BALTIMORE — Trey Mancini capped a three-homer binge in the first inning against Gio Gonzalez, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 on Monday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.
Kevin Gausman (2-3) limited baseball’s most potent offense to two runs over seven innings. He retired the first 10 batters and struck out eight in his longest outing of the year.
Joey Rickard hit a leadoff homer and Mark Trumbo added a solo shot before Mancini connected with a runner on to make it 4-0. That was enough offense for the Orioles, who now hold a 37-24 advantage over their neighboring rivals in the so-called “Beltway Series,” which began in 2006.
Caleb Joseph had a career high-tying four hits for the Orioles. Baltimore (21-10) owns the second-best record in the majors behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
YANKEES 10, REDS 4: Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday homered, Masahiro Tanaka won his fifth consecutive start, and New York shook off a long game and a short night’s sleep, winning in Cincinnati for its sixth victory in a row.
The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 21-9 and are 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.
Their biggest challenge was overcoming the fatigue from an 18-inning, 5-4 win at Wrigley Field early Monday.
The Yankees didn’t land in the Cincinnati area until 5:08 a.m., and the sun was up when some of them finally fell asleep. Players sipped caffeinated drinks and yawned in the clubhouse before the game.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CARDINALS 9, MARLINS 4: Ace Carlos Martinez drove in four runs, compensating for the two homers he gave up to Marcell Ozuna and leading St. Louis over host Miami for its season-best fourth straight win.
Martinez (2-3) came into the game hitless this year. He hit a two-out, three-run double off Adam Conley in the second inning and singled home a run in the fourth.
METS 4, GIANTS 3: Neil Walker hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning, and New York put turmoil aside to beat reeling San Francisco in New York.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ROYALS 7, RAYS 3: Nate Karns struck out 10 in pitching into the seventh inning, Eric Hosmer had three hits and Kansas City busted out of an offensive slump to beat Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Kansas City matched its best run output of the year and set a season high with 13 hits.
Drew Butera homered and drove in his first two runs of the season, helping the Royals win for the fourth time in 17 games. Kansas City had scored three or fewer runs in four straight games.
BLUE JAYS 4, INDIANS 2: Marcus Stroman pitched six shutout innings, Kevin Pillar made a sensational catch in center field and Toronto won at home.
Ryan Goins hit a two-run homer and Justin Smoak added a two-run single as the Blue Jays beat the team that eliminated them from last year’s AL Championship Series.
Former Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who signed a $60 million, three-year contract with Cleveland last winter, received a warm welcome in his return to Toronto.
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