NEW YORK — Stephen Strasburg stayed undefeated, winning a marquee pitching matchup against an ailing Noah Syndergaard by tossing seven innings of two-hit ball Friday night that sent the Washington Nationals to a 3-1 victory over the banged-up New York Mets.

Clint Robinson hit a two-run homer for the Nationals, going deep for the second consecutive night, and Daniel Murphy added an RBI double against his former team. Strasburg (12-0) struck out nine and became the first National League pitcher in 104 years to win his first 12 decisions in a season.

Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen combined to escape an eighth-inning jam, and Washington extended its NL East lead to four games over the Mets after dropping the opener of the four-game series Thursday night.

Syndergaard (9-4) and slugger Yoenis Cespedes left early with injuries – hours after New York announced that struggling pitcher Matt Harvey will have season-ending surgery.

PIRATES 8, CUBS 4: Andrew McCutchen had three hits, including an RBI single during a decisive four-run seventh inning, as host Pittsburgh rallied for a rare victory over Jake Arrieta.

John Jaso’s RBI single tied the score at 4-4 and chased Arrieta (12-4), who had beaten the Pirates in all three previous starts this season and entered with a 9-1 career record against them.

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BREWERS 4, CARDINALS 3: Jonathan Villar’s single drove in Kurt Nieuwenhuis from second base with two outs in the ninth inning as Milwaukee Brewers got past St. Louis at home.

MARLINS 3, REDS 1: Jose Fernandez allowed an unearned run in seven innings to help Miami to a win at home.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

INDIANS 10, YANKEES 2: Mike Napoli hit one of five Cleveland home runs – a 462-foot blast that nearly hit the scoreboard in left field – and the host Indians routed New York.

Napoli’s two-run homer in the third inning landed near the top of the bleachers, a few feet below the scoreboard, for his 18th of the season.

Cleveland’s five home runs marked a season high, with three coming in the first inning. Jason Kipnis homered twice while Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall also hit home runs.

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ANGELS 9, ORIOLES 5: Daniel Nava had two RBI and made a spectacular catch to help Los Angeles win at Baltimore for its fourth straight victory.

Mike Trout scored three runs for the Angels, who built an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning.

Angels first baseman C.J. Cron fractured a bone in his left hand when hit by a pitch from Mike Wright in the sixth inning.

BLUE JAYS 6, TIGERS 0: J.A. Happ and two relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run home run and host Toronto extended its season-high winning streak to seven.

Happ (12-3) matched his career-high in wins by giving up six hits, striking out nine and walking none in 52/3 innings.

RANGERS 6, TWINS 5: Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus had RBI triples and Texas overcame a struggling start by All-Star left-hander Cole Hamels in a victory over the Twins at Arlington, Texas.

MARINERS 3, ROYALS 2: Hisashi Iwakuma pitched into the seventh inning, Seattle scored the go-ahead runs on Yordano Ventura’s wild pitch the Mariners held on to win at Kansas City, Missouri.

INTERLEAGUE

BRAVES 11, WHITE SOX 8: Freddie Freeman, Tyler Flowers and Nick Markakis all homered off Chris Sale to lead Atlanta to a win at Chicago.


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