MLB: Hernandez helps Mariners to late win over Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Felix Hernandez didn’t get the win. His dominant performance put the Seattle Mariners in position for victory, though.

Hernandez struck out a career-high 15 in seven innings before Endy Chavez keyed a five-run ninth with a tiebreaking RBI single, leading the Mariners to a 5-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

When asked what was working, Hernandez said “everything.”

“It was fun to go out there,” he said.

Rays manager Joe Maddon felt Hernandez was better than his perfect game against Tampa Bay on Aug. 15, 2012.

“That changeup was a fastball until the last moment, then it became a changeup,” Maddon said. “The man was outstanding.”

Ten of Hernandez’s 12 swinging strikeouts came on changeups.

James Jones had a two-run triple for the Mariners, who have won seven of eight.

Hernandez had won his previous five starts, which was two away from tying the team record held by Jamie Moyer (2003) and Scott Bankhead (1989), but the Mariners were held scoreless until the ninth by Chris Archer and two relievers.

King Felix scattered four hits. He remains winless at Tropicana Field, going 0-2 in four starts.

“One of these days,” Hernandez said with a smile.

After Brad Miller hit a two-out triple and Willie Bloomquist walked against Grant Balfour (0-2), the left-handed hitting Chavez slapped a two-strike single to left for a 1-0 lead. Jones had his triple before Kyle Seager added a two-run double.

“After watching that for about the last eight, nine years, it’s not lucky anymore,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said of Chavez’s hit. “I think it’s talent. I’ve seen him do it time and time again.”

Yoervis Medina (3-1) threw a scoreless eighth for the win.

RED SOX 5, TIGERS 3

DETROIT — David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning, and Boston snapped a five-game losing streak.

The Red Sox left men on base all night long, including when Ortiz was retired on a deep flyball to center in the seventh. But there was no doubt about his homer off Joba Chamberlain (1-3), which carried about halfway up the section of seats beyond the wall in right.

John Lackey (7-4) pitched eight sharp innings for Boston, and Koji Uehara tossed a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 12 chances.

Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera left in the sixth with left hamstring tightness.

ROYALS 2, YANKEES 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — James Shields kept making critical pitches to escape trouble, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas drove in runs and the Royals squeaked out a win over the Yankees.

The Royals have won the last seven games that Shields (7-3) has started, and he’s earned the win in four of those. The veteran right-hander lasted six innings in his latest effort, giving up six hits to the punchless Yankees but only allowing only one unearned run.

The Royals scored both of their runs off Hiroki Kuroda (4-4) in the second inning.

Aaron Crow escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and Wade Davis recorded the 500th strikeout of his career during a perfect eighth before Greg Holland survived a shaky ninth for his 18th save.

ASTROS 14, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS — Chris Carter and Jon Singleton hit their first career grand slams to power the Astros to a victory over the Twins.

Carter’s slam in the seventh inning sailed over the limestone overhang in right field and gave Houston a 9-3 lead. Singleton lined a fastball off Glen Perkins over the right-field wall that made it 14-5 in the ninth.

The only other time two Astros players hit grand slams in the same game was July 30, 1969, at New York when Denis Menke and Jimmy Wynn both hit slams in an 11-run ninth inning against the Mets.

Dexter Fowler and George Springer also homered for the Astros.

Darin Downs (1-0) got the last eight outs as the third reliever to follow starter Colin McHugh, who fanned six and allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings.

Houston batted around in the fourth inning, scoring three runs after Samuel Deduno (2-4) loaded the bases with nobody out by walking two batters and hitting another.

INDIANS 3, RANGERS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Lonnie Chisenhall had two hits and scored twice and Indians starter Justin Masterson picked up his first road win of the season.

Adrian Beltre and Alex Rios had two hits each for the injury-riddled Rangers, who learned before the game they will be without first baseman Mitch Moreland for three months. Moreland needs surgery on his ailing left ankle.

Masterson (4-4) gave up five hits and two runs in 5 2/3.

Left-hander Joe Saunders (0-2) is winless in four starts for Texas after allowing seven hits and three runs — two earned — with four walks in 5 1/3 innings.

ANGELS 4, WHITE SOX 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — C.J. Wilson bounced back strongly from his shortest outing of the season, taking a three-hit shutout into the eighth inning, and Josh Hamilton drove in three runs to lead the Angels over the White Sox.

Wilson (7-5) was charged with one run over 7 1/3 innings and struck out six.

Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his 10th save.

Jose Quintana (3-6) allowed four runs, seven hits and four walks through 4 1/3 innings and struck out four.

CARDINALS 5, BLUE JAYS 0

TORONTO — Jaime Garcia and two relievers combined on a three-hitter, Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta homered, and the Cardinals beat the Blue Jays.

Garcia (2-0) allowed three hits in seven innings, walked three and struck out four to win for the first time in three starts.

Pat Neshek worked the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal finished for the Cardinals, who have a Major League-high 12 shutouts this season. Texas entered Sunday with 11.

St. Louis won back-to-back games for the first time since May 24 and 25 against Cincinnati.

Drew Hutchison (4-4) allowed five runs and six hits in three innings, his shortest start of the season. He walked one and struck out one.

REDS 4, PHILLIES 1

CINCINNATI — Homer Bailey hit a two-run single and pitched eight effective innings to lead Cincinnati to the win.

Billy Hamilton added a two-run homer for the Reds, who won their second straight against the reeling Phillies after a three-game losing streak.

Bailey (7-3) allowed six hits and one run while matching his season high in innings and picking up his first career win in five decisions over 10 games against Philadelphia.

Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save.

David Buchanan (1-3), making his fourth career start since being called up by Philadelphia on May 24, allowed four runs in six innings.

BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0

PITTSBURGH — Yovani Gallardo pitched seven crisp innings for Milwaukee, and Jonathan Lucroy doubled and scored on Aramis Ramirez’s groundout in the seventh.

Gallardo (4-4) gave up four hits and a walk. He struck out a season-high eight. Francisco Rodriguez got four outs for his 19th save.

Jeff Locke (0-1) also pitched seven solid innings in a spot start for the Pirates. The left-hander allowed three hits, struck out five and walked one.

Lucroy led off the seventh with a liner down the left-field line that was grabbed by a fan while it was in play. Lucroy was awarded a ground-rule double on the interference.

Lucroy went to second on Carlos Gomez’s lineout to center and scored on Ramirez’s bouncer to first.

MARLINS 4, CUBS 3

CHICAGO — Giancarlo Stanton scored the go-ahead run on Pedro Strop’s wild pitch in the eighth inning, and Miami snapped Chicago’s five-game winning streak.

Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez left the game because of a left hip injury and is day to day.

The Marlins trailed 3-2 before they pushed across two runs in the eighth. Garrett Jones had a sacrifice fly before Stanton came home on the wild pitch from Strop (0-3).

Steve Cishek then struck out two in a scoreless ninth that gave him 14 saves in 15 tries.

Mike Dunn (5-3) got two outs for the win.

GIANTS 6, METS 4

SAN FRANCISCO — Gregor Blanco doubled, singled and drove in three runs, and the surging Giants earned their fifth consecutive win.

Curtis Granderson tagged Tim Lincecum with two homers, the biggest highlights of New York’s season-high sixth straight loss. Lincecum (5-4) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked one in six innings.

Brandon Crawford, Michael Morse and Brandon Hicks each drove in a run for the Giants, who chased Zack Wheeler in the fourth. Wheeler (2-6) gave up four runs and six hits.

Four relievers held the Mets to one run in two innings before Sergio Romo recorded his 20th save in 22 chances. San Francisco has won 10 of 12 and owns baseball’s best record at 42-21.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, BRAVES 5

PHOENIX — Arizona right-hander Chase Anderson pitched seven innings to become the third pitcher since 1998 to win his first five major league starts.

David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt each hit a two-run homer in Arizona’s six-run seventh inning. It was Peralta’s first major league homer.

Anderson (5-0) had a career-best eight strikeouts. He allowed two runs and five hits on his way to becoming the first pitcher to win his first five starts since Jered Weaver won seven straight in 2006.

Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman and Ramiro Pena homered for the Braves, who lost two of three in Arizona. Aaron Harang (4-5) issued six walks in six-plus innings, and was charged with three runs and four hits.

Brad Ziegler gave up a leadoff homer to Pena but retired the next three for his first save of the season.

DODGERS 6, ROCKIES 1, 5 1/2 innings

DENVER — Hanley Ramirez homered, Clayton Kershaw struck out nine and the Dodgers won a game cut short by rain in the sixth inning.

The Dodgers broke it open with four runs in the top of the sixth. The game was then delayed 1 hour, 35 minutes before it was called.

Matt Kemp had a triple and two RBIs for the Dodgers, who played without outfielder Yasiel Puig and second baseman Dee Gordon, both of whom sustained hip injuries Saturday.

Kershaw (5-2) allowed three hits in five innings.

Troy Tulowitzki homered for Colorado, which has lost nine of 10. Jorge De La Rosa (6-5) struggled through 5 1-3 innings.

NATIONALS 6, PADRES 0

SAN DIEGO — Jordan Zimmermann took a perfect game into the sixth inning and finished with a two-hitter and a career-high 12 strikeouts for Washington.

Ian Desmond hit his second two-run home run in as many games.

Zimmermann (5-2) faced only two batters over the minimum as he walked none in his first complete game of the season and sixth of his career. It was his third career shutout.

Padres left-hander Eric Stults (2-7) lasted only 2 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 85 career starts.

ATHLETICS 11, ORIOLES 1

BALTIMORE — Brandon Moss hit a grand slam and Scott Kazmir threw seven scoreless innings and Oakland beat Baltimore in a game that featured another bench-clearing confrontation between the teams.

John Jaso also had four RBIs for the A’s, who took two out of three in the series and improved to a major league-best 22-12 on the road. Baltimore allowed a season-high 11 walks in its most lopsided loss of the year.

Staked with an early lead, Kazmir (7-2) dominated the Orioles’ lineup. He allowed four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Jimenez (2-7), who signed a four-year, $50 million deal in the offseason, continued to struggle with his command. He allowed a season-high six runs on two hits with two strikeouts and five walks over just 2 1-3 innings, his shortest outing since April 16, 2013, against Cleveland.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.