Baseball-Highlights of Sunday's MLB games

(Adds final game) July 3 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Sunday's Major League Baseball games: Nationals 12, Reds 1 Stephen Strasburg did not allow a hit or run in 6 2/3 innings and Danny Espinosa had four hits, including two homers, and six RBIs as the first-place Washington Nationals slugged a season-high six homers to crush the last-place Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Sunday. Strasburg, who came off the disabled list before the game, had not allowed a hit when manager Dusty Baker pulled him after throwing 109 pitches with two outs into the seventh and a runner on third. Blake Treinen came on to pitch with the score 9-0 and retired Billy Hamilton on a grounder to end the inning. Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA), who struck out five and walked four, is the last qualifying starter in the majors who does not have a loss. He has won 14 games in a row dating back to last year and is the first National League starter to begin the year 11-0 since Andy Hawkins of the San Diego Padres in 1985. Mets 14, Cubs 3 Wilmer Flores tied a franchise record with six hits and his homer leading off the second inning launched a seven-run outburst that lifted New York over Chicago and a sweep of the four-game series. Flores had an RBI single later in the second, a single in the fourth, a two-run homer in the fifth and singles in the seventh and eighth. The second six-hit game in franchise history -- Edgardo Alfonzo achieved the feat on Aug. 30, 1999 -- raised Flores' average from .224 to .255. The Mets outscored the Cubs 32-11 in a rematch of last year's National League Championship Series, which New York also swept in four games. Blue Jays 17, Indians 1 Russell Martin had five RBIs, Troy Tulowitzki added four RBIs, left-hander J.A. Happ struck out a season-best 11 in seven innings and Toronto defeated Cleveland . Happ (11-3) allowed five hits and one run to win his fifth straight start and give the Blue Jays a split in the four-game series after Cleveland won the first two games. Martin and Tulowitzki each had three-run homers and Justin Smoak had a two-run shot for the Blue Jays. Tigers 5, Rays 1 Ian Kinsler started a rally with a double and scored the tying run in the eighth, then capped a four-game sweep with his 200th career home run in the ninth as Detroit beat Tampa Bay. It was another late-inning collapse for the Rays, who opened the series Thursday by giving up eight runs in the ninth inning in a 10-7 loss and have now dropped 16 of 18 games. The Tigers now head to Cleveland with momentum and hoping to avenge a three-game sweep last week. Kinsler hit two-run homer in the ninth, joining Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins as the only active players with at least 200 home runs, 1,000 runs scored, 1,600 hits and 200 stolen bases. Phillies 7, Royals 2 Philadelphia wasted little time jumping on Kansas City starting pitcher Yordano Ventura en route to a win that was highlighted by a three-run homer from Cameron Rupp in the first inning. Rupp blasted an opposite-field shot to bring in Peter Bourjos and Maikel Franco. The single from Bourjos three batters earlier extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by any Phillies player this season. Franco mashed his team-leading 14th homer of the season in the eighth inning as the Phillies finished with 11 hits. Cody Asche also joined in on the home-run parade as he picked up his third home run of the season after missing the first 53 games. White Sox 4, Astros 1 Jose Quintana dazzled for seven innings and Chicago won its fourth consecutive series by claiming the rubber match against Houston. Quintana (6-8) limited the Astros to just two hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts. He surrendered a leadoff home run to George Springer in the first inning and pitched with a pair of baserunners on the in the third inning before retiring the final 15 batters he faced. The White Sox had supplied Quintana with one run or less of support eight times over his last nine starts. They scored twice in the third inning off Astros right-hander Collin McHugh (5-6) before tacking on insurance runs in the eighth. Red Sox 10, Angels 5 Sean O'Sullivan turned in a much-needed strong start and Boston used a seven-run fifth inning to beat Los Angeles. O'Sullivan, who had been recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game to make the spot start, left to a standing ovation in the sixth after throwing five scoreless innings. O'Sullivan (2-0) had made two other starts for the Red Sox this season, including a May 15 no-decision against Houston in which he allowed six runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. Hanley Ramirez, Sandy Leon and Dustin Pedroia drove in two runs apiece while David Ortiz, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Marco Hernandez added RBIs for the Red Sox, who won their first series since taking two of three against Seattle on June 17-19. Twins 5, Rangers 4 Minnesota got to one of the best pitchers in the American League and then hung on late to beat Texas to take the rubber match of the three-game series. The Twins scored five runs off Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels (9-2), driving him from the game before he could record an out in the fifth inning. It was Hamels' shortest outing in 29 games since being traded to Texas from the Philadelphia Phillies last summer. Kurt Suzuki and Robbie Grossman each had two hits and Miguel Sano reached base three times, scoring twice. Dodgers 4, Rockies 1 Right-hander Brandon McCarthy pitched five shutout innings in his first appearance in 14 months to lead Los Angeles over Colorado at Dodger Stadium. McCarthy conceded just two hits and one walk while collecting eight strikeouts and throwing 72 pitches in his first game since April 2015, when he underwent Tommy John surgery. McCarthy combined with four relievers in permitting just four total hits and amassing 15 strikeouts, with Kenley Jansen getting his 24th save. Corey Seager extended his hitting streak to 16 games, matching the Miami Marlins' Marcell Ozuna for the major leagues' longest this year. Trayce Thompson and Yasmani Grandal added solo home runs as Los Angeles earned its sixth victory in seven games. Mariners 9, Orioles 4 Another home run from left fielder Seth Smith helped Seattle sweep Baltimore at Safeco Field. Smith hit his 10th home run of the season, and his fourth of the series, to lead a Mariners offense that had 10 hits. The Mariners won their fourth in a row while finishing off the Orioles' first four-game sweep of the season. Baltimore matched its longest losing streak of the season, having lost four in a row. Pirates 6, A's 3 Left-hander Francisco Liriano gave up three runs over five innings and ended his five-game losing streak as Pittsburgh rallied for the third straight game to defeat Oakland and complete a series sweep at the Oakland Coliseum. Liriano allowed six hits, struck out two and walked only one, his lowest total since walking none on April 30 against Cincinnati, winning for the first time since beating Arizona on May 24. Rookie left fielder Adam Frazier made his second career start and went 2-for-4 with a triple and a double for the Pirates. He drove in the game-tying run with a sixth-inning triple then scored the go-ahead run that inning Giants 5, Diamondbacks 4 Ramiro Pena's pinch-hit double drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, and San Francisco continued its roll through the National League West with a victory over Arizona at Chase Field. The Giants are 18-4 against division opponents since being swept in a four-game homer series by Arizona on May 18-21. They lead the NL West by five games. Jarrett Parker singled to open the 11th inning off right-hander Enrique Burgos before Pena doubled into the right field corner to drive in the decisive run. Yankees 6, Padres 3 Mark Teixeira drove in three runs with a pair of homers after Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer and New York defeated San Diego at Petco Park to prevent a three-game sweep. Yankees right-hander Chad Green held the Padres to one run on three hits over six innings in his second major League start, while Gregorius's ninth homer of the season, off Padres right-handed starter Andrew Cashner, broke up a 1-1 tie in the fourth. Teixeira made it 3-1 when he led off the eighth inning with his sixth homer of the season against Padres right-handed reliever Carlos Villanueva. The 400th homer of the Yankees first baseman's career was a high fly that landed in the short-porch seats down the right-field foul line at Petco Park. Brewers 9, Cardinals 8 Stephen Piscotty's two-out grand slam in the bottom of the sixth led St. Louis to a three-game sweep of Milwaukee at Busch Stadium. Piscotty blasted a 3-2 fastball from reliever Blaine Boyer 425 feet into the third deck in left field -- his second slam of the season -- to give the Cardinals an 8-2 lead. This year, Piscotty is 5-for-9 with 13 RBIs with the sacks filled, and is 8-for-15 in his career with 18 RBIs. Rain delayed the game's start for 80 minutes and halted it for another 55 minutes in the middle of the Brewers' two-run rally in the seventh. By the time the game ended, perhaps 2,000 fans were left from the announced crowd of 41,148. Marlins 5, Braves 2 Adam Conley pitched six shutout innings, and Miami perked up on offense to defeat Atlanta in an historic event on the Army base at Fort Bragg. It was the first regular-season game in any major professional sport to be played on an active U.S. military base. The game was set up to honor military personnel on the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Conley (5-5) was spectacular in limiting the Braves to four hits and one walk. He struck out two. J.T. Realmuto, Martin Prado and Christian Yelich all rapped three hits for the Marlins, who won for only the fourth time in 12 meetings with Atlanta this year. (Editing by Andrew Both)