American League

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5

One thing that doesn't get lost in translation with Japanese shortstop Munenori Kawasaki is his joy for baseball.

Kawasaki hit a game-ending two-run double in a four-run ninth inning, lifting Toronto to a victory over Baltimore on Sunday.

Called up from Triple-A Buffalo in April after All-Star Jose Reyes severely sprained his left ankle, Kawasaki has won over Blue Jays fans and players with his energetic play, upbeat personality and his custom of bowing to teammates after big plays.

"When Reyes went down we were scrambling," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We didn't know what we were going to do. We knew very little about (Kawasaki) but he's come up here and done a tremendous job for us. He's played just a good brand of baseball.

"I don't know where we'd be without him," Gibbons said.

Reading from a Japanese-to-English phrasebook, Kawasaki greeted the media after his big hit with a trio of increasingly nonsensical remarks.

"I did it," he said. "Give me a hug. It was boring."

Boring? Not a chance.

Trailing 5-2 to begin the ninth against Orioles closer Jim Johnson (2-5), the Blue Jays got a leadoff double from Edwin Encarnacion, a single from Adam Lind and an RBI single by J.P. Arencibia.

Brett Lawrie flied out and Anthony Gose walked to load the bases for Mark DeRosa, who made it 5-4 with a fielder's choice.

That brought up Kawasaki, who lined a double up the alley in left-center. Arencibia scored from third and DeRosa raced around from first with the winning run.

"He hit it in the perfect spot," Gibbons said. "Especially with DeRosa running, he definitely hit it in the perfect spot."

Kawasaki tossed his helmet in the air in as he rounded second base and was mobbed by his teammates as DeRosa slid home without a throw.

"That was awesome," said Blue Jays starter Chad Jenkins. "Very exciting. Couldn't have happened to a better person. Kawasaki is a great guy. Just awesome that he was the one that knocked in the winning run."

The blown save was Johnson's fourth of the season and fourth in five chances.

"He made a lot of good pitches," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He just kind of painted himself in a corner there and we just couldn't get it done."

Steve Delabar (4-1) got the win despite allowing Matt Wieters' two-run double in the ninth.

Lawrie appeared angry at third base coach Luis Rivera for not telling Lind to tag up after his ninth-inning fly ball. Lawrie later exchanged words with Gibbons in the dugout.

"He got a little heated, I got a little heated," Gibbons said. "That's over. It's no big deal, those things happen."

Baltimore's Adam Jones homered for the fourth consecutive game and Wieters had four hits and three RBIs for the Orioles.

Mariners 4, Rangers 3 (13)

Jason Bay hit a two-out RBI single in the 13th inning, lifting the Mariners to a victory over Texas that snapped an eight-game skid.

Bay came through after he was robbed of a game-winning homer in the 11, when David Murphy leaped above the fence in left-center field to catch Bay's drive.

Raul Ibanez tied it at 3 earlier in the 11th with a home run. A.J. Pierzynski had given Texas a 3-2 lead in the top half with a pinch-hit RBI single off Oliver Perez.

Yoervis Medina (1-0) worked out a jam in the top of the 13th.

Michael Kirkman (0-1) was the loser.

Angels 5, Royals 2

Josh Hamilton started the Angels' comeback when he homered leading off the seventh inning, and Los Angeles beat Kansas City for its eighth straight win.

The Angels were unable to get into their dugout until about 90 minutes before the game because bees swarmed into it. A beekeeper was summoned to solve the problem.

Jerome Williams (4-1) then allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for the Angels, on their longest winning streak since taking eight straight from May 22-29 last year.

Kansas City has lost nine of 10 and 16 of 20, dropping to 21-26. In only three of those 16 losses have the Royals scored more than three runs.

Los Angeles trailed 2-0 before Hamilton homered on the first pitch of the seventh from Wade Davis (3-4), giving the former AL MVP home runs in consecutive games for only the third time since signing with the Angels during the offseason.

Tigers 6, Twins 1

Max Scherzer pitched six solid innings to remain undefeated this season, and Avisail Garcia broke the game open with a bases-loaded triple, leading the Tigers over the Twins.

Scherzer, who retired his last 22 batters in a win at Cleveland on Tuesday, allowed a run and three hits Sunday in improving to 7-0. He struck out six and walked three.

Torii Hunter homered for the Tigers, and Prince Fielder drove in a run with a fourth-inning double. Garcia, pinch-hitting in the sixth, cleared the bases to make it 6-1.

Mike Pelfrey (3-5) allowed five runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Minnesota has lost 11 of 12.

Oakland 6, Houston 2

Bartolo Colon struck out a season-high nine in seven scoreless innings, and the Athletics won their ninth straight against the Astros this season.

Oakland's Nate Freiman, who was with the Astros in spring training as a Rule 5 selection, had a double and home run with three RBIs for the A's.

Dating to 2007, Oakland has won 11 straight against Houston, tied for the third longest winning streak against one team in A's history.

Colon (5-2) won his second straight start, scattering nine hits two day after turning 40.

The Astros are 14-36 in their first year in the AL, their worst 50-game start in club history.

After leaving runners on third in two of the first three innings, Oakland sent nine batter to the plate in a five-run fourth against Dallas Keuchel (1-2).

National League

Nationals 6, Phillies 1

In a showdown of aces with disappointing records, Stephen Strasburg and Cole Hamels matched each other until Washington scored five runs in the seventh inning of its win over Philadelphia.

Strasburg (3-5) allowed five hits in eight innings, walked none and struck out a season-high nine, giving up a run in the eighth on his first big league balk.

Making his latest no-support start, Hamels (1-8) struck out six and allowed only three hits through six innings. Ryan Zimmerman's infield single started a rally that included a pair of errors and Steve Lombardozzi's two-run double. Hamels has lost five straight starts, has had only 20 runs of support scored all season when he's been in the game and hasn't pitched with a lead since April 7.

Cubs 5, Reds 4 (10)

Alfonso Soriano hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Welington Castillo had a go-ahead double in the 10th, helping the Cubs rally from a four-run deficit in a win over the Reds that stopped a season-high, six-game losing streak.

Soriano singled in the seventh and scored Chicago's first run off Johnny Cueto on Luis Valbuena's two-out single.

Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI double against Logan Ondrusek in the eighth — his third double in two games — and Soriano followed with his fifth homer of the season and first since May 13, a 394-foot drive to left-center.

J.J. Hoover (0-4) walked Scott Hairston with two outs in the 10th, and Castillo followed with his double into the left-field corner.

Kevin Gregg (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings, stopping the Reds' five-game winning streak.

Cardinals 5, Dodgers 3

Matt Carpenter drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single and Pete Kozma hit a three-run double against Clayton Kershaw, leading the Cardinals to a victory over the Dodgers.

The Cardinals improved the major league's best record to 32-17 and increased their NL Central lead over Cincinnati to 1 1/2 games.

Seth Maness (4-1) got credit for the victory in relief of starter Shelby Miller despite retiring only two of the six batters he faced.

Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 14th save in 14 attempts.

Kershaw (5-3) gave up four runs, seven hits and three walks in seven innings and struck out five as his ERA rose from 1.35 to 1.68.

Giants 7, Rockies 3

Brandon Belt hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the fifth inning to back a shaky outing by Matt Cain, and the Giants rallied past the Rockies.

Buster Posey homered and Andres Torres added two hits and an RBI to help the Giants close a six-game homestand with consecutive wins. The defending World Series champions play 14 of their next 18 games on the road.

Cain (4-2) matched his season high of five walks but allowed only two runs and two hits in five innings.

In his first appearance at AT&T Park, Jon Garland (3-6) allowed five runs — two earned — seven hits and four walks in five innings.

Pirates 5, Brewers 4

Wandy Rodriguez won his fourth consecutive start, Pedro Alvarez had a two-run double and the Pirates built an early four-run lead before holding off the Brewers.

The Pirates have won 13 of 15 and are a season high 12 games over .500.

Rodriguez (6-2) gave up three earned runs on seven hits in five innings to earn the victory. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 20th save.

Pittsburgh got to Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo for a run in the second on Jordy Mercer's two-out triple, which scored Michael McKenry, who walked.

Gallardo (3-5) labored through just four innings.

Diamondbacks 6, Padres 5

Patrick Corbin worked six innings without his best stuff to become the first Arizona left-hander to start with eight straight wins, Martin Prado matched a career high with four hits and the Diamondbacks beat the Padres.

Corbin allowed more than two runs for the first time this season, but helped himself with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning off Tommy Layne (0-1) to become the third Arizona pitcher to start a season 8-0.

Eric Chavez homered for the second straight game, Prado drove in a run in the seventh inning after getting three hits the night before and Heath Bell worked a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

Carlos Quentin hit a two-run homer and Kyle Blanks also had two RBIs for the Padres.

Interleague

White Sox 5, Marlins 3

Dayan Viciedo and Alex Rios each threw out a runner at the plate, and the White Sox beat Alex Sanabia and Marlins to sweep their weekend series.

The White Sox have won five of six and nine of 12 to climb back to .500 for the first time since they were 4-4 on April 10. Dylan Axelrod (3-3) benefited from a two-run homer by Adam Dunn and a tiebreaking two-run double from Alejandro De Aza to pick up his third consecutive victory.

Sanabia (3-7) pitched into the seventh inning against the Phillies to end a personal five-game losing streak. But he was unable to sustain that success against Chicago (24-24).