M’s on Cruz control, dump Nats in D.C.
WASHINGTON — Nelson Cruz greeted reliever Jacob Turner with a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 Thursday to stop a fivegame losing streak.
Gio Gonzalez took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, when Jean Segura singled leading off and Guillermo Heredia took a called third strike. That prompted Seattle manager Scott Servais to complain from the dugout, which led to his ejection by plate umpire Adam Hamari.
Robinson Cano singled, and Washington manager Dusty Baker brought in Turner (2-3), despite Cruz having just one hit in 15 at-bats against Gonzalez. Cruz drove a belt-high slider over the fence in left-center for his 12th homer this season and a 3-2 lead.
RED SOX 6, RANGERS 2: Drew Pomeranz pitched six strong innings and tied his career high with 11 strikeouts to lift host Boston to a victory over Texas.
Xander Bogaerts and Deven Marrero hit their first home runs of the season helping Boston to their fourth straight win.
CUBS 5, GIANTS 1: Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist hit solo homers, spot starter Eddie Butler pitched five effective innings as host Chicago won it their third straight win. Mike Montgomery followed with four scoreless innings and allowed one hit in his first save.
Heyward went deep for the second time in three games and Zobrist added two PHOTO BY AP singles.
PIRATES 9, BRAVES 4: Ivan Nova pitched into the ninth inning, Adam Frazier hit a three-run homer and visiting Pittsburgh pounded Bartolo Colon.
This one was easy after Pittsburgh put up five runs in the third inning, capped by Frazier’s third homer this season. Colon (2-5) had another tough outing. One day after his 44th birthday, he allowed seven runs and 10 hits in a five-inning stint, raising his ERA to 6.96. An All-Star last season for the Mets, Colon has been charged with five or more runs in half of his 10 starts.
PHILLIES 2, ROCKIES 1 (11): Tommy Joseph hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and a winning single in the 11th, lifting host Philadelphia and stopping the Rockies from a four-game sweep.
RAYS 4, ANGELS 0: Matt Andriese allowed six hits over eight innings, Colby Rasmus drove in four runs and host Tampa salvaged a split of a four-game series.
D-BACKS 4, BREWERS 0: Robbie Ray pitched seven innings of two-hit ball to lower the NL’s second-best road ERA to 0.57, Gregor Blanco and Chris Owings homered, and visiting Arizona beat Milwaukee for their ninth win in 10 games.
ASTROS 7, TIGERS 6: Jake Marisnick hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning for Houston’s fourth homer of the game, lifting the home team to a victory over Detroit. Associated Press