MLB: Reds’ Chapman makes successful season debut after eye injury

CINCINNATI — Aroldis Chapman made his first major league appearance since being hit above the eye by a line drive during spring training, striking out the side in the ninth inning with his 100 mph fastball to close out the Cincinnati Reds’ 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Todd Frazier hit his second 400-foot home run in three days to back Homer Bailey (3-2) as the Reds won the rubber match of the three-game series.

Chapman was greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd of 33,143. He reached 100 mph with his first pitch and topped out at 102 mph in earning the save. Chapman had been out since a frightening injury March 19.

Skip Schumaker drove in two runs and the Reds capitalized on two throwing errors to send the Rockies to their third loss in four games. Charlie Blackmon hit his ninth homer for Colorado.

Bailey allowed four hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Juan Nicasio (4-2) gave up four runs — two earned — in six innings.

GIANTS 7, DODGERS 4

LOS ANGELES — Pablo Sandoval and Hector Sanchez hit RBI singles in the 10th inning, and San Francisco recovered to beat Los Angeles after closer Sergio Romo gave up a tying homer to Hanley Ramirez.

Brandon Hicks hit a two-run shot off Clayton Kershaw, and Buster Posey had an RBI single for the NL West leaders, who beat the defending division champions for the seventh time in 10 meetings this season.

The Giants finished their trip 7-3 and played errorless ball over the last five games.

Romo (3-0) came on in the ninth to try and protect a 4-2 lead for Tim Hudson. The right-hander struck out Yasiel Puig after a one-out double by Dee Gordon, but Ramirez lined his fifth homer to left field. The blown save was Romo’s first this season in 13 chances.

Angel Pagan drew a leadoff walk in the 10th from Kenley Jansen (0-2) before Hunter Pence singled.

Jean Machi got three outs for his first major league save.

BRAVES 5, CUBS 2

ATLANTA — Evan Gattis hit a tiebreaking homer, Jason Heyward added a two-run shot and Atlanta beat Chicago to complete a three-game sweep.

Gattis gave the Braves a 3-2 advantage with his homer off Edwin Jackson in the fourth inning. Heyward added to the lead with his first home run since April 9.

Aaron Harang (4-3) gave up two runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. David Carpenter pitched the ninth for his second save as closer Craig Kimbrel was rested after pitching two straight days.

Jackson (2-3) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

The NL East-leading Braves have recovered from seven straight losses by winning four of five. The Cubs, last in the NL Central, have dropped seven of eight.

METS 5, PHILLIES 4, 11 INNINGS

NEW YORK — Daniel Murphy and the New York Mets suddenly rallied for three runs in the ninth inning against Philadelphia’s improvised bullpen, then ended a five-game skid on Ruben Tejada’s single in the 11th.

Down 4-1, the punchless Mets fought back in the ninth, sparked by Murphy’s two-run homer off Antonio Bastardo. Chris Young ended his 0-for-18 slump with a double, and Juan Lagares drove in the tying run with a slow grounder against Roberto Hernandez — who started Friday night and threw 99 pitches.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said closer Jonathan Papelbon was sore and unavailable to pitch in a third straight game.

Scott Rice (1-1) got Reid Brignac on a grounder with two runners on to finish the top of the 11th.

Jeff Manship (1-1) took the loss.

New York’s comeback denied Cole Hamels his elusive first win of the season and the 100th of his career. He struck out 10 in seven innings while throwing a whopping 133 pitches, the most of any major leaguer this year.

PADRES 5, MARLINS 4

SAN DIEGO — Will Venable hit a leadoff homer and San Diego beat Miami for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

The resurgent Padres offense, which has scored 24 runs in three games, also got two hits and two RBIs from Chris Denorfia.

Robbie Erlin (2-4) scattered five hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to three relievers. Huston Street pitched around a hit and two walks in the ninth to earn his 11th save.

Erlin, who didn’t walk a batter, had seven strikeouts to match a career high. He had lost four straight decisions.

Padres pitchers struck out 48 in the four-game series to set a franchise record.

Henderson Alvarez (2-3), who was coming off his second shutout of the season and third in his last eight starts, wasn’t sharp. He lasted four innings, allowing five runs and seven hits with three walks.

Christian Yelich homered for the Marlins and Jeff Baker had a two-run triple.

CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 5

PITTSBURGH — Shelby Miller won his fourth straight start and Trevor Rosenthal induced a bases-loaded double play to end the game as the Cardinals held off the Pirates.

Allen Craig and Yadier Molina had two hits each, including RBI singles in a four-run first inning. Craig went 5-for-11 in the three-game series after entering with a .202 batting average. Molina was 0-for-12 in his previous four games.

Miller (5-2) walked four and allowed four hits in 5 1/3 innings, but held the Pirates to just two runs — which came on Jordy Mercer’s first home run of the season in the fourth inning.

Rosenthal gave up a run in the ninth that made it 5-4, but got Mercer to hit into a 1-2-3 double play to end it.

Charlie Morton (0-5) took the loss.

BREWERS 6, YANKEES 5

MILWAUKEE — Mark Reynolds hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning, and Milwaukee overcame Francisco Rodriguez’s first blown save of the season to beat New York.

Rickie Weeks doubled just inside first base with one out before going to third on a wild pitch by reliever Adam Warren (1-2).

Reynolds, who spent part of last season with the Yankees, held his right index finger in the air after his hard chopper bounced past diving third baseman Yangervis Solarte.

New York was one strike from defeat in the top of the ninth when Mark Teixeira homered off Rodriguez (1-0). It was the first run allowed all season by the veteran closer.

Before the game, the Yankees put struggling left-hander CC Sabathia on the disabled list with a right knee injury.

RED SOX 5, RANGERS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — A.J. Pierzynski and Mike Napoli had run-producing hits in the first inning against their former team and the Boston Red Sox got above .500 for the first time since three games into the season with a series-clinching victory at Texas.

Napoli put the Red Sox ahead to stay with an RBI double, two batters before Pierzynski’s two-run single. Both went to Boston as free agents after being in Texas — Pierzynski was the Rangers primary catcher last season, and Napoli was there the previous two years.

John Lackey (5-2) struck out nine while allowing two runs over seven innings.

Rangers lefty Robbie Ross (1-4) made it through 6 2-3 innings and a career-high 112 pitches.

ROYALS 9, MARINERS 7

SEATTLE — Alcides Escobar hit a grand slam and Johnny Giavotella added a three-run shot to give the Royals a comeback victory over the Mariners.

Escobar had provided a 4-0 lead for the Royals in the second with his first career home run off starter Roenis Elias. But the Mariners rallied behind two homers from Dustin Ackley and another from Kyle Seager before Kansas City took the lead in the seventh, scoring four runs off reliever Danny Farquhar (1-1).

Louis Coleman (1-0), who worked a scoreless sixth, earned the victory.

The Mariners committed a season-high four errors.

INDIANS 6, RAYS 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Josh Tomlin won his second straight start, Nyjer Morgan and Michael Bourn both drove in two runs and the Indians beat the Rays.

Tomlin (2-0), who pitched just once in the big leagues last season after right elbow surgery in 2012, allowed two runs and six hits over six innings in his second outing this year.

Morgan hit his first major league homer since July 30, 2012, an eighth-inning solo shot.

Matt Joyce homered and had two RBIs for the Rays, who went 1-5 on their homestand. Chris Archer (2-2) gave up four runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.

ASTROS 5, ORIOLES 2

BALTIMORE — Jason Castro and Marc Krauss homered to account for all of Houston’s runs, and the Astros beat the Orioles to avoid a three-game sweep.

Jarred Cosart (2-3) allowed two runs and eight hits over six innings for the Astros, who had lost seven of eight before ending Baltimore’s five-game winning streak.

Castro hit a three-run homer off Chris Tillman (3-2) in the first inning and Krauss connected against T.J. McFarland with a runner on in the seventh. Houston is 11-11 when it hits a home run and 1-15 when it doesn’t.

Although the Astros’ bullpen came in with a 6.21 ERA, Tony Sipp struck out five in two perfect innings and Chad Qualls worked the ninth for his second save.

ANGELS 9, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO — Jered Weaver won his fourth straight decision, Hank Conger hit a three-run homer and had a career-high five RBIs, and the Angels beat Toronto for their seventh straight win over the Blue Jays.

Conger went 3 for 4 with a walk. He hit an RBI double in the fourth, homered in the sixth and added an RBI single in the ninth.

Howie Kendrick had three hits, two stolen bases and scored three times as the Angels won their third straight.

Weaver (4-2) improved to 4-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his past four starts.

Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison (1-3), who has not won in seven starts, allowed three runs and three hits in 4 1-3 innings. He matched a career-high with four walks and struck out five.

TWINS 4, TIGERS 3

DETROIT — Eduardo Nunez hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the Twins rallied for a victory over the Tigers.

The Twins took advantage of poor defense by the Tigers in the late innings. Minnesota scored three runs in the eighth, spoiling another fine start by Detroit rookie Robbie Ray.

The Tigers led 3-1 with two outs in the eighth when Josmil Pinto singled to left field off Joba Chamberlain (1-2) with runners on first and second. One run scored on the hit, but the ball skipped past left fielder Rajai Davis for an error that tied the game and allowed Pinto to reach second.

Nunez followed with his single to make it 4-3.

Jared Burton (1-1) won in relief. Glen Perkins got four outs for his 10th save in 11 chances.

ATHLETICS 9, NATIONALS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Norris hit a pair of three-run home runs to back Scott Kazmir’s fifth win and the Athletics beat the Nationals to complete a series sweep.

Both of Norris’ home runs came on identical two-out, 3-0 pitches from Washington starter and former Oakland pitcher Gio Gonzalez (3-3).

Nick Punto added two hits and three RBIs while Brandon Moss singled twice and doubled. Oakland has won four straight since dropping five of six against Boston and Seattle.

Kazmir (5-1) bounced back from his first loss of the year to pitch seven scoreless innings while allowing only four hits.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO — Chase Anderson won his major league debut, Gerardo Parra and Miguel Montero homered, and the Diamondbacks beat the White Sox.

Recalled Tuesday from Double-A Mobile, Anderson (1-0) hadn’t seen any action until Sunday and he excelled in his first big league appearance, at one point retiring 12 consecutive batters. He allowed one run and only two hits in 5 1-3 innings while striking out six, helping Arizona win for the fourth time in five games and secure its third consecutive series for the first time since June 2012.

Parra’s fifth-inning drive off Hector Noesi (0-3) gave Arizona a 3-0 lead.