Victor Martinez matched a career-best with three home runs as Detroit pounded six as a team in a 10-4 win over Kansas City in Major League Baseball on Thursday.
Martinez hit a pair of solo shots and Nick Castellanos went deep before James McCann homered off Royals reliever Luke Hochevar (1-1) leading off the seventh to knot the game 4-all. Cabrera followed moments later with a two-run shot that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game.
Detroit added three more runs in the eighth before Martinez hit his third homer in the ninth. The veteran designated hitter’s other three-homer game came on July 16, 2004, at Seattle.
Photo: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY
Justin Verlander (7-5) allowed four runs on eight hits over seven innings, continuing his mastery of the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Verlander improved to 13-5 in 22 starts in the ballpark.
Elsewhere, Colby Lewis lost his no-hit bid for Texas in the ninth inning when Max Muncy opened with a double that glanced off right fielder Nomar Mazara’s glove in the Rangers’ 5-1 victory over Oakland.
Lewis was perfect until walking Yonder Alonso with two outs in the eighth. Two batters after Muncy’s hit, Lewis (6-0) lost his shutout when left fielder Ryan Rua could not make a diving catch on a hit by Coco Crisp that went for an RBI double.
Lewis walked one and struck out four in a two-hitter, matching the low-hit complete game of his MLB career.
In Boston, Tyler Wilson allowed three hits over eight innings and Adam Jones added a home run and three RBIs as Baltimore topped the Red Sox 5-1 for their second series win against their American League rivals this season.
Baltimore scored three runs in the first four innings, then added two in fifth. The Orioles have hit 33 home runs in their past 13 games. Wilson (3-5) was strong throughout, striking out six. Pitching on an extra day of rest, he held Boston to one hit through six innings.
In New York, Neil Walker and Michael Conforto gave the Mets an immediate jolt in their return from nagging injuries in a 6-4 win over Pittsburgh.
Curtis Granderson set a Mets record for leadoff homers, while Walker also went deep and had three RBIs against his former team after missing the previous three games with a sore lower back.
Conforto, who had not started since Saturday, landed on his ailing left wrist when he saved a run with a sensational diving catch in the first inning. Showing no ill effects, the left fielder followed Walker’s two-run shot in the third inning with a home run of his own to end a five-for-54 slump.
Toronto’s J.A. Happ allowed three hits and an unearned run in seven innings and the Blue Jays hit five home runs in a 13-2 victory over Philadelphia.
Happ (8-3) struck out five in improving to 4-0 against his former team. It was the Blue Jays’ third straight win over the Phillies and they have outscored them 31-7 in those games.
Kevin Pillar hit two homers and Edwin Encarnacion, Michael Saunders and Devon Travis added one apiece for the Blue Jays.
Didi Gregorius hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning and C.C. Sabathia had another strong start as the New York Yankees stopped a four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over Minneapolis.
Gregorius is 6 for 11 with seven RBIs in his last three games. Sabathia (5-4) needed 116 pitches to complete six innings, but he struck out seven and retired the last five batters he faced.
Seattle’s Lee Dae-ho drove in three runs and James Paxton (1-2) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings as the Mariners avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-4 win over Tampa Bay.
In Atlanta, Matt Wisler (3-7) allowed two runs and eight hits in 6-2/3 innings as the Braves topped Cincinnati 7-2. It was Wisler’s first win since May 20, ending a streak of four straight losses.
Washington got back-to-back homers Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos and a solo shot by Anthony Rendon in an 8-5 win over San Diego — the Nationals’ ninth win in their past 11 games.
And Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift Milwaukee to an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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