MLB Capsules: Charlie Morton extends winning streak to nine, Astros top Indians

Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings, Tony Kemp had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night for their third straight win.

Morton (6-0) allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in extending his career-high winning streak to nine straight dating back to last September. Morton retired 19 of the first 21 batters.

After Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (3-1) walked Marwin Gonzalez and Derek Fisher to lead off the seventh, Brian McCann popped out before Kemp hit his RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. George Springer followed with a grounder to Kipnis, but Fisher beat the throw home.

Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Royals 5, Yankees 2: Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off CC Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees’ potent offense and Kansas City beat New York in Kansas City, Missouri.

Salvador Perez homed and added three RBIs for the Royals, who had lost five straight and seven of eight.

Junis (5-3) pitched into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk to slow down the Yankees, who had won 19 of their past 22.

Kelvin Herrera capped a strong bullpen effort with a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 10 opportunities.

Sabathia (2-1) lasted just five innings, struggling all night with his command.

Mariners 5, Tigers 4: Mitch Haniger’s RBI double capped a five-run seventh inning as Seattle rallied for the victory over Detroit in Seattle.

Trailing 4-0 entering the seventh, the Mariners coaxed four walks in their first six at-bats of the inning.

Dee Gordon’s sacrifice fly to right field cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3 with two outs. Jean Segura followed with a run-scoring single on a grounder up the middle off reliever Warwick Saupold, scoring Mike Zunino to tie the game at 4-all.

Haniger gave the Mariners the lead by lining Saupold’s curve ball down the left field line, scoring Guillermo Heredia.

Dan Altavilla (3-2) picked up the win in relief ad closer Edwin Diaz notched his A.L.-leading 15th save.

Buck Farmer (0-2) took the loss, walking the two batters he faced.

Rays 8, Angels 3: Wilson Ramos homered twice and drove in three runs to lead Tampa Bay’s fifth straight win, a victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, California.

Blake Snell (5-3) gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings while striking out eight to help the Rays to their sixth win in seven games.

Rockies 6, Giants 1: Slumping Ian Desmond homered and drove in four runs to back another strong start by Kyle Freeland and Colorado beat the Giants in San Francisco.

Desmond came into the game in a 3-for-33 rut with one RBI in his previous nine games before providing the offensive boost that improved the Rockies to 18-9 on the road this season.

The night didn’t start off well for Desmond, who hit into a fielder’s choice with a man on third and one out in the second to cost Colorado a chance to score. But he quickly made up for it by hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning against Derek Holland (2-5) and then adding an RBI double in the sixth.

Marlins 2, Braves 0: Dan Straily pitched seven scoreless innings, J.T. Realmuto had an RBI triple and Miami beat the Braves in Atlanta.

Straily (2-0) allowed three hits, walked three and struck out six to shut down the N.L.’s top-scoring offense. He also beat Atlanta in his previous start a week prior.

Miami got both its runs in the sixth. Martin Prado singled and scored on Realmuto’s triple, and Starlin Castro chased Matt Wisler (1-1) with a double.

Brad Ziegler induced a double-play grounder from Tyler Flowers to retire the side in the ninth and earn his eighth save in eight chances.

Orioles 7, Red Sox 4: Jonathan Schoop homered and Alex Cobb got his first win of the season as Baltimore ended its 13-game road losing streak.

Manny Machado went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and Adam Jones had two hits and drove in two for the Orioles, who won on the road for the first time since April 8.

Mookie Betts doubled twice and hit his 14th homer for Boston, which lost to Baltimore for the first time in the five meetings so far this season.

Cobb (1-5) held Boston to three runs on 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Brad Brach pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

Drew Pomeranz (1-2) lasted only four innings for Boston, getting pulled after the Orioles scored four in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Cubs 8, Reds 1: Jon Lester pitched six dominant innings, Addison Russell tied his career high with four hits and Chicago defeated the Reds in Cincinnati.

Playing in a steady downpour that delayed the start of the game by 93 minutes, Willson Contreras added three hits and six different players each drove in at least one run for the Cubs, who’d lost three of their last four games.

Lester (4-1) faced one batter over the minimum through the first four innings. The left-hander allowed Cincinnati’s only two hits and one walk with a season-high eight strikeouts and even contributed a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt while Chicago was breaking the game open with a two-run fifth inning.

Homer Bailey (1-6) allowed 10 hits in five or fewer innings for the second consecutive game.

Rangers 12, White Sox 5: Shin-Soo Choo hit his first grand slam in eight years, leading Texas over the White Sox in Chicago.

Choo made it 9-3 with his drive against reliever Chris Volstad in a five-run third inning. He also singled and scored in the fourth and walked twice.

Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo each drove in three runs for Texas. Jesse Chavez (2-0) and two other relievers combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings following a shaky start by Matt Moore.

Jose Abreu had a pair of RBI doubles and scored two runs. But Carson Fulmer (2-4) made another early exit in his third straight loss.

Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1: Jacob deGrom matched a career high with 13 strikeouts, Michael Conforto went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and the Mets beat Arizona in New York.

Wilmer Flores drove in one run and scored another to help the Mets win a series opener between struggling teams.

After an abbreviated outing last weekend in his return from the disabled list, deGrom (4-0) threw seven dominant innings this time and has won his first four decisions in a season for the first time.

Robert Gsellman worked a perfect eighth and Jeurys Familia struck out the side in the ninth for his 12th save.

Conforto, who equaled his career high for hits with four singles, had a two-out RBI single in the first inning and another in the fifth. Both came off starter Zack Godley (4-3).

Padres 3, Pirates 2: Eric Hosmer hit two doubles and scored the go-ahead run and Tyson Ross won for the first time in more than a month as visiting San Diego cooled off Pittsburgh. Hosmer doubled with two outs in the sixth inning off Ivan Nova and Franchy Cordero followed by a lining a single into left field. That broke a 2-2 tie and sent Pittsburgh to its second loss in 10 games. Ross ended a five-start winless streak by giving up two runs and five hits in six innings while striking out two and walking four. Brad Hand got the final four outs for his 13th save in 15 opportunities.

Athletics 3, Blue Jays 1: Dustin Fowler hit his first career home run and also had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning, Josh Phegley hit an RBI double in his season debut, and Oakland beat the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Danny Coulombe (1-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory as Oakland won for the fourth time in five games.

Right-hander Marco Estrada (2-4) allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings to lose his third straight decision as the slumping Blue Jays lost for the 10th time in 13 home games.

Brewers 8, Twins 3: Jesus Aguilar homered twice and Ji-Man Choi hit a solo home run in his return to the majors as Milwaukee beat Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Brent Suter (3-3) pitched a season-high 5 2/3 innings for Milwaukee, which has won six of its past eight. The left-hander allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Kyle Gibson (1-2) gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings for Minnesota, which has lost four of five. Gibson surrendered eight hits and walked four batters. Max Kepler had two hits, including a two-run home run.

First baseman Joe Mauer was pulled from the game in the fifth inning with neck tightness and is considered day to day.

Cardinals 12, Phillies 4: Michael Wacha pitched six strong innings for his fifth win of the season and St. Louis pounded out a season-high 15 hits to blow past visiting Philadelphia in a game delayed 1 hour and 35 minutes by rain.