MLB roundup: Eithier hits three homers in Dodgers' win

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Andre Ethier had his first three-homer game and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-2 victory over Seattle on Friday night.

Ethier gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the second, and made it 7-2 in the sixth with his second homer off Jason Vargas (3-3). He capped his big night with a leadoff shot in the eighth off Miguel Batista for his 14th homer.

It was Ethier's fifth career multihomer game and the majors' second three-homer game of the season. Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles had three homers against San Diego on June 13.

Clayton Kershaw (5-5) allowed two runs and five hits over six innings and struck out eight.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki had his sixth straight multihit game giving him a major league-leading 34 this season.

Vargas gave up five runs and nine hits over 4 2-3 innings.

Blue Jays 6, Phillies 1

TORONTO (AP) - Ricky Romero held Philadelphia hitless for six innings and Aaron Hill hit a two-run double for Toronto.

The rookie left-hander gave up a hit to Chase Utley leading off the seventh and Jayson Werth followed with an infield single for the Phillies, losers of 11 of 13. Romero got Ryan Howard to hit into a double play and John Mayberry to fly out to center to finish the inning.

Romero (5-3) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out seven.

Jeremy Accardo worked a perfect eighth and Dirk Hayhurst finished the three-hitter, allowing Werth's sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Toronto won for the fourth time in five games and has beaten the Phillies in six straight.

The Blue Jays scored three runs in the third against left-hander Cole Hamels (4-4), who is winless in four starts. Hill hit a two-run double, stole third and scored on Rolen's sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.

Rockies 4, Athletics 2

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Garrett Atkins had three hits and two RBIs and Colorado's Jason Hammel remained unbeaten in June.

Todd Helton added a two-run single as part of a three-run fifth inning, helping the Rockies snap a seven-game losing streak in Oakland.

Hammel (5-3) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked two to finish 4-0 this month. He extended his career-best winning streak to five.

Huston Street, pitching against his former team for the first time since being acquired in November as part of a trade that sent slugger Matt Holliday to the A's, worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 18 tries.

Kurt Suzuki homered and Holiday doubled twice for Oakland, which lost its third straight.

Dallas Braden (5-7) gave up four runs on five hits in 5 1-3 innings and is winless in his last four starts.

Angels 12, Diamondbacks 3

PHOENIX (AP) - Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer to cap Los Angeles' eight-run second inning.

Jered Weaver won his first career appearance against Arizona, Maicer Izturis doubled and tripled to drive in two runs, and Bobby Abreu had two hits and two RBIs to help the Angels to a season high for runs.

Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera had two hits apiece as the Angels improved to a major league-best 12-4 in interleague play.

Weaver (8-3) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings for the fifth victory in his last six starts.

The Angels have won three straight and 10 of 13.

The Angels scored all eight runs in the second off Billy Buckner (2-5), who lasted 1 2-3 innings in his shortest career start. He has given up 26 earned runs in his last 18 1-3 innings.

Red Sox 4, Braves 1

ATLANTA (AP) - Josh Beckett threw seven more scoreless innings against Atlanta and David Ortiz homered for Boston.

Beckett (9-3) has faced the Braves twice in the past seven days - and still hasn't given up a run. He threw a five-hit, no-walk shutout at Fenway Park last weekend. This time, he allowed six hits, struck out six and didn't walk anyone.

Ortiz is hitting .333 over his last 17 games, with seven homers and 14 RBIs, though he's still batting just .218 overall.

The Red Sox have won 17 of 23 to strengthen their hold on first place in the AL East. The Braves lost their third straight and 11th in the last 16.

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (5-6) allowed three earned runs in eight innings.

Ortiz broke up a scoreless duel in the fifth, leading off with his eighth homer of the season and 297th of his career.

Indians 9, Reds 2

CLEVELAND (AP) - Jeremy Sowers pitched into the eighth inning for his first win as a starter this season and Ryan Garko hit a two-run homer to lead Cleveland to its second win in 10 games.

Sowers (2-5), who began the season in Triple-A, allowed two runs and six hits in his longest outing since Sept. 9, when he went eight in a win at Baltimore. The left-hander's only previous win came on May 25, when he worked five shutout innings of relief as the Indians overcame a 10-0 deficit to beat Tampa Bay 11-10

Garko homered in the fourth off Aaron Harang (5-8) and Victor Martinez added a solo shot in the fifth as the Indians built a 9-0 lead.

Martinez's 14th homer in the fifth made it 5-0, and the Indians scored two more in the inning to chase Harang, who was charged with five earned runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings and remains winless since May 25.

Pirates 5, Royals 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Virgil Vasquez went six innings for his first major league win and Pittsburgh got home runs from three unlikely power sources.

Vasquez (1-0), recalled by the Pirates after Thursday's game to make his first start since Aug. 31, 2007, allowed two runs and four hits while striking out seven.

Nyjer Morgan, Jason Jaramillo and Jack Wilson homered for Pittsburgh, which has won three straight since snapping a five-game losing streak.

Mark Teahen hit his ninth homer and Miguel Olivo went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Royals, who have lost seven of nine.

Matt Capps converted his 11th consecutive save opportunity and 17th overall.

Morgan, Jaramillo and Wilson had combined for five home runs in 579 at-bats this season heading into Friday's game for a punchless offense that ranked 26th in the majors in homers.

Gil Meche (4-7) was charged with four runs, five hits and three walks strikeouts in five innings.

Astros 5, Tigers 4

HOUSTON (AP) - Miguel Tejada had a double and drove in two runs and Houston snapped Detroit's seven-game winning streak.

Tejada doubled in the third inning for the Astros' first run and drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth that followed Jeff Keppinger's bases-loaded walk that made it 4-4.

Kaz Matsui singled with one out in the eighth before Joel Zumaya (3-2) walked three consecutive batters. He was replaced by Freddy Dolsi after walking Keppinger.

Placido Polanco's three-run homer with two outs in the second put Detroit up 4-0. Miguel Cabrera hit a solo homer in the first.

Chris Sampson (4-0) got the last out of the eighth and LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save.

Orioles 11, Nationals 1

BALTIMORE (AP) - Rookie Brad Bergesen allowed four hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision and Melvin Mora had four RBIs for Baltimore.

Aubrey Huff drove in three runs, and Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold all had three hits for the Orioles, who used an eight-run sixth inning to turn the game into a rout.

A crowd of 45,024 - the biggest at Camden Yards since opening day - showed up for this interleague matchup between last-place clubs.

Bergesen (5-2) gave up one run, struck out five and walked two. He is 4-0 in six starts since May 24.

Ross Detwiler (0-4) allowed five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings for Washington. He has gone eight starts this season without earning his first big league win.

Cubs 5, White Sox 4

CHICAGO (AP) - Geovany Soto hit a three-run homer to back another solid start by Randy Wells and the Cubs broke a four-game losing streak.

Milton Bradley of the Cubs went after the Gatorade cooler in the dugout after he flied out in the top of the sixth, had an angry exchange with manager Lou Piniella in the tunnel and was told to go home. Ryan Freel replaced him in right field in the bottom half.

Fresh off the revelation that he tested positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic, Soto hit a three-run homer off Jose Contreras (2-7) in the seventh to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead.

Wells (2-3) won his second straight start, allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Jim Thome hit his 554th homer for the White Sox and added a two-run double in the eighth. Kevin Gregg earned his 12th save in 15 chances.

Rays 7, Marlins 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - B.J. Upton's three-run double snapped an eighth-inning tie for Tampa Bay.

Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford also drove in runs as the AL champions ended Florida's five-game winning streak. J.P. Howell (3-2), the fifth Tampa Bay pitcher, worked 1 1-3 innings for the victory.

Hanley Ramirez homered for the third time in four games for the Marlins, hitting a solo shot that made it 3-all in the seventh.

The Rays loaded the bases against Renyel Pinto (2-1) and Brian Sanches in the eighth on a fielder's choice and two walks. Upton drove his double off Sanches to the gap in right-center. Crawford followed with an RBI single.

Ramirez, who had grand slams in two of three games against Baltimore this week, has driven in 13 runs in his last four games.

Rangers 12, Padres 2

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - David Murphy and Hank Blalock homered for Texas and Kevin Millwood won his fifth straight decision at home.

Murphy's three-run homer put Texas up 6-1 against Walter Silva (0-1), who gave up nine runs in 2 1-3 innings. It was Murphy's third homer in eight games.

Before winning 9-8 in 12 innings at Arizona on Thursday, the AL West-leading Rangers had scored two runs or less in four consecutive games. They had gone 21 straight games without scoring more than six runs, their longest such streak since 1990.

Blalock homered leading off the fourth for a 10-1 lead.

Rangers rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus had four hits, including a bunt single and an RBI triple.

Millwood (8-5) allowed two runs over six innings. His only loss at home was April 18, a 2-0 complete game against Kansas City and Zack Greinke. Millwood is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA in nine home starts.

Tony Gwynn Jr. led off the game for the Padres with his first career homer.

Twins 3, Cardinals 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Glen Perkins worked seven dominant innings and Minnesota got key hits from Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer.

Joe Mauer was 1 for 2 with two walks and is batting .396 for the Twins, who are 38-37 overall but 11-5 in interleague play. Kubel and Cuddyer each had two hits and an RBI, and Perkins (3-4), whose previous three career at-bats were strikeouts, contributed two sacrifices.

Adam Wainwright (8-5) lasted seven innings, allowing three runs, one unearned. The Cardinals totaled seven hits against four pitchers after averaging 12 runs in Wainwright's three previous starts, all victories.

St. Louis has totaled three runs during a three-game losing streak.

Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 13th straight save and 18th overall.

Yankees 9, Mets 1

NEW YORK (AP) - Three errors by Mets infielders led to a four-run second inning, and Alex Rodriguez of the visiting Yankees added his 564th home run to pass Reggie Jackson on the career list.

Fill-in leadoff batter Brett Gardner had a career-high five hits, including his third home run of the season and a triple. Rodriguez made it 7-1 with a two-run shot in the eighth, 11th homer this season.

Third baseman David Wright, shortstop Alex Cora and first baseman Nick Evans contributed to the Mets' first three-error inning in five years.

CC Sabathia (7-4), who left Sunday's start at Florida after 1 1-3 innings because of tightness in his left biceps, allowed three hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one.

Mike Pelfrey (5-3) allowed four runs - two earned - and six hits in five innings. Gary Sheffield homered in the fifth for the Mets.

National League

Brewers 5, Giants 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Yovani Gallardo outdueled Matt Cain and Ryan Braun drove in two runs for Milwaukee.

Slumping shortstop J.J. Hardy homered for the Brewers, who had lost five of their previous six games. It was only the second loss in seven games for the Giants.

Gallardo (8-4) gave up a first-inning home run to Pablo Sandoval before settling down to retire 16 batters in a row between the second and seventh innings. He struck out nine while giving up four hits and three walks in 7 2-3 innings.

Cain (9-2) tied his season-high by allowing five runs and matched his season high with nine strikeouts.

Hardy hit a solo home run in the third to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead. It was the seventh homer of the season for Hardy, who came into Friday's game hitting .215.