MLB scores: Yankees beat Rays for sixth win in seven games

New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez hits a two-run home run off of Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi in the second inning of a baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015, in New York. (AP /Kathy Kmonicek)

NEW YORK - Rookie Luis Severino won his third straight start and Alex Rodriguez hit his 681st career home run, sending the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Friday night for their sixth win in seven games.

Brian McCann and Greg Bird also homered for the Yankees, who hold the top AL wild-card spot and are trying to catch East-leading Toronto. New York won with just four hits -- an infield tapper and three long balls.

Evan Longoria hit his third homer in two games for the Rays, still on the edge of the wild-card race.

The 40-year-old Rodriguez gave the Yankees the lead with a two-run drive in the second inning and the 21-year-old Severino kept them ahead.

Severino (3-2) hit 97 mph with his fastball and threw shutout ball until Longoria's homer in the sixth. The righty has a 2.04 ERA after his first six big league starts.

Jake Odorozzi (6-8) gave up five runs, three hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings.

CUBS 14, DIAMONDBACKS 5

CHICAGO  -- Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam in Chicago's eight-run fifth inning, and rookie Addison Russell homered twice for the first time in his career to back Jon Lester.

Javier Baez added a two-run shot -- his first homer this season -- and went 3 for 4 in his third game since his recall from the minors as the Cubs rolled to their third win in five following a four-game losing streak.

Rizzo's 28th homer was his second career grand slam. Russell has three homers in his last four games and 12 this season.

Lester (9-10) was staked to an early lead and rebounded after being hit hard in two of three prior starts. The left-hander's command wasn't razor sharp, but good enough as he allowed two runs on five hits in five innings before four Cubs relievers finished.

Arizona rookie Zack Godley (4-1) gave up six runs, four hits and six walks in 3 2/3 innings.

INDIANS 8, TIGERS 1

DETROIT -- Jerry Sands homered, tripled and scored twice, and Josh Tomlin pitched a four-hitter to lead Cleveland.

The Indians have won 10 of 14 as they try to stay in the American League wild-card race. Detroit has lost seven of eight and been outscored 71-21 in that stretch.

Tomlin (4-1) was moved up a day after scheduled starter Corey Kluber couldn't overcome a hamstring strain sustained in a bullpen session earlier in the week. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five. His last complete game was June 28, 2014 in Seattle.

Kyle Lobstein (3-6), who had been sidelined since May 23 with a shoulder injury, allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.

ORIOLES 10, BLUE JAYS 2

TORONTO -- Chris Davis hit two home runs to take the major league lead with 40, Matt Wieters and Adam Jones both connected as Baltimore cruised past Toronto.

Ubaldo Jimenez (10-9) pitched 5 2/3 innings for the victory as the Orioles won consecutive games for the first time since beating Oakland on Aug. 16-17.

Toronto's lead atop the AL East shrank to one-half game as the second-place New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay 5-2.

Davis opened the scoring by leading off the second inning with a second-deck drive to right, then broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run shot in the sixth. Both homers came off Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison (13-3).

Davis moved past Seattle's Nelson Cruz for the home-run lead.

RED SOX 7, PHILLIES 5

BOSTON  -- Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a solo homer and David Ortiz an RBI double in Boston's four-run seventh inning as Joe Kelly won his seventh straight start.

Mookie Betts added an RBI double for Boston, which entered the weekend 10-1-2 in its last 13 series against the Phillies.

Odubel Herrera had a two-run homer and three hits for Philadelphia.

Kelly (9-6) gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. He's the first Red Sox pitcher since Josh Beckett in 2007 to win seven consecutive starts.

Robbie Ross Jr. struck out Ryan Howard for the final out of his first career save after closer Jean Machi gave up three runs in the ninth.

Leading 3-2, Boston broke it open in the seventh, chasing Adam Morgan (5-5).

NATIONALS 5 BRAVES 2, 10 innings

WASHINGTON -- Michael Taylor had a pinch-hit three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Washington.

Bryce Harper, who hit his 32nd homer in the first inning, singled off Matt Marksberry (0-3) leading off the 10th. Reliever Brandon Cunniff came on and Ryan Zimmerman grounded a single up the middle, sending Harper to third.

Taylor, who missed the last two games with a sore right knee, batted for Jonathan Papelbon and hit a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-centre for his 14th home run.

Washington tied the score on Matt den Dekker's RBI single with two outs in the ninth.

Papelbon (3-1), in his longest outing of the season, pitched two scoreless innings.

Freddie Freeman had three hits for the Braves, who have lost 10 in a row for the first time since 2006.

ASTROS 8, TWINS 0

HOUSTON -- Collin McHugh went 7 2/3 innings and Hank Conger hit a grand slam as the Houston Astros beat the Minnesota Twins.

McHugh (15-7) gave up seven hits and struck out six in picking up his second straight win. McHugh has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last six starts.

Colby Rasmus had two hits, including a monstrous two-run homer into the upper deck in right field in the second inning to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.

Conger upped the lead to 7-0 with the grand slam in the fourth into the Crawford Boxes in left field. After Evan Gattis, Jed Lowrie and Carlos Gomez led off the inning with singles, Mike Pelfrey (6-9) struck out the next two hitters to set up Conger's second grand slam of the season.

WHITE SOX 12, ROYALS 1

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- John Danks threw a seven-hitter and Adam Eaton matched his career high with four hits, including a three-run homer, to lead Chicago.

Alexei Ramirez also had four hits -- tying his career high -- drove in two runs and scored three times. Tyler Flowers also hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Eaton went back-to-back with Jose Abreu, his 25th, in a five-run eighth off Jeremy Guthrie.

Danks (7-12), who snapped a personal four-game losing streak, owns a 10-2 record in 21 career starts against the Royals. Three of his seven victories this season are over the AL Central-leading Royals.

After scoring 27 runs and notching 34 hits in crushing Detroit the previous two games, the Royals managed just seven hits off Danks.

The White Sox scored three runs in the first off Kris Medlen (3-1).

MARLINS 6, METS 5, 11 innings

MIAMI -- Martin Prado's fifth hit of the game was a two-out double in the 11th inning that scored Christian Yelich from first base and gave the Miami Marlins a 6-5 victory over the New York Mets.

The Mets tied the seesaw game with a run in the ninth but they stranded 13 runners, including three in the eighth and three more in the ninth.

Mets starter Jacob deGrom allowed nine hits and three runs in six innings. His ERA has climbed to 2.40 from 1.98 on Aug. 24, but he was in line for his 13th win before an uncharacteristically shaky showing by the bullpen in the seventh.

Rookie Michael Conforto, batting cleanup for the first time because injuries left the Mets short-handed, went 0 for 6 with an RBI. David Wright went 0 for 5.

PIRATES 9, CARDINALS 3

ST. LOUIS -- J.A. Happ pitched seven scoreless innings and Starling Marte drove in three runs to lead Pittsburgh past St. Louis.

Happ allowed only three singles and won for the fourth time in six starts since being acquired from Seattle at the July 31 trade deadline. He retired 15 straight batters in one stretch, matched his season-high with eight strikeouts and walked none. Happ (4-1) lowered his ERA with the Pirates to 1.57.

Pittsburgh ended a four-game losing streak and cut St. Louis' lead in the NL Central to 5 1/2 games. It was the Pirates' fourth win in their last 17 games at Busch Stadium.

Carlos Martinez (13-7), pitching for the first time in eight days, gave up four runs and seven hits and three walks in five innings.

ROCKIES 2, GIANTS 1

DENVER -- Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez hit consecutive homers in the first inning, backing a strong outing by Jorge De La Rosa as Colorado handed San Francisco its seventh straight loss.

De La Rosa (9-6) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven. Two of the strikeouts came in the sixth inning, helping him get out of a jam and he induced an inning-ending double play grounder from Juan Perez after giving up a one-out single to Kelby Tomlinson in the seventh.

Chris Heston (11-9) went 5 2-3 innings for the Giants and allowed seven hits and two runs, both on the solo homers in the first.

John Axford worked a scorless ninth for his 19th save.

ANGELS 5, RANGERS 2

ANAHEIM, California -- C.J. Cron tripled, doubled, singled and drove in five runs as Los Angeles downed Texas.

Garrett Richards (13-10) pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning of his seventh consecutive win over Texas, and the Angels opened a homestand with their third straight win.

Shin-Soo Choo had an RBI triple in the seventh for the Rangers, who had won six of seven.

Cron came through with a bases-loaded, two-out single in the third for the Angels' first runs against Martin Perez (2-4).

The streaky designated hitter added an RBI triple in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the seventh, improving to a jaw-dropping 23 for 50 (.460) with 17 RBIs against Texas this season.

DODGERS 8, PADRES 4

SAN DIEGO -- Justin Ruggiano and Adrian Gonzalez hit two-run homers and Chase Utley added a solo blast in a five-run sixth inning as Los Angeles hit five homers.

Carl Crawford and rookie Scott Schebler added solo home runs as the Dodgers increased their NL West lead to a season-high 7 1-2 games over San Francisco. The Dodgers, who have won nine of 11, lead the NL with 162 home runs.

Mike Bolsinger (6-3), who spent August with Triple-A Oklahoma City, allowed two hits in five innings, but they were both home runs. Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer in the first and Jedd Gyorko had a solo homer in the third.

Padres pinch-hitter Brett Wallace hit a solo homer in the eighth as the teams tied the Petco Park record for combined home runs in one game with eight.

Marcos Mateo (1-1), who faced two batters to start the sixth inning, took the loss.

MARINERS 11, ATHLETICS 8

OAKLAND, California -- Logan Morrison had three hits, including a two-run double as part of Seattle's six-run third inning.

Kyle Seager and Stefen Romero both homered while Brad Miller drove in three runs for the Mariners, who won their third straight to clinch the season series between the division rivals.

Jose Ramirez (1-0), the second of eight Seattle pitchers, retired five batters for the win.

The teams, which entered with the worst records in the AL West, combined for 28 hits, including six doubles, one triple and three home runs.

Danny Valencia had two hits, including a grand slam for Oakland.

Aaron Brooks (1-2) allowed six runs in 2 1-3 innings.