ARLINGTON, Texas — Yu Darvish came oh, so close again.
The Japanese ace fell one out shy of a no-hitter for the second time Friday night, giving up only a ninth-inning single to David Ortiz in the Texas Rangers’ 8-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Rookie second baseman Rougned Odor, positioned in shallow right field, made a diving attempt but the ball was out of his reach. If the Rangers had not shifted their infield — a standard practice against Ortiz — it probably would have been a routine grounder to second.
Darvish lost a perfect-game bid with two outs in the ninth inning last season against Houston. This time, he bent his knees and put his glove on his hips after the base hit. Texas manager Ron Washington then made a slow walk to the mound, with the 45,392 in attendance cheering and chanting “Yuuuuuu!”
Darvish (3-1) struck out 12 and walked two while throwing 126 pitches.
Boston starter Clay Buchholz (2-3) allowed six runs and 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings.
ANGELS 4, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO — Raul Ibanez hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, Mike Trout connected for a solo homer and the Angels won their fifth straight game in Toronto.
Erick Aybar had three hits and scored twice, including the decisive run in the ninth, as the Angels won for the eighth time in nine meetings with the Blue Jays and halted Toronto’s season-long winning streak at five games.
Aybar tripled off Brett Cecil (0-3) to begin the ninth and Trout reached safely when first baseman Edwin Encarnacion couldn’t find the bag after taking the throw on Trout’s infield grounder. Albert Pujols was intentionally walked to load the bases for Ibanez.
Joe Smith (2-0) got the win despite giving up a tying home run to Jose Reyes in the eighth and Ernesto Frieri finished for his fourth save in six chances.
ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 3
BALTIMORE — Steve Pearce and Manny Machado homered, and the Orioles won a season-high fourth consecutive game.
Baltimore (19-14) is five games over .500 for the first time this season. Meanwhile, the Astros have lost six of seven.
Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (4-2) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. Tommy Hunter allowed a run in the ninth before finishing for his 11th save in 12 chances.
Pearce went deep for his third homer in four games. Machado hit his first home run since returning from offseason knee surgery on May 1. Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis went 3 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Chris Carter hit his fifth home run of the season for the Astros. Jerome Williams (1-2) got the loss.
TWINS 2, TIGERS 1
DETROIT — Phil Hughes pitched seven scoreless innings, and the Twins beat Justin Verlander for the first time in more than four years.
Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single off Verlander (4-2) in the seventh. Hughes (4-1) allowed eight hits in his fourth consecutive win.
Hughes threw 86 pitches, and then gave way to the bullpen. Casey Fien pitched the eighth, and Glen Perkins allowed a run in the ninth but held on for his ninth save in 10 chances.
Verlander allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked two.
The start of the game was delayed 27 minutes by rain.
The injury-plagued Twins snapped a three-game losing streak. Star first baseman Joe Mauer sat out a fifth straight game. He’s been dealing with back spasms.
INDIANS 6, RAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer during a five-run seventh inning, Corey Kluber went 6 2/3 effective innings, and the Indians stopped a seven-game road losing streak.
Cleveland also got solo homers from Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley. Kluber (3-3) allowed two runs and nine hits with nine strikeouts.
Jake Odorizzi struck out a career-high 11 and gave up five hits in five shutout innings for the Rays, who have lost six straight at home.
Brantley homered off Joel Peralta (1-3) before Yan Gomes hit an RBI single and Aviles had his three-run shot against Brandon Gomes as the Indians went ahead 6-2 in the seventh.
Cody Allen got one out for his first save.
ROYALS 6, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE — Jason Vargas pitched seven scoreless innings and Kansas City had 16 singles in the victory.
Vargas (3-1), who pitched for the Mariners for four seasons from 2009 to 2012, allowed three hits and walked none. He is 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in four career starts against his former team.
Salvador Perez, Eric Gordon and Eric Hosmer had three hits apiece for the Royals.
The Mariners have two runs and 10 hits over the past three games.
Brandon Maurer (1-1) pitched 7 1/3 innings for Seattle, but was charged with six runs, four earned, and 14 hits.
WHITE SOX 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3
CHICAGO — Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam in Chicago’s seven-run fourth inning, and Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 13th homer to lead the White Sox to the win.
Abreu was the designated hitter because of a nagging left ankle injury. He went 3 for 4 and leads the AL with 37 RBIs.
Tyler Flowers also homered for the White Sox, who pounded out 15 hits.
Chicago right-hander Andre Rienzo (3-0) allowed three runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Arizona’s Brandon McCarthy (1-6) allowed nine hits and seven runs — all in the fourth inning.
Gerardo Parra hit a two-run homer in the third for the Diamondbacks.
ATHLETICS 8, NATIONALS 0
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland’s Tommy Milone tossed eight innings of two-hit ball for his first win of the season.
Brandon Moss homered and finished with three RBIs, and Yoenis Cespedes and John Jaso each hit a solo shot to back Milone’s gem. The left-hander struck out seven and walked three.
Milone (1-3) left after 108 pitches, and Fernando Rodriguez tossed a scoreless ninth in his first appearance in the majors since October 2012 after rehabbing from elbow ligament replacement surgery.
Moss and Cespedes connected on consecutive pitches in the fifth as the AL West-leading A’s foiled Doug Fister’s season debut. Fister (0-1) allowed nine hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.
REDS 4, ROCKIES 3
CINCINNATI — Joey Votto hit a game-ending solo homer, and Cincinnati shut down Colorado’s Nolan Arenado.
Votto drove a 3-0 pitch from Boone Logan (1-1) over the wall in center for his fifth homer. Votto’s fourth career game-ending shot traveled an estimated 437 feet.
Arenado went 0 for 3, snapping his hitting streak at a club-record 28 games, the longest in the majors this season. But Arenado walked and scored on Justin Morneau’s tying double in the ninth, handing Jonathan Broxton (1-0) his first blown save in six opportunities.
Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto went eight innings, giving him five consecutive starts of eight or more innings. He gave up five hits and two runs with one walk and eight strikeouts.
YANKEES 5, BREWERS 3
MILWAUKEE — Masahiro Tanaka pitched into the seventh inning, Yangervis Solarte hit a three-run homer and New York beat Milwaukee in the interleague matchup.
A fan jumped out of the left-field stands and walked briskly toward Derek Jeter’s spot at shortstop while the Brewers were batting in the sixth inning. Jeter didn’t appear to notice until the fan was within an arm’s length or so. Jeter calmly took a few steps away as several security guards rushed in to tackle the person.
Jeter has said he will retire after this season.
Tanaka (5-0) allowed two runs and seven hits in his first interleague game. The Japanese right-hander struck out seven and walked one.
Tanaka also struck out in each of his first three major league at-bats.
GIANTS 3, DODGERS 1
LOS ANGELES — Madison Bumgarner pitched eight superb innings and Brandon Crawford hit a two-run homer, leading San Francisco past Los Angeles.
The Giants’ 12th victory in 15 games came at a cost. Brandon Belt broke his left thumb when he was hit by Paul Maholm’s first pitch of the second inning. The first baseman, who leads the club with nine homers, ran the bases until the inning was over but was replaced on defense by Joaquin Arias.
The Giants were leading 3-0 when Yasiel Puig homered to center with one out in the sixth, after taking a called third strike his previous time up and leaving Justin Turner stranded at third base. As soon as Puig made contact, he flipped the bat away, walked a few feet toward first base and began a slow trot around the bases.
PADRES 10, MARLINS 1
SAN DIEGO — Jedd Gyorko hit two home runs off Jose Fernandez and San Diego snapped a three-game losing streak.
Gyorko came into the game hitting just .146, but connected for a two-run shot in the second and a grand slam in the sixth. The six RBIs set a career high.
The Padres, who came in averaging a major league-low 2.6 runs per game, had their highest-scoring game since a 12-2 victory over Arizona on Sept. 25.
Fernandez (4-2) was charged with six runs and six hits in five-plus innings. The right-hander, who won the NL Rookie of the Year award last season, was 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his previous four starts.
Tyson Ross (4-3) was working on a shutout before Marcell Ozuna homered in the seventh inning. The righty allowed four hits and struck out eight in seven innings.
PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 4
PITTSBURGH — Neil Walker had three hits, including a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh inning, and drove in four runs to power Pittsburgh past St. Louis.
Walker’s seventh homer came off Carlos Martinez (0-2) and rallied the Pirates from a 4-3 deficit for their third straight victory.
Pittsburgh beat St. Louis for the 10th time in 13 games at home.
St. Louis had gone ahead in the top of the seventh on Jhonny Peralta’s solo home run, his eighth. Allen Craig’s three-run home run, his fourth, accounted for the Cardinals’ other runs.
Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out the only batter he faced, Matt Adams, to end the top of the seventh. Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save.
BRAVES 3, CUBS 2, 10 INNINGS
ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman’s single up the middle drove in Jason Heyward from second base in the 10th inning and Atlanta recovered from Craig Kimbrel’s blown save to beat Chicago.
Kimbrel couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the ninth after Julio Teheran allowed only one hit — Mike Olt’s homer — in eight innings.
Wesley Wright (0-1) walked Heyward to lead off the 10th. Heyward stole second base. Wright issued an intentional walk to Justin Upton before Freeman ended the game with his single. Heyward slid home with the winning run as Ryan Kalish’s throw from center field was off target.
Luis Valbuena led off the 10th with a single to right field off Alex Wood (3-5), who then recorded three straight outs in his first relief appearance of the season.
PHILLIES 3, METS 2, 11 INNINGS
NEW YORK — Marlon Byrd sliced an RBI double just inside the right field line in the 11th inning, and Philadelphia beat New York in a game of many squandered opportunities.
Chase Utley had three hits and scored all the Phillies’ runs, two on singles by Domonic Brown, to help Philadelphia end a four-game skid and beat the Mets for the first time in six meetings.
Carlos Torres (2-2), the Mets’ seventh pitcher, gave up a one-out double to Utley and intentionally walked Ryan Howard. Byrd, who played for the Mets last season, reached low and away to send an opposite-field liner inside the foul line to score Utley.
The Phillies left the bases loaded, only fitting as the teams combined to strand 32 runners in a game that took 4 hours, 39 minutes.
Jonathan Papelbon earned his 10th save. Mario Hollands (1-1) got the win.
