CLEVELAND – Rick Porcello pitched seven sharp innings, Jhonny Peralta drove in two runs and the Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland for the sixth straight time, winning 7-0 on Friday night to extend their lead in the AL Central over the second-place Indians.

Porcello (5-6) allowed five hits and was never really threatened until Carlos Santana flied out to the warning track in center field to end the sixth.

The right-hander set the tone for the Tigers, who dominated the opener of the four-game wraparound series.

With their fourth straight win, Detroit moved 2½ games ahead of Cleveland, which returned from an 11-game road trip to just its second sellout crowd at Progressive Field this season.

YANKEES 3, ORIOLES 2: Vernon Wells singled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning, helping a marvelous Ivan Nova beat Baltimore at New York for the Yankees’ fifth straight win.

Nova (3-2) gave up a two-run homer to Matt Wieters in the second inning, then stifled the Orioles the rest of the way in a spot start for Hiroki Kuroda.

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ATHLETICS 6, ROYALS 3: Tommy Milone (8-7) carried a shutout into the ninth inning and Grant Balfour held on for the save, securing Oakland’s win at Kansas City, Mo.

RAYS 8, WHITE SOX 3: Jeremy Hellickson (8-3) won his fourth consecutive start and Jose Molina had a two-run homer during a five-run second inning as Tampa Bay won at home.

BLUE JAYS 4, TWINS 0: Jose Bautista hit his 20th home run and Mark Buehrle (5-5) pitched seven shutout innings to win for the first time in three starts as host Toronto beat slumping Minnesota.

RANGERS 10, ASTROS 5: Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam and Nick Tepesch (4-6) took a shutout into the sixth inning at Arlington, Texas.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 6, CUBS 2: Francisco Liriano (8-3) pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game in more than two years as Pittsburgh won at Chicago.

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Liriano went the distance for the first time since he tossed a no-hitter for Minnesota against the White Sox on May 3, 2011. He struck out seven and walked four to improve to 5-1 in his last six starts. He also had an RBI single.

PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4: Humberto Quintero and Ryan Howard hit home runs to give Cliff Lee (10-2) a five-run cushion and a win at home.

NATIONALS 8, PADRES 5: Wilson Ramos drove in three runs and Gio Gonzalez (6-3) won his third straight start as Washington won at home.

CARDINALS 4, MARLINS 1: Jake Westbrook worked seven strong innings and Allen Craig had two RBI as St. Louis spoiled Jacob Turner’s homecoming in a win over Miami.

METS 12, BREWERS 5: Kirk Nieuwenhuis had four hits and five RBI as New York won at Milwaukee.

INTERLEAGUE

MARINERS 4, REDS 2: Aaron Harang (4-7) pitched six innings in the ballpark where he still holds the career strikeout record (598), and Nick Franklin and Michael Saunders homered as Seattle won at Cincinnati.

Harang limited his former team to a pair of runs and six hits, including Joey Votto’s 15th homer. Oliver Perez struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.


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