Marlins fight off Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — Matt Adams had a sweet swing against Henderson Alvarez, finishing the day with a career-best four hits. Kolten Wong homered in his return from the disabled list.

The St. Louis Cardinals didn’t get anything from the rest of the lineup, losing 8-4 to the Miami Marlins on Sunday and dropping two of three to their spring training partners.

Wong, a former University of Hawaii standout from Hilo, went 2 for 4 with a solo homer, an RBI and he scored twice in his first game back after a rehab assignment in Memphis.

“We can’t say we had a lot of chances,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We had a couple.”

Matheny said closer Trevor Rosenthal was unavailable after a pair of extended outings in the first two games of the series, and the bullpen was worn out in general.

Cardinals rookie Marco Gonzales (0-2) allowed a run in 4 2-3 innings despite giving up seven hits and walking five in his third career start since being recalled from Double-A Springfield. The 22-year-old Gonzales, a first-round draft pick last year, yielded five runs in each of his first two starts.

“I don’t know if I’d consider it the best of the three,” Gonzales said. “I just went out and competed.”

Matheny said fellow rookie lefty Nick Greenwood, who allowed three runs on five hits in two innings, deserved better. He noted the Marlins’ first four runs came on two-out grounders that got through the infield.

The Cardinals had few opportunities against Alvarez.

“I know we’re always looking for those big hits,” Matheny said. “We don’t care if they’re on the ground, just like I’m sure over there they could care less how they got them.”

Alvarez started the key rally with the first of his career-best three hits. Casey McGehee extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games with an RBI single in the first. Marcell Ozuna had a two-run single in a three-run sixth that made it 4-0, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s three-run homer off Jason Motte put Miami up 8-1 in the eighth.

The first two games of the series were decided by one run.

A’S 4, BLUE JAYS 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jeff Samardzija pitched seven strong innings to win his Oakland debut and the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays to complete a four-game sweep.

Samardzija gave up one run and four hits. He struck out five and walked one while earning his first win since June 7.

Samardzija was 2-7 with the Cubs despite a 2.83 ERA.

D-BACKS 3, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA (AP) — Wade Miley earned his first win since early May, Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and Arizona stopped the Braves’ nine-game winning streak.

YANKEES 9, TWINS 7

MINNEAPOLIS — Jacoby Ellsbury homered, doubled and drove in four runs as New York took a huge lead then held off Minnesota.

GIANTS 5, PADRES 3

SAN DIEGO — Tim Lincecum continued his mastery of San Diego, taking a shutout into the seventh inning against the Padres 11 days after he no-hit them, and the Giants won two straight to win only their second series in nearly a month.

Lincecum (8-5) extended his scoreless streak to 23 1-3 innings before Brooks Conrad hit a solo homer in the seventh to knock him out of the game.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one run on three hits, walked four and struck out six. Lincecum has won all three starts this season against San Diego and improved his mark to 16-6 in 29 career starts.

Brandon Belt drove in two runs for San Francisco and Hunter Pence had three hits.

Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his third save in six chances.

ORIOLES 7, RED SOX 6, 12 INNINGS

BOSTON (AP) — David Lough tripled to lead off the 12th inning and scored on J.J. Hardy’s single as Baltimore recovered after blowing a five-run lead.

Brad Brach (4-0) earned the victory with three innings of scoreless relief. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out four. Zach Britton pitched the 12th for his 14th save.

Edward Mujica (2-4) worked a scoreless 11th before Lough lined a triple to the center field wall leading off the 12th. The next batter, Hardy, bounced one through the left side of the infield to give the Orioles the lead.

Hardy and Nelson Cruz each had three hits for Baltimore, which has won six of seven. Cruz had five hits Saturday in the second game of a day-night doubleheader and hit safely in seven straight at-bats before flying out in the fifth.

INDIANS 4, ROYALS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — Corey Kluber allowed four hits and struck out 10 in 8 1-3 innings, and Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes homered for Cleveland.

Kluber (8-6) took a three-hitter into the ninth before Eric Hosmer started the inning with a double. The right-hander, who gave up a solo homer to Mike Moustakas in the fifth, was pulled after striking out Salvador Perez.

Cody Allen recorded the final two outs for his ninth save.

Both of Cleveland’s home runs came off Danny Duffy (5-8) in the second. Santana led off the inning with a line drive that barely cleared the fence in right. Gomes followed with a two-run homer to center.

NATIONALS 2, CUBS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Zimmerman’s eighth inning single drove in the go-ahead run for surging Washington.

Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann outdueled Jake Arrieta over six innings and left with a 1-0 lead. The Cubs tied it in the seventh on Starlin Castro’s sacrifice fly against Drew Storen.

Denard Span’s hustle turned a soft hit to right field off Pedro Strop (1-4) into a double leading off the eighth. Two outs later, the Cubs intentionally walked Adam LaRoche to bring up Zimmerman, who ripped a single to left that scored Span.

Tyler Clippard (6-2) pitched the eighth inning, and Rafael Soriano earned his 21st save for the Nationals, who have won seven of eight.

Washington took two of three games in the series, including 13-0 on Saturday to break Chicago’s four-game winning streak.

ANGELS 6, ASTROS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Garrett Richards won his sixth decision in seven starts, striking out a career-high 11 to lead surging Los Angeles to the four-game sweep and its 10th straight home win.

Albert Pujols drove in the Angels’ first two runs with a bases-loaded single and Kole Calhoun homered, helping them go 15 games over .500 for the first time since ending the 2012 season at 89-73. The Halos swept a four-game set at home for the first time since July 2011 and are 21-3 at the “Big A” since May 17 — their best 24-game stretch at home in franchise history.

Richards (10-2) allowed six hits over 7 1-3 innings, including an RBI single by Carlos Corporan in the seventh.

Collin McHugh (4-8) gave up three runs — two earned — and four hits through four innings.

DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Matt Kemp had four hits and drove in two runs, Adrian Gonzalez had three RBIs and Los Angeles won three of four in the series.

Juan Uribe added three hits for the Dodgers, who lead the NL West by a half-game over San Francisco.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, an All-Star starter with an NL-best 5.3 million votes, scored both runs for the Rockies.

Colorado was 26-20 on May 20 but has lost 17 of 20 to fall into a tie for last in the NL West with Arizona.

Josh Beckett (6-5) allowed just three hits in five scoreless innings.

Colorado left-hander Yohan Flande (0-2) allowed five runs in 4 1-3 innings.

METS 8, RANGERS 4

NEW YORK (AP) — Zack Wheeler breezed into the seventh inning, Anthony Recker hit a three-run homer in a five-run first and New York beat Texas for a series win.

Lucas Duda had an RBI double and Juan Lagares a run-scoring single in the Mets’ biggest opening inning of the season, with all the runs scoring with two outs. New York then got only one hit off Nick Tepesch (3-4) until Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the sixth with a long ball to right field.

Daniel Murphy’s RBI double in the seventh made it 7-1, but reliever Gonzalez Germen allowed Alex Rios’ first homer in 46 games and Leonys Martin’s two-run drive before getting an out in the eighth.

PIRATES 6, PHILLIES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jeff Locke gave up three hits and a walk in eight innings, and Pittsburgh completed its first series sweep of the season.

Pittsburgh had failed to finish a sweep in eight previous tries this season. Philadelphia was swept for the eighth time. The Pirates (47-41) moved a season-high six games over .500, while the Phillies (37-51) fell a season-high 14 games below .500.

Locke (2-1) gave up two runs — one earned — and struck out four. He has made six straight quality starts since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 8.

A.J. Burnett (5-8) gave up three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven in seven innings in his return to Pittsburgh.

WHITE SOX 1, MARINERS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Hector Noesi pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning for his first win in a month, leading Chicago over Seattle.

Noesi (3-6) struck out five and walked two in 6 2-3 innings, a crisp performance against one of his former teams. The right-hander pitched for Seattle for parts of three seasons before he was cut in April.

Chicago finished with just two hits after it had four in Saturday’s 3-2 loss in 14 innings. But Conor Gillaspie scored on a wild pitch in the first and Noesi combined with two relievers on a five-hitter.

Eric Surkamp got Robinson Cano to fly out with the bases loaded for the final out of the seventh, and Jake Petricka pitched two innings for his third save in four chances.

REDS 4, BREWERS 2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jay Bruce emerged from the deepest slump of his career — 0 for 26 — with a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning that rallied Cincinnati over Milwaukee.

The Reds gained a game on the NL Central leaders by taking two of three in their series, moving to six back. Cincinnati has won 10 of 15 overall.

The Brewers have the NL’s best record despite losing five of six.

Bruce hit a two-run shot with one out in the eighth off left-hander Will Smith (1-2), who took over for Yovani Gallardo.

Mat Latos (2-1) allowed two runs and four hits in a season-high eight innings. Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.