Interleague

Cardinals 6, Royals 1

When Michael Wacha is on the mound, Matt Carpenter and St. Louis like their chances.

For good reason, too.

Wacha pitched seven sparkling innings for his seventh straight win, and the Cardinals stopped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Kansas City on Sunday.

Carpenter, who hit a two-run homer off Yordano Ventura (3-4) in the sixth, said the NL Central leaders believe they are going to win when Wacha (7-0) takes the mound. Wacha appreciated the vote of confidence from the All-Star infielder.

"That's nice for him to say," Wacha said.

It was the worst losing streak of the season for St. Louis. Kansas City had won five in a row.

Wacha allowed an unearned run and five singles against the majors' best-hitting team, lowering his ERA to 1.87 in nine starts. He is the first Cardinals pitcher to start 7-0 since Matt Morris won his first eight decisions in 2005.

"He was very good," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He was terrific."

Down 4-1, the Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Alex Gordon flied out on a 2-0 count, which Wacha said was the biggest out of the game.

"I missed on a couple of fastballs in," Wacha said. "I didn't want to go 3-0 on him. I just had to try to paint the inside corner and luckily got it in there enough and (Randal) Grichuk made a good play on it."

Ventura started off shaky, walking the first two hitters on 10 pitches and both scored. Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI single and Matt Adams doubled home a run.

"The first two hitters, he was just missing," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "There were some pitches that I thought could have gone either way that resulted in walks. He kind of got it dialed back in a little bit, then (gave up) the checked-swing single to Peralta and then a first-pitch fastball to Adams for a double. He did a good job of limiting the damage at that point."

Ventura, who threw 30 pitches in the first, then settled down and didn't allow another hit until the sixth.

"Nothing changed," Ventura said through an interpreter. "I was in trouble in the first inning. I lost the feel of it a little bit. But after that I was able to go out and throw strikes."

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina drove in two runs with a two-out single in the eighth. Adams doubled twice.

Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to 10 games and singled home a run for the Royals.

Indians 5, Reds 2

Trevor Bauer pitched into the eighth inning and Cleveland extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over slumping Cincinnati.

Cincinnati has dropped eight in a row, its longest losing streak since 2009. The Reds have been outscored 54-19 during the streak that has dropped them to a season-worst seven games under .500 at 18-25.

Cleveland, which has won eight of 10, took advantage of three Cincinnati errors to continue its hottest stretch of the season. David Murphy, Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana each drove in a run.

Bauer (4-1) took a shutout into the seventh when Marlon Byrd hit a solo homer for the only run allowed by the right-hander in 7 2-3 innings.

Rookie Raisel Iglesias (1-1), starting in place of Johnny Cueto, allowed two runs in three innings. The Reds announced Saturday that the rookie from Cuba would replace Cueto, who has a sore right elbow.

Marlins 5, Orioles 2

Martin Prado homered to cap a 12-pitch at-bat and drove in two runs, helping Miami beat Baltimore for its first series win since May 3.

Baltimore left-hander Brian Matusz pitched two scoreless innings, a day after he was ejected for having a sticky substance on his non-throwing arm. The Orioles await a decision from Major League Baseball regarding further punishment.

The Marlins won their second game in a row after losing eight straight and finished 2-8 on their homestand, which included a managerial change. New manager Dan Jennings improved to 2-5.

Tom Koehler (3-3) retired the first 13 batters and allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings. He has an 0.82 ERA in 22 innings over his past four outings. A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in four chances, completing a six-hitter. Miguel Gonzalez (5-3) was the loser.

American League

Astros 10, Tigers 8

Evan Gattis and Preston Tucker homered in the sixth inning and Houston slugged its way to another victory, rallying past Detroit.

The Astros trailed 7-3 before scoring four runs in the sixth, including Tucker's three-run shot as a pinch hitter that tied the game. The following inning, Jason Castro lined a tiebreaking two-run single with the bases loaded and two out.

Joe Thatcher (1-1) got the win by pitching the sixth — the first of four innings of work by the Houston bullpen. Luke Gregerson allowed a homer to Miguel Cabrera in the ninth but held on for his 12th save in 13 chances. Detroit reliever Alex Wilson (1-1) took the loss.

The AL West-leading Astros have hit a major league-leading 64 home runs. They won the last two games of the four-game series to salvage a split.

Blue Jays 8, Mariners 2

Edwin Encarnacion and Ryan Goins homered, Aaron Sanchez won for the first time in three starts and Toronto beat the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Sunday, avoiding a three-game sweep.

Sanchez (4-4) allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings to help Toronto win for the third time in 12 games.

Seattle's Kyle Seager homered for the second straight game, a solo shot in the second, but the Mariners were unable to complete what would have been their first sweep in Toronto since May 2001.

Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker held the Blue Jays without a hit through the first four innings, but Toronto came alive with four runs in the fifth. Walker (1-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He fell to 0-4 in six road starts, but lowered his road ERA from 10.71 to 9.79.

Athletics 7, Rays 2

Sonny Gray limited Tampa Bay to four hits in five scoreless innings before leaving with a bruised right ankle and Oakland beat the Rays.

Gray (5-2) was hit on the lower leg by James Loney's grounder in the fourth, but stayed in for a while longer. He had lost his previous two starts.

Billy Burns hit the first pitch of the game into the right-field seats for his first major league homer. Mark Canha and Josh Reddick also homered as the A's won consecutive games for the second time this season. The only other time they did it was April 13-14 against Houston.

Erasmo Ramirez (2-2) took the loss.

Twins 8, White Sox 1

Brian Dozier homered twice and drove in four runs in Minnesota's victory over Chicago.

Dozier hit a solo shot off Jose Quintana (2-5) in the first inning and a three-run homer off Scott Carroll in the seventh for his second career multi-home run game.

Kyle Gibson (4-3) struck out eight, tying a career high, and allowed a run and four hits in eight innings. Jose Abreu homered in the fourth for the White Sox run.

The Twins moved three percentage points ahead of the Tigers for second place in the AL Central. They improved to 15-6 in May after they went 10-12 in April and started the season 1-6.

National League

Padres 11, Dodgers 3

Justin Upton hit a grand slam and drove in six runs and San Diego broke loose, backing unbeaten James Shields in a victory over Los Angeles.

The Padres had totaled just three runs in losing four straight games. Upton hit a slam in the first inning before Carlos Frias recorded an out and Will Middlebrooks later homered to help stake Shields (6-0) to a 9-0 lead through three.

The All-Star right-hander became the first Padres starter to win his first six decisions since 1985, when Andy Hawkins began 11-0.

New to the Padres this year, Shields allowed three runs in seven innings and struck out seven. He started a four-run burst in the second inning with a leadoff single.

Shields also went 6-0 over his first 13 starts in 2007 season with Tampa Bay.

Frias (3-2) was tagged for 10 runs and 12 hits in four-plus innings.

Nationals 4, Phillies 1

Bryce Harper drove in two runs, Gio Gonzalez outpitched Aaron Harang and Washington beat Philadelphia for its eighth straight series win.

Harper gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring groundout in the fifth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh. In addition to moving into the NL lead with 41 RBIs, he also increased his league-leading totals in walks (39) and runs (39).

The 22-year-old Harper also threw out a runner from right field on a force play at second base.

Gonzalez (4-2) allowed one run and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings to win his third straight decision. It was his 46th victory with Washington, tied with Stephen Strasburg for second in Nationals history behind Jordan Zimmermann (60). Drew Storen, the fifth Washington pitcher, worked the ninth for his 14th save.

Harang (4-4) gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings.

Rockies 11, Giants 2

Nolan Arenado had four hits and four RBIs, leading Chad Bettis and Colorado past San Francisco.

Troy Tulowitzki and Nick Hundley each drove in two runs to help the Rockies split the rain-soaked, four-game series.

Bettis (1-0) was nearly unhittable until the ninth inning. Nori Aoki singled on the first pitch of the game, and San Francisco's next hit was Matt Duffy's leadoff single in the eighth.

Bettis was charged with two runs and six hits in 8 1-3 innings. Brooks Brown got the last two outs.

The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes while a thunderstorm moved through the area. All four games in the series were delayed by rain, including both ends of Saturday's doubleheader.

Diamondbacks 4, Cubs 3

Paul Goldschmidt hit his second home run in three days and Arizona beat Chicago to win the three-game series.

Goldschmidt's 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot to the porch in deep right-center, put Arizona up 4-1 in the third. He also singled in a run in the first.

Miguel Montero homered against his former Arizona teammates, a solo shot to the opposite field. Chris Coghlan hit a two-run homer that cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-3 in the fifth.

Jeremy Hellickson (2-2), who played for Cubs manager Joe Maddon when the two were with Tampa Bay, allowed three runs on four hits in 6 2-3 innings to get the win. He also had his first career RBI.

Brad Ziegler pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Jason Hammel (3-2) was the loser.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

Rookie Mike Foltynewicz pitched three-hit ball for 7 2-3 innings, leading Atlanta past Milwaukee.

Foltynewicz (3-1) allowed one run in his longest start in the majors. He struck out seven.

The 23-year-old Foltynewicz was one of three players acquired by Atlanta in the offseason trade that sent Evan Gattis to Houston. He was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett on May 1.

Jason Grilli struck out three in the ninth for his 13th save.

Jimmy Nelson (2-5) matched Foltynewicz through five scoreless innings before allowing two runs on two walks and two hits, including Andrelton Simmons' RBI single, in the sixth.