team in the majors past the Mets.
Chris Taylor hit a leadoff homer against Jacob de Grom, and Mets nemesis Chase Utley added a two-run shot as Los Angeles improved baseball's best record to 77-32 with its 11th victory in 12 games. Yasiel Puig also went deep for the Dodgers, who have outscored New York 42-11 in winning all five meetings this season.
On the best extended roll by a National League team since World War II, the Dodgers are 42-7 since June 7 — a stretch unequaled in franchise history. They have won 22 of 25 since July 4, with all three losses coming against Atlanta.
In his first start since being acquired from Texas for three prospects just before Monday's trade deadline, Darvish (1-0) only made the Dodgers look even better. With his confident teammates behind him, the four-time All-Star snapped a five-game losing streak and won for the first time in nine outings since June 12 at Houston.
REDS 3, CARDINALS 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joey Votto drove home a pair of runs with a double and a single, and Asher Wojciechowski went five innings in his return to the rotation on Friday night, leading the Reds to a victory over the Cardinals.
The Reds have won all five games against St. Louis at Great American Ball Park this season. They lead 8-3 in their season series.
Votto had a pair of RBI hits off Mike Leake (7-10), who fell to 0-5 in eight career starts against his former team. Billy Hamilton added a run-scoring single off Leake, who allowed eight hits in six innings.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 3
ATLANTA (AP) — R.A. Dickey won for the first time in seven starts, Nick Markakis hit a three-run homer and the Braves overcame Giancarlo Stanton's two home runs to beat the Marlins.
Stanton hit his 34th and 35th homers, tying Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for most in the majors, to give the Marlins a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Markakis took Adam Conley (4-4) deep in the bottom half of the inning to make it 4-3.
Dickey (7-7) allowed three hits, three runs, one walk and struck out three in six innings. The 42-year-old knuckleballer has pitched well lately, going 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA in nine starts since losing 10-5 at Washington on June 13.
Stanton crushed his first homer into the tunnel past the wall in center field to make it 1-all in the fourth. He followed with a two-run shot in the sixth to put Miami up 3-1.
TIGERS 5, ORIOLES 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Justin Upton hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to back a strong pitching performance by Justin Verlander, and the surprising Tigers beat the Orioles for their fourth straight victory.
Jim Adduci also homered for the Tigers, who have won six of seven despite unloading three stars before the non-waiver trade deadline. Detroit's four-game winning streak matches a season high.
Verlander (7-7) struck out 10 and gave up two runs and six hits over seven innings. He's 10-5 lifetime against Baltimore, including 8-1 at Camden Yards.
Tim Beckham went 4 for 4 with a home run and Manny Machado also went deep for the Orioles, who have lost two in a row to Detroit following a five-game winning streak.
Trailing 2-1 after being limited to three hits by Orioles starter Kevin Gausman, the Tigers rallied against Mychal Givens (7-1) in the eighth.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Upton, who sent the first pitch deep into the left-field seats. It was his third slam of the season and seventh of his career.
Givens had allowed only two runs in his previous 26 appearances, and Baltimore was 43-4 when leading after seven innings.
INDIANS 7, YANKEES 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer won his third straight start, Jaime Garcia was chased in the fifth inning of his Yankees debut and the Indians won to extend New York's losing streak to four.
Bauer (10-8) allowed one run in seven innings, on Todd Frazier's fifth-inning home run. Third baseman Giovanny Urshela made an outstanding defensive play on Clint Frazier's grounder to throw out Ronald Torreyes at home plate, and Gary Sanchez stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout.
Urshela made a diving stop of Matt Holliday's sixth-inning grounder and threw him out at first.
Edwin Encarnacion had two RBIs, and Austin Jackson and Michael Brantley each had RBIs.
New York had won seven of eight before the slide.
The Yankees have scored six runs in the last four games, going 2 for 26 with runners in scoring position.
A day after making three errors in the first inning, New York contributed to three runs with right fielder Aaron Judge's throwing error, Sanchez's major league-leading 12th passed ball and Chad Green's wild pitch.
BREWERS 2, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Woodruff allowed seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of his major league debut and Orlando Arcia homered and scored both runs in the Brewers' victory over the Rays.
Arcia's three hits included a triple off Rays starter Jake Faria in the third and his 10th home run of the season in the eighth. Eric Thames followed the triple with an RBI single.
Woodruff (1-0) had been slated to make his major league debut at St. Louis on June 13 but was scratched by a tight hamstring.
After a stint on the disabled list he made three Triple-A rehab starts, throwing a maximum of 69 pitches.
The 24-year-old righthander walked two and struck out six, throwing 97 pitches.
Faria (5-2) gave up one run on four hits while striking out nine in six innings.