Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

July 30 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League baseball games. - - - Tigers 7, White Sox 2 Nick Castellanos hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high four runs, and Max Scherzer posted his American League-leading 13th victory as the Detroit Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Chicago White Sox. Scherzer (13-3) was staked to a six-run lead in the bottom of the first inning, capped by Castellanos' opposite-field blast. Castellanos added an RBI single in the seventh inning and right fielder Torii Hunter had three hits, scored twice and drove in another run for the Tigers (58-46). Scherzer, who won a major-league best 21 games and captured the AL Cy Young award last season, allowed only five singles in seven innings while walking one and striking out six. - - - Indians 3, Mariners 0 Corey Kluber pitched a three-hit 85-pitch shutout, facing the minimum 27 batters, while outduelling right-hander Felix Hernandez, as the Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners. Kluber (11-6) was masterful as he continues to establish himself as the new number one starter for the Indians (53-54), who earlier in the day traded their former lead pitcher, right-hander Justin Masterson, to St Louis. Hernandez (11-3) lost for the first time since June 13. Hernandez pitched seven innings, allowing a two-run double to Yan Gomes in the fifth. - - - Brewers 5, Rays 0 Right-hander Yovani Gallardo allowed four hits over seven shutout innings and backup catcher Martin Maldonado drove in a career-high-tying four runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays. With the win, the Brewers avoided a series sweep and improved to 60-49 atop the National League Central. The Rays fell to 53-55, missing a chance to reach .500 for the first time since April 22. - - - Orioles 4, Angels 3 Kevin Gausman allowed just three hits in seven innings, and Adam Jones homered for the second consecutive night as the Baltimore Orioles scored a victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The Orioles (60-46) supported Gausman by scoring twice in both the first and fourth innings for a 4-0 lead. Garrett Richards tossed seven innings in the loss for Los Angeles (63-43). - - - Astros 8, Athletics 1 Dallas Keuchel logged his fourth complete game and the Houston Astros scored six first-inning runs to defeat the Oakland Athletics. Keuchel (10-7) surrendered a leadoff home run to Athletics (66-41) third baseman Josh Donaldson, his 23rd, in the second inning but that was the only damage as he surrendered just four hits. - - - Giants 7, Pirates 5 Second baseman Joe Panik raced home from third base on a passed ball in the seventh inning, capping a two-run rally that put the San Francisco Giants ahead for good in a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win snapped the Giants' (58-50) six-game losing streak and allowed them to avoid what could have been the first winless homestand of six or more games since the club moved to San Francisco in 1958. Pittsburgh fell to 57-50 and two games behind first-place Milwaukee. - - - Mets 11, Phillies 2 Second baseman Daniel Murphy snapped a tie with a three-run homer in the fifth inning and the New York Mets added five runs in the seventh inning of a win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets (52-56) took two of three in the series and have won their last four home series. The Phillies (47-61) fell to 5-8 since the All-Star Break. - - - Diamondbacks 5, Reds 4 Paul Goldschmidt and Didi Gregorious each hit two-run homers and Wade Miley tossed six shutout innings, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Catcher Devin Mesoraco hit his 18th home run, a two-run shot, in the ninth for Cincinnati (53-54), losers of 10 out of 12 games since the All-Star break. - - - Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1 The short-handed Toronto Blue Jays roared to their fifth straight win, riding Mark Buehrle's first win in 10 starts to beat Boston. Toronto (59-50) completed a sweep of the three-game series and won their sixth straight over Boston in just over a week, despite playing without MVP candidate Edwin Encarnacion, third baseman Brett Lawrie and designated hitter-first baseman Adam Lind, all recovering from injuries. - - - Rangers 3, Yankees 2 Colby Lewis retired the last 13 hitters he faced in his strongest outing of the season and the Texas Rangers took two of three games from the New York Yankees. Lewis (7-8) gave up two runs, four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in seven innings for Texas (43-65), which won its first series in more than a month. The Yankees fell to 55-52. - - - Royals 3, Twins 2 Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas stroked RBI doubles in the sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota (48-58) starter Phil Hughes (10-8) lost his third consecutive start. He limited the Royals (54-52) to three singles through five scoreless innings before giving up three runs and four hits in the sixth, his final inning. - - - Dodgers 3, Braves 2 (10 innings) Matt Kemp's RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers (61-47) captured a season-high fifth straight victory and handed the Braves (58-50) their second consecutive loss. The Dodgers, who have won 14 of their 19 games at home since June 13, can sweep the series with a win on Thursday. - - - Padres 12, Cardinals 1 Second baseman Jedd Gyorko and right fielder Will Venable each drove in four runs and homered as the San Diego Padres routed the St Louis Cardinals. Gyorko and Venable each had three-run hits in the Padres' (48-59) eight-run seventh. St Louis fell to 56-50. - - - Rockies 6, Cubs 4 (10 innings) A day after losing a 16-inning marathon, the Rockies pushed across two runs in the 10th inning for a victory over the Chicago Cubs. Brandon Barnes broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI single as the Rockies (44-63) snapped a three-game losing run and an eight-game road losing streak. - - - Nationals 4, Marlins 3 Right fielder Jayson Werth hit a tie-breaking eighth-inning sacrifice fly to lead the first-place Washington Nationals to a win over the red-hot Miami Marlins The Nationals (58-47) lost the three-game series 2-1 but kept their slim lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves. Miami (53-54), which is in third place, six games back, had its season-best six-game winning streak snapped. Still, the Marlins have won nine of their past 11 games. (Compiled by Jahmal Corner; Editing by John O'Brien)