Walker’s 9th HR lifts Mets
NEW YORK — Neil Walker hit his ninth home run, tying for the major league lead, Matt Harvey won his second straight start, and the New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 Wednesday night to stretch their winning streak to six.
Walker’s third-inning homer off Jon Moscot extended the Mets’ lead to 3-1 and tied the team record for home runs in April.
Harvey won his second consecutive start after losing his first three. He overcame a first-inning home run by Zack Cosart and gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings. Mixing a changeup with a fastball that reached 97 mph, Harvey struck out a season-high seven and walked one.
Addison Reed pitched a perfect ninth for his first save. Coming off a weekend sweep at Atlanta, New York has won nine of 10 to close within 1½ games of NL East-leading Washington.
RANGERS 3, YANKEES 2: Elvis Andrus had a tiebreaking RBI triple, and host Texas overcame former Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez’s 100th homer in the stadium. A-Rod’s 690th career homer gave him triple digits in the Rangers’ ballpark. He hit 86 at home for Texas from 2001-03 and has 14 more in 65 games as a visitor there — first with Seattle and then after being traded to the Yankees.
INDIANS 6, TWINS 5: Francisco Lindor drove in three runs, and visiting Cleveland spoiled the big league debut of Jose Berrios, Minnesota’s top pitching prospect who gave up five runs and six hits with five strikeouts in four innings.
ORIOLES 3, RAYS 1: Joey Rickard hit a three-run home run, and Chris Tillman gave up two hits in 62⁄3 innings to help the visiting Baltimore break a three-game losing streak. Rickard’s blast was only the third home run in eight games for the Orioles, who have scored just five runs in their last four games.
PHILLIES 3, NATIONALS 0: Jeremy Hellickson allowed two hits over seven innings, his teammates eventually took advantage of Washington’s sloppiness to push across some runs, and Philadelphia won on the road.
GIANTS 13, PADRES 9: Brandon Belt was a homer short of the cycle and drove in five runs, Hunter Pence drove in a pair on three hits, and San Francisco completed a threegame sweep at home. RED SOX 9, BRAVES 4: Dustin Pedroia had a grand slam and a solo homer, David Ortiz passed two Hall of Fame Red Sox on the extra-base hits list, and Boston won at home even as it ended a 15-game homerless stretch.
TIGERS 9, ATHLETICS 4: Justin Verlander pitched impressively into the seventh inning, and J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez both homered at home.
WHITE SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 0: Dioner Navarro hit a goahead, two-run triple in the seventh inning, and visiting Chicago won its sixth straight game.