Interleague

Nationals 13, Royals 2

Stephen Strasburg likes to time his journey from the bullpen to the dugout before a game to minimize the time he has to sit on the bench before getting in the game.

He had to wait what seemed like an eternity Wednesday.

The Nationals scored six times off Kris Medlen in the first inning, taking advantage of three errors and a slew of hits before Strasburg ever got on the mound. Washington proceeded to rout Kansas City and take the rubber-game of their three-game interleague set.

"It might sound strange but it made it a little more difficult," said Strasburg, who allowed two runs and five hits over six tidy innings. "You have to trick your mind into thinking it's a 0-0 game."

Strasburg managed to do it, pushing his career-best start to 5-0.

Daniel Murphy finished a triple shy of the cycle, and slumping slugger Bryce Harper also went deep, as the Nationals pounded out 16 hits. Murphy and Clint Robinson drove in three runs apiece, and nearly everyone else in a gray jersey did something at the plate to help pace the rout.

Medlen (1-3) allowed nine runs, six of them earned, and six hits in two-plus innings for Kansas City. His home ERA rose to 20.65 in two starts at Kauffman Stadium this season.

"It just wasn't Medlen's day," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He just couldn't get it going and the defense didn't help him. Three errors in the first inning didn't help him. It was just a struggle."

Things got so bad for the Royals that Eric Hosmer, their hottest hitter, got ejected for the first time in his six-year big league career. He struck out and took umbrage with plate umpire CB Bucknor, who gestured for him to head to the showers in the bottom of the sixth inning.

By that point, Hosmer was probably happy to oblige.

The Royals used every player on their bench, including catcher Salvador Perez, who had to take over for Hosmer at first base. They also used six pitchers with closer Wade Davis working the ninth.

The tone was set with the first two batters of the game — and it sounded a whole lot like nails on a chalkboard to the thousands of kids in the stands for "School Day at the K."

Mike Moustakas allowed a hopper to get past him for a leadoff error, and Omar Infante bobbled an easy grounder for another one. The Nationals proceeded to string together four straight hits, three of them extra-bases, before Medlen finally record his first out on his 39th pitch.

"They helped us out in that first inning and that doesn't happen very often," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "They're a very good defensive time."

Washington added a sacrifice fly to take a 6-0 lead before Strasburg finally got to pitch.

He gave up a couple runs in the second, but the Nationals proceeded to score four more runs on five hits and a walk in the third inning. Medlen was lifted with the bases loaded and no outs, but reliever Danny Duffy did little to slow the Nationals' offensive onslaught.

Murphy went deep in the fourth inning. Harper hit his 10th of the season in the fifth.

The only reason to pay much attention the rest of the game was Murphy, who had three legs of the cycle by the fourth inning. He added a single leading off the sixth to push his average to .402, but was part of the wholesale substitutions by both teams that kept him from getting another chance.

"Playing against him, you knew you were getting a professional at-bat every time," Strasburg said. "His baseball IQ is just off the charts."

Rays 8, Dodgers 5

Steve Pearce hit one of four Tampa Bay homers, a go-ahead three-run shot in the sixth inning, and the Rays beat Los Angeles.

Brandon Guyer, Steven Souza Jr. and Curt Casali added solo home runs for the Rays.

Pearce chased Alex Wood (1-3) with his third homer this season to put Tampa Bay ahead 5-2.

Ramirez (5-1) went two scoreless innings to get the win. Alex Colome pitched the ninth and picked up his sixth save.

Angels 7, Brewers 3

Mike Trout had an RBI triple and sparked a four-run eighth with a solo homer.

Trout tied the game at 3 after leading off the eighth with a drive to right on a hanging curveball from Tyler Thornburg (2-1). Five batters later, pinch-hitter C.J. Cron drove in the go-ahead run after looping a two-out double. Trout, a four-time All-Star,has 18 RBIs in his last 13 games after a slow start.

Fernando Salas (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning, and Joe Smith threw two shutout innings for his second save.

American League

Blue Jays 4, Rangers 3

Russell Martin singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and Toronto beat Texas.

Edwin Encarnacion singled off Tony Barnette (1-2) to begin the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Ezequiel Carrera. Justin Smoak walked, Troy Tulowitzki popped up and Kevin Pillar walked to load the bases for Martin, who drove a ball beyond the reach of Nomar Mazara into the right field corner.

The Blue Jays won 3-1 in 10 innings Tuesday on Justin Smoak's second home run of the game.

Roberto Osuna (1-0) worked one inning for the win.

Astros 16, Twins 4

Jason Castro homered and drove in four runs, and Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa both homered and knocked in three as Houston won consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Astros built a 6-0 lead after two innings and didn't let up in setting a season high for runs. Altuve hit his fifth leadoff homer this year, Castro connected for the second straight game with his two-run shot in the third, and Correa's first home run since April 6 came in the fourth.

Minnesota right-hander Phil Hughes (1-5) allowed six hits and a season-high six runs in two innings.

Reliever Scott Feldman (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Indians 4, Tigers 0

Corey Kluber pitched a five-hit shutout and Cleveland used a four-run fourth inning to defeat Detroit for the fifth straight time this season.

Kluber (2-3) worked out of jams in the second and fourth to beat Detroit for the second time in two weeks. The right-hander, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014, struck out seven and walked two in his second career shutout and eighth complete game.

Anibal Sanchez (3-3) didn't allow a hit through three innings, but gave up four runs on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch in the fourth.

Mariners 9, Athletics 8

Dae-Ho Lee hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh after an earlier solo shot for his first career multi-homer game, and Seattle completed a three-game sweep.

Mike Montgomery (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win on a day Nelson Cruz also homered, a rare shot into the second deck of seats in dead-center.

Lee hit his third and fourth homers, connecting in the seventh against John Axford (2-1) as the Mariners had a season-high 16 hits and improved to an AL-best 11-4 on the road. The A's lost their fourth straight.

Angels 7, Brewers 3

Mike Trout had an RBI triple and sparked a four-run eighth with a solo homer.

Trout tied the game at 3 after leading off the eighth with a drive to right on a hanging curveball from Tyler Thornburg (2-1). Five batters later, pinch-hitter C.J. Cron drove in the go-ahead run after looping a two-out double. Trout, a four-time All-Star,has 18 RBIs in his last 13 games after a slow start.

Fernando Salas (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning, and Joe Smith threw two shutout innings for his second save.

National League

Cubs 6, Pirates 2

Ben Zobrist hit a three-run homer, Anthony Rizzo also connected and Jon Lester worked out of a pair of jams to lead Chicago over Pittsburgh for a three-game sweep.

Zobrist's third-inning homer put Chicago ahead after center fielder Andrew McCutchen dropped Rizzo's two-out liner for an error. Lester (3-1) scattered eight hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, struck out five and walked two.

With its seventh win in eight games, Chicago improved to a major league-best 20-6. The Cubs have won seven straight road games and completed their first sweep in Pittsburgh since Sept. 7-9, 2012. They lead second-place Pittsburgh by six games in the NL Central.

Juan Nicasio (3-3) allowed four runs — one earned — eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Cardinals 5, Phillies 4

Matt Holliday's RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave St. Louis a victory.

St. Louis loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning against Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez (2-1). Stephen Piscotty delivered an RBI infield single to tie the game. Holliday then smacked a single through the left side of the infield to drive in plate the winning run.

Cardinals starter Mike Leake, the team's big free agent addition in the offseason, entered the game with an 0-3 record and 5.83 ERA, He allowed four runs and four hits in five innings.

Kevin Siegrist (4-0) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth for the win.

Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 3

Giancarlo Stanton homered and drove in two runs for Miami.

Jose Fernandez (3-2) allowed three runs in five innings while striking out seven for the Marlins, who have won nine of 10.

Miami held Arizona scoreless over the final four innings for the win.

Kyle Barraclough struck out Nick Ahmed with two on to end the eighth and A.J. Ramos pitched a clean ninth for his ninth save.

Reds 7, Giants 4

Brandon Phillips, Eugenio Suarez and Zack Cozart homered in a five-run second against Jake Peavy (1-3).

Peavy allowed seven runs and eight hits in six innings, raising his ERA to 9.00 in six starts. He had been 7-0 with a 2.38 ERA in 12 starts against the Reds.

Adam Duvall added a solo shot for the Reds, and Dan Straily (1-1) overcame solo homers by Brandon Belt and Conor Gillaspie for his first major league win since April 10, 2014, with Oakland.

Rockies 2, Padres 0

Tyler Chatwood (4-2) pitched three-hit ball for eight innings in his sixth start since Tommy John surgery, sending San Diego to its eighth shutout loss in 28 games this season.

Jake McGee pitched perfect ninth for his seventh save.

Cesar Vargas (0-1) allowed one run, four hits and three walks in six innings.

Christhian Adams grounded into an RBI in the fifth, and DJ LeMahieu's squeeze bunt scored Mark Reynolds in the ninth.