Baseball-Highlights of Friday's MLB games

Aug 29 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Friday's Major League Baseball games: - - - Dodgers 4, Cubs 1 Clayton Kershaw struck out 14, sparking the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs before 44,874 at Dodger Stadium on Friday. Kershaw (11-6), who is unbeaten in his last 10 starts, gave up a run on three hits with a walk in eight innings. Although he had his string of scoreless innings at home halted at 31 1/3, when Anthony Rizzo homered in the fourth inning, Kershaw retired 14 of the next 15 batters after the Cubs first baseman's home run. Kershaw fanned Chicago third baseman Kris Bryant three times as closer Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 26th save in 28 opportunities. - - - Rangers 4, Orioles 1 Left-hander Cole Hamels struck out 10 and limited the Baltimore Orioles to two hits over eight innings in the Texas Rangers' 4-1 victory. Right fielder Choo Shin-soo had a solo home run and two RBIs, while catcher Chris Gimenez's solo homer in the fifth represented the go-ahead run. Center fielder DeLino DeShields added a run-scoring triple for Texas (66-61), which remained a half-game ahead of Minnesota in the chase for the second wild-card spot in the American League. - - - Marlins 4, Nationals 3 Martin Prado had two hits, including a two-run homer, and scored twice as Miami beat Washington to put a dent in the post-season hopes of the defending division champions. Marcell Ozuna also had two hits, including a solo homer and double. The Nationals began the night 6 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East. Washington has lost nine of its last 11 games decided by one or two runs and the Marlins won just their 22nd road game of the season. - - - Blue Jays 5, Tigers 3 R.A. Dickey pitched into the seventh inning and Toronto hit three solo home runs to defeat Detroit. Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista homered for the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series. Edwin Encarnacion extended his hitting streak to 23 games with an RBI double in the first. It is the longest hit streak in the majors this season. Dickey (9-10) won his sixth consecutive decision. The knuckleballer allowed six hits, one walk and three runs while striking out six in 6 2/3 innings. - - - Indians 3, Angels 1 Trevor Bauer pitched eight strong innings and Cleveland scored all of its runs in the seventh inning of a victory over Anaheim at Progressive Field. It was the Indians' third win in a row. The Angels have lost six of their last eight games. - - - Phillies 7, Padres 1 Rookie right-hander Aaron Nola worked seven strong innings to run his personal winning streak to five as Philadelphia beat San Diego. Cameron Rupp hit a three-run homer in a five-run eighth inning for the Phillies, who snapped a four-game losing streak. - - - Royals 3, Rays 2 Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer off a catwalk at the top of Tropicana Field in the third inning, leading Kansas City to a victory over Tampa Bay. The teams continued in opposite directions -- the Royals have won six of their last seven for the best record in the American League and the Rays have dropped four of five. - - - Pirates 5, Rockies 3 Pinch-hitter Josh Harrison drove in the game-winning run with a single in the eighth inning, Gregory Polanco rapped out three hits and Pittsburgh outlasted Colorado. - - - Yankees 15, Braves 4 New York's previously struggling offense got a big-time boost from an unexpected source. Didi Gregorius went 4-for-5 with a homer and career-high six RBIs as the Yankees broke out for a 15-4 interleague rout of Atlanta to remain 1 1/2 games behind Toronto in the American League East. - - - Brewers 5, Reds 0 Taylor Jungmann threw six shutout innings and Domingo Santana homered in his first career game at Miller Park as Milwaukee snapped a four-game losing streak with a shutout victory over Cincinnati. - - - Mariners 2, White Sox 0 Paced by a dominant performance by right-hander Taijuan Walker, the Mariners evened the series at a game apiece despite struggling to convert scoring opportunities into runs for the second straight night. Walker threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out six to earn the win but left prematurely because of a cramping issue in his right hip flexor. Earlier in the day, the Mariners announced that GM Jack Zduriencik had been fired and catcher Mike Zunino was sent to the minors. - - - Twins 3, Astros 0 Minnesota scored enough early offense, outlasting Houston in a pitcher's duel at Target Field. Minnesota right-hander Kyle Gibson was the beneficiary of the support, pitching 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball and earning his first victory since July 12. - - - Red Sox 6, Mets 4 (10 innings) Blake Swihart hit an inside-the-park home run leading off the 10th inning as Boston snapped New York's seven-game winning streak. Swihart hit the first pitch he saw from right-hander Carlos Torres to the deepest part of center field and never broke stride as the ball bounced away from center fielder Juan Lagares and toward the infield. Swihart raced around third and slid in just ahead of the relay throw. - - - Diamondbacks 6, A's 4 Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh inning and Arizona broke a four-game losing streak in a victory over Oakland at Chase Field. - - - Giants 5, Cardinals 4 Rookie second baseman Kelby Tomlinson lined a single to center field to score Brandon Belt from third base with one out in the bottom of the ninth, giving San Francisco a victory over the St Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series. (Compiled by John O'Brien)