Brewers 2, @Reds 0 — Wily Peralta’s “Little League All-Star” night: 8 scoreless innings on 3 hits, and a dose of Mike Leake’s medicine, breaking a scoreless tie in the 5th with a 2-out, 2-run double. Francisco Rodriguez closed 1-2-3 (yawn), with nothing past the infield — his 17th straight scoreless game. Milwaukee restored a 6-game lead over St. Louis, 7.5 on Cincy and 9.5 on Pittsburgh.

• K-Rod’s yield so far: 7 singles, 4 walks. Twelve of his 14 saves preserved a lead of 2 or less.

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@Cubs 6, Cardinals 5 — Travis Wood out-pitched Adam Wainwright, the latest red-hot starter to take his lumps — 6 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings. He had allowed 24 hits and one home run in his first 45 IP, with a .209 BAbip. Five Cub hits in the first two frames produced only Anthony Rizzo’s 2-run single, and the Cards pulled even with a two-out rally in their 3rd. But Adam’s only two walks scored in Chicago’s 3-run 3rd, and Rizzo made it 6-3 in the 5th, homering for the second straight game.

• Cubs are 10-17, but they’ve not been swept in their eight series of 3+ games. They lost a two-games/one-day “series” with the Yanks, and split their other two-game set.
• Seems like Rizzo’s been teasing us for years, but really he’s just 24, and last year was his first with over 90 games. He’s still not showing quite the power that would make a Wrigley-based first baseman a star, but he has 19 walks against 18 Ks this year — his prior ratio was 1.9 SO/BB — and his .419 OBP has led to runs. Rizzo is on pace for 108 runs, 90 RBI; it’s been five years since any Cub had at least 85 of both.
• Three doubles for Welington Castillo. He was a pleasant surprise last year, earning 4.5 WAR in his first year as a regular — the first Cubs catcher with 4+ WAR in 20 years, since Rick Wilkins’ freak power surge. Castillo’s had problems with base-thieves this year, but he’s hitting .300 with an .874 OPS.

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Rays 10, @Yankees 5 (14 inn.) — Five straight Rays drove in a run off Chris Leroux, New York’s eighth pitcher, sealing their third straight road win as the Yanks dropped their third straight at home. The five AL East teams are separated by just 2-1/2 games. Jacoby Ellsbury reached five times (including one huge RBI), but he never scored, as Jeter went 0-for-7 for the first time ever.

Late shifts: The yearning home crowd was electrified by back-to-back two-out home runs by Mark Teixeira and Alfonso Soriano, pulling the Bombers even in the 8th, and spoiling David Price’s strong outing. Tampa went right back up with a Zobrist/Longo run, but more two-out magic from Ellsbury kept them playing on … and on….

• 756 home runs for Teix and Sori, combined.
• Second straight 3-hit game for Sean Rodriguez; 9 of his 11 hits this year have gone for extras.
• Yanks have hit 20 of their 26 HRs at home, but they’ve scored 3.5 R/G at home, 5.0 away.
• It’s New York’s biggest loss margin this late in at least 100 years; no other searchable losses by even 4 runs in the 14th or later. Four other losses by 4+ in the 13th or later — actually, all in the 13th, and all since 1964: to the Seattle Pilots (win for Dooley Womack); on a McAuliffe slam off Womack (with Mike Marshall’s first career save); a 5-run loss in ’64; and a 6-run loss in 2004 (Donovan Osborne’s career finale).
• A very entertaining rundown: 40-year-old Jeter, in the 12th inning, staying alive for five throws between first and second, and with enough gas left to take third as Ellsbury was caught at home. Nothing came of it, but a reminder of how long Jeet’s played it right and left it all out on the field.

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Nationals 5, @Phillies 3 — The marquee matchup ended in a hung jury. Stephen Strasburg left for a PH in the 7th, down 3-2 with the tying run on second. That chance fizzled, but Washington celebrated Cliff Lee’s departure in the 8th by ripping 5 straight hits to snag the lead. Philly put on the tying runs to start the home half, but a popout and two whiffs left them hanging. Rafael Soriano threw a DP in the 9th to erase a leadoff walk and seal the Nats’ fifth win in six, pushing the Phils back under .500.

A dropped foul by his RF counterpart kept Marlon Byrd at bat with two outs in the 1st, and he cashed the second chance with a 3-run drive to right off Strasburg. (Is it just me, or does Jayson Werth look more leonine than lupine?)

Another case of baseball’s “unwritten rules”? Denard Span took exception to Lee’s quick-pitch. I’m usually wrong about the on-field culture, but if Span has a beef, isn’t it the umpire who’s at fault, not the pitcher? Lee can go as soon as blue signals play; if that came before Denard was ready, that’s on the ump. But it seems to me that Span was ready; he looks at Lee before the motion starts, then decides to ask for time, and foolishly relaxes. Sure, a fastball that close is scary — but once you’ve made eye contact with the pitcher, there’s no excuse for being surprised by anything, unless time is called.

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@Marlins 6, Dodgers 3 — Tom Koehler stiffed LA on 3 hits in 7 innings, and the #5-6 hitters paced Miami’s 4th straight win with 5 hits, 4 for extras. Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for the 4th time in 7 games, jolting his OPS into four digits, and Garrett Jones kept up with three two-baggers. Four straight two-out hits swelled the lead from two to six in the 7th, starting with Reed Johnson’s 5th pinch-hit in 11 tries. Decent bench bats have been scarce in Miami the last few years.

• Carlos Marmol spoiled the shutout with a leadoff walk, wild pitch, two hits, two steals, before he finally got an out and the hook.
• Gratuitous Puig report: Reached twice, stole twice, drove in a run. Also, threw to the wrong base, as a run scored, and this: On second with no outs in the 8th, trailing by four, cut down at third on a comebacker. Could this be the true meaning of Bart Giamatti’s lament? “It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.“

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@Pirates 6, Blue Jays 5 — But no, this must be what moved the late Commissioner. Toronto nursed a 5-3 lead into the 9th, but Pedro Alvarez tied it up with a 2-run shot to center off Sergio Santos. With two outs, Starling Marte ordered same again, with pie for afters.

Three DPs helped Brandon Morrow last 5 innings despite 11 hits. Colby Rasmus put the Jays in front with his 6th HR, and Steven Tolleson made it 5-3 with a 2-out pinch-hit in the 6th, his first at bat in MLB since 2012 and his first triple.

• Tolleson, a 10-year veteran of the minors, has more pop than his dad: 10 of his 28 career hits have gone for extras, while Wayne was a classic choke-up puncher whose ratio of total bases to hits is among the bottom 30 of live-ball players with 500+ hits.
• Marte was everywhere — four hits, a rangy grab, and nearly vaulting the LF fence in chase of one that got away.
• Jose Reyes swiped his first, ending a 22-game drought to last year, one short of his career long.

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Giants 2, @Braves 1 — Two of the NL’s best squared off, and The Freak and The Beast teamed up with just enough to tame the Braves. Tim Lincecum stranded 8 to log his second quality start this year, and Mike Morse broke a tie in the 7th by tapping out his 7th HR, a wall-scraper.

• Angel Pagan jerked Mike Minor’s second pitch of the season to the LF seats, but the homers were the only dents in his 6 innings.
• Here we go again: Atlanta’s 14-3 when they hit at least one HR, 3-7 without.

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@Cleveland 12, White Sox 5 — A day of rest, some home cooking, and Chicago’s pitching combined to end Cleveland’s 6-game skid. They unloaded the road trip’s frustrations on John Danks, scoring five in the 1st on 5 hits. Danny Salazar had his own troubles, and both starters hit 100 pitches in the 5th, going no farther. But Cleveland clubbed away, with big nights from Michael Brantley (team-high 23 RBI) and the awakening Carlos Santana, more than offsetting Jose Abreu’s 11th cuadrangular.

• ChiSox are scoring 5.3 R/G, allowing 5.4.

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Tigers 8, @Royals 2 — Every Tiger had a hit, and Rick Porcello worked 7 sturdy innings for his 4th win, despite allowing a cycle on just 4 hits. Detroit’s third straight road win made them 3-0 against KC and opened a 3-game lead in their division,

• Country Breakfast ate the extra biscuit and lashed his first homer in the 28th game.
• Last pitcher to go 7+ IP on 2 runs or less, with a single, double, triple, HR, and no other men on base, was Joel Horlen, 1965.
• Porcello’s SO/BB ratio was 2.13 in his first 4 years, 3.38 last year, 5.5 so far in 2014.

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@Rockies 10, Mets 3 — Colorado was on Zack Wheeler from the start, racking up 6 runs on 7 hits in the first 2 innings. Some were just ground balls with eyes, but too much contact is a fatal flaw in Coors. Wheeler couldn’t get a punchout when he needed one, nor one at all until his final batter, in the 4th. The Rox more than lived up to their home marks of .346 BA and 7.4 runs per game, with their 5th double-digit output (and 10th of seven or more) in 14 mile-high tussles. Nolan Arenado saved his batting streak in his last chance, and made his nightly “no way!“ play look even easier than the last. But let’s wallow in some home hitting numbers:

• Tulo’s 23 for 40, 17 RBI in just 12 games at Coors. Charlie Blackmon, 26 for 55, 6 HRs, 17 RBI, 20 runs. Justin Morneau, 19 for 52, 14 RBI. Those three combined, at home: .462 BA, .837 SLG, 7 (Runs+RBI) per game.
• Two games, two Mets streaks ended: Thursday saw the Mets’ first start lasting less than 5 innings. Tonight, Daniel Murphy got too frisky in the 1st and was caught trying to sneak into third base, ending his string of 28 successful thefts.
• If a doubleheader is grounds for a free roster move, why not a 4-game set in Coors? With two starters gone before 5 innings so far, New York’s bullpen will be sucking air by Sunday.

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Orioles 3, @Twins 0 — When Ubaldo’s good, he’s very good: 10 K, a walk and 3 hits over 7.1 innings, for his first win as an Oriole. They’d lost his first five starts: no disasters, but no quality, and free passes by the bushel. Trouble found him early, man on third with one out in the 1st, but he punched out Trevor Plouffe and slipped free. The first two reached two innings later, but three straight whiffs made a double-steal moot. He cruised from there until a one-out double in the 8th, but Zach Britton tidied up. Nelson Cruz powered the O’s with a double and a 2-run shot, slugging .600 with 27 RBI.

• Ricky Nolasco’s old-school complete game loss: 9 hits, 3 runs — the first 9-IP CG at those levels since 2010. There were 11 such losses in 1993, 21 in 1988, 37 in 1974, and so on.
• Jimenez closed last season on a tear, averaging 7 IP, one run, a walk and 8 Ks in six September starts. But his first five Oriole outings were more like what Cleveland got in his first two years’ worth: 5-ish ERA, 1.54 WHIP.
• No doubles yet for Manny Machado (through a whole two games), thanks to Sam Fuld.

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Diamondbacks 2, @Padres 0 — Bronson Arroyo breezed through San Diego’s MLB-worst offense for 7 innings, leading Arizona’s first shutout since last July. Andrew Cashner gave just 4 singles in his six frames, but two walks in the 3rd set up Aaron Hill’s 2-out ribbies, and he fell to 2-4, 2.72. Pads have been shut out five times, three with Cashner starting.

• Arizona’s 7-7 on the road, but … 3-15 at home?!

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Rangers 5, @Angels 2 — Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Rios homered in the 6th, leading Texas from behind to snap a 4-game slide in this first meeting of division rivals. LA’s scored 1, 2 or 3 runs while losing all 6 starts by Hector Santiago. Texas dominated the series last year, 15-4.

• Choo raised his OBP to .446 with three knocks. He’s scored just 9 runs from 42 non-HR times on base, thanks to brutal starts by the Rangers’ #2-3 hitters.

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Through Thursday:

— Miami is 7-1 against left-handed starters, 7-13 vs. righties. They’ve averaged 5.9 R/G in lefties’ starts, 4.2 R/G in righties’ starts. The lefty starters averaged 6.29 RA/9, the righties 4.72. Clearly, the Fish hit lefties better.

Nope. Miami’s OBP and OPS against both sets of starters are nearly the same, and overall, they’ve hit righties better — +.003 in OBP, +.045 in OPS.

— The Dodgers are 12-2 against sub-.500 teams, 5-10 against .500+.