A’s top Blue Jays

OAKLAND, Calif. — Melky Cabrera couldn’t corral Nick Punto’s double with one out in the 12th inning, sending the Oakland Athletics to a 1-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

Derek Norris had a leadoff walk in the Oakland 12th against Chad Jenkins (0-1). After Jed Lowrie lined out, Punto hit a slicing double down the line in left.

Cabrera moved to his right to cut off the ball, which squirted by his glove for an error. Norris scored from first for an odd ending to a game highlighted by stellar pitching performances by starters Tommy Milone of Oakland and Marcus Stroman of Toronto.

Dan Otero (7-1), the fifth Oakland reliever to toss a scoreless inning, earned the win.

DODGERS 9, ROCKIES 0

DENVER — Clayton Kershaw nearly had no-hit stuff against Colorado again, allowing only two singles over eight masterful innings as the Dodgers beat the Rockies.

Kershaw (10-2) extended his scoreless streak to 36 innings before being replaced by a pinch hitter in the ninth.

The hard-throwing lefty bottled up the top-hitting team in the majors in nearly matching the no-hitter he threw against the Rockies on June 18 at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw struck out eight and walked one.

Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer and Scott Van Slyke added a three-run homer as the Dodgers had a season-high 19 hits.

Jair Jurrjens (0-1) struggled in his first big-league start in a year, lasting 4 2-3 innings and giving up eight runs.

YANKEES 6, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS — Brian Roberts hit three doubles and a triple, leading the Yankees to the road win.

David Huff (2-0) struck out three in three perfect innings after New York starter Chase Whitley faltered, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a two-run single in the second against Twins starter Kyle Gibson (7-7).

Brian Dozier and Chris Colabello homered, but the Twins lost for the ninth time in 11 games. David Robertson notched his 20th save in the ninth after a two-out double by Kurt Suzuki.

This Independence Day game, pitting the Yankees and Twins at Target Field for the second straight year, was preceded by a ceremony for the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s moving farewell address, shortly after he was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disease that later took his name. Players from both teams read prerecorded portions of the speech.

PIRATES 8, PHILLIES 2

PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen had four hits and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs, powering Pittsburgh to the victory.

Mercer had two of Pittsburgh’s 13 hits, and each of the Pirates’ eight position players who started the game had at least one.

Pittsburgh jumped on Roberto Hernandez in the first inning, sending nine men to the plate and scoring four times. All the runs scored with two outs against Hernandez, who threw 45 pitches in the inning.

Gerrit Cole (7-4) pitched five scoreless innings for the Pirates in his second start since coming off the disabled list.

Hernandez (3-8) settled down after the rough first and pitched 5 2-3 innings. He gave up five runs and 10 hits.

CUBS 7, NATIONALS 2

WASHINGTON — Justin Ruggiano homered for the second straight game for the Cubs, who got another solid outing from Jason Hammel in the win.

Ruggiano connected for a solo shot against Tanner Roark (7-6) in the third inning, and then added a run-scoring single in Chicago’s three-run ninth. He has six hits and seven RBIs in his last two games.

Chris Coghlan had two hits and scored three times as the Cubs collected 14 hits in their fourth consecutive victory.

Hammel (8-5) gave up two runs in six-plus innings in his second consecutive victory against Washington. Hammel, who also had an RBI single, improved to 8-0 with a 3.11 ERA in 10 career starts against the Nationals.

ROYALS 7, INDIANS 1

CLEVELAND — Yordano Ventura pitched 8 1-3 stellar innings and Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer to help the Royals beat the Indians.

Ventura (6-7) blanked the Indians on four hits until Michael Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the ninth. The rookie right-hander was pulled after Jason Kipnis’ one-out single. Ventura allowed six hits and struck out four in the longest outing of his career.

Salvador Perez and Christian Colon, making his first major-league start, had three hits apiece while Lorenzo Cain snapped an 0 for 11 skid with an RBI single in the third and a run-scoring double in the fifth.

Josh Tomlin (5-6), coming off a one-hit, no-walk, 11-strikeout performance against Seattle, allowed five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.

PADRES 2, GIANTS 0

SAN DIEGO — Eric Stults pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in nearly two months and Alexi Amarista homered to lead the Padres to a win over the Giants.

Stults (3-11), winless in his last nine starts, was victorious for the first time since a 9-3 victory over Miami on May 10. The lefty held the Giants to four hits with six strikeouts and two walks as he snapped a six-start losing streak.

Matt Cain (1-7) pitched well but had little to show for it as he lost his fourth consecutive decision and is winless in seven starts.

The Padres won their season-high fifth straight game as they faced the Giants for the first time since they were no-hit by Tim Lincecum on June 25 in San Francisco. Lincecum is scheduled to start on Sunday.

REDS 4, BREWERS 2

CINCINNATI — Alfredo Simon moved into a tie for the National League lead with his 11th win and Billy Hamilton homered as the Reds snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Brewers.

Skip Schumaker and Joey Votto had run-scoring doubles for the Reds, who were coming off being swept in a three-game series at San Diego.

Simon (11-3), making his career-high 17th start, overcame Jonathan Lucroy’s home run to move into a tie with the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright for the NL lead in wins.

The Central Division-leading Brewers dropped their fourth straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

Simon allowed six hits and two runs with two walks, three strikeouts and a wild pitch in 7 1-3 innings to improve to 5-0 over his last seven starts.

RAYS 6, TIGERS 3

DETROIT — Evan Longoria homered, Ben Zobrist doubled twice and the Rays finally broke through offensively against Detroit, beating the Tigers.

The Rays had gone 19 straight games against the Tigers without scoring more than four runs, a streak that went back more than three years. Tampa Bay had seven extra-base hits Friday, including a two-run triple by Sean Rodriguez in the sixth.

Alex Cobb (4-6) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings for the Rays, and their bullpen allowed only one baserunner. Brad Boxberger pitched two perfect innings of relief, Joel Peralta worked the eighth, and Jake McGee finished for his fourth save.

Detroit’s Drew Smyly (4-8) allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

There were three hit batsmen, and umpires warned both benches in the sixth. After the warnings, Rays manager Joe Maddon argued and was ejected.

WHITE SOX 7

MARINERS 1

CHICAGO — Jose Abreu hit his 27th home run, Chris Sale struck out a season-high 12 in a complete game and the White Sox beat the Mariners.

Sale (8-1) allowed six hits and walked none in his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season and 14th of his career.

Dayan Viciedo and Paul Konerko also homered for the White Sox, who have won five of seven.

Willie Bloomquist went 2 for 4 for the Mariners, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Rookie Roenis Elias (7-7) allowed five runs in five innings. He struck out six and walked one.

Viciedo went 4 for 4 including a leadoff homer in the fourth that gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead. His 10th homer came on a 2-1 pitch.

The White Sox added four runs in the fifth.

CARDS 3, MARLINS 2

ST. LOUIS — Lance Lynn bounced back from his worst start of the season with 6 2-3 scoreless innings and the Cardinals placed consecutive two-out RBI doubles just out of right fielder Giancarlo Stanton’s reach in a three-run sixth of a victory over the Marlins.

Stanton, who entered with an NL-leading 21 homers and 61 RBIs, was 0 for 4. He punched the padded wall in frustration after his glove failed him for the second time, and Marlins starter Nathan Eovaldi (5-4) also showed frustration when he slammed his glove into the dugout on his way off the field after the inning.

The first four Marlins reached safely in the ninth before Trevor Rosenthal earned his 26th save in 29 chances. Christian Yelich’s RBI single eluded a sliding Matt Holliday in left and Stanton walked with the bases loaded before Casey McGehee grounded into a game-ending double play.

METS 6, RANGERS 5

NEW YORK — Travis d’Arnaud snapped an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double and the Mets overcame an early injury to starter Jonathon Niese, beating the skidding Rangers to stop a four-game slide.

Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer, and the Mets opened a 10-game homestand with their second victory in nine games. Niese left in the first with a bruised lower back after he was hit by Alex Rios’ line drive. X-rays were negative, the team said.

Star third baseman David Wright missed his seventh straight game with a sore left shoulder, but fill-in Eric Campbell had three hits and an RBI for New York. Carlos Torres, pressed into long relief when Niese was injured, gave up two runs in 4 2-3 valuable innings.

Jenrry Mejia (5-3) retired Rios with two runners in scoring position to end the eighth.

BRAVES 5

DIAMONDBACKS 2

ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, Ervin Santana won his second straight start, and the Braves stretched their winning streak to eight games with a victory over the Diamondbacks.

The Braves (48-38) have won 10 of 11 to move 10 games over .500 for the first time since April 29. They lead the NL East by 1½ games.

Santana (7-5) gave up six hits and two runs with one walk and six strikeouts in 7 1-3 innings.

Arizona began the night tied with Houston for most losses in the majors with 50. The Diamondbacks have lost seven of 11.

After earning three victories from June 20-28, Arizona’s Josh Collmenter (7-5) allowed five runs, 11 hits, one walk, and struck out three in six-plus innings.