Chicago — Former Dartmouth College pitcher Kyle Hendricks and four relievers combined on a five-hitter, Addison Russell had a two-run single to key a five-run sixth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Texas Rangers 6-0 on Friday in a matchup of slumping division leaders.
The Cubs returned from the All-Star break to win for the seventh time in 22 games, while the Rangers lost their eighth in 10 games thanks to a rough sixth that included Prince Fielder’s throwing error.
As Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester have struggled lately, Hendricks (8-6) has remained sharp. The former Rangers draft pick lowered his team-best ERA to 2.41, allowing three hits with three strikeouts in six innings.
Orioles 4, Rays 3
St. Petersburg, Fla. — Jonathan Schoop hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and the AL East-leading Baltimore came back from an early deficit to beat Tampa Bay.
Schoop got his 15th homer leading off the inning against Chris Archer (4-13), who leads the majors in losses. Schoop is 5 for 13 with two homers in his career against the Rays’ opening day starter.
Tigers 4, Royals 2
Detroit — Victor Martinez drove in two runs with a tiebreaking infield single in the seventh inning, and Detroit took advantage of that fluky hit.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Martinez’s comebacker deflected off reliever Joakim Soria and rolled to the area between first and second. With the second baseman playing deep, there was no chance to retire Martinez, and two runs came home on the play.
Reds 5, Brewers 4
Cincinnati — Adam Duvall and Tucker Barnhart doubled home runs in the sixth inning Friday night, rallying Cincinnati to a victory over Milwaukee that snapped a three-game losing streak.
The bottom two teams in the NL Central went into the All-Star break with downturns. The last-place Reds pulled off a three-run rally, then barely held on.
Mets 5, Phillies 3
Philadelphia — Neil Walker hit a three-run home run and Juan Lagares also went deep to lead New York over Philadelphia.
Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits for the Mets, who opened the second half of the season by snapping a three-game losing streak. New York won without All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who missed his third straight game with a right quad strain.
Nationals 5, Pirates 1
Washington — Stephen Strasburg threw eight masterful innings and bunted in a run and Michael Taylor hit a two-run homer that broke the game open as Washington beat Pittsburgh.
Strasburg (13-0) allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts. The eight innings tied his longest start of the season. It was Strasburg’s franchise-record 16th straight decision since September. Washington improved to 16-1 with Strasburg on the mound this year.
Indians 5, Twins 2
Minneapolis — Mike Napoli had three hits, including his 19th home run, Carlos Carrasco pitched into the seventh inning and Cleveland beat Minnesota.
Napoli scored three runs, one on his solo shot into the bullpen in left-center in the eighth inning that stretched Cleveland’s lead to three runs.
Rockies 11, Braves 2
Atlanta — Colorado scored four times in the third inning and pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn had a grand slam in the ninth inning.
After averaging 2.7 runs in its last seven road games at San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado took advantage of baseball’s worst team.
