MLB roundup: Price strikes out 10 in Tigers debut

NEW YORK — David Price struck out 10 in his Detroit debut and was long gone when Alex Avila homered in the 12th inning to lift the Tigers over the New York Yankees.

Price pitched 8 2-3 innings and left with the score 3-all. He leads the majors in strikeouts (199) and innings (179 1-3).

Avila homered with one out off Matt Daley (0-1).

Joakim Soria (2-4) got the win, and Joe Nathan earned his 23rd save in 28 tries.

This was the Yankees’ 16th straight game decided by two or fewer runs, and they are 9-7 in that span. It is the longest such streak in the majors since a 16-game stretch by Baltimore in 1975, the team said in citing the Elias Sports Bureau.

Brian McCann and Martin Prado hit solo home runs for the Yankees, who had won three in a row.

The Tigers tied it at 3 in the seventh.

REDS 9, INDIANS 2

CLEVELAND — Johnny Cueto threw his fourth complete game of the season, and the Cincinnati Reds, aided by a bizarre play in which a Cleveland runner was fooled by a second ball on the field, defeated the Indians 9-2 on Tuesday night.

The Indians, trying to mount a comeback in the seventh, had a rally squelched after an errant warmup pitch from Cincinnati’s bullpen came on the field.

Yan Gomes’ double cut the lead to 6-2 and moved David Murphy to third as a ball thrown by reliever Jumbo Diaz rolled behind second base. Murphy mistakenly thought that ball was live and edged off third. He was tagged out after the ball that was in play was thrown to Santiago.

Cincinnati broke a 10-game losing streak at Cleveland.

Cueto (13-6), who hasn’t lost since July 2, allowed two runs in winning his fifth straight decision.

Ramon Santiago hit a three-run homer in the second off Josh Tomlin (5-8) to break a 1-all tie for his first home run since Aug. 16 last season.

METS 6, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON — Zack Wheeler allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings to win his fourth consecutive decision, and Daniel Murphy’s two-run single helped the New York Mets beat NL East-leading Washington.

Wheeler (7-8) gave up seven hits and allowed a run on a wild pitch. He is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances since June 30.

In the second and third, Washington accumulated three hits and four walks off Wheeler but scored only once.

The Mets scored a run in each of the first two innings off Gio Gonzalez (6-8), with David Wright and Wheeler delivering RBI singles. In all, Gonzalez was charged with four runs and six hits over six-plus innings.

MARLINS 6, PIRATES 3

PITTSBURGH — Adeiny Hechavarria had two hits and drove in a run during a decisive five-run rally in the eighth inning to help Miami beat Pittsburgh.

Hechavarria’s RBI single made it 4-2 after Marcell Ozuna and Jarrod Saltalamacchia drew bases-loaded walks from Justin Wilson to force home the tying and go-ahead runs. Christian Yelich capped the inning with a run-scoring double.

Giancarlo Stanton and Garrett Jones also had two hits for Miami.

Pittsburgh’s Jordy Mercer had two hits.

A.J. Ramos (5-0) got two outs in the seventh inning for the win.

Jared Hughes (6-3) took the loss, though he could have gotten out of the seventh without allowing a run if not for third baseman Josh Harrison booting a potential double play grounder with one out.

Marlins starter Brad Hand didn’t pitch at least seven full innings for the first time in four starts but had a solid 6 1/3-inning outing. The left-hander allowed two runs and six hits.

Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton gave up one run and six hits in seven innings. He walked four struck out four.

ORIOLES 9, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO — Chris Davis homered and Caleb Joseph and Jonathan Schoop added back-to-back shots as Baltimore topped Toronto.

Davis, Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy all had two RBIs, and the Orioles won their third straight game, each in a different city. Baltimore beat Seattle at home on Sunday and won at Washington on Monday in a makeup game.

Bud Norris (9-7) pitched 5 1-3 innings to win for the first time in three starts as the AL East-leading Orioles moved five games ahead of second-place Toronto, which lost its fourth straight.

Toronto starter Mark Buehrle (11-8) lost for the seventh time in 11 starts. He allowed four runs and 10 hits in four innings.

CARDINALS 3, RED SOX 2

ST. LOUIS — Jon Jay hit an RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning to break a tie and lead St. Louis over Boston.

The Cardinals won their third in a row and fourth in the last five. Boston has lost three in a row.

Jay, who missed the previous five games with a wrist injury, blooped a hit to left off reliever Junichi Tazawa (1-3) to bring in former Red Sox player A.J. Pierzynski with the winning run.

Pat Neshek (5-0) earned the win by striking out the side in the eighth. Trevor Rosenthal recorded his NL-leading 35th save in 39 chances.

Boston beat St. Louis in six games in last year’s World Series.

St. Louis starter Lance Lynn gave up two runs on four hits over seven innings. Boston starter Rubby De La Rosa surrendered one run on six hits over six innings.

Kolten Wong tied the game 2-all with a two-out RBI single in the seventh off reliever Tommy Layne.

RANGERS 16, WHITE SOX 0

CHICAGO — Robinson Chirinos homered twice, and Colby Lewis pitched a six-hitter to lead Texas to a 16-0 rout of the Chicago White Sox, the largest shutout victory in Rangers’ history.

J.P. Arencibia, Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo also went deep for the Rangers, who set a season-high in runs and snapped a four-game losing streak. Texas’ last five-homer game came last August.

White Sox pitcher John Danks (9-7) was rocked for nine runs on five walks and eight hits, including four home runs, in 4 2-3 innings. The left-hander leads the American League with 23 homers allowed.

White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn pitched the ninth inning, allowing one run on two hits and a walk.

Lewis (8-8) recorded his second career shutout, both against the White Sox in Chicago. He walked one and struck out seven.

TWINS 3, PADRES 1

MINNEAPOLIS — Kennys Vargas hit a three-run homer in his first home game for Minnesota, powering the Twins past Jesse Hahn and San Diego.

Phil Hughes had a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings to snap a three-start losing streak. Glen Perkins earned his 28th save in 31 attempts despite giving up a pair of singles in the ninth.

Yonder Alonso hit his first home run in almost two months after spending much of the summer on the disabled list, but his drive to the upper deck in right field in the fifth inning was all the Padres put together against Hughes (11-8).

In the sixth, Vargas made his first major league homer a memorable one, a two-out drive that was the first off Hahn (7-3) since his debut on June 3.

The Twins, who won their third straight game, are 12-3 against the Padres.

BREWERS 4, GIANTS 3

MILWAUKEE — Gerardo Parra snapped a tie with a home run in the seventh — his first hit since been acquired by the Brewers — and Milwaukee recorded the final out of its victory against San Francisco when video replay overturned a safe call at first base.

With two outs in the ninth, Brewers closer Frankie Rodriguez walked Hunter Pence. Joe Panik then bounced to second baseman Rickie Weeks, who was shielded on the play by Pence before making the throw to first. Brewers managed Ron Roenicke challenged the safe call, and it was changed after a review of 3 minutes, 17 seconds.

Parra, acquired last week from Arizona, homered with two outs off reliever Jean Machi (6-1).

Rookie Jimmy Nelson (2-2) allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings for Milwaukee. Rodriguez earned his 33rd save.

The Giants erased a 3-0 deficit on Pablo Sandoval’s three-run homer off Nelson in the sixth.

Carlos Gomez staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead against Tim Lincecum in the third with his 16th home run of the season.

PHILLIES 2, ASTROS 1, 15 innings

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 15th inning to lift Philadelphia over Houston.

The interleague matchup between teams with two of the four worst records in the majors lasted 5 hours, 5 minutes.

Hector Neris (1-0) tossed a perfect inning to earn the win in his major league debut.

Grady Sizemore led off the 15th against Jake Buchanan (1-2) with a hard one-hop single under second baseman Jose Altuve’s glove. After Ben Revere sacrificed, Jimmy Rollins flied out and Chase Utley was intentionally walked.

Howard then ripped a 1-2 pitch, and Sizemore slid in ahead of right fielder Robbie Grossman’s throw. It was the fifth game of at least 14 innings for the Phillies this season, tying a franchise-record first set in 1958.

Howard homered in the second to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The run snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak for Philadelphia, which was shut out in Washington on Saturday and Sunday.

MARINERS 4, BRAVES 2

SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez allowed one run in eight innings, extending his major league record streak of games with at least seven innings and two or fewer runs to 15, and Seattle handed Atlanta its seventh straight loss.

Hernandez (12-3) struck out eight and walked one. His earned run average dropped to a AL-leading 1.97.

Alex Wood (7-9) worked six innings, allowing five hits, just one earned run, walked four and struck out five for the Braves.

Fernando Rodney allowed a run in the ninth but earned his 31st save in 34 opportunities.

Hernandez also tied Gaylord Perry’s 1974 streak of 15 straight starts with at least seven innings and allowing two runs or fewer.

During his streak Hernandez is 8-2. His teammates had scored just 10 runs over his previous five starts when he went 1-1 with three no-decisions.

In Interleague play, Hernandez is 17-7 overall and is 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA over his last eight starts against National League teams. He has the best ever ERA in Interleague play at 2.54.

ROYALS 12, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX — Billy Butler had a three-run homer among his four hits, Nori Aoki hit a grand slam, and Kansas City gave Danny Duffy rare run support by bashing Arizona.

Kansas City battered Wade Miley (7-8) from the start, scoring 10 runs off him by the fifth inning. Salvador Perez had the first big blow with a three-run homer in the third, and Butler added another three-run shot during Kansas City’s eight-run fifth. Aoki capped the big inning with his first career grand slam.

The Royals had 10 of their 15 hits by the fifth inning and had a season-high in runs, allowing Duffy (6-10) to cruise to his first win since June 30.

Perez had three hits.

The Royals had previously struggled when Duffy had pitched, producing 2.34 runs of support, lowest in the majors among pitchers with at least 100 innings. The left-hander had allowed a run or less in 11 of 16 starts, yet was 4-5 in those.

Miley allowed nine hits and walked three.

CUBS 6, ROCKIES 5, 12 innings

DENVER — Javier Baez homered in the 12th inning in his major league debut, and the Chicago Cubs beat Colorado.

Wellington Castillo also homered for the Cubs, who have won four of five.

Baez, a prized prospect called up before the game, struck out in three of his first five at-bats before hitting Boone Logan’s first pitch of the 12th into the Rockies bullpen.

Hector Rondon (3-3) blew his fourth save but got the win. Carlos Villanueva earned his second save.

Both teams scored a run in the 11th to extend the game.

Nolan Arenado homered and Logan (2-2) took the loss for the Rockies, who have dropped five straight.

Rockies starter Brett Anderson allowed just one hit through three innings but left after one pitch in the fourth due to back spasms. The shaky Colorado bullpen faltered in the seventh. Three relievers combined to walk six batters in the inning, and three scored to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead.

Arenado tied it in the bottom of the seventh with his 10th homer.

DODGERS 5, ANGELS 4

LOS ANGELES — Juan Uribe scored on David Freese’s errant throw to the plate in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers evened the Freeway Series with a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Uribe hit an early three-run homer for the NL-leading Dodgers. He then singled against Kevin Jepsen (0-1) and eventually scored from third on Andre Ethier’s grounder.

Freese was charged with his second throwing error of the night when Chris Iannetta couldn’t apply the tag.

Albert Pujols’ eighth-inning homer tied it for the Angels (67-45).

Pujols and Iannetta had RBI doubles for the Angels, who scored three runs on Clayton Kershaw, but got just one hit after the third inning.

Kenley Jansen (2-3) struck out the side in the ninth.

ATHLETICS 3, RAYS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jason Hammel pitched scoreless ball into the sixth inning to snap a four-start losing streak since being traded to Oakland, leading the Athletics past Tampa Bay.

Hammel (1-4) allowed seven hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. He entered the game with a 9.53 ERA since the A’s acquired him and Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs on July 4.

Coco Crisp singled home a run in the fifth, and Nate Freiman hit an RBI double during a two-run sixth to spoil Drew Smyly’s debut with Tampa Bay. Smyly (6-10) gave up all three runs, seven hits and two walks, including one intentional, in 5 1-3 innings.

The left-hander was traded from Detroit last week in the three-team deal that sent ace David Price to the Tigers.