Mariners rip Rays
Tom Murphy homered twice and drove in four runs, Austin Nola also went deep and had three RBI, and the Seattle Mariners beat the playoff-contending Tampa Bay Rays, 9-3, last night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Murphy, who had three hits and a walk, hit a threerun drive in the first inning and added a solo shot in the fifth. He has 15 homers in 52 games this season.
Nola had a two-run homer during a four-run second off Rays two-way player Brendan McKay (2-3) and an RBI single in the fourth.
Marco Gonzales (13-10) went five innings, giving up three runs and five hits to get the win.
Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows homered for Tampa Bay, which is 2-2 on a six-game homestand against Detroit and Seattle. The Rays had their lead on Oakland for the second AL wild card cut to one game.
Tampa Bay dropped to 3330 at home.
Royals 5, Orioles 4 — Nicky Lopez and Nick Dini homered on successive pitches in the seventh inning and Kansas City stretched host Baltimore’s latest losing streak to eight games.
National League
Cardinals 3, Brewers 0 — Dakota Hudson and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, and Paul DeJong blasted a homer to lead host St. Louis past Milwaukee in a series opener between NL Central contenders.
Yasmani Grandal’s ground-rule double with two outs in the eighth inning off Giovanny Gallegos was Milwaukee’s only hit. Hudson was lifted with two outs in the seventh after throwing 111 pitches, and Andrew Miller got four outs for his fifth save.
St. Louis increased its division lead to a half-game on the idle Chicago Cubs. Third-place Milwaukee is three games back.
Padres 3, Reds 2 — Francisco Mejía helped his team move closer to the club record for home runs with his solo shot off the foul pole, Manny Machado had another big hit off Trevor Bauer, and San Diego won in Cincinnati.
Kirby Yates escaped a bases-loaded threat in the ninth to save San Diego’s third straight win.
Nationals 13, Pirates 0 — Asdrúbal Cabrera hit the last of his team’s four home runs and drove in five runs, and three relievers combined for 6⅔ innings of one-hit ball as Washington thumped host Pittsburgh.
Nats ace Max Scherzer is expected to come off the injured list to start Thursday against Pittsburgh.
Elsewhere in baseball — The Braves have claimed outfielder Billy Hamilton off waivers from the Kansas City Royals to bolster their injury plagued roster . ...
Twins slugger Nelson Cruz (wrist) was reinstated from the injured list after the minimum 10 days.