MLB: Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu flirts with perfect game against Reds

LOS ANGELES — Hyun-Jin Ryu took a perfect game into the eighth inning — one day after teammate Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter — and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3.

The Reds hit only three balls out of the infield before Todd Frazier’s leadoff double in the eighth. That followed a three-run seventh by the Dodgers in which Ryu ran the bases and scored.

The left-hander from South Korea came close to making the Dodgers the first team in major league history with consecutive no-hitters. Beckett won 6-0 in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Los Angeles pitchers tossed a club-record 17 straight hitless innings dating to Saturday, when Paul Maholm got it started against the Phillies.

Cincinnati scored three times in the eighth, but right fielder Yasiel Puig made a key defensive play when he cut off Billy Hamilton’s two-run double in the gap. The relay home held Skip Schumaker at third, and Kenley Jansen struck out Brandon Phillips with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-3 lead.

Jansen also worked the ninth, retiring Devin Mesoraco with two on for his 15th save.

Ryu (5-2) was charged with three runs and three hits in 7 1/3 innings, improving to 6-0 in six starts against the Reds. He struck out seven and walked none while winning for the first time at Dodger Stadium this season.

Johnny Cueto (4-4) allowed four hits and four runs — one earned — in 6 1/3 innings.

RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6

ATLANTA — David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs as Boston ended its 10-game losing streak, rallying from a five-run deficit to defeat Atlanta.

The defending World Series champions trailed 6-1 after the fourth inning of the interleague matchup, with starter Clay Buchholz walking a career-high eight in only three-plus innings.

But Ortiz tied it by hitting a three-run homer off Ervin Santana in the fifth. With Red Sox fans at Turner Field chanting “Papi! Papi!” the World Series MVP then gave Boston the lead with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Ian Thomas (1-2) in the seventh.

Following pregame declarations of confidence from manager John Farrell and general manager Ben Cherington, the Red Sox came back to end their worst skid since an 11-game slide in 1994.

YANKEES 6, CARDINALS 4, 12 INNINGS

ST. LOUIS — Brian Roberts hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run 12th inning after Brett Gardner’s leaping catch at the left-field fence kept New York alive in the 11th.

Pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano and Brendan Ryan each added an RBI for the Yankees, who took the opener of a three-game interleague series for their third straight win. Alfredo Aceves (1-2) worked two scoreless innings and David Robertson earned his 11th save in 12 chances.

Jon Jay had an RBI double in the 12th for the Cardinals, who lost for the third time in 12 games.

A standing-room crowd of 47,311, the third-largest at 9-year-old Busch Stadium, showed up to see an opponent making only its second appearance in St. Louis since losing to the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series.

Cardinals pitchers retired 20 of 21 batters before the 12th, when Randy Choate (0-2) faced five batters and four reached safely.

CUBS 8, GIANTS 4

SAN FRANCISCO — Jeff Samardzija struck out a season-high 10 for his first win since last August, snapping a 16-start winless streak for Chicago.

Samardzija (1-4) allowed six hits and walked none in seven-plus innings. He also had an RBI double during a three-run fourth.

The right-hander entered with six no-decisions in his first 10 outings this year despite leading the majors with a 1.46 ERA.

Nate Schierholtz hit his first home run of the season, and Darwin Barney drove in two runs to help the Cubs come back from a 3-1 deficit.

Pablo Sandoval homered and drove in three runs for the Giants, who had won four in a row.

Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings while filling in for injured starter Matt Cain.

PIRATES 5, METS 3

NEW YORK — Gaby Sanchez tagged the Mets again, hitting a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and a pinch-hit homer in the eighth that sparked Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind victory.

The Mets announced after the game that they had fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens. They also cut reliever Jose Valverde, who gave up Sanchez’s go-ahead hit.

Sanchez upped his average against the Mets to .324 and has 34 RBIs against New York, his best totals against any NL team. He homered off Scott Rice while hitting for Ike Davis, who was making his return to Citi Field after being traded to the Pirates in mid-April.

Valverde (1-1) was booed off the field after allowing pinch-hitter Jose Tabata’s tying single in the eighth. Valverde returned for the ninth and was even worse.

Tony Watson (5-0) pitched an inning for the win. Mark Melancon got his 10th save.

MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 2

WASHINGTON — Giancarlo Stanton hit his NL-leading 15th home run and also doubled and singled in his latest power performance for Miami at Nationals Park.

Stanton doubled and scored in the first inning, then launched a long two-run homer in the third.

Stanton is hitting .333 (43 for 129) with 14 home runs and 27 RBIs in Washington since his career began in 2010. He has homered at Nationals Park more than any other visiting player during that time.

The Marlins improved to 7-17 on the road; they’re 20-8 at home.

Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs and three hits. Steve Cishek worked the ninth for his 11th save.

Adam LaRoche homered for the Nationals, who had won 12 of their last 13 against Miami at home. Tanner Roark (3-3) went seven innings.

PHILLIES 9, ROCKIES 0

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard had five RBIs and Kyle Kendrick pitched into the seventh inning to snap his 10-game losing streak for Philadelphia.

A day after Dodgers right-hander Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Phillies, leadoff man Ben Revere started with a single for the first of Philadelphia’s 12 hits.

Kendrick (1-5) allowed six hits over 6 2/3 innings to earn his first win since last Aug. 6, a span of 16 winless starts. His best performance in a while came against the top offense in the majors. The Rockies are first in runs (262) and batting average (.291).

Jhoulys Chacin (0-4) gave up four runs and seven hits in five-plus innings. He has lost five straight decisions dating to last season.

ORIOLES 7, BREWERS 6, 10 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE — Jonathan Schoop hit two home runs and newly acquired Nick Hundley singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to lift Baltimore to victory over Milwaukee in the interleague contest.

Down 6-4 with two outs in the ninth, the Orioles rallied off Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez. Schoop’s second homer cut it to one. After pinch-hitter Delmon Young singled, Nick Markakis hit a game-tying double.

With two outs in the 10th, J.J. Hardy doubled off Rob Wooten (1-2) and scored on Hundley’s single.

Darren O’Day (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning of relief to get the win. Zach Britton pitched out of trouble in the 10th, to record his third save in three opportunities.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, PADRES 5

PHOENIX — A.J. Pollock hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw with two outs in the ninth inning to give Arizona a victory over San Diego.

Cliff Pennington was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Eric Chavez hit into a fielder’s choice ahead of Pollock’s shot to center off Kevin Quackenbush (0-1).

Yonder Alonso homered and Everth Cabrera launched a three-run shot off starter Brandon McCarthy in the fifth to give the Padres a 4-2 lead.

Brad Ziegler (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

BLUE JAYS 10, RAYS 5

TORONTO — Edwin Encarnacion hit his 13th home run in May, Dioner Navarro and Steve Tolleson added back-to-back shots and Toronto won its seventh straight game, beating Tampa Bay.

Melky Cabrera had three hits and three RBIs as the AL East-leading Blue Jays won for the 12th time in 14 games.

Toronto has hit at least one home run in nine straight games and leads the majors with 73 this season, including an ML-best 41 in May.

David DeJesus, Desmond Jennings and James Loney all hit solo homers for the Rays, whose season-high four-game winning streak was snapped.

Drew Hutchison wasn’t at his best, but benefited from strong run support to win his career-best third straight start.

Hutchison (4-3) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, matched a season-worst with four walks and struck out none.

ATHLETICS 10, TIGERS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kyle Blanks homered in his home debut at the Coliseum and Derek Norris capped Oakland’s five-homer day with a grand slam and the Athletics snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with a win over Detroit.

Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson also homered.

Tommy Milone (3-3) allowed four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He is 3-0 with a 1.03 ERA in his past four starts.

The A’s got four solo homers against Drew Smyly (2-3) to win the first meeting of the season against the team that eliminated them in Game 5 of the division series the past two postseasons.

ASTROS 9, ROYALS 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — George Springer homered in his fourth straight game and went 4 for 4 with three RBIs and scored five runs in Houston’s victory over Kansas City.

The Astros have won three straight, matching their longest winning streak this season, and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Royals.

Springer led off the eighth with a home run off Louis Coleman, his fifth homer in four games. He is the first Houston rookie to homer in four straight games. Lance Berkman was the last Astro to homer in four straight games, July 4-8, 2010.

Springer also had two doubles and became the first Astro to score five runs in a game since Cody Ransom on Sept. 24, 2007, against St. Louis. Springer extended his hitting streak to eight games, and is 8 for 16 with 11 RBIs and 10 runs in the past five games.

Scott Feldman (3-2) held the Royals to two runs and eight hits over six innings.

Royals rookie starter Yordano Ventura was led off the field by a trainer in the third inning after experiencing discomfort in his elbow. The hard-throwing right-hander is scheduled for a MRI on Tuesday.

Ventura (2-5) went 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and seven hits and three walks.

MARINERS 5, ANGELS 1

SEATTLE — Chris Young pitched shutout ball until Albert Pujols homered in the seventh inning, Robinson Cano had three hits and two RBIs to raise his average to .332, and Seattle beat Los Angeles.

Young (4-2) kept the Angels hitless until Kole Calhoun singled with one out in the sixth. An inning later, Pujols hit his 506th career home run, pulling within three of Gary Sheffield for 24th on baseball’s all-time homer list.

The Mariners scored five times in the first two innings off Tyler Skaggs (4-2). Three of the runs were unearned runs.

WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 2

CHICAGO — Conor Gillaspie hit three doubles while going 4 for 4, Dayan Viciedo had a three-run homer and Chicago beat Cleveland.

Gillaspie scored twice and drove in a run. He became the first White Sox player with three doubles in a game since Paul Konerko on May 26, 2012, against the Indians.

Viciedo connected in the third inning against Josh Tomlin (3-2).

Jose Quintana (3-4) pitched six effective innings. Scott Downs got four outs for his first save.

RANGERS 7, TWINS 2

MINNEAPOLIS — Nick Tepesch won his second consecutive start, Elvis Andrus and Chris Gimenez each had two RBIs, and Texas beat Minnesota.

Tepesch (2-0) allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings, striking out four to win consecutive starts for the first time in his career.

Alex Rios added two more hits and now has six straight multihit games.

Trevor Plouffe homered for the Twins, who have lost four in a row. Kevin Correia (2-6) took the loss.