Royals 3, White Sox 2 (13)

Kansas City stayed in its fighting mood. It also stayed in its winning mood.

A benches-clearing fight led to five ejections several innings before Eric Hosmer hit the go-ahead double in the 13th to lead the Royals to a win over Chicago on Thursday night.

With two outs, Hosmer’s hit off Chicago’s Jake Petricka (0-1) brought in Jarrod Dyson. Wade Davis then pitched a scoreless 13th for his fourth save, giving Franklin Morales (2-0) the victory.

That gave Kansas City a win for the fourth time in five games, during a night that tempers flared.

“With two or three scrums going on you’re always worried about somebody getting hurt,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I found myself at the bottom of one of those piles. It’s not fun being down there.”

He got to the bottom of a pile after what looked like a routine play.

In the seventh, Yordano Ventura snagged a grounder from Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton and they appeared to exchange words before Ventura threw to first to end the inning. Eaton had to be restrained from Ventura, who was ejected from a second straight start.

Players from both dugouts and bullpens ran onto the field and punches were thrown during a fight that lasted a couple of minutes.

“It was a messy situation,” Ventura said through a translator.

Chicago pitcher Jeff Samardzija was one of five ejected, and his actions didn’t gain the Royals’ approval.

“For me, I’m not a big fan. I’m not a big fan of him,” said Lorenzo Cain, who was tossed. “I don’t know what the deal is.”

The play was the culmination of tensions that seemed to rise during the game and carry over from their season-opening series earlier this month when the teams combined to hit six batters. In the bottom of the fourth, Ventura hit Jose Abreu. In the top of the fifth, Chris Sale hit Mike Moustakas.

Ventura was thrown out after the fight. On Saturday, after he allowed a three-run homer to the Athletics’ Josh Reddick, he hit Brett Lawrie and was ejected.

The four others tossed Thursday were Cain and pitcher Edinson Volquez for Kansas City, along with Chicago’s Sale and Samardzija.

“This game’s emotional and it seems to follow them around. It’s happened often enough,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. “Everybody gets emotional and reacts to things, and that’s what happened.”

For Yordano Ventura, it was his fourth consecutive start that ended abruptly. Besides the ejections, on opening day against the White Sox he left with a thumb cramp. He was replaced April 12 against the Los Angeles Angels because of a right calf cramp.

Ventura said he “recognizes that some of his actions are not putting himself in a favorable light, as well as the team.”

Kansas City has been in a fighting mood for a week now, something Chicago knows.

“They’ve earned everything they’ve gotten and now they want to keep it. You don’t expect anything less,” Eaton said. “With the other beef with other teams, I’m not sure. I’ve heard some things.”

In that three-game series against Oakland last weekend, the Royals and A’s cleared their benches each day. Nearly as many people were hit by pitches as hit home runs. And five players and coaches were ultimately thrown out of the finale Sunday, when things boiled over.

Yost doesn’t want what happened Thursday to carry over.

“Hopefully it’s all behind us and we can move forward,” he said.

Before the fight, Ventura pitched seven innings and allowed two runs while striking out eight. Sale only gave up two first-inning runs and lasted seven innings and allowed nine hits.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 6

Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer, Drew Hutchison pitched eight strong innings and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore, beating the Orioles.

Toronto won for the fourth time in five games and finished its season opening homestand at 5-5. The Orioles have lost four straight.

Hutchison (2-0) was perfect through five innings before Manny Machado drilled a first-pitch homer in the sixth.

Machado added a three-run drive off Miguel Castro in the ninth. It was the third multihomer game of his career.

Hutchison allowed two runs and four hits, walked none and struck out a season-high seven in the longest outing by a Blue Jays starter this season.

Castro got the final two outs for his fourth save.

Angels 2, Athletics 0

Nick Tropeano pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning in his Angels debut, and Kole Calhoun’s two-run homer was the Angels’ only hit in a victory over the Athletics.

Calhoun homered in the third and four pitchers combined on an eight-hit shutout, allowing the Angels to salvage a split a four-game series with their upstate AL West rivals.

Tropeano (1-0) was impressive in a spot start for the Angels, yielding one walk and striking out five.

He was nearly matched by Jesse Chavez (0-1), who gave up one hit and three walks in six innings during his first start of the season.

But that hit was costly: Calhoun drove a one-out pitch to right after Drew Butera reached on a throwing error.

National League

Giants 3, Dodgers 2

Justin Maxwell, robbed of a big hit in his previous at-bat, singled home the winning run with one out in the 10th inning off Juan Nicasio (0-1) as the World Series champions completed a three-game sweep.

San Francisco tied the score in the ninth when Casey McGehee led off with a single, and Brandon Crawford tripled against Joel Peralta.

Santiago Casilla (2-0) pitched the 10th. The Dodgers arrived in San Francisco with a seven-game winning streak.

Cardinals 4, Nationals 1

Michael Wacha (3-0) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings to lower his ERA to 1.33 and outduel

Max Scherzer (1-2), who gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Matt Adams hit a tiebreaking single in the sixth for St. Louis, which won its fourth straight series. Trevor Rosenthal pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

Marlins 9, Phillies 1

David Phelps (1-0) tossed three-hit ball over seven scoreless innings for his first win since joining Miami after three seasons with the Yankees.

Martin Prado drove in four runs, Adeiny Hechavarria had four hits and three RBIs and Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer. Miami has won two straight games after losing five in a row.

Dustin McGowan (0-1), making his first start for Philadelphia, allowed four runs, three hits and four walks in 3 1-3 innings. The announced crowd of 17,097 was the smallest in the 11-year history of Citizens Bank Park.

Pirates 5, Cubs 4

Gregory Polanco got three hits, including a go-ahead single in the seventh off Phil Coke.

Josh Harrison hit his second double of the game, a drive off Brian Schlitter (0-2), when rookie Kris Bryant took a roundabout path on a flyball. Normally a third baseman, Bryant was making his first start in center field.

Radhames Liz (1-1) picked up his first major league win since 2008 with two innings of shutout relief, and Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth for his third save. Sean Rodriguez hit his first home run this season as Pittsburgh rallied from a 4-1 deficit.

Rockies 2, Padres 1

Corey Dickerson hit a go-ahead homer against Tyson Ross (1-1) leading off the fifth inning, his third solo shot in two days despite playing with pain in his left heel caused by plantar fasciitis.

Jordan Lyles (2-1) allowed one run and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, and John Axford struck out Alexi Amarista to end the game for his second save. The Rockies said it was just the 25th game with a 2-1 score at Coors Field, which opened in 1995.

Brewers 4, Reds 2

Kyle Lohse (1-3) allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings, lowering his ERA from 10.34 to 7.94, and Milwaukee (3-13) stopped an eight-game losing streak. Closer Francisco Rodriguez pumped his right arm and yelled after recording the final out for his sixth save.

Jean Segura drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the seventh off Kevin Gregg (0-2), and center fielder Billy Hamilton’s throw home was up the third-base line, allowing Logan Schafer to score.