LOS ANGELS SHORTSTOP Andrelton Simmons tags out Detroit’s Nicholas Castellanos on his steal attempt during the third inning of a baseball game on Thursday in Detroit. The Angels rolled to an 11-4 victory.
Lance McCullers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in a five-run ninth as the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Thursday night.
Altuve’s ninth home run came off Kelvin Herrera (1- 2) with Josh Reddick aboard after walking on four pitches to lead off the inning. Herrera has yielded seven home runs in 24 1/3 innings after giving up only six in 72 innings last season.
Herrera retired only one of the five batters he faced and was charged with four runs, three hits and a walk. The inning also included a two-run single by Jake Marisnick.
Lorenzo Cain’s one-out triple in the seventh ended McCuller’s no-hit bid. Cain drilled a 3-0 pitch to center. He scored on Mike Moustakas’ two-out single to tie the score.
Will Harris (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win.
Rockies 4, Cubs 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Chatwood pitched four-hit ball over six innings, DJ LeMahieu hit a three-run homer and Colorado beat Chicago for its season-high fifth straight win.
The NL West leaders got all their runs in the second inning after Jon Lester (3-4) struck out the first two batters. LeMahieu’s drive to the right field basket made it 4-1.
Lester lost at Wrigley Field for the first time in nearly 13 months, while the Cubs dropped their second straight after winning a season high five in a row. They did that hours after Major League Baseball said it is looking into a domestic violence accusation against shortstop Addison Russell.
Chatwood (6-7) shut down Chicago after giving up a solo homer to Kris Bryant in the first. He also singled and scored.
Greg Holland picked up his major league-leading 22nd save in as many chances with a scoreless ninth.
Giants 9, Brewers 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Hunter Pence’s RBI single opened the scoring in a four-run 10th inning, and San Francisco overcame a rough outing by closer Mark Melancon for a wild victory.
Denard Span added an RBI double in the 10th off Brewers reliever Jacob Barnes (1-1), who gave up five hits and four runs without retiring a batter.
The Giants rallied after Melancon blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Eric Sogard led off the ninth with a homer, and Travis Shaw’s RBI single three batters later tied the game at 5 with no outs before Melancon got the next three hitters.
Melancon (1-1) ended up with the win in spite of giving up three runs and two hits.
D-Backs 15, Padres 3
PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Iannetta drove in a career-high seven runs with a home run and a pair of doubles, and Arizona routed San Diego to finish a three-game sweep.
Iannetta hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Clayton Richard (4-7) for a 4-3 lead in the fifth, a three-run double against Kevin Quackenbush in the sixth and a two-run double off Brandon Maurer in the eighth. Six of Iannetta’s eight home runs this season have tied the score or put the Diamondbacks ahead.
Arizona scored 10 runs with two outs, won its ninth straight at Chase Field and improved the best home record in the major leagues to 24-8.
Marlins 7, Pirates 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Edinson Volquez followed his no-hitter by pitching seven scoreless innings and Miami beat Pittsburgh.
Volquez (3-7) allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two while winning his third straight start. He helped the Marlins win for the ninth time in 12 games and raised his career record to 4-0 against the Pirates, a team he pitched for in 2013.
Nationals 6, Orioles 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Ross had a career-high 12 strikeouts in a sparkling performance, and weary Washington breezed past Baltimore.
Stephen Drew homered into the second deck in right field and Trea Turner had three hits and a career-best three stolen bases for the Nationals, who took control with a four-run first inning against Alec Asher (2-4).
Ross (3-2) gave up one run and four hits over 7 1/3 innings. The right-hander fanned six straight at one point, twice struck out the side, walked none and carried a two-hit shutout into the seventh.
Reds 5, Cardinals 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joey Votto had a two-run homer among his four hits, Adam Duvall had three hits off Mike Leake and Cincinnati completed a four-game sweep.
The Reds hadn’t swept the Cardinals in four games since 2003 in Cincinnati, during the first season at Great American Ball Park. St. Louis has lost seven in a row overall for the first time since 2013.
Twins 2, Mariners 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Kyle Gibson (3-4) pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning and Minnesota took advantage of two errors on one play by Robinson Cano in a win over Seattle.
With two out in the fifth inning and a runner on second, Cano misplayed Joe Mauer’s slow grounder. He compounded the mistake by trying to catch Ehire Adrianza at third base, but Cano’s throw was low, skipped past Kyle Seager and allowed Adrianza to score.
Rays 7, White Sox 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Derek Norris homered in consecutive innings and Jake Odorizzi (4-3) pitched into the seventh, leading Tampa Bay over Chicago.
Angels 11, Tigers 4
DETROIT (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly to cap a four-run fifth inning and Los Angeles added six runs in the seventh to rout Detroit.
Braves 3, Phillies 1
ATLANTA (AP) — R.A. Dickey allowed only three hits in seven innings to earn his first win in five weeks and lead Atlanta over rookie Ben Lively (1-1) and Philadelphia.
The 42-year-old Dickey (4- 4) set a season high with eight strikeouts. The knuckleballer gave up no walks for the first time this season.
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