Vogelsong stifles Mets

NEW YORK — Ryan Vogelsong’s strategy in the dugout before the ninth inning was simple: keep quiet.

Tired but eager for a shot at his first nine-inning complete game, the right-hander chose not to answer his coaches when asked how he was feeling.

He was just fine, finishing off his second career complete game with a perfect ninth to lead the San Francisco Giants to a swift 5-1 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night for their second straight win after a six-game skid.

“I just kind of didn’t answer them because I didn’t want to come out,” said Vogelsong, who had a six-inning complete game against the Cubs in 2011. “It was something I wanted to do.”

Vogelsong (6-8) faced 28 batters, one over the limit, allowing Juan Lagares’ soft single leading off the sixth and Lucas’ Duda’s 20th homer to start the eighth. In ending a five-decision losing skid, he walked one and got two double plays. Vogelsong threw 102 pitches in the game that took 2 hours, 6 minutes.

Brandon Crawford had a run-scoring single, Matt Duffy an RBI single for his first big league hit and Hunter Pence added a two-run triple and RBI groundout off Jonathon Niese (5-7) for San Francisco.

The Giants were coming off a horrid homestand in which they lost five of six to fall out of first place in the NL West. They improved to 30-20 on the road.

“We normally play very well at home,” Bochy said. “We just have a tough time scoring runs there. I don’t know what to do to change it but we’re working on it.”

After giving Vogelsong no run support in five of his last six outings, the Giants got on the board in the second thanks in part to Niese’s throwing error.

Juan Perez led off with a double. Gregor Blanco then bounced back to Niese. The left-hander tried to nab Perez, who got caught off second, but he bounced the throw and Perez raced into third. Crawford followed with an RBI single and Pence drove in another with a grounder.

“It’s unfortunate, because that’s a situation where I can’t make a mistake, and I did,” Niese said. “Just made a mistake and paid for it, costing us runs and, ultimately, the game.”

Pence tripled to right-center after Crawford tripled down the right field line and Vogelsong was hit by a pitch in the seventh. Pence was 4 for 33 coming in.

Niese pitched 8-plus innings and allowed nine hits and five runs — three earned. He hit two batters.

ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 1

BALTIMORE — Wei-Yin Chen won his fifth consecutive start and had a season-high eight strikeouts to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Baltimore has won nine of its past 11 games and remained atop the AL League East. An RBI single by Manny Machado in the third, snapped the Orioles’ scoreless streak at 19 innings,

Chen (12-3) allowed one run and five hits with one walk over 7 1-3 innings. Andrew Miller, acquired from Boston on Thursday, pitched a scoreless eighth in his debut for the Orioles (61-47). Left-hander Zach Britton picked up his 22nd save.

Mariners left-hander Roenis Elias (8-9) allowed two runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over 5 2-3 innings. It was his longest outing since June 28 against Cleveland.

INDIANS 12

RANGERS 2

CLEVELAND — David Murphy was 4 for 4 with two RBIs against his former team, Danny Salazar allowed an unearned run in six innings, and the Indians routed the Rangers.

Murphy, who played for Texas from 2007-13 before signing a two-year contract with the Indians in November, had a two-run double in the fifth when Cleveland scored six times. He doubled in the second and added singles in the fourth and sixth.

Murphy also threw out a runner at home from right field in the second to end the Rangers’ scoring threat.

Salazar (4-4) won his third straight start since being recalled from the minors last month. The right-hander was moved into Friday’s start to replace Justin Masterson, who was traded to St. Louis on Wednesday.

TIGERS 4, ROCKIES 2

DETROIT — Justin Verlander equaled his longest outing of the season, pitching eight solid innings to lift the Tigers to a victory over the Rockies.

A day after the AL Central-leading Tigers added star left-hander David Price to their rotation, Verlander (10-9) showed signs that he might be rounding into form. He allowed two runs and eight hits, striking out five without a walk. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 4.66.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 27 chances, retiring Charlie Blackmon on a flyout with two on to end it.

Franklin Morales (5-6) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out two.

ANGELS 5, RAYS 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton homered to help the Angels beat the Rays.

Trout hit his 25th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Jeremy Hellickson (0-1) during a three-run first that put the Angels up 3-0.

Los Angeles went ahead 4-1 on Hamilton’s solo homer in the third. The slugger was hit by Jeff Beliveau’s pitch in the seventh inning and later left with a bruised left middle finger.

After Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth against Huston Street, the closer got his fifth save since being acquired from San Diego on July 18 by striking out Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist, and getting Matt Joyce on a pop fly. Zobrist had a potential extra-base hit go foul down the right field line.

RED SOX 4, YANKEES 3

BOSTON — Anthony Ranaudo pitched six solid innings in his major league debut and Dustin Pedroia drove in two runs as the Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Yankees.

Ranaudo (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits, including a solo homer Carlos Beltran hit into the New York bullpen in the fourth. Ranaudo walked four and struck out two, and he scattered the few mistakes he made well enough for Boston to hang on after taking a 2-0 lead in the third.

Derek Jeter led off the eighth with a shot over the Green Monster to pull the Yankees within 4-3, but they failed to drive Mark Teixeira for the tying run after his ground-rule double with one out.

Koji Uehara pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.

ASTROS 3, BLUE JAYS 1

HOUSTON — Gregorio Petit’s first career home run put Houston on top in the eighth inning and the Astros held on for a win over the Blue Jays, snapping Toronto’s six-game winning streak.

The game was tied at 1-1 when Petit launched Aaron Loup’s first pitch into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in left field to give the Astros the lead. Jose Altuve connected on the next pitch by Loup (3-3) for a ground-rule double before stealing third base.

Houston got an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Robbie Grossman.

Jose Veras (1-1) got the last two outs of the eighth inning for the win and Chad Qualls threw a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

WHITE SOX 10, TWINS 8

CHICAGO — Jose Abreu reached base five times while extending his hitting streak to 21 games, and the White Sox scored four runs in the eighth inning to beat the Twins.

Abreu had three singles, scored twice and drove in a run. He also walked and was hit by a pitch.

Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez delivered consecutive RBI singles in the eighth to give Chicago an 8-7 lead. Tyler Flowers added a run-scoring single in the inning after hitting a solo homer earlier in the game. Alejandro De Aza capped the decisive rally with another RBI single, and the White Sox overcame a shaky start by Chris Sale to win for the sixth time in eight games.

BREWERS 7, CARDS 4

ST. LOUIS — Wily Peralta won his 13th game to tie for the National League lead and Aramis Ramirez powered the Milwaukee Brewers with a home run and RBI double off Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.

Jonathan Lucroy’s bases-clearing double chased Wainwright (13-6) in a four-run sixth inning that put Milwaukee up by six. The NL Central leaders are three games ahead of the Cardinals.

Matt Carpenter had two hits and three RBIs and Matt Holliday homered for St. Louis, which has lost three of four.

Peralta, Wainwright and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw all have 13 wins. Last year, the 25-year-old Peralta (13-6) was 11-15 with a 4.37 ERA in his first full season in the majors.

PHILS 2, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON — Marlon Byrd hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning, Roberto Hernandez pitched eight strong innings and the Phillies beat the Nationals.

Grady Sizemore and Cody Asche had two hits apiece for Philadelphia.

Hernandez (6-8) allowed an unearned run on five singles. He retired the last 10 batters he faced and 17 of the last 18. Over his last four starts, Hernandez is 3-0 with a 1.88 earned run average, including two wins against Washington while allowing no earned runs over 15 1-3 innings.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 26th save. He allowed a pair of one-out singles before striking out Bryce Harper and Nationals newcomer Asdrubal Cabrera.

NL-East leading Washington has lost four of five.

REDS 5, MARLINS 2

MIAMI — Mat Latos pitched seven strong innings, Ryan Ludwick drove in two runs, and the Reds beat the Marlins.

Latos (3-3), who hails from nearby Coconut Creek, beat the Marlins for the first time in eight career starts. He allowed one run on five hits and four walks while striking out five.

Aroldis Chapman got the last three gouts for his 25th save in 27 chances.

Marlins All-Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton homered in his third consecutive game to give him a National League-best 26. Jarred Cosart (0-1) gave up four runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings in his Marlins debut one day after being acquired from Houston.

Miami has lost three straight after winning six in a row.