Interleague

Blue Jays 8, Phillies 2

Troy Tulowitzki turned in a Toronto debut to remember.

He homered and had three hits in his first game with the Blue Jays as Toronto trounced Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

"It couldn't have gone any better, really," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star who was acquired Tuesday in a trade with the Colorado Rockies, went 3 for 5 with two doubles and three RBIs. He scored three times.

"Tonight is about Tulowitzki," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "What a great first impression."

Tulowitzki is the second player in Blue Jays history to have three extra-base hits in his first game. Catcher J.P. Arenciba did it in his major league debut in 2010.

R.A. Dickey (5-10) allowed two runs, none earned, and seven hits in eight innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season.

"If he's got his knuckleball working, nobody hits him," Mackanin said. "Tonight he had a good one."

The Blue Jays snapped Philadelphia's winning streak at five games and handed the Phillies just their second loss in 11 games since the All-Star break. Toronto has won nine of the past 10 meetings with Philadelphia.

Tulowitzki was cheered when he came out for pregame stretching and got a standing ovation before his first at-bat, stepping out briefly to let the noise subside.

"The ovation from the crowd that first at-bat was obviously special," Tulowitzki said. "I think it made my at-bat that much harder."

After working the count to 2-2, he struck out swinging on a breaking ball.

Starting in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career, Tulowitzki connected for a two-run home run off Jerome Williams in the third inning. The second-deck blast, Tulowitzki's 13th, came on an 0-2 pitch and snapped an 0-for-21 slump.

"That was huge for me to get that under my belt," he said. "I relaxed after that and took better swings."

It was the ninth time in his career that Tulowitzki has homered on an 0-2 pitch.

Tulowitzki doubled and scored in the fifth, then hit an RBI double in the sixth before coming home on Chris Colabello's sacrifice fly.

Of Tulowitzki's five career hits at Rogers Centre, three have been home runs.

The two-time Gold Glove winner showed off his defense, making a strong throw from the hole to retire Andres Blanco at second base in the third inning.

"On both sides of the ball he looked really good," Gibbons said. "But he is really good."

Williams (3-8) allowed four runs and matched a season-high by giving up 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings. He's 0-6 with an 8.02 ERA in nine road starts.

"He threw too many hittable pitches," Mackanin said. "He was OK, he just wasn't sharp."

Orioles 2, Braves 0

Chris Tillman took a three-hitter into the ninth inning, Jonathan Schoop and J.J. Hardy homered and Baltimore beat skidding Atlanta for a three-game sweep.

Tillman (8-7) was lifted after giving up a two-out double to Cameron Maybin in the ninth. The right-hander had retired 13 straight batters to that point.

Zach Britton got the final out for his 26th save.

Tillman struck out two and walked none in winning his sixth straight decision since May 31. He's 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in his last six starts.

The victory was the fifth straight for Baltimore, tying a season high. The surge has carried the Orioles within one game of Minnesota for the second AL wild-card slot.

Baltimore has allowed only seven runs during its winning streak, which includes its first sweep of Atlanta since 1999.

Since reaching .500 on July 7, the Braves have lost 13 of 17 overall and 10 of 11 on the road.

Dodgers 10, Athletics 7

Pinch-hitter Kike Hernandez delivered the go-ahead, two-run double during a five-run seventh inning, and Los Angeles rallied from a three-run deficit for a wild victory over Oakland.

Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer on his bobblehead night for the Dodgers (57-45), who snapped their three-game losing streak and avoided falling out of first place for the first time in two months.

Puig added an RBI single in the seventh, capping the Dodgers' comeback after the last-place A's scored four runs in the top half of the seventh to take a 6-3 lead.

Brett Lawrie had a ninth-inning homer among his career-high four hits and four RBIs for Oakland, which has lost five of six.

Pirates 10, Twins 4

Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and turned an RBI single into race around the bases while Minnesota made two errors in a five-run sixth inning, helping Francisco Liriano and Pittsburgh beat Minnesota for a two-game sweep.

Jung Ho Kang homered for the second straight day for the Pirates, after going deep for the go-ahead run in the ninth the night before. McCutchen's two-run, two-strike, two-out drive off Ervin Santana (2-1) in the fifth inning tied the game at 3, and the Twins unraveled in the sixth.

One run scored on a wild pitch. Then Santana walked two straight. Starling Marte hit a sacrifice fly, and McCutchen hit a sharp single that bounced in front of left fielder Eddie Rosario. The ball skipped past him to the warning track, allowing another run to score and McCutchen to reach third.

The slow-rolling relay throw scooted underneath Eduardo Nunez's glove for another error that allowed McCutchen to score — but not before he collided with Nunez, contact that was hard enough to knock them both to the ground.

Liriano (7-6) improved to 3-0 in his last six starts. The Pirates have won five of their last six games to tighten their grip on the NL's first wild-card spot.

Diamondbacks 8, Mariners 2

Welington Castillo homered twice off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, including a two-run shot in the first inning, and Arizona won its fifth straight.

Arizona completed its first sweep of Seattle and fifth this season thanks Castillo's two long balls. Castillo hit a two-run homer off Hernandez (12-6) as part of Arizona's four-run first inning, then added a solo shot leading off the fourth inning. He became just the sixth player to homer twice in the same game off Hernandez.

Castillo, who was on Seattle's roster briefly earlier in the season before being traded to Arizona, homered three times in the series.

Patrick Corbin (2-3) allowed just one run and three hits in six innings, winning for the first time since his season debut on July 4 as he continues to come back from Tommy John surgery.

American League

Astros 6, Angels 3

Rookie Lance McCullers pitched seven solid innings and Preston Tucker and Jon Singleton both homered to help Houston to a win over Los Angeles to regain first place in the American League West.

Houston also took the first game of the series to move ahead of the Angels, who came into town leading the division.

McCullers (5-3) allowed five hits and one run with five strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.48.

The Astros trailed by one before a two-run fifth, capped by an RBI single by Jose Altuve made it 2-1. Tucker hit a solo homer in the sixth and Singleton's shot came in the seventh to push the lead to 4-1.

Los Angeles starter Garrett Richards (10-8) yielded seven hits and four runs in 6 1-3 innings.

Tigers 2, Rays 1

Justin Verlander outlasted Chris Archer for his first win this season and Detroit avoided a three-game sweep by beating Tampa Bay.

Verlander (1-3), who retired his first 14 batters before Asdrubal Cabrera homered on an 0-1 pitch with two outs in the fifth, gave up one run, four hits and had 10 strikeouts.

Archer (9-8) lost a perfect game bid and the lead in the seventh inning. The right-hander, 0-4 over six starts since beating Toronto on June 23, allowed two unearned runs, three hits and struck out 11 in seven innings.

Jose Iglesias became the first Tigers' base runner with a one-out infield single that Cabrera fielded between short and third, but his off-balance one-hop throw wasn't in time.

After Cabrera was charged with an error for misplaying Yoenis Cespedes' grounder, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead on RBI singles by J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos, whose liner deflected off Cabrera's glove.

Indians 12, Royals 1

Corey Kluber took a shutout into the ninth, rookie Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer and had a career-high four RBIs, and the Indians avoided a winless homestand with a victory Kansas City.

Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes and rookie Giovanny Urshela hit solo homers for Cleveland, which had been outscored 37-10 in losing the first six games of the homestand. Michael Bourn was 4 for 5 as Cleveland had a season-high 18 hits.

Kluber (6-11) held Kansas City to five hits. The reigning Cy Young Award winner retired the first 12 batters before Eric Hosmer's leadoff double in the fifth. Alex Rios' RBI groundout in the ninth scored the Royals' only run.

Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie allowed three home runs — all in the sixth inning — and hit three batters, including Brantley in the fifth. Indians manager Terry Francona was ejected by plate umpire Tom Woodring after Brantley was hit in the leg.

National League

Nationals 7, Marlins 2

Bryce Harper blasted two home runs into the upper deck and drove in four for Washington in a win over Miami.

Michael Taylor also homered and drove in two for Washington.

Doug Fister (4-6) picked up the win. allowing two runs and four hits in six innings.

Harper's first homer, a three-run shot, came off of Tom Koehler (8-7) in the fifth inning breaking a 2-all tie.

Harper then led off the eighth by hitting a first-pitch fastball from Sam Dyson deep to right field for his 29th home run of the season. It was his third multi-home run game of the season, first since hitting two against Atlanta on May 8.

The Marlins' Ichiro Suzuki had two hits to put him over the 2,900-hit plateau.

Reds 1, Cardinals 0

Jay Bruce homered in the second to back Anthony DeSclafani's seven innings of three-hit ball, and Cincinnati shut out St. Louis for the second straight night.

The Reds ended a nine-series losing streak in St. Louis and have won consecutive games at Busch Stadium for the first time since July 6 and Sept. 2, 2011. It was the first time Cincinnati won consecutive games in the same series since June 2006.

Bruce's 17th home run moved him ahead of Barry Larkin to ninth in franchise history with 199 homers.

DeSclafani (6-7) did the rest, walking three and striking out three. Aroldis Chapman collected his 21st save in 22 opportunities.

The Cardinals squandered another strong outing from John Lackey (9-6), who gave up two hits in eight innings and has posted a 1.67 ERA during his last nine outings.

Giants 5, Brewers 0

Hunter Pence doubled in Matt Duffy to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning and San Francisco held on to beat Milwaukee.

Pence also made two sparkling defensive plays in the outfield as the Giants bounced back from their only loss on this six-game homestand to beat the Brewers for the fifth time in six games this season.

Ehire Adrianza added a two-run single and Brandon Crawford had a sacrifice fly for the defending World Series champs, who scored all of their runs in the fourth.

San Francisco has won 10 of 12 games since the All-Star break.

Hunter Strickland (1-1) retired three batters for the win, his first since Sept. 27, 2014.

Cubs 3, Rockies 2

Jon Lester struck out 14, one shy of his career high and the most for a Cubs pitcher in more than a decade, leading Chicago over Colorado.

A day after he was acquired from Toronto, Jose Reyes was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base in his Rockies' debut. The four-time All-Star, obtained in a trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, batted second and singled in his first at-bat for Colorado, then was caught stealing.

Lester (6-8) struck out seven of his first eight hitters and nine of the first 14. He allowed two runs, five hits and one walk in eight innings.

His strikeout high was set for Boston on May 3 last year against Oakland. He became the first Cubs pitcher to strike out 14 since Mark Prior had 16 on Sept. 30, 2004.