Scott Kazmir pitched seven strong innings in his Houston debut to lead the Astros to a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
The 31-year-old left-hander limited the Royals to three singles and only runner — Mike Moustakas in the fourth — past first base. Kazmir (6-5), who lowered his ERA to 2.24, retired the final nine batters he faced.
Preston Tucker had three of the Astros’ hits, including his fourth home run in five games. Tucker hit a bases-loaded homer in the second.
Photo: AP
Colby Rasmus singled home Carlos Correa with the other run in the third.
Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie (7-6) gave up four runs on 11 hits, matching his season high, and two walks in seven innings.
CARDINALS 4, BRAVES 2
Photo: AFP
In St Louis, Missouri, Randal Grichuk homered and rookie Tim Cooney threw seven solid innings to earn his first major league win to lead St Louis to a victory over Atlanta.
St Louis improved to 6-1 since the All-Star break and pushed their home record to an MLB-best 35-12. Meanwhile, the Braves have lost their past six road games.
Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the second night in row. His 11th of the season came off rookie Manny Banuelos (1-2), who gave up six hits and four earned runs in five-plus innings.
Photo: AFP
Cooney (1-0) gave up five hits and two earned runs in an efficient 74-pitch stint. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
Kevin Siegrist retired the Braves in the ninth for his fifth save. He struck out Jonny Gomes with two on to end the game.
RANGERS 4, ANGELS 2
In Anaheim, California, Josh Hamilton doubled, singled and scored two runs in his return to Angel Stadium as Texas got seven-plus outstanding innings of four-hit ball from Colby Lewis in a victory over Los Angeles.
Hamilton’s double off the right-field wall started the Rangers’ three-run rally in the fourth.
Mike Trout hit his 29th home run, pulling even with Albert Pujols atop the AL homers race.
Lewis (10-4) shook off his dismal career history against the Angels to dominate their surging lineup, striking out nine while yielding only three infield singles and Trout’s solo homer in the fourth.
Tropeano (1-1) pitched seven-hit ball into the seventh inning of his second start for the Angels.
Shawn Tolleson pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
GIANTS 9, ATHLETICS 3
In San Francisco, Hunter Pence had four hits and drove in two runs and Brandon Belt had three RBIs as San Francisco won their third straight, beating Oakland.
Jake Peavy (2-4) pitched six strong innings to earn his second straight victory. Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 10 games with three hits and drove in a run, and Joe Panik and Angel Pagan each also drove in runs for the Giants, who won their ninth in 10 games.
Ben Zobrist hit a home run for the A’s, who lost their third in four games. Eric Sogard and Billy Burns, who left the game early with an injury, also drove in runs.
Peavy allowed three runs on five hits in just his sixth start of the year. Jesse Chavez (5-10) went a season-low three innings, giving up four runs and eight hits.
DODGERS 7, METS 2
In New York, Justin Turner homered and drove in three runs against his former club and emergency starter Ian Thomas hurled five effective innings as Los Angeles beat New York.
The Dodgers spoiled the major league debut of outfielder Michael Conforto, the Mets’ first-round draft pick last year, who was promoted from Double-A Binghamton earlier in the day. Conforto drove in the Mets’ first run with an RBI groundout in the fifth inning.
Thomas (1-1) allowed one run and three hits over five innings in his first major league start. The rookie left-hander pitched in place of All-Star Zack Greinke, who left the team on Thursday morning for the birth of his first child.
The Dodgers scored early and often off Mets starter Jonathan Niese (5-9), who allowed six runs and eight hits — including home runs by Turner and Yasiel Puig — in three innings.
PIRATES 7, NATIONALS 5
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gregory Polanco homered and drove in three runs as Pittsburgh exacted some measure of revenge against Max Scherzer and Washington.
Just more than a month after Scherzer no-hit the Pirates, Pittsburgh touched Washington’s ace for five runs in five innings before putting it away against reliever Sammy Solis (1-1).
Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez also homered off Scherzer, the most home runs Scherzer has given up in a game in nearly four years.
Vance Worley (4-5) picked up the win in relief. Mark Melancon worked around two hits in the ninth for his major-league leading 31st save.
Tyler Moore drove in two for the Nationals and Ian Desmond homered for the second straight night, but Washington could not rally on a rare off night by Scherzer.
TWINS 10, YANKEES 1
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings against his former team and Miguel Sano hit one of Minnesota’s four home runs in a victory over New York.
Hughes (9-6) gave up seven hits, struck out three and wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Trevor Plouffe went three for four with a homer and a double and Torii Hunter and Brian Dozier also went deep for the Twins.
Michael Pineda (9-7) gave up five runs on eight hits in 5-2/3 innings for the Yankees, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Mark Teixeira had three hits for New York (53-42), who fell to 23-25 on the road.
MARINERS 5, BLUE JAYS 2
In Seattle, Felix Hernandez pitched seven strong innings to pick up his 12th win of the season and Mark Trumbo gave Seattle the lead with a two-run homer as the Mariners beat Toronto.
Seattle opened a key six-game homestand by getting production throughout its batting order and another solid performance from its staff ace.
Trumbo’s opposite-field shot in the fourth off Toronto starter Marco Estrada (7-6) was his third homer since joining Seattle and gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Robinson Cano continued his hot month with a two-run triple in the fifth and later scored on a wild pitch with two outs to make it 5-1.
Jose Bautista hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for Toronto, and the Blue Jays threatened in the seventh with runners on the corners and two outs, but Hernandez (12-5) struck out Jose Reyes on three pitches.
In other results, it was:
‧ Padres 3, Marlins 1
‧ Red Sox 2, Tigers 1
‧ Rockies 6, Reds 5
‧ Brewers 2, Diamondbacks 1
‧ Rays 3, Orioles 1
‧ Phillies 5, Cubs 3
‧ White Sox 6, Indians 0
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