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WASHINGTON (AP) — Yadier Molina hit a two-run single off Stephen Strasburg during St. Louis’ three-run first inning, and the Cardinals beat the Nationals 4-2 Wednesday to complete a sweep and give Washington’s All-Star ace the only four-start losing streak of his young career.

Jaime Garcia (2-1) allowed a run on Bryce Harper’s sixth-inning groundout, but otherwise added to the offensive struggles of the Nationals, who have lost six consecutive home games and nine of their last 12 overall to fall to 10-11.

Washington produced only four runs in the three-game set, a rematch of the 2012 NL division series won by St. Louis.

Needing to be nearly perfect given Washington’s lack of offense, Strasburg (1-4) struggled through a 26-pitch, 12-minute first inning.

Strasburg, who hasn’t won since opening day against Miami, settled down and threw 110 pitches over seven innings, giving up no other runs and a total of five hits, along with seven strikeouts.



ROCKIES 6, BRAVES 5, 12 INNINGS

DENVER (AP) — Wilin Rosario scored on Yorvit Torrealba’s single to left in the 12th inning as Colorado rallied in the ninth to deny Atlanta’s Tim Hudson his 200th career win.

Michael Cuddyer and Josh Rutledge homered for the Rockies, who ended a three-game skid behind one-hit pitching by the bullpen over the last six innings. Matt Belisle (1-1), the fourth reliever used by Colorado, pitched two perfect frames.

Rosario led off the 12th with a double to left off Luis Ayala (1-1). After Cuddyer was intentionally walked, Belisle struck out on a bunt attempt. Torrealba ripped a single to left, and Justin Upton’s throw home was wide as Rosario slid in with the winning run.



DIAMONDBACKS 3, GIANTS 2, 10 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pinch hitter Will Nieves delivered a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to lift Arizona to a victory over San Francisco.

Gerardo Parra and A.J. Pollack also drove in a run for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Giants in 11 innings Tuesday night. Didi Gregorius had two hits.

Arizona led 2-1 before Brandon Crawford hit a tying homer off David Hernandez (1-0) with one out in the ninth. Crawford also doubled home a run in the seventh and finished with three hits.

Matt Reynolds got three outs for his second save in as many days.

Chad Gaudin (0-1) worked 2-3 of an inning in taking the loss.



REDS 1, CUBS 0

CINCINNATI (AP) — Mat Latos Latos retired the first 10 batters and 15 of the first 16 he faced and mostly spared an overworked bullpen, leading Cincinnati over Chicago.

Todd Frazier hit a long home run to provide all the scoring Latos would need. With one out in the sixth inning of a scoreless tie, Frazier blasted a 2-1 pitch from Jeff Samardzija (1-4) 480 feet to straightaway center field to increase his team-leading home run total to six.

Latos (1-0), the victim of two blown saves among his first four starts this season, allowed four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

Samardzija (1-4) allowed seven hits and three walks with eight strikeouts and a wild pitch.



PIRATES 5, PHILLIES 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Inge got a pinch-hit tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning and Pittsburgh rallied to beat Philadelphia.

Roy Halladay pitched six innings of one-hit ball and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit upper-deck solo homers off Wandy Rodriguez, but Mike Adams (1-2) couldn’t protect an eighth-inning lead.

Pedro Alvarez hit a solo homer off Antonio Bastardo in the seventh and his RBI single in the fourth was the only hit off Halladay. Halladay struck out eight and walked two.

Vin Mazzaro (1-0) retired the four batters he faced to earn the win. Mark Melancon worked the eighth and Jason Grilli finished for his ninth save in nine tries.



METS 7, DODGERS 3, 10 INNINGS

NEW YORK (AP) — Jordany Valdespin hit a grand slam in the 10th inning and New York rallied past Los Angeles to save early sensation Matt Harvey from his first loss of the season.

David Wright tied it with a two-out single in the ninth off Los Angeles closer Brandon League, handed his first blown save in six chances.

Matt Kemp homered and drove in three runs as the Dodgers grabbed a 3-1 lead against Harvey.

John Buck led off the 10th with a single against Josh Wall (0-1), and Ike Davis walked on four pitches. Both moved up on Marlon Byrd’s sacrifice, and Lucas Duda was walked to load the bases.

Bobby Parnell (1-0) worked around a leadoff walk in the 10th to get the win.



PADRES 2, BREWERS 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Edinson Volquez threw seven strong innings and Carlos Quentin hit his first home run of the season, helping San Diego snap Milwaukee’s nine-game winning streak.

Volquez (1-3) allowed just five singles, struck out three and did not walk a batter, lowering his ERA from 8.84 to 6.39 as San Diego ended a five-game skid.

It marked only the fourth time in 127 starts that Volquez did not walk a batter.

Marco Estrada (2-1) pitched 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, with two walks and three strikeouts.

Huston Street worked the ninth for his third save in as many opportunities.



AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 6, ATHLETICS 5

BOSTON (AP) — Stephen Drew hit a two-run triple, David Ortiz had two hits and drove in a run and the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon to take a three-game series.

It was Boston’s ninth win in 12 games and came after a 13-0 loss to Oakland a night earlier.

Chris Young had a three-run homer and a solo shot for the Athletics, who finished a six-game road trip 1-5. They were swept at the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.

Ortiz is 8 for 16 since returning to the lineup on Saturday for the first time since last August. He missed 71 of the final 72 games last season and all of spring training with an Achilles tendon injury.



BLUE JAYS 6, ORIOLES 5, 11 innings

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jim Johnson walked Maicer Izturis with the bases loaded in the 11th inning to force in the tiebreaking run, and the Blue Jays beat the Orioles to avert a three-game sweep and end Baltimore’s run of consecutive extra-inning victories at 17.

The Blue Jays hit four home runs, but the decisive run came without Izturis taking a swing. With two outs in the 11th, J.P. Arencibia and Munenori Kawaski singled before Johnson (1-2) hit Brett Lawrie with a pitch and issued a four-pitch walk to Izturis, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup.

Esmil Rogers (1-1) pitched the 10th and Casey Janssen got three straight outs for his sixth save.



WHITE SOX 3, INDIANS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Rios hit a two-run homer and the White Sox beat the Indians to stop a four-game losing streak.

Jeff Keppinger had two hits and drove in a run for the White Sox, who earned a split of the rain-shortened series. Jose Quintana (2-0) was charged with two runs and four hits in five-plus innings.

Rios connected in the fifth, hitting a two-out drive to left on an 0-2 pitch from Zach McAllister (1-3). Rios leads the White Sox with six homers.



ASTROS 10, MARINERS 3

HOUSTON (AP) — Chris Carter, Ronny Cedeno and Brandon Laird homered, Lucas Harrell pitched seven innings, and the Astros beat the Mariners.

The Astros took two of three in the series, and four of their seven wins this season have come against the Mariners, their new AL West foe. Seattle and Miami are the only teams without a series win this season.

Carter hit a solo shot in the second, Cedeno belted a three-run shot in the fourth and Laird also connected for a three-run drive in Houston’s five-run sixth.

Harrell (2-2) allowed a run and six hits.



TIGERS 7, ROYALS 5

DETROIT (AP) — Jose Valverde returned to Detroit with a save and Victor Martinez drove in a pair of runs to help the Tigers beat the Royals.

Max Scherzer (2-0) got the win, allowing five runs in five innings, with three Tigers relievers finishing the game. Valverde, called up earlier in the day, returned to the Tigers with a perfect ninth inning. Valverde lost the closing role during the postseason and wasn’t offered a contract, but signed a minor-league deal earlier this month and returned to Detroit after a short minor-league stint.

Wade Davis (2-1) took the loss, giving up seven runs — three earned — in 3 2-3 innings. Davis allowed eight hits and four walks while only getting 11 outs.



RAYS 3, YANKEES 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Alex Cobb scattered three hits over 8 1-3 innings, Ben Zobrist drove in two runs and the Rays beat the Yankees.

Cobb (3-1) gave up only two hits through the eighth — Eduardo Nunez’s second-inning single and an infield single by Jayson Nix in the sixth. The right-hander, who struck out seven and walked one, was replaced by Fernando Rodney after giving up a one-out single in the ninth to Brett Gardner.

After allowing Ichiro Suzuki’s single, Rodney completed his third save by retiring Robinson Cano and Travis Hafner.

Zobrist put the Rays up 2-0 on a two-out, two-run double off Andy Pettitte (3-1) in the fifth.



RANGERS 11, ANGELS 3

ANAHEIM (AP) — Nelson Cruz capped a nine-run fourth inning with a three-run homer, Lance Berkman had four RBIs and the Rangers helped Yu Darvish cruise to a victory over the Angels.

Darvish (4-1) allowed three hits over six scoreless innings, struck out 11 and lowered his ERA to 1.65 after getting staked to an 11-0 lead. It was the right-hander’s 11th double-digit strikeout performance in 34 major league starts.

Darvish, who did not allow a runner past first base, is 5-1 with a 3.83 ERA in eight starts against the AL West-rival Angels — whom he has faced more than any other team since coming over from Japan last season.

Michael Roth (1-1) threw 75 pitches over 3 1-3 innings in his first big league start, allowing five runs and six hits.