Baseball-Highlights of Friday's MLB games

April 22 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Friday's Major League Baseball games. Athletics 8, Blue Jays 5 Chris Coghlan hit a three-run homer, Sonny Gray pitched seven innings and Oakland extended its winning streak to six games. Gray allowed six hits, three walks and three runs while striking out seven as Oakland improved to 7-0 in road games this season. Right-hander Ryan Madson pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season. Cubs 8, Reds 1 Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez homered, and Jon Lester allowed one run over seven innings as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-1 on Friday night at Great American Ball Park. Chicago (13-4) is off to its best start since 1970. Nationals 8, Twins 4 Jose Lobaton had two hits and three RBIs and Danny Espinosa had two hits and two RBIs as the first-place Washington beat last-place Minnesota. Lobaton, a backup catcher, had two hits in his first two at-bats against Twins starter Kyle Gibson -- a two-run single in the first and an RBI triple in the third. Lobaton raised his average 157 points to .300. Gio Gonzalez earned the victory, allowing three runs (two earned) with eight strikeouts in six innings. Yankees 6, Rays 3 Jacoby Ellsbury stole home to score the tying run in the fifth inning and added a two-run double in the eighth as New York defeated Tampa Bay. It was the second career steal of home by Ellsbury and the first straight steal of home by a Yankee since Derek Jeter in May 2001 at Baltimore. It also was the first time Tampa Bay allowed a straight steal of home in team history. Ellsbury entered the game after center fielder Aaron Hicks injured his shoulder attempting to make a diving catch in the fourth. Indians 2, Tigers 1 Marlon Byrd's tie-breaking leadoff home run in the seventh inning backed the combined four-hit pitching of Josh Tomlin and three relievers as Cleveland defeated Detroit. Byrd's second home run of the season came on the first pitch of the inning by Justin Verlander, who also served up a home run ball to Carlos Santana to open the game. Verlander fanned 10 Indians, marking the 30th time in his career he has reached double digits in strikeouts. Royals 4, Orioles 2 Mike Moustakas went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs as the Kansas City Royals bested the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 on Friday. Moustakas hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a run-producing double in the second. Royals right-hander Chris Young (1-3) worked six impressive innings, striking out 10 and walking one. Young collected his first double-figure strikeout game since April 24, 2008, throwing 66 of his 95 pitches for strikes. White Sox 5, Rangers 0 Left-hander Jose Quintana pitched seven scoreless innings, and the White Sox turned the first triple play of the season in a 5-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. Melky Cabrera went 2-for-4 and scored twice to lead the White Sox at the plate. Chicago (11-6) earned its third win in the past four games. Phillies 5, Brewers 2 Maikel Franco hit two home runs and Aaron Nola struck out seven, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Miller Park. Franco doubled his season total for home runs, connecting for a two-run blast in the fifth inning and adding a solo shot in the seventh off left-hander Chris Capuano, capping a three-hit game. Red Sox 6, Astros 2 Steven Wright tossed his sixth consecutive quality start and the Boston Red Sox turned an early stream of offense into a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night at Minute Maid Park. Wright (1-2) befuddled the Astros (5-12) with his knuckleball, allowing just four hits and one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings. He did issue five walks along with his six strikeouts, only coming undone when catcher Ryan Hanigan allowed two passed balls in the seventh inning. Mets 6, Braves 3 Curtis Granderson went 3-for-5 with two home runs, including a grand slam, and New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Friday at Turner Field. Granderson hit a grand slam in the second inning and a solo homer in the fourth -- both against Atlanta starter Bud Norris. It was the 18th two-homer game of his career and sixth grand slam. Rockies 7, Dodgers 5 Brandon Barnes tripled home two runs in the eighth inning Friday night, enabling the Colorado Rockies to complete a comeback and overhaul the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5. Barnes, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the seventh, drove a 96 mph fastball from Chris Hatcher (2-2) off the fence in right-center with two outs. Nolan Arenado walked with one out, and Mark Reynolds lined a broken-bat single to center. Both runners moved up on a ground out, setting the stage for Barnes. Pirates 8, Diamondbacks 7 Sean Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs and Gregory Polanco and Jordy Mercer also homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates ended the Arizona Diamondbacks' five-game winning streak with an 8-7 victory on Friday night at Chase Field. Mercer and Josh Harrison had three hits and an RBI for the Pirates (9-8), who have won four of their last six. The Pirates had seven homers entering the game, tied with the Angels for 28th in the majors. Padres 4, Cardinals 1 First baseman Wil Myers drove in three runs with home run, a sacrifice fly and a double and right-hander Andrew Cashner allowed one run and three hits in six innings to pick up his first win of the season on Friday night as the San Diego Padres defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 at Petco Park. Myers was 3-for-3, including his fourth homer of the season. Mariners 5, Angels 2 (10 innings) Franklin Gutierrez's RBI single in the top of the 10th inning snapped a 2-2 tie and propelled the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at Angel Stadium. The victory was the Mariners' third in a row and sixth in their last eight games coming off a five-game losing streak. The loss for the Angels was their sixth in eight games. Giants 8, Marlins 1 Jeff Samardzija had an impressive home debut with the San Francisco Giants with his arm and his bat, pitching 7 2/3, one-run innings and driving in three runs in an 8-1 victory over the Miami Marlins in the opener of a three-game series Friday. In snapping a five-game losing streak, six Giants had two hits apiece in a 14-hit attack, including Samardzija, who had entered the game 1-for-9 with four strikeouts in his return to the National League this season. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)