MLB roundup: Red Sox sweep Angels

The Boston Red Sox continued their historic start to the season, beating the Los Angeles Angels 8-2 Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif., to complete a three-game sweep and extend their winning streak to seven games.

Boston improved to 16-2, the best start through 18 games in the franchise's 118-year history. The Red Sox outscored the Angels 27-3 in the series.

J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each had three hits, while both Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi bashed home runs in the Red Sox's 14-hit onslaught.

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0) got the win after throwing six innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out five.

Diamondbacks 3, Giants 1

A.J. Pollock and Ketel Marte hit bases-empty homers, and Zack Greinke extended his mastery of San Francisco Giants in Arizona's victory at Phoenix.

Pollock homered to break a 1-1 tie in sixth inning, and Marte went deep in the seventh in support of Greinke, who gave up a Brandon Belt homer among three hits while striking out two and walking one in seven innings. Greinke is 12-2 with a 2.31 ERA against the Giants in 18 career starts.

Jeff Mathis, Greinke's personal catcher, had two hits and scored a run as the Diamondbacks (13-5) tied the record for the best start in franchise history. Arizona has won its first six series, also a franchise record.

Phillies 7, Pirates 0

Jake Arrieta allowed just one hit and fanned 10 in seven dominant innings as host Philadelphia blanked Pittsburgh.

Arrieta (2-0) walked two in his 97-pitch outing. He gave up his only hit when Francisco Cervelli beat out an infield single in the second. Yacksel Rios gave up one hit in a scoreless eighth inning, and Victor Arano tossed a perfect ninth to complete a two-hit shutout.

Pirates starter Jameson Taillon (2-1) looked nothing like the guy who sailed through his first three starts while yielding only two runs over 20 1/3 innings. Taillon gave up five runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Brewers 12, Marlins 3

Lorenzo Cain went 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and four runs to lead Milwaukee to a victory over visiting Miami.

Ryan Braun slugged a pinch-hit, three-run blast to join Robin Yount as the only players in Brewers history to reach 1,000 RBIs. Orlando Arcia followed Braun's homer with a solo shot during a seven-run sixth inning that allowed Milwaukee to turn the game into a blowout.

Jesus Aguilar went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs as Milwaukee won its third consecutive game. Lewis Brinson, a former Brewer, hit his first two homers of the season for the Marlins. Miami has lost 11 of its past 14 contests.

Braves 12, Mets 4

Atlanta recalled Matt Wisler from the minors to make an emergency start, and he responded by throwing seven strong innings to help the Braves defeat visiting New York.

Wisler (1-0) was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett when Anibal Sanchez sustained a hamstring injury during pregame warmups on Wednesday. Wisler wound up earning his first win since Sept. 25, 2016, allowing only one run on two hits, one of them a solo homer from Todd Frazier. He struck out eight.

Preston Tucker knocked in five runs for the Braves, and Kurt Suzuki went 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and three RBIs.

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3

Aaron Judge hit a towering home run with one out in the seventh inning, and New York held on for a victory over visiting Toronto.

The fifth homer of the season for Judge gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead. It was Judge's 61st homer in his 199th career game, making him the fastest player to get 61 homers. Mark McGwire previously held the record set in his 204th career game in 1988.

New York's Giancarlo Stanton batted fourth for the first time and went 1-for-3 with an infield single and a walk. Toronto lost for the second time in its last nine games and finished 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Cubs 8, Cardinals 5

Jason Heyward hit a home run, Kyle Schwarber had two RBIs and Jon Lester did the rest from the mound as Chicago topped visiting St. Louis as every Cubs player in the starting lineup had a hit.

Schwarber had run-scoring singles in the first and second innings, helping the Cubs jump to a 6-1 lead. Heyward added two runs of insurance in the fifth with his second home run of the season, a blast to right field that plated Addison Russell. Kris Bryant had two RBIs, and Anthony Rizzo had three hits and an RBI.

Lester (2-0) allowed one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings. St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (2-1) allowed six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk in four innings.

Astros 9, Mariners 2

Charlie Morton pitched seven scoreless innings as visiting Houston defeated Seattle to take the final three games of the four-game series despite hitting into a triple play in the fourth inning.

Morton (3-0) lowered his ERA in four starts this season to 0.72. He allowed three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out eight. Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs and Max Stassi and Josh Reddick hit solo home runs for the Astros.

In the Astros' half of the fourth, with runners at first and second, Evan Gattis hit a one-hopper to third baseman Kyle Seager near the bag at third. Seager touched third and threw to Robinson Cano at second for a double play. Because the ball wasn't hit hard, Cano didn't attempt a throw to first. However, Gattis apparently thought the inning was over, as he started to jog back to the third base dugout. Seager called to Cano to throw the ball to first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, who tagged out Gattis near the mound for the final out.

Tigers 13, Orioles 8

Leonys Martin ripped his first career grand slam, and Detroit completed a three-game series sweep by handling visiting Baltimore in the Tigers' biggest offensive outburst of the season.

Martin had three hits and scored three runs while Jeimer Candelario went 4-for-4, including a homer, and drove in three runs. Jose Iglesias had three hits, two runs and three RBIs.

Detroit's Jordan Zimmermann (1-0) gave up four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Manny Machado hit a pair of solo homers and drove in four runs for Baltimore. Chris Davis supplied a two-run shot, and Adam Jones contributed three doubles.

--Field Level Media