ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria and Shane Peterson drove in four runs apiece to back the pitching of Chris Archer and lead the surging Tampa Bay Rays to a 15-5 victory over the struggling Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.
Peterson and Derek Norris hit two-run homers off Ubaldo Jimenez (2-3) as Orioles pitchers allowed at least five runs for the 20th consecutive game, tying a major league record set by the 1924 Philadelphia Phillies.
Longoria had a two-run single during Tampa Bay’s four-run first inning, and Peterson and Norris both went deep in the third to chase Jimenez, who yielded nine runs, seven hits and four walks in 21/3 innings.
Logan Morrison also had a big night for the Rays, hitting his 22nd homer and finishing with three RBI.
Archer (6-4) wasn’t especially sharp. But the right-hander didn’t have to be with the Rays posting a season high for runs.
TWINS 5, INDIANS 0: Adalberto Mejia combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, leading Minnesota over host Cleveland in a matchup of the top two teams in the AL Central.
Mejia (2-3) held Cleveland to two hits in five innings, but had to work around five walks and two errors. The left-hander got out of bases-loaded jams in the second and fourth, and stranded nine Indians runners on base.
Cleveland was coming off a 7-1 road trip, including a four-game sweep at Target Field last weekend that gave the Indians first place in the division. The Twins are now 11/2 back.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 2, CUBS 0: Giancarlo Stanton hit his 19th home run, Jose Urena scattered five hits over six innings and Miami won at home.
Christian Yelich added a sacrifice fly for the Marlins, who won for the second time this week with no more than three hits. Stanton had two hits and Dee Gordon the other for Miami, which got only two hits in a 2-1 win over Washington on Wednesday.
Urena (6-2) won his fifth straight decision. A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.
NATIONALS 6, REDS 5: Bryce Harper singled in the winning run in the 10th inning, Brian Goodwin homered twice and Washington got a solid performance from its bullpen.
Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy also homered for the Nationals, who trailed 5-2 in the sixth inning before coming back to deal the Reds their 12th loss in 13 games.
Trea Turner singled off Raisel Iglesias (2-2) with one out in the 10th and took third on a single by Goodwin before Harper hit a liner that struck the right-field wall on one bounce.
BRAVES 5, BREWERS 4: Brandon Phillips had a home run and an RBI double, and Mike Foltynewicz pitched five crisp innings as Atlanta won at home against NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
It rained steadily for a few innings but there was no delay for only the second time in five nights this week.
The Braves have won 8 of 11 games including 6 of 8 on the homestand, improving to 13-9 in June and lifting their home record back to .500 (19-19) for the first time since May 1.
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