Harper, Nats sweep Pirates; Tigers’ Martinez hits 3 HRs

WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper and Yunel Escobar homered during a nine-run burst in the first inning, leading the Washington Nationals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-2 on Sunday.

Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings as the Nationals completed a three-game sweep.

Pittsburgh arrived at Nationals Park this weekend with an eight-game winning streak but was stopped by the pitching-rich Nationals. Max Scherzer came within one strike of a perfect game while throwing a no-hitter Saturday, and rookie Joe Ross struck out 11 in the series opener.

TIGERS 12, YANKEES 4: J.D. Martinez hit three homers and had six RBIs, and Detroit busted out for a victory over New York at Yankee Stadium to snap a four-game skid.

RED SOX 13, ROYALS 2: David Ortiz passed two Hall of Famers with his 476th home run, and Boston won at Kansas City. Ortiz moved past Stan Musial and Willie Stargell into 28th place on the career home run list.

BRAVES 1, METS 0: Julio Teheran threw seven scoreless innings, Pedro Ciriaco’s pinch-hit single in the seventh scored the only run, and Atlanta completed a three-game sweep.

ORIOLES 13, BLUE JAYS 9: J.J. Hardy hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and Baltimore recovered after blowing a seven-run lead to win at Toronto.

INDIANS 1, RAYS 0: Roberto Perez slid home with the winning run on David Murphy’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth as Cleveland walked off with a win over Tampa Bay.

PHILLIES 9, CARDINALS 2: Adam Morgan won his major league debut, leading Philadelphia past visiting St. Louis.

ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 2: Scott Kazmir pitched into the eighth inning, and Oakland withstood Albert Pujols’ ALleading 21st home run to beat visiting Los Angeles.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, PADRES 2: A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt each singled home a pair in a seven-run second inning, and Arizona went on to beat San Diego at home.

CUBS 8, TWINS 0: Jake Arrieta pitched a four-hitter, and Dexter Fowler hit a grand slam, lifting Chicago to a road win.

WHITE SOX 3, RANGERS 2: Gordon Beckham led off the bottom of the 11th with a homer to lift Chicago past Texas.

DODGERS 10, GIANTS 2: Yasmani Grandal hit two of Los Angeles’ four homers as the Dodgers routed San Francisco.

ROCKIES 10, BREWERS 4: Charlie Blackmon drove in four runs, and Colorado hammered Milwaukee at home.

REDS 5, MARLINS 2: Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce hit tworun homers, leading Cincinnati past visiting Miami.