MLB Scores: Verlander Dominates Astros, Rangers Finish Sweep of Red Sox

Tigers NewsJustin Verlander held the Houston Astros hitless until the seventh inning  and the Tigers swamped the Astros 9-0.  Verlander  struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 1.55 this season.

“I actually felt really calm out there,” Verlander said. “Obviously, it’s a bit of a letdown to give up a hit. Not that it was easy by any means, but I felt calm.”

Carlos Pena singled with one out in the seventh  to end the no-hit bid. “It’s always seems like he has something up his sleeve and he can pull it out at any time,” Pena said. “He’ll start you off with a changeup, then a curveball, and then he’ll throw one for 100 (mph) right inside. He is very unpredictable. He is very impressive.”

Prince Fielder drove in four runs with three hits including his eighth home run season.

 American League Scores

Texas 4  Boston 3 Yu Darvish struck out 14 and Adrian Beltre  singled home Elvis Andrus in the bottom of  the ninth inning and the Rangers completed a sweep of the Boston Red Sox. Darvish matched his career high for strikeouts before leaving a tie game.  Red Sox starter Jon Lester (4-0)  got a no decision after completing six innings and striking out seven

“I felt good. I felt like I had good stuff, I just made two mistakes,” said Lester, who was impressed by Darvish. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen him. You can tell he feels a lot more comfortable.”

David Ortiz homered for Boston to extend his hitting streak to 25 games.  David Ross also homered for the Red Sox.

Minnesota 4 Cleveland 2  Mike Pelfrey  tossed six innings of one run ball and struck out seven Trevor Plouffe  homered to help the Minnesota Twins over the Cleveland Indians 4-2

Oakland 5 New York 4 Josh Donaldson‘s third home run of the season gave the Athletics a 5-4 win over the Yankees. Andy Pettitte had his second straight rocky outing  allowing four runs in five innings of work.

Toronto 10 Seattle 2 Brandon Morrow struck out eight in eight innings, Mark DeRosa hit a three-run homer, Melky Cabrera added a solo shot  the Blue Jays pounded the Mariners 10-2

Kansas City 6 Chicago 5 Alex Gordon hit a walk-off single  and the Royals rallied to beat the White Sox 6-5. The Royals have 11 come-from-behind victories in their 17 wins this season.

Baltimore 8 Los Angeles 4 J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado each homered To help The Baltimore Orioles over the Los Angeles Angels 7-4. Mike Trout  homered for Los Angeles.

National League Scores

Atlanta 9 New York 4 Freddie Freeman and Reed Johnson combined to drive in six runs to lead the Braves past the Mets. reeman homered and drove in three runs, Tim Hudson pitched into the eighth inning  allowing three runs and striking out seven. David Wright homered for the Mets and had two hits.

Washington 6 Pittsburgh 2 Danny Espinosa homered and drove in three runs and Gio Gonzalez (3-2) won for just the third time in seven starts after winning 21 games last season. Gonzalez (3-2) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, walking two and striking out five. Starling Marte hit a leadoff homer in the first, his fourth home run in five games for Pittsburgh.

St. Louis 10 Milwaukee 1 Allen Craig drove in four runs and Jaime Garcia was solid through eight innings allowing one earned run, and striking out three while walking one,  And the Cardinals completed a sweep of the Brewers.

 Cincinnati 7 Chicago 4  The Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Joey Lotto had three hits and Todd Frazier had a two-run single to beat  Cubs 7-4.

 Miami 14 Philadelphia 2 Adeiny Hechavarria hit a grand slam and a bases-loaded triple off Roy Halladay to lead the Marlins to a 14-2 win over the Phillies. Halladay left the game after 2 1/3 innings of work. “It’s not something that I had before,” Halladay said. “It’s something new this year. I felt good all spring. I had soreness in there and just wasn’t able to get rid of it.”

 San Diego 5 Arizona 1 Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning to power the Padres past the Diamondbacks. Edinson Volquez  Won his third straight start.

San Francisco 4 Los Angeles 3  Matt Cain pitched into the eighth inning to get his first win of the season.  Hunter Pence  drove in four runs in the 4-3 when.

Interleague Scores

Tampa Bay 8 Colorado 3  Alex Cobb up three home runs, but they were all solo shots in the Tampa Bay Rays  speed the Rockies 8-3.  it was Tampa Bay’s first ever series win at Coors Field. Jose LobatonRyan Roberts and Kelly Johnson each drove in two runs for the Rays. Troy Tulowitzki,  Michael Cuddyer and Nolan Arenado  all homered for Colorado