Kershaw strong in return, Dodgers snap skid
SAN DIEGO — Clayton Kershaw was sharp in his first start in five weeks, holding the San Diego Padres to two singles in six innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 1-0 on Friday night to snap their season-high five-game losing streak.
Kershaw (16-2) hadn’t started since July 23, when he was pulled after two innings with a strained lower back that landed him on the disabled list.
The lefty ace won his career-best 12th straight decision, striking out seven and walking none.
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save. The Dodgers, who have the majors’ best record at 92-41, snapped their longest losing streak since April 2016.
Chase Utley hit an RBI single in the sixth off rookie Dinelson Lamet (7-6).
• Indians 3, Tigers 2 and Indians 10, Tigers 10 — At Detroit: Mike Clevinger pitched six sharp innings and the Cleveland Indians swept a day-night doubleheader, routing Detroit for their ninth straight win.
The AL Central-leading Indians won the opener on Francisco Lindor’s tiebreaking single in the ninth inning.
Roberto Perez homered and drove in three runs to back Clevinger (8-5).
Clevinger allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one. Buck Farmer (32) took the loss.
The opener was tied at 2 in the ninth when pinch-hitter Jay Bruce tripled with one out off Shane Greene (3-3). Lindor singled through the drawn-in infield.
• Red Sox 4, Yankees 1 — At New York: Doug Fister dominated for seven innings and the Boston Red Sox backed him with three home runs to beat the Yankees and extend their AL East lead.
Eduardo Nunez, Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez each homered as the Red Sox opened a 5 1/2-game edge over New York.
Fister (4-7) gave up doubles by Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge to begin the first inning, and little else. He allowed four hits, struck out five and walked one.
• Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0, 13 innings — At Baltimore: Jonathan Schoop doubled home Manny Machado in the 13th inning as Baltimore outlasted Toronto.
It was the eighth win in nine games for the Orioles, a surge that’s put them just 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the top AL wild card.
Machado led off the 13th with an infield hit off Aaron Loup (2-3) and Schoop followed with a liner to rightcenter.
• Cubs 2, Braves 0 — At Chicago: John Lackey pitched seven crisp innings, Javier Baez’s daring baserunning paid off again and the Cubs beat Atlanta for their fifth straight win.
Lackey (11-10) allowed three hits, struck out five and walked none while improving to 6-1 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break. The 38year-old righty retired his last 16 batters.
Pedro Strop and Brian Duensing worked the eighth before Wade Davis finished the four-hitter for his 28th save in 28 chances.
• Brewers 1, Nationals 0 — At Milwaukee: Jimmy Nelson scattered three singles and struck out 11 over seven innings, and Milwaukee beat Washington.
Neil Walker, obtained from the New York Mets on Aug. 12, homered in the first inning off Tanner Roark (11-9).
Nelson (11-6) tied his career high in strikeouts. Rookie Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth inning and Corey Knebel struck out the side in the ninth for his 32nd save in 37 chances. Knebel has not allowed a run in his last 19 outings.
• Royals 7, Twins 6 — At Minneapolis: Mike Moustakas homered for the first time since mid-August, Brandon Moss also went deep and Kansas City held off Minnesota.
The Twins had won four in a row. They remain one game behind New York for the top AL wild-card spot.
Melky Cabrera tied a season-high with four hits for the Royals, who won for just the second time in eight games.
• Phillies 2, Marlins 1 — At Miami: Philadelphia was shut out for seven innings by major league newcomer Dillon Peters but rallied for two runs in the ninth and extended Miami’s losing streak to five.
Brad Ziegler (1-3) took a 1-0 lead and a 13-inning scoreless streak into the ninth, but Maikel Franco doubled and Jorge Alfaro tied it with a single. Andres Blanco’s groundout scored another run.
Philadelphia rookie Rhys Hoskins went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts, ending his 13-game hitting streak.
• Reds 7, Pirates 3 — At Pittsburgh: Adam Duvall drove in two runs to lead Cincinnati over Pittsburgh.
Asher Wojciechowski (4-3) earned the win in relief after moving to the bullpen from the rotation. He pitched two scoreless innings. He is 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA in 10 relief appearances this season.
Gerrit Cole (11-9) was touched for five earned runs and six hits in six innings after pitching five innings in a 1-0 victory over the Reds in his last start.
• Rangers 10, Angels 9 — At Arlington, Texas: Carlos Gomez scored the goahead run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and Texas moved up in the AL wild-card race, holding off Los Angeles.
The matchup took 4 hours, 33 minutes, setting franchise records for both teams as the longest nine-inning game in club history.
The Rangers stopped the Angels’ three-game winning streak and closed within three games of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot. Los Angeles is 1 1/2 games behind the Twins.
• Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 5 — At Denver: Taijuan Walker struck out a career-high 10, Daniel Descalso homered and surging Arizona beat Colorado for its eighth straight win.
The Diamondbacks increased their lead to 4 1/2 games over the Rockies for the top NL wild-card spot.
Walker (8-7) lasted only five innings due to a high pitch count. Kyle Freeland (11-9) took the loss.
• Rays 3, White Sox 1 — At Chicago: Logan Morrison hit his 34th homer and drove in three runs, Blake Snell pitched into the seventh inning to win his third straight decision and Tampa Bay topped Chicago.
Morrison, who had three hits, has five homers in his last five games. He’s hitting .480 (12 for 25) with 11 RBIs during that span.
Snell (3-6) allowed one unearned run and induced three double plays in 6 2/3 innings. Alex Colome got the final three outs for his major league-leading 41st save in 46 opportunities.