ASTROS END ORIOLES’ FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK
BALTIMORE» Rookie Yuli Gurriel had a career-high four hits, including a home run, and the Astros received a gritty pitching performance from Mike Fiers in an 8-7 victory over the Orioles on Friday.
Colin Moran hit his first major league homer and first triple for Houston, and Brian McCann also went deep.
The Astros took an 8-2 lead into the ninth before Adam Jones hit a two-run double off James Hoyt and Jonathan Schoop homered with two on against Chris Devenski.
After Chris Davis was thrown out trying to bunt against the shift, Ken Giles struck out Mark Trumbo to earn his 21st save.
Fiers (7-4) threw 105 pitches over seven innings. The right-hander struck out nine, including Jones three times, and allowed one run and six hits.
Baltimore’s four-game winning streak was snapped.
FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Paul DeJong hit a tiebreaking two-run double in St. Louis’ nine-run eighth inning, and the Cardinals cooled off the Cubs with an 11-4 victory. Chicago carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth, looking for its seventh consecutive win. But St. Louis sent 14 batters to the plate in its highestscoring inning of the season, taking advantage of a combined six walks by three relievers. … Aaron Nola tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in seven sharp innings, Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer and the Phillies beat the Brewers 6-1. Nola (7-6) allowed one run and five hits. He has six straight quality starts, going 4-1 and lowering his ERA from 4.76 to 3.38 in that span. The NL Central-leading Brewers have lost six in a row and their lead over the defending World Series champion Cubs is one game. … Elvis Andrus homered early, and then snapped a 10thinning tie with a two-out infield single that gave the Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Rays. … Edwin Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs against his former team, and the Indians broke open a close game with an eight-run seventh inning to rout the Blue Jays 13-3. Encarnacion, who played the last six seasons with Toronto before signing a three-year, $60 million contract with Cleveland in January, hit a leadoff home run in the second, broke a 3-all tie in the fifth with a two-run double and added an RBI single in the seventh. Encarnacion was 3-for-4 with a walk and nearly added to his total later in the seventh, but center fielder Kevin Pillar tracked down his fly ball on the warning track with two runners on. … Michael Conforto hit a pair of two-run homers and Jerry Blevins rescued the Mets’ bullpen with a five-out save as New York held off the Athletics 7-5 for its third straight victory. T.J. Rivera put the Mets ahead in the sixth inning with a two-run single that turned into a Little League home run. … Victor Martinez hit two home runs and the Tigers beat the Twins 6-3. Anibal Sanchez (2-0) gave up three runs and six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 5M innings for the Tigers. … Jose Urena pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Christian Yelich drove in two runs and the Marlins opened a six-game road trip with a rain-delayed 3-1 victory over the
FOOTNOTE
Mariners get Gonzales from Cardinals. The Mariners acquired young left-hander Marco Gonzales, a graduate of Rocky Mountain High School, from the Cardinals on Friday in exchange for top outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill.