Yankees whip up on Nationals

WASHINGTON — Curtis Granderson drove in three runs, Phil Hughes pitched six innings to win his fourth straight start, and the New York Yankees beat the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Friday night for their seventh consecutive victory.

Both teams entered with six-game winning streaks and leading their divisions. For the Nationals, the attention was unusual; the stands were packed, with many rooting for the Yankees.

Hughes (7-5) struck out nine and allowed a run and six hits. Gio Gonzalez (8-3) worked six-plus innings for Washington, yielding three runs and five hits.

Alex Rodriguez singled in Derek Jeter in the third to leave him tied with Jimmie Foxx for sixth place with 1,924 RBIs.

DODGERS 7, WHITE SOX 6

LOS ANGELES — James Loney scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Matt Thornton in the eighth inning, and the Dodgers won the opener of the interleague series between division leaders.

Alex Rios hit his second homer of the game in the top half of the eighth, but the Dodgers went in front again in the bottom half.

Loney started the winning rally with a one-out single against Thornton (2-4). Dee Gordon walked, and Elian Herrera grounded into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners. Bobby Abreu batted for Ronald Belisario (2-0), and Gordon took off for second as Thornton’s first pitch to Abreu bounced past A.J. Pierzynski.

Belisario pitched 1 1⁄3 innings for the victory, and Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 14 chances.

CUBS 3, RED SOX 0

CHICAGO — Ryan Dempster pitched four-hit ball over seven innings, and the Cubs held on to beat team president Theo Epstein’s former club.

The Red Sox loaded the bases against Carlos Marmol in the ninth, but he got out of it when Dustin Pedroia forced the runner at third to end the game.

Dempster (3-3) stretched his scoreless innings streak to 22 and lowered his ERA to 2.11 with another dominant performance. Marmol earned his third save.

Dempster also helped himself at the plate with two hits. He tripled and scored in the second to make it 3-0 after Steve Clevenger hit a two-run double off Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) in the first, sending Boston to its eighth loss in 11 games.

ROCKIES 12, TIGERS 4 (10)

DETROIT — Wilin Rosario hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the 10th, and the Rockies went on to score a franchise-record eight runs in an extra inning while snapping an eight-game losing streak.

Jose Valverde (3-2) gave up a leadoff single to Michael Cuddyer in the 10th and allowed him to get to third on a throwing error to first base after Eric Young laid down a sacrifice. Valverde got Jordan Pacheco to ground out to shortstop Jhonny Peralta, whose throw home got Cuddyer out. Rosario broke the tie, and Luis Marte gave up back-to-back homers to Carlos Gonzalez and Cuddyer.

Matt Belisle (3-2) earned the win with two scoreless innings.

RAYS 11, MARLINS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Matt Moore and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, helping Tampa Bay snap a three-game losing streak.

Ben Zobrist homered, and Desmond Jennings drove in four runs in support of Moore (4-5), who gave up a first-inning single and walked three in seven innings. The rookie left-hander struck out eight before being replaced by Burke Badenhop after throwing 107 pitches. Badenhop worked the eighth, and Brandon Gomes finished the second one-hitter at Tropicana Field in three days.

The Marlins played without third baseman Hanley Ramirez, who was hit in the nose by a ball while taking batting practice in an indoor cage. His replacement, Donovan Solano, had the only hit.

Carlos Zambrano (4-5) got the loss.

ROYALS 3, CARDINALS 2

ST. LOUIS — Mike Moustakas cut down Tyler Greene at the plate to end the game, capping a wild ninth inning and preserving the Royals’ victory.

Greene reached on a two-out infield hit for his third single of the game, stole second and advanced on catcher Bryan Pena’s wild throw. He tried to score on another off-line throw by second baseman Chris Getz, but third baseman Moustakas nipped Greene at home.

Vin Mazzaro (3-1) pitched six scoreless innings for Kansas City, which earned its fourth consecutive victory. Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth for his 16th save.

The Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse (6-2) scattered 10 hits in seven innings, giving up three runs.

RANGERS 6, ASTROS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish matched his major league high with 11 strikeouts over eight innings, leading Texas to the victory.

David Murphy lined a two-run single during a five-run fifth off Jordan Lyles (1-3), when the Rangers had two popups fall for hits after an error and a hit batsman started the rally.

Darvish (8-4) scattered seven hits and gave up two runs while throwing 76 of his 110 pitches for strikes.

After Jordan Schafer’s infield single to start the sixth, Darvish struck out eight of the last 11 batters he faced.

D’BACKS 5, ANGELS 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Trevor Cahill pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning, and Aaron Hill hit a three-run homer for Arizona.

Jason Kubel had three hits and drove in an early run for the Diamondbacks, who earned their ninth win in 12 games.

Cahill (5-5) got his third straight victory following a five-start winless streak, striking out eight.

Dan Haren (4-7), a two-time All-Star for Arizona facing his former teammates for the first time, allowed eight hits and five runs during his sixth loss in his last nine starts.

BREWERS 5, TWINS 3

MINNEAPOLIS — Martin Maldonado’s tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning off Matt Capps pushed the Brewers into the lead, and John Axford bounced back from consecutive blown saves to preserve the advantage.

Corey Hart led off the ninth against Capps (1-4) with a double. With two outs and two strikes, Maldonado sent a fastball into the bullpen. Then Axford pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his 11th save.

Ryan Braun ended Francisco Liriano’s no-hit bid with a three-run homer in the sixth inning on the left-hander’s 97th pitch after a pair of walks.

Trevor Plouffe homered twice for Minnesota.

Kameron Loe (3-2) picked up the victory with 1 2⁄3 scoreless innings.

INDIANS 2, PIRATES 0

CLEVELAND — Justin Masterson pitched seven effective innings to help the Indians snap a three-game losing streak.

Masterson (3-6) allowed four hits, struck out nine and ended his own three-game slide. He wriggled out of threats in the fourth, sixth and seventh.

Vinnie Pestano worked the eighth, and Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 21st save. He hasn’t blown a save since opening day.

Carlos Santana hit an RBI double in the third off James McDonald (5-3), and Michael Brantley extended baseball’s longest hitting streak this season to 22 games with a run-scoring single in the eighth.

The Pirates have lost four straight.

BLUE JAYS 3, PHILLIES 0

TORONTO — Rookie right-hander Drew Hutchison left in the first inning with a sore elbow, but five Toronto relievers combined on a five-hitter to snap a three-game losing streak.

Brett Lawrie had two doubles and drove in a run as the Blue Jays won for just the third time in their past nine meetings with the Phillies.

Philadelphia had won two straight coming in but lost for the 10th time in 13 games.

Hutchison became the third Blue Jays starter in five days to leave with an injury when a sore right elbow forced him off the mound after just nine pitches.

Carlos Villanueva (2-0) allowed two hits and struck out five over four innings.

Vance Worley (3-3) allowed three runs, one earned, and five hits in seven innings, matching his longest start of the season.

BRAVES 4, ORIOLES 2

ATLANTA — Rookie shortstop Andrelton Simmons made amends for his first career error by hitting a two-run, go-ahead homer in the sixth inning, and Atlanta ended Baltimore’s five-game winning streak.

Brian McCann’s first-inning homer off Brian Matusz (5-7) gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead. The Orioles scored two runs off Tommy Hanson in the fourth with help from a throwing error by Simmons and another error by Michael Bourn in center field.

The Braves snapped a four-game losing streak. Chad Durbin (3-0) got the win.

ATHLETICS 10, PADRES 2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Brandon Moss homered in his fourth consecutive game, and Travis Blackley earned his first victory in nearly eight years as Oakland earned its fourth consecutive win.

Moss’ two-run shot off starter Randy Bass (2-7) capped a five-run first inning.

Josh Reddick and Cliff Pennington had two RBIs each for Oakland, which has scored 36 runs in the last four games.

Blackley (1-2) pitched six innings for his first win since July 1, 2004, when he made his major league debut with Seattle. Evan Scribner went three innings for his first save.

GIANTS 4, MARINERS 2

SEATTLE — Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera homered to lead San Francisco to the victory.

Posey turned on a hanging breaking ball from Jason Vargas (7-6) for his eighth homer of the season, a 386-foot solo shot to left in the second inning. Cabrera’s sixth homer of the season didn’t have the majestic arc of Posey’s, but it cleared the fence in left-center field by about a foot for a two-run shot in the eighth.

Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong (6-2) couldn’t match the perfection of teammate Matt Cain, but he was dominant for seven innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

REDS 7, METS 3

NEW YORK — Jay Bruce hit an inside-the-park homer that left Jason Bay with yet another injury, and the Reds beat the Mets to give Bronson Arroyo his first victory in five weeks.

Brandon Phillips added a two-run shot to extend his recent hitting tear, and the NL Central leaders followed up a three-game sweep of intrastate rival Cleveland by winning the series opener at Citi Field, a nice present for manager Dusty Baker on his 63rd birthday.