Baseball-Highlights of Friday's MLB games

(Adds late games) Sept 18 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Major League Baseball games on Friday: - - - - Cubs 8, Cardinals 3 Second baseman Starlin Castro hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and added a three-run homer in the sixth as the Chicago Cubs routed the St. Louis Cardinals. Cubs right-hander Dan Haren gave up three runs in 4-1/3 innings, while St Louis starter Lance Lynn allowed three runs and six walks in 3-1/3 innings. - - Indians 12, White Sox 1 Carlos Santana's grand slam off Chris Sale capped a six-run third inning as the Cleveland Indians rolled to a 12-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Rookie shortstop Francisco Lindor also homered for Cleveland, an opposite field solo shot leading off the bottom of the seventh inning. Cody Anderson (5-3) pitched 6-2/3 innings, allowing one run to get the win. - - Mets 5, Yankees 1 Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Juan Uribe all homered as the New York Mets beat the New York Yankees. The Yankees (80-66) fell 4-1/2 games behind Toronto in the American League East. Duda and Murphy hit solo homers in the second and sixth innings respectively while Uribe hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh. - - Rays 8, Orioles 6 The Tampa Bay Rays struck for six runs in the fifth inning, rallying from an early deficit and then held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore (72-75) began the game 4-1/2 behind Houston for the second wild card, and jumped to an early lead on a three-run home run by shortstop J.J. Hardy. But the Rays (71-76), still alive at 6-1/2 games behind the Astros before the game, got four doubles in the fifth and then held on despite two home runs from Baltimore's Steve Pearce. - - Nationals 5, Marlins 4, (10 innings) Catcher Jose Lobaton had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off reliever Brian Ellington to score outfielder Jayson Werth in the the 10th inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins and kept their tenuous playoff hopes alive. - - Braves 2, Phillies 1 The Atlanta Braves won for just the fifth time in their past 31 games despite closer Arodys Vizcaino having the bases loaded in the ninth but still managed to edge Philadelphia. Braves rookie Williams Perez (6-6) allowed six hits and struck out six in 5-2/3 innings, the Phillies' run coming on a homer in the second inning by catcher Cameron Rupp. - - Reds 5, Brewers 3 Jason Bourgeois' seventh-inning home run and Brandon Boesch's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth gave the Cincinnati Reds some breathing room in a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. - - Athletics 4, Astros 3 Danny Valencia hit two home runs, including a two-run blast in the eighth inning that delivered the Oakland Athletics a 4-3 win over the reeling Houston Astros. Valencia turned a 3-2 deficit into a one-run lead with his one-out shot to left field off Houston right-hander Pat Neshek and finished 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and three RBIs. The Astros dropped their fifth consecutive game and remain 2-1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West. - - Mariners 3, Rangers 1 Mariners shortstop Ketel Marte went 2-for-4 and accounted for all three runs in Seattle's 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers. The 21-year-old rookie drove in two runs and scored the other. The Mariners' bullpen worked 4-2/3 scoreless innings to snap a five-game winning streak for the American League West leading Rangers (79-68). - - Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1 Right-hander Marcus Stroman continued his comeback from knee surgery with seven strong innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated their Boston Red Sox. First baseman Justin Smoak keyed a three-run fourth inning with a two-run double as the Blue Jays (85-62) won their third successive game. - - Tigers 5, Royals 4 (12 innings) Dixon Machado lined an RBI single into the left-field corner with two outs and the bases loaded in the 12th inning to give the Detroit Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. - - Rockies 7, Padres 4 Colorado starter Chad Bettis (8-5) held San Diego to four hits and one run in five innings with one walk and six strikeouts, while shortstop Jose Reyes singled home two runs in a three-run seventh in their 7-4 victory over the Padres. - - Dodgers 6, Pirates 2 Zack Greinke won his fifth consecutive start as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greinke (18-3) was charged with two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in seven-plus innings. He allowed a solo home run to second baseman Neil Walker in the fourth before retiring 11 consecutive batters while closer Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save. - - Diamondbacks 2, Giants 0 Right-hander Rubby De La Rosa and four relievers combined on a two-hit shutout to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants (77-70). The loss was crippling to San Francisco's playoff hopes as they fell 8-1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (85-61) in the National League West with just 15 games to go. - - - - (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)