AROUND THE HORN | Friday’s Major League Baseball games

INTERLEAGUE

Pirates 6, Yankees 3

PITTSBURGH

Josh Bell hit his second home run in as many games and Pittsburgh got to CC Sabathia early for a win over New York. Jordy Mercer led off with a solo shot against Sabathia (2-1) in the first and Bell followed an inning later with a two-run homer to the left field bleachers to give Pittsburgh a four-run cushion. Juan Nicasio (1-2) pitched 11/3 innings of scoreless relief after Tyler Glasnow faltered with two outs in the fifth. Tony Watson got out of a two-on, two-outs jam in the ninth for his fifth save as the Pirates ended a three-game losing streak. Jacoby Ellsbury had three of New York’s 10 hits, but the Yankees couldn’t overcome Sabathia’s first shaky outing this season and an error on a dropped popup by second baseman Starlin Castro that led to a pair of unearned runs. Sabathia gave up three earned runs in his first starts, but the Pirates put up four runs against him their first time through the order.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Orioles 2, Red Sox 0

BALTIMORE

Dylan Bundy took a five-hitter into the eighth inning, Manny Machado homered and surging Baltimore beat Boston. It was the seventh win in nine games for the Orioles, whose major league-best 11-4 record includes a 9-3 mark in the AL East. Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia had to be helped from the field in the bottom of the eighth inning after hurting his knee. The injury occurred when Machado slid into second on a force play and appeared to unintentionally spike Pedroia in the back of the left leg. Pablo Sandoval replaced Pedroia at second. Bundy (3-1) struck out three, walked one and allowed six hits in seven-plus innings. Brad Brach worked a perfect ninth for his third save.

Astros 6, Rays 3

ST PETERSBURG, FLA.

Carlos Beltran, playing three days before his 40th birthday, led off the second inning with his 423rd home run, and Houston rallied past Tampa Bay. Beltran homered off Alex Cobb (1-2) and also singled in the fourth as the Astros won for the ninth time in 11 games. With 1,040 extra-base hits, Beltran is one behind Pete Rose for third among switch-hitters behind Eddie Murray (1,099) and Chipper Jones (1,055). Corey Dickerson, Logan Morrison and Evan Longoria hit solo homers in the first three innings off Mike Fiers as the Rays took a 3-1 lead.

Rangers 6, Royals 2

ARLINGTON, TEXAS

Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos each homered twice to back a season-high eight innings from Cole Hamels and Texas beat Kansas City. Gallo’s first homer was a tiebreaking two-run shot in the second inning on a 3-0 pitch — a liner that matched teammate Carlos Gomez for the longest in the majors this season at 462 feet and was the hardest with an exit velocity of 116 mph, according to MLB’s statcast. All four homers came against Nate Karns (0-1), facing his hometown team for the fourth time. The right-hander allowed six runs in 42/3 innings, losing for the first time since last June in Texas when he was with Seattle. Hamels (1-0) retired 12 straight from the first to fifth innings.

Twins 6, Tigers 3

MINNEAPOLIS

Justin Verlander stumbled again, Miguel Cabrera left after straining his right groin and Detroit wasted a three-run lead against Minnesota, who burst ahead when Eddie Rosario hit a three-run homer that capped a six-run sixth inning. Cabrera, a two-time AL MVP, had three hits but was hurt while stretching for a throw from third baseman Nicholas Castellanos to first on Brian Dozier’s inning-ending grounder in the sixth. Cabrera was replaced in the middle of the seventh. Six days after allowing nine runs and 11 hits in four innings against Cleveland, Verlander (1-2) held the Twins to two hits in five innings and led 3-0 before walking Max Kepler, Miguel Sano and Joe Mauer starting the sixth.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cubs 6, Reds 5

CINCINNATI

Anthony Rizzo tied it with a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth, and Kris Bryant hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning on Friday night, rallying Chicago to a victory over Cincinnati. The Cubs won for the 19th time in their last 23 games against the Reds and for the 16th time in their last 20 games at Great American Ball Park. Chicago stranded a pair of runners in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings before breaking through in the ninth against Michael Lorenzen. Miguel Montero singled, Kyle Schwarber doubled, and Rizzo hit the Cubs’ third homer of the game. Bryant’s sacrifice fly off Robert Stephenson (0-1) sent the Cubs to their third straight win.

Nationals 4, Mets 3

NEW YORK

Bryce Harper homered early, then doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on a bases-loaded walk by Jeurys Familia, sending Washington over New York for their fifth straight win. Familia again had trouble finding the strike zone, forcing home a run with a walk to Trea Turner, as the Mets lost for the sixth time in seven games. New York fell to 1-3 in extra innings early this season. The Nationals, the top-hitting team in the major leagues, hadn’t gotten a hit since Jose Lobaton’s leadoff homer in the fifth when Harper sliced a double to open the 11th. After Daniel Murphy was intentionally walked by Josh Smoker (0-1), Familia relieved.

Phillies 4, Braves 3

PHILADELPHIA

Jeremy Hellickson pitched seven strong innings and Cesar Hernandez had three hits and scored two runs to lead Philadelphia to a victory over Atlanta. Hellickson (3-0) allowed two runs and just three hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Freddy Galvis, Aaron Altherr, Tommy Joseph and Maikel Franco each drove in runs for the Phillies, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to Atlanta. Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia homered for the Braves, who have dropped four straight after sweeping four games from San Diego. Bartolo Colon (1-2) allowed four runs and 11 hits in seven innings.

Cardinals 6, Brewers 3

MILWAUKEE

Adam Wainwright homered and drove in four runs while getting his first victory of the season, leading St. Louis over Milwaukee. Wainwright ripped a two-run homer into the second deck in left field off Wily Peralta (3-1) to put the Cardinals up 2-1 in the third. He drove in two more runs with a single in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-1. Wainwright (1-3) had struggled on the mound this season but showed better command against the Brewers. He gave up two runs and six hits in five innings, recording a season-high nine strikeouts without walking a batter. Peralta has struggled against the Cardinals. He gave up nine hits and six runs in four innings, failing to strike out a batter for the first time in 20 starts dating to May 2016.

Associated Press