Rockies cool off Strasburg

Associated Press

DENVER — Todd Helton hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies cooled off Stephen Strasburg with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.

Jeff Francis pitched five effective innings as the Rockies won for just the fourth time in 18 games. Dexter Fowler had two hits and Carlos Gonzalez delivered a tying RBI single.

Strasburg (9-2) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He was bidding to become the first Washington-based pitcher to win seven straight starts since Bob Porterfield did it in his final seven starts for the Senators in 1953. The last pitcher from the Nationals franchise to win seven straight starts was Pedro Martinez in 1997 for the Montreal Expos, who moved to Washington.

Nationals rookie Bryce Harper went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Josh Roenicke (3-0) followed Francis with two scoreless innings. Matt Belisle worked the eighth and Rafael Betancourt finished for his 12th save.

CARDS 8, MARLINS 7 (10)

MIAMI — Rafael Furcal and pinch-hitting pitcher Joe Kelly drove in runs in the 10th inning and St. Louis held on for its fourth straight victory.

Yadier Molina hit a two-run homer off Miami reliever Heath Bell in the ninth, capping a four-run inning and tying it at 6.

Jason Motte allowed John Buck’s RBI single before getting Jose Reyes to fly out with two on and two outs for his 15th save.

Victor Marte (2-1) got the win, and Chad Gaudin (1-1) was charged with the loss.

The Marlins have lost 16 of 19.

GIANTS 8, DODGERS 0

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run double and sacrifice fly to help San Francisco’s Barry Zito end a three-start losing streak.

Angel Pagan and Hector Sanchez each drove in two runs as the Giants pulled within two games of the Dodgers for their closest position to first place in the division since April 7.

Zito (6-5), who had allowed 17 runs in 14 1-3 innings for a 10.67 ERA during the skid, gave up three hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked three.

Nathan Eovaldi (0-4) was tagged for a season-high eight runs and 10 hits in five innings, stretching his winless stretch to 11 starts since a victory in his major league debut last Aug. 6 at Arizona.

PHILLIES 8, PIRATES 3

PHILADELPHIA — Joe Blanton threw seven effective innings and Jimmy Rollins homered for the fourth time in five games for Philadelphia.

Blanton (7-6) allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits, striking out eight.

The Phillies are 15-2 against the Pirates in their last 17 meetings at Citizens Bank Park.

Jeff Karstens (0-2) gave up seven runs — six earned — and 11 hits in five innings in his first start since April 17. Karstens was on the disabled list with hip and shoulder issues.

Jose Tabata hit a solo homer for the Pirates and also made two throwing errors in Philadelphia’s four-run first inning.

REDS 3, BREWERS 1

CINCINNATI — Mat Latos fanned a personal-best 13 batters in his second career complete game, helping the Reds to the victory.

The NL Central leaders won for only the second time in seven games. The Brewers, who won the division last year, have dropped eight of 13, falling 7½ games back — one shy of their season high.

Latos (6-2) gave up four hits, including a drive by Norichika Aoki that made it 63 straight games at Great American Ball Park with at least one homer. Latos also singled twice, matching a career high.

Jay Bruce doubled home two runs in the fourth off Yovani Gallardo (6-6), who allowed four hits over six innings. Brandon Phillips had an RBI double in the eighth.

Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, ending his hitting streak at 18 games.

CUBS 6, METS 1

CHICAGO — Joe Mather homered and Travis Wood outpitched Johan Santana, helping the Cubs snap a four-game skid.

Wood (2-3) struck out six and scattered five hits over seven scoreless innings to earn his second straight victory. The 25-year-old left-hander has given up just eight runs in 31 2-3 innings this month. Four of those five starts came against former Cy Young Award winners.

The Cubs scored four unearned runs in the seventh inning with help from three Mets errors, including three-base miscues by third baseman David Wright and right fielder Lucas Duda.

Santana (5-4) gave up five hits and two runs over six innings.

Mather hit a two-run shot with two out in the fourth.

PADRES 8, ASTROS 7 (10)

HOUSTON — Carlos Quentin hit an RBI double in the 10th inning to lift the Padres to the victory.

Chase Headley walked with one out and stole second before Quentin drove him in with a drive to right-center against Brandon Lyon (0-2).

San Diego grabbed a 7-6 lead on Jesus Guzman’s two-run homer in the eighth inning but Jason Castro tied it with a solo shot in the bottom half.

Dale Thayer (1-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win and Huston Street finished for his 11th save.

Brian Bixler and Carlos Lee homered in the first inning for Houston.

Yankees 8, Indians 1

NEW YORK — Robinson Cano homered and drove in three runs, Hiroki Kuroda took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-1 on Monday night.

Nick Swisher and Dewayne Wise also went deep for the homer-happy Yankees, who opened a seven-game homestand against the top two teams in the AL Central with their third consecutive victory and 13th in 16 games. New York roughed up Josh Tomlin (3-5) early and breezed the rest of the way.

Kuroda (7-7) improved to 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last six starts.

Cano, who hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Sunday night against the New York Mets, picked up where he left off. He smacked a two-run double in the first inning and a solo homer in the third. Cano has hit six of his 17 homers in the last eight games.

The Indians dropped their third straight following a four-game winning streak.

ROYALS 8, RAYS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luke Hochevar tossed his second career shutout, Eric Hosmer homered and Yuniesky Betancourt drove in three runs to lead Kansas City.

Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon both had three hits for the Royals, who were coming off an embarrassing sweep at the hands of St. Louis in which they were outscored 30-14.

Hochevar (5-7) provided some much-needed rest for their weary bullpen. He struck out eight and extended his streak of scoreless inning to 16 2-3 innings. No Royals starter had even gone eight innings so far this season.

Alex Cobb (3-4) had his first career complete game for Tampa Bay, allowing 13 hits in falling to 1-4 in his last five starts. The banged-up Rays came into the game off a double-header sweep of Philadelphia.

TIGERS 8, RANGERS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, Rick Porcello struck out seven in six innings, and Detroit beat Texas.

After their first 12 batters, the Tigers had already roughed up Rangers rookie right-hander Justin Grimm (1-1) for six runs and eight hits. They had only five runs and 15 hits while losing two of three in Pittsburgh over the weekend.

In a rematch of last year’s AL championship series, Cabrera put the Tigers ahead to stay with a two-run double in the first.

Josh Hamilton hit his first homer in 12 games for Texas, a two-run shot in the seventh. It was his 23rd of the season.

Porcello (5-5) won for the second time in nine starts.

TWINS 4, WHITE SOX 1

MINNEAPOLIS — Francisco Liriano spoiled Kevin Youkilis’ first game with Chicago, throwing a season-high seven innings to lead Minnesota over the White Sox.

Liriano (2-7) allowed just three singles, two walks and a double. The left-hander struck out five and won for the first time this month. He held Chicago without a run until Alexei Ramirez’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

Jared Burton notched the save for the second straight game for the Twins, filling in for injured closer Matt Capps.

Youkilis, acquired from Boston on Sunday, singled in the eighth inning for his first hit as Chicago’s new third baseman. It wasn’t enough for Jake Peavy (6-4), who is 0-3 in five June starts.

Peavy struck out seven and walked one in six innings, but he gave up 10 hits.

BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 6

BOSTON — Jose Bautista, Colby Rasmus and J.P. Arencibia hit two-run homers to lead Toronto past Boston despite two home runs by David Ortiz that tied him for the most multihomer games in Red Sox history.

It was the fourth win in six games for Toronto, which overcame three errors and blew an early four-run lead.

Ortiz hit a two-run homer and a solo shot, his 37th multihomer game for the Red Sox, tying Ted Williams for the club record. He has 398 homers, moving him into a tie with Dale Murphy for 51st place on baseball’s career list.

Henderson Alvarez (4-6) pitched five innings before leaving because of right elbow soreness. He allowed five runs — three earned — and six hits to snap a four-game losing streak. Casey Janssen struck out the side in the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities.

Boston’s Felix Doubront (8-4) gave up seven runs — five earned — and 11 hits in six innings.

ATHLETICS 1, MARINERS 0

SEATTLE (AP) — Tommy Milone became the first Oakland rookie to earn eight wins before the All-Star break by beating Seattle.

Milone (8-5) allowed seven hits, struck out five and didn’t walk anyone in his second straight superb outing. The left-hander threw the first complete game by a rookie in the majors this season in a three-hit victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday.

Grant Balfour pitched one inning, and Ryan Cook finished in the ninth for his fifth save in seven opportunities.

Seth Smith hit a first-pitch fastball from Erasmo Ramirez (0-2) for his eighth homer of the season.

Ramirez, in his third career start, gave up three hits in his seven innings. He walked one and struck a career-high 10.

It was the ninth time this season the Mariners have been shut out. Seattle has lost 10 of 15 and has gone 23 innings without scoring a run. Oakland tossed its eighth shutout and won for the 10th time in 13 games.