Sale ties MLB record with 8 straight 10K starts

ST. LOUIS — Chris Sale matched a major league record by striking out at least 10 in eight straight starts, and the Chicago White Sox outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in 11 innings Tuesday night on a home run by Tyler Flowers.

Sale struck out 12 in eight innings. The left-hander tied the mark set by Pedro Martinez in 1999 with Boston.

The White Sox ace had fanned every hitter in the St. Louis lineup by the end of the sixth. He is 0-2 with two no-decisions during the last four games of his streak, getting only four runs of support.

Sale helped himself in his 100th career start, singling for his first hit and scoring the first run for the White Sox.

Flowers hit his sixth homer with two outs in the 11th. He connected off Miguel Socolovich (2-1), pitching for the first time in nine days.

Daniel Webb (1-0) got the win and David Robertson earned his 16th save in 20 chances.

RANGERS 8, ORIOLES 6

BALTIMORE — Mitch Moreland hit two home runs for the second straight game, and the Rangers celebrated the return of Josh Hamilton with a road win.

Shin-Soo Choo and Robinson Chirinos also went deep for the Rangers, who have hit eight home runs in the first two games of the series.

Moreland homered with a man on in the second and eighth innings. He leads Texas with 14 homers and ranks second with 43 RBIs.

Hamilton hit two singles and made a nice running catch of a sinking liner to left field in his eighth game of the season. The free-swinging slugger had been sidelined since May 31 with a strained left hamstring.

Chris Davis hit two home runs for Baltimore and Manny Machado added a solo shot. Miguel Gonzalez (6-5) got the loss.

Colby Lewis (8-3) improved to 4-0 in six starts since May 27. Shawn Tolleson earned his 11th save.

ASTROS 4, ROYALS 0

HOUSTON — Dallas Keuchel allowed seven hits in eight innings to lead Houston to the victory.

The performance comes after Keuchel (10-3) threw a six-hit shutout in a win over the New York Yankees in his previous start. Keuchel struck out seven while lowering his ERA to 2.03.

George Springer had a two-run homer in the third inning. Jose Altuve drove in a run in the fifth to help Houston to the victory.

The Astros have taken the first two games of this matchup of teams with the best records in the American League. Houston is 46-34 and Kansas City is 44-30.

Kansas City starter Danny Duffy (2-4) allowed six hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list.

PIRATES 5, TIGERS 4, 14 INNINGS

DETROIT — Neil Walker’s RBI double in the 14th inning lifted Pittsburgh to the win.

The Pirates took the lead in that inning despite a massive baserunning mistake. With one out and a runner on first, Josh Harrison doubled, but Gorkys Hernandez retreated, thinking Rajai Davis had made a diving catch.

After being urged on by Harrison, Hernandez then broke for third, but didn’t retouch second, and was out on a Tigers appeal. Walker followed with an RBI double off Tom Gorzelanny (1-2) to make it 5-4, but the Hernandez mistake cost the Pirates a run.

Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom of the inning, but Victor Martinez hit into a game-ending double play.

Deolis Guerra (1-0) picked up his first major league win with three scoreless innings.

ANGELS 2, YANKEES 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Andrew Heaney pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in the Angels’ fourth straight win, and Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar hit back-to-back homers in the sixth.

The Angels have won six of eight on their nine-game homestand. Los Angeles (41-37) heads into July four games above .500 for the first time since June 1.

Pujols hit his AL-leading 24th homer and set an Angels record with his 13th homer of a spectacular month.

Mark Teixeira homered for the Yankees, who have lost seven of 10. Ivan Nova (1-1) got the loss.

Heaney (1-0) walked two and struck out seven, allowing just one runner to reach second base.

CUBS 1, METS 0

NEW YORK — Kyle Hendricks outpitched Jonathon Niese in a matchup of feeble offenses, and the Cubs stopped a five-game skid.

Hendricks (3-4) struck out six in six innings and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter. Jason Motte earned his third save.

Matt Szczur had an RBI double in the sixth for the Cubs, who scored just six runs during their losing streak.

Niese (3-8) allowed four hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked four.

The Mets had won four in a row.

MARLINS 5, GIANTS 3

MIAMI — Major league batting leader Dee Gordon hit the first inside-the-park homer in the four-year history of Marlins Park, and the three-run shot helped Miami to the win.

Justin Bour also homered for the Marlins, giving a welcome jolt of power to a team without injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

Buster Posey hit his 12th homer for the Giants. He has 18 RBIs in his past 10 games.

Mat Latos (3-5) gave up three runs, two earned, in six innings for Miami. A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

San Francisco’s Ryan Vogelsong (6-6) allowed four runs in six innings.

RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO — David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit solo home runs in Boston’s third straight win, and Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six solid innings.

The Red Sox matched their longest winning streak of the season.

Rodriguez (4-2) gave up one run and four hits, slowing down the top-scoring team in the majors. Tommy Layne gave up a two-run homer to Jose Reyes in the seventh, Alexi Ogando got four outs and Koji Uehara finished for his 18th save.

Marco Estrada (5-4) allowed four runs, two earned, and three hits in 2 1/3 innings in his shortest start of the season. He had taken no-hit bids into the eighth in each of his previous two starts.

NATIONALS 6, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA — Jordan Zimmermann took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Washington continued its season-long dominance of the division rivalry.

The NL East-leading Nationals have won nine straight games in the season series with the Braves — including a three-game sweep at Washington last week.

Zimmermann (6-5) ended a streak of three losses since his last win on June 2. He allowed six hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Clint Robinson hit a two-run homer to cap Washington’s four-run first inning off Shelby Miller (5-4).

Juan Uribe opened the ninth with a homer off former Braves reliever David Carpenter.

INDIANS 6, RAYS 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Danny Salazar pitched two-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings, and the Indians backed him with three home runs.

Jason Kipnis, Giovanny Urshela and David Murphy connected for Cleveland, sending Tampa Bay to its third straight loss.

Facing the Rays for the first time since losing in the 2013 AL wild-card game, Salazar (7-3) allowed one earned run and struck out two. He won for the first time in four starts.

Erasmo Ramirez (6-3) lost for the first time in six starts.

BREWERS 4, PHILLIES 3

PHILADELPHIA — Aramis Ramirez drove in three runs and Ryan Braun had four hits, leading Milwaukee to the road win.

Hernan Perez had two hits, including a triple, for the Brewers, who have won six of eight. Neal Cotts (1-0) got the win, and Francisco Rodriguez earned his 17th save.

Carlos Ruiz homered for Philadelphia, which has lost five of six to drop its major league-worst record to 27-52.

Before the game, the Phillies said Pete Mackanin will remain their manager for the rest of the season. Mackanin took over on an interim basis last Friday after Ryne Sandberg resigned.

Ken Giles (3-2) got the loss in relief of Cole Hamels, who pitched seven solid innings.

MARINERS 5, PADRES 0

SAN DIEGO — Seattle rookie Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hitter for his second straight shutout.

Making his sixth major league start, Montgomery opened the seventh by getting Justin Upton on a fly to left. Yangervis Solarte hit Montgomery’s next pitch into the left-field corner for a double.

Montgomery (3-2) struck out seven, walked four and hit a batter. He threw a career-high 113 pitches.

The Padres were shut out for the 12th time and have lost five of eight.

Brad Miller and Mike Zunino homered off Ian Kennedy (4-7).

TWINS 8, REDS 5

CINCINNATI — Torii Hunter homered again after a long delay at the start of the game, and Phil Hughes got his third straight victory for Minnesota.

The start was delayed 2 hours, 1 minute because a storm was headed toward the ballpark. The storm dissolved on the way.

Hunter got the Twins going by hitting a solo drive in the first inning off Anthony DeSclafani (5-6) for his fourth homer in the last four games.

Hughes (7-6) gave up solo homers by Eugenio Suarez and Marlon Byrd, leaving in the seventh inning with the Twins up 7-2. Glen Perkins gave up a walk in the ninth while getting his 25th consecutive save, the second-longest streak in Twins history.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 4, 10 innings.

PHOENIX — Yasmani Grandal homered early and hit a two-run double in the 10th inning to finish with four RBIs, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

Howie Kendrick tied the game with a run-scoring single in the seventh and put the Dodgers ahead by hitting a homer on the second pitch of the 10th from David Hernandez (0-1). Grandal, who had a two-run shot in the second inning, made it 6-3 with his double into the corner in left.

Joel Peralta (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth inning and Kenley Jansen gave up a run-scoring double to Paul Goldschmidt in the 10th before closing out his 12th save.

Kendrick had four hits for the Dodgers, who have won eight of nine against Arizona.

Rockies 2, Athletics 1

OAKLAND, Calif. ­— Jorge De La Rosa pitched seven strong innings to carry the Colorado Rockies past the Oakland Athletics 2-1 Tuesday night for their first interleague win of the season.

Charlie Blackmon singled to break a scoreless tie in the fifth. Nolan Arenado singled in the fourth to extend his major league-leading hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.

Troy Tulowitzki also singled and has hit in 14 straight for the Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid.

Colorado had been 0-7 in interleague games this season and had lost 14 straight in American League ballparks before De La Rosa and two relievers combined on a six-hitter.

The A’s were without ace Sonny Gray, scratched from his scheduled start before the game because of illness.