NEW YORK (AP) – Kole Calhoun homered twice and drove in four runs, and Martin Perez won his seventh straight decision as Texas beat New York.
Calhoun hit a three-run shot off starter Trevor Williams in the second inning and third-year catcher Jonah Heim followed with his career-best 11th homer to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead.
Starling Marte he hit a two-run homer and Eduardo Escobar also went deep against Perez (7-2), who had given up just two long balls in 15 starts covering 93 1/3 innings. But the 31-year-old left-hander didn’t give any more, allowing seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. He is 7-0 in his last 11 starts, making a strong bid for his first All-Star selection this month.
Pérez is undefeated in his last 14 starts, the best mark of his career. His seven-game win streak matches his career high set in 2017. Texas has won 11 of his last 12 starts.
Williams (1-5) went 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and five hits in his seventh start of the year.
CARDINALS 7, PHILADELPHIA 6
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nolan Arenado sparked a record-setting barrage of four straight homers from St. Louis in the first inning, then hit a tiebreaking shot in the ninth that sent the Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 on Saturday.
With two outs in the first, Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson homered off Kyle Gibson. It was the first time in major league history that a team hit four straight home runs in the first inning.
The Cardinals tied the MLB record for any inning with four in a row. It was the first time they had done it and the eleventh in the history of the major leagues.
It was all 6-0 when Arenado began the ninth by clearing the left-field wall off Seranthony Dominguez (4-2) for his 17th home run. Arenando hit for the cycle Friday in the Cardinals’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies.
Yairo Muñoz hit a two-run double, Matt Vierling had a pair of RBIs and Odúbel Herrera had three hits for the Phillies.
Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley (4-1) pitched the eighth and ninth scoreless, striking out five of the seven batters he faced.
CUBS 3, RED SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Mark Leiter Jr. pitched a solid 5 1/3 innings of emergency relief, Nico Hoerner and Patrick Wisdom each had two hits and Chicago capitalized on a pair of Boston errors.
Four pitchers combined to limit the Red Sox to five hits as Chicago won for the fifth time in six games.
David Robertson got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He allowed a double before striking out Rafael Devers and JD Martinez and worked around a walk, earning a flyout to end the game.
Jackie Bradley Jr., Jarren Duran and Devers doubled for the Red Sox, who have lost four of five. Boston was 20-6 in June but has lost twice in a row to the rebuilding Cubs.
Chicago starter Alec Mills left with lower back soreness after throwing just seven pitches. Mills, 30, struck out Duran and left after giving up a double to Devers. Leiter Jr. came in and struck out JD Martinez and got Xander Bogaerts to fly, ending the inning. Leiter Jr. (2-2) allowed three hits, struck out five and walked one.
Josh Winckowski (3-2) allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings. He eliminated six and walked one.
DODGERS 7, PADRES 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Justin Turner homered on a seven-pitch stretch in the first inning, Tyler Anderson struck out six as Los Angeles continued its dominance over San Diego.
Freeman, Smith and Turner homered off Padres starter Yu Darvish (7-4). It was the third time this season that they have had three home runs in one inning.
Anderson (9-1) allowed one run on six hits and struck out six in 6 1/3 innings to become the third NL pitcher to reach at least nine wins. His teammate Tony Gonsolin got his 10th league win on Friday night.
The Dodgers have won 14 of their last 15 against the Padres since they were swept in a three-game series last June at San Diego. On Sunday they go for their first four-game sweep against rivals from the NL West since 2009.
Luke Voit had two hits, including a solo shot in the eighth inning for the Padres, who have lost three straight and six of their last seven to fall 4 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the division.
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