MLB Roundup: Mets power past Diamondbacks, 5-3

NEW YORK — Kirk Nieuwenhuis homered three times to help the New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep.

Nieuwenhuis homered twice off Diamondbacks starter Rubby De La Rosa (6-5), in the second and third innings and once off reliever Randall Delgado in the fifth. His homer off Delgado rang off the right field foul ball and drew a curtain call from the cheering crowd of 28,259.

The Mets centerfielder’s effort backed Jonathon Niese, who was starting in place of the injured Steven Matz. Niese (5-8) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Nieuwenhuis’ effort marked the first time any Met had ever homered three times in a home game. Nieuwenhuis is the 10th player in Mets history with a three-homer game and the first since Ike Davis accomplished the feat on July 28, 2012 at Arizona.

ATHLETICS 2, INDIANS 0

CLEVELAND — All-Star Sonny Gray pitched a two-hit shutout and allowed only three base runners, leading the Athletics to a win over the Indians on Sunday.

Gray, who lowered his AL-best ERA to 2.04, walked one and struck out six. Only three outs were recorded by outfielders in his third career shutout.

Gray (10-3) retired the first 10 hitters before Francisco Lindor’s one-out single in the fourth. The right-hander walked David Murphy to lead off the fifth and retired 11 in a row until Giovanny Urshela’s two-out single in the eighth.

Vogt, Oakland’s other All-Star, hit a two-run homer to right in the fourth off Corey Kluber (4-10) after being robbed of a home run in the first by Murphy

PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 5, 10 INNINGS

PITTSBURGH — Gregory Polanco capped another late rally, driving in Jung Ho Kang with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Pittsburgh past St. Louis.

The Cardinals took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th on a two-run double by Randal Grichuk off Arquimedes Caminero (1-1). Pittsburgh, which won in 14 innings on a homer by Andrew McCutchen on Saturday, did it again 24 hours later against St. Louis All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal (1-2).

Starling Marte brought Pittsburgh within a run with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Francisco Cervelli tied it with a single and Polanco followed two batters later with a looping single to right for his fourth hit of the game.

RAYS 4, ASTROS 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Matt Moore got his first win since elbow surgery with help from the Tampa Bay bullpen and the Rays completed a three-game sweep by beating the Astros.

Moore (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits over five innings to get his first victory since Sept. 29, 2013 at Toronto. It was his third start after missing almost 15 months due to the surgery.

Rays relievers Brandon Gomes, Steve Geltz, Kevin Jepsen and Brad Boxberger, who pitched the ninth for his 23rd save, gave up a combined two hits over four scoreless innings.

Houston enters the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak. The Astros took over first place in the AL West on April 19, but started Sunday with just a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels, who were scheduled to play Seattle later Sunday.

Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when John Jaso walked with the bases loaded and Grady Sizemore had an RBI grounder off rookie Lance McCullers (4-3).

MARLINS 8, REDS 1

MIAMI — Dan Haren repeatedly pitched out of jams and allowed only one run in six innings to help the Marlins beat the Reds.

The Reds stranded seven runners in scoring position against Haren, and threatened in all but one inning he worked. They went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position against the right-hander.

The Reds’ defense was no better, committing a pair of errors that resulted in three unearned runs.

Justin Bour had three hits and three RBIs for the Marlins, who scored 22 runs in the final two games of the series and won three of four from the Reds. Casey McGehee, signed Friday for a second stint with Miami, drove in two runs for the second game in a row.

Haren (7-5) outpitched Johnny Cueto (6-6), who allowed five runs, three earned, in five innings.

YANKEES 8, RED SOX 6

BOSTON — Alex Rodriguez doubled to break a sixth-inning tie, move into the top 25 on baseball’s career hits list and help the Yankees beat the Red Sox.

The win gave the Yankees the edge in the three-game series and moved them 6 1/2 games in front of last-place Boston in the bunched-up AL East. New York leads the division by 3 1/2 games heading into the All-Star break.

Yankees prospect Rob Refsnyder had his first career hit with a single in the seventh inning and then added a two-run homer in the ninth to make it 8-4. The Red Sox cut it to 8-6 in the ninth thanks to two New York errors, but Andrew Miller got Shane Victorino on a pop-up to shallow left to end it.

Brian McCann also had two hits, including a two-run homer, and Nathan Eovaldi (9-2) pitched five innings for the Yankees.

NATIONALS 3, ORIOLES 2

BALTIMORE — Max Scherzer ended his impressive first half with another dominant performance, taking a three-hitter into the ninth inning to lead the Nationals to a victory over the Orioles.

Yunel Escobar had three hits and scored a run for the Nationals, who reached the All-Star break in first place in the NL East after taking two of three from their neighboring rivals.

Scherzer was one out away from his fourth complete game when Adam Jones hit his second homer of the game. Drew Storen entered and struck out Chris Davis to earn his 27th save.

Scherzer (10-7) allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked none. He retired 14 straight after allowing a first-inning homer to Jones.

TWINS 7, TIGERS 1

MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Gibson won his fourth straight start, throwing seven strong innings, and rookie Miguel Sano hit a two-run homer to lead the Twins to a win over the Tigers.

Gibson (8-6) allowed only an unearned run and four hits, while Sano hit his second home run since being recalled from Double-A on July 2.

Danny Santana added two hits, including a two-run triple, for Minnesota, which enters the All-Star break having won six of seven. The Twins are in second place in the AL Central and hold the top wild-card spot.

Shane Greene (4-7) allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks in just 4 2-3 innings for the Tigers after being recalled from Triple-A.

ROYALS 11, BLUE JAYS 10

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Paulo Orlando broke a tie with an eighth inning homer and Kendrys Morales hit a three-run homer as the Royals defeated the Blue Jays after blowing a seven-run advantage Sunday.

The Royals enter the All-Star break with an American League-leading 52 victories. Orlando hit a 2-1 Bo Schultz (0-1) pitch out to left to leadoff the eight.

Kansas City led 7-0 after five innings, but the Blue Jays sent 12 men to the plate in an eight-run sixth. Danny Valencia and Jose Bautista contributed two-run doubles in the inning.

Seven of the runs were unearned after Mike Moustakas and Omar Infante committed errors.

Royals reliever Wade Davis (5-1) got the win despite allowing his second run of the season.

Greg Holland worked the ninth, logging his 20th save in 22 opportunities.

CUBS 3, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO — Jake Arrieta pitched a two-hitter and also homered to lead the Cubs to a win over the White Sox.

Arrieta (10-5) struck out nine — including all three batters in the ninth — in his second complete game win of the season.

White Sox starter Jose Quintana (4-9) pitched well in the losing effort, also striking out nine. He gave up three runs and eight hits in 7 1-3 innings.

The win broke a three-game losing streak for the Cubs, including losses in the previous two games in the crosstown rivalry.

The Cubs opened the scoring in the first inning when Kris Bryant hit an RBI triple that scored Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler followed with an RBI single that scored Bryant.

Arrieta’s leadoff home run in the fifth, which barely cleared the wall in left field, was his first in the majors.

PADRES 2, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Tyson Ross pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings as the Padres edged the Rangers.

Ross (6-7) extended his homerless streak to 86 2-3 innings over 14 starts, the current longest streak in the majors.

Craig Kimbrel recorded a four-out save, his 23rd of the season. He allowed a ninth-inning run when Rougned Odor’s single to center scored Adrian Beltre and left runners on first and second.

Will Venable scored San Diego’s first run in the second inning from third base on a throwing error by second baseman Odor. Venable reached third when his sharp grounder caromed off the glove off first baseman Mitch Moreland into short right field. He sped to third before Odor could retrieve it.

Justin Upton got the other run in the seventh when he reached on a fielder’s choice and came home on Jedd Gyorko’s two-out single.

GIANTS 4, PHILLIES 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew Susac hit a three-run homer to back Chris Heston’s superb start, and the Giants rolled past the last-place Phillies.

Heston (9-5) allowed one run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out seven and walked none to help send the reigning World Series champions into the All-Star break on a high note.

Santiago Casilla gave up a run in the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances.

Buster Posey and Angel Pagan each singled three times, and Susac’s homer highlighted a four-run fourth against Chad Billingsley (1-3) that handed Philadelphia its fifth consecutive defeat.

The Phillies (29-62) set the franchise record for the most losses before the All-Star break, surpassing the previous mark of 61 in 1997.

ANGELS 10, MARINERS 3

SEATTLE — Chris Iannetta hit a two-run home run and David Freese added a two-run double as part of a six-run sixth inning, and the Angels entered the All-Star break in first place in the American League West after a win over the Mariners.

The Angels won for the 11th time in 14 games and leaped past Houston into the AL West lead for the first time since April 17 after the Astros lost their sixth straight on Sunday. The Angels took advantage of three errors by Seattle and knocked around starter Taijuan Walker (7-7) for his worst outing in two months.

Freese just missed a homer, doubling off the top of the wall to end Walker’s day in the sixth. Iannetta followed with his fifth homer of the season off reliever David Rollins to blow the game open.

DODGERS 4, BREWERS 3

LOS ANGELES — Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to put the Dodgers ahead in the eighth inning, and NL West-leading Los Angeles beat the last-place Brewers.

The Dodgers took two out of three from the Brewers to go into the All-Star break with a 51-39 record.

Pedro Baez (2-1) got the victory with a strikeout in one inning of relief. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth to earn his 16th save in 17 chances, including his last nine since June 12.

Howie Kendrick singled leading off the eighth on his 32nd birthday and advanced to second after center fielder Carlos Gomez misplayed the ball for an error. Gonzalez followed with his 18th homer on an 0-2 pitch from Will Smith (4-1), giving the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

ROCKIES 11, BRAVES 3

DENVER — All-Star Troy Tulowitzki homered, Charlie Blackmon had three hits and drove in four runs and the Rockies beat the Braves to complete a four-game sweep.

Drew Stubbs also went deep for the Rockies, who took four from Atlanta for the first time in team history.

Tulowitzki was chosen as an injury replacement to the NL All-Star team on Saturday, right after his 21-game hitting streak ended. He started another one with a three-run homer in the sixth off reliever Dave Carpenter.

Blackmon did his damage against Atlanta starter Alex Wood (6-6). His two-run single in the second gave Colorado a 3-0 lead and his second two-RBI single came two batters before Tulowitzki’s 10th home run.

Chad Bettis (5-4) got the win.