@Marlins 5, Dodgers 4 — Miami blew a Jose Fernandez win in the 9th, but they still walked off smiling after Jeff Baker’s winning double. Baker had come up short pinch-hitting in the 7th with two ducks on the pond, but he seized his next chance and bagged the second winning hit of his 10-year career.

Giancarlo’s double dip — moonbeam right, laser left — twice gave Jose a lead, and left Stanton tied with Teddy Ballgame for 20th in homers through age 24. Fernandez lost the first lead in the 3rd and another in the 6th, both starting with 2-out walks. He lasted seven, yielding 3 runs, and 2 ER at home for the first time since last July 28. Stanton’s second set up Fernandez to win, but A.J. Ramos’s fill-in save try lasted just two batters, a leadoff walk to Chone Figgins (who never swung the bat) and Andre Ethier’s tying double on a 1-0 count. But Ramos wriggled free of further damage, and Adeiny Hechavarria singled to start the winning rally.

• Reaching thrice raised Hechavarria’s OBP to .349 this year, after .269 in 700 PAs over his first two seasons. One of the worst regular players last year, he’s played near average level this year — and average is more valuable than we often think.

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ChiSox 4, @Cleveland 3 — What’s high in the middle, and flat on both ends? After Jose Abreu jerked his 12th HR in the 1st inning, Corey Kluber stifled Chicago for the next seven, with 13 Ks (two of Abreu) and just two singles. Receiver George Kottaras smacked a pair, giving Kluber a 3-1 lead that he passed straight to the closer. But John Axford started the 9th with four straight misses to Gordon Beckham. He whiffed Abreu, but walked Adam Dunn, and then got flattened by a Tank. Cleveland got the tying run to second with two outs in the 9th, but Matt Lindstrom pumped strike three past Asdrubal Cabrera, the fourth time he’d made out with Lonnie Chisenhall on base (3 whiffs with RISP).

• Kluber’s 13 Ks matched Cleveland’s high since 1998 (14, Bartolo Colon).
• Axford’s other blown save this year came in Chicago, same M.O.
• Kottaras homered twice in a game once before.
• ‘Tis said Abreu must be pitched inside. But he can read a scouting report, too.
• Abreu has 79 total bases on 33 hits, 2.39 bases per hit. Only Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire have maintained that ratio in a qualified season (in the years you’d guess).
• Same point, different twist: Abreu has 12 HRs, 8 doubles, a triple and 12 singles. Only Bonds (once) and McGwire (four times) have had more HRs than singles in a year with more than 12 HRs.

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@Phillies 1, Nationals 0 — Philly’s 1st-inning run stood up, giving them two of three in this series and leaving all five NL East teams over .500, separated by 1.5 games.

Roberto Hernandez threw shutout ball for the first time since 2011, working into the 8th on four singles before needing help. Mike Adams and Antonio Bastardo each got a big out, the lefty failing his initial mission by walking Adam LaRoche, but recovering to fan Anthony Rendon with the tying run on third. Jonathan Papelbon closed his 9th straight save, giving him 11 scoreless innings since an early blowup that caused much consternation.

A Jimmy Rollins triple and Chase Utley’s bouncer past Gio Gonzalez made the run. Gio got those two to strand Ben Revere’s one-out triple in the 3rd, and he lasted 7.1 sharp innings in the hard-luck loss.

• Rendon ended three innings, stranding five runners.
• Both Hernandez and Gonzalez were relieved after a leadoff single and sac bunt in the 8th, and each finished with 4 hits in 7 IP. It’s just the second time since 1914 that both starters matched those lines.

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Rays 5, @Yankees 1 — Tampa teed off on CC for 10 hits (5 XBH) in 3.2 innings, and keeping them in the yard wasn’t nearly enough. It’s the first time in 422 career starts that Sabathia has met those min/max criteria.

Alfredo Aceves made his second-tour Yanks debut and kept them in the game, stranding CC’s two in scoring position and finishing with five more sparkling frames. But New York could not break through against Erik Bedard or his backups. They got nothing from their top three men (0-12, 0-5 with RISP), and nothing from the 5th and 7th that started with two on, no outs. Bedard won for the first time in 16 starts since last June –0-9, 5.05 ERA, 5.1 BB/9. He worked ahead today, walking just one and tossing 68% strikes.

• Rays have had CC’s had his number since last year — 2-5, 6.91 ERA in 7 starts.

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Blue Jays 7, @Pirates 2 — Toronto took a big lead early once again, and all but Bucco fans began to fear the other shoe. But Dustin McGowan kept Pittsburgh at bay after Josh Harrison’s leadoff triple led to a run, toting the 7-1 lead through seven, and Brett Cecil brought it home with four straight outs.

• Now, that’s the Edinson we’ve come to know: Two leadoff walks, an infield hit to load ’em, and a majestic full-count jack by Colby Rasmus.
• Melky Cabrera stroked his 6th, and hiked his BA to .336.
• Harrison notched the year’s first 2-triple game, but broke a string of 12 straight contests won.
• Two walks stretched Jose Bautista’s streak to 31 games reaching base safely from the start of the season. Longest this century are Albert’s 42 in ’08 and 34 by Logan Morrison in 2011.

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Tigers 9, @Royals 4 — Justin Verlander couldn’t throw a strike to Nori Aoki, and Billy Butler spoiled his no-hitter with two outs in the 6th. But otherwise, a pleasant day at work, as Detroit closed a lopsided sweep with their 5th straight win, both overall and vs. KC. The Royals dropped the last four of this homestand and begin their first western swing on Monday, while the Bengals head home for their first series with a truly bad team.

• Every Tiger had a hit by the 5th inning, when Alex Avila hit his second homer in two days. Detroit is singling teams to death, leading the AL with a .282 BA, but near the bottom with 22 HRs.
• Three hits apiece for Rajai Davis and Torii Hunter left those corner OFs at .337 and .319 through 26 games. Torii’s 2,200 hits rank 26th for a career CF, and top-20 is in range this year if he stays healthy.
• Aoki came in with 8 walks in 27 games, but strolled in his first three trips against Verlander.
• Game 26 is the fastest that Verlander’s ever reached 4 wins in a season; last year’s game 30 was his prior best. KC seemed to reverse their J.V. curse with three straight wins last summer, but he’s now 17-5, 2.88 in 31 career starts against them.

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Giants 4, @Braves 1 — Atlanta got beaten at their own game, out-homered 7-zip and swept by scores of 2-1, 3-1 and 4-1. All three Giants starters went six innings on one run, and their bullpen racked up 12 shutout innings on 3 singles and 4 walks. Five different Giants homered, capped by Brandon Crawford’s first 2-HR game, while the Braves fell to 3-10 when they don’t go yard.

• 20-11 is SF’s best start since 2003.
• First time since 2007 that the Braves lost 3 straight scoring one run or less. They’ve hit .186 over seven games, starting with a 1-0 win, including games of 3 hits, 5 hits, and today’s 4 singles.

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Athletics 3, @BoSox 2 (10 inn.) — Yoenis Cespedes made contact with an 0-2 pitch, and his soft roller to the left side was just right for a tie-breaking infield hit, allowing Oakland to take something from their weekend in The Fens. The winning rally started with Jed Lowrie’s 2-out double against southpaw Chris Capuano, the type of slants he favors. Josh Donaldson was passed on purpose, and PH Alberto Callaspo got an unintended stroll. Righty Burke Badenhop put two strikes past the watching slugger. Last year, Cespedes whiffed in almost one-fourth of his trips, but he’s made strides in that department, cutting his K rate to 17% (better than AL average).

Sonny Gray took a 2-1 lead to the 7th, thanks to a Yoenis Monster double, but A.J. Pierzynski tied it with a leadoff homer. They put men on the corners with no outs, but Will Middlebrooks whiffed, and they died on the vine. Both halve of the 9th ended in DP grounders. In Boston’s last gasp, Middlebrooks reached second with no outs against Jim Johnson. But he misread the defense on a bouncer to 1B Daric Barton, who was playing on the grass and gunned him out at third. Dustin Pedroia banged a 2-0 grounder right to short for a game-ending DP.

• Boston fell to 3-8 in one-run games, despite one of the league’s best bullpens.

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@Reds 4, Brewers 3 (10 inn.) — Todd Frazier’s double followed a 2-out walk, and Chris Heisey raced around to beat the relay with the winning run. The Reds took three of four at home to drag Milwaukee just a bit closer to the pack, though they still lead by 5 games, with no other NL Central squad over .500.

The Brewers led from their first at-bat, and went up 3-1 in the 4th on a Khris Davis homer. But that was quickly shaved to one when two productive Cincy outs brought Brandon Phillips home from a leadoff double. A bases-full Reds threat died in the 6th with Frazier’s liner that Scooter Gennett turned into a DP, catching Phillips off second — Scooter’s second big moment of the day. Will Smith cleaned up for Kyle Lohse in the 7th, whiffing Jay Bruce with men on the corners and one out. Cincinnati finally broke through when Phillips crushed Brandon Kintzler’s second pitch way high and gone to straightaway center. Kintzler pitched out of trouble in the home 9th, and Davis opened the Crew’s 10th with a double. But there he stayed, as Jeff Bianchi’s pinch-bunt went the wrong direction, and Carlos Gomez whiffed with two in scoring position.

• Alfredo Simon is the first this year with no strikeouts in 7+ IP.
• Brayan Pena homered (did he ever) for third time in four games; his career high is 6 HRs.

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Rangers 14, @Angels 3 — Yu Darvish shook off Monday’s rough outing and taters by two of his first three batters, and the Rangers bats awakened to claim this series and win their 5th in Yu’s six starts. He lasted to the 7th and whiffed 9 with just one walk. Get-well-free cards were issued to Prince Fielder (3 hits for the first time with Texas, ditto his 2 XBH), J.P. Arencibia (came in 3-39, went 2-4 with his first HR), and Adrian Beltre (first 3-hit game this year).

• Texas tried a new man in the #2 hole; he went 0 for 6. Shin-Soo Choo’s four times on base did bring him one run, but so much of his .482 OBP has gone to waste.
• It was only Dan Robertson’s first start, not his debut — so there is still no searchable 0-for-6 debut by a LF, CF, C or P. The last 0-6 debut by an outfielder was 1935, Beau Bell. He survived that, hitting .340+ the next two years.
• Through about 30 games, just four AL teams are more than 3 games from .500, and only two are more than 2 games from a playoff berth.

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Mets 5, @Rockies 1 — New York’s nightmare in Denver ended on a high note. Dillon Gee labored through six-plus innings, but he kept the Rockies in the yard and off the board, extending his zero string to 16 innings in his third win. Nolan Arenado pushed his hitting streak to 24, and showed some versatility in his daily D-gem. But Gee & Co. slipped the Rox their lowest home output this year, while Mets bats took advantage of a rusty Jhoulys Chacin. Juan Lagares was supposed to rest, but Eric Young took one off the noggin during batting practice; Lagares wound up with 3 hits and 2 runs from the leadoff spot, giving a modest 13-game hit streak, with 8 for 20 and 4 doubles in this series.

• Mets pitchers took their lumps this series, but the team hit .293 with 17 XBH, and ran their streak of 3+ runs to 10 games — 2nd-best in the NL this year, with Cincy reaching 11 today.

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Mariners 8, @Astros 7 — Seattle ended Collin McHugh’s joyride, racing to a 6-1 lead, then held on for their third straight series win, taking four of five so far on a road trip that ends with four in Oakland.

• Danny Farquhar notched this year’s second save of exactly 2 IP. There were 76 such saves in 2000, 42 in ’04, 17 in ’08, and an all-time low of 7 in 2012.
• Not that Farquhar pitched well — he entered with two on and a 4-run lead, let those men score, and gave up a run of his own in the 9th.
• Jonathan Villar’s 5th HR gave him 14 XBH out of 24 hits. He’s in the top 10 of bases per hit, and in the top half of that group in batting average.
• John Buck has four 3-hit games since August 2012 — for the Marlins, Mets, Pirates and Mariners.
• Both teams threw exactly 157 pitches. Actually, that’s happened six times since 2006. This year’s median is 145 pitches per game.

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@Padres 4, D-backs 3 — It took nine innings, but San Diego did two related things for the first time since Monday: score 4 runs, and win a ballgame. Yonder Alonso got the winner’s backslaps, but catcher Rene Rivera was the bigger hero. His 2-out, 2-run double tied things in the 4th, and another two-bagger in the 9th pushed the winning run to third. Rivera also threw out two of three who tried to steal.

For the second weekend in a row, Arizona had a 3-win streak and an early lead, but their offense dried up after an opportunistic 3-run 4th that capitalized on Everth Cabrera’s 2-out error. Wade Miley made their third straight quality start of 7+ IP.

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Bunch o’ notes on two late games from Saturday, etc.:

— Addison Reed came into a 4-1 game with one out in the 9th and a man on base. He gave up a home run, a double, and a 2-out walk to put the winning run on base, but got Xavier Nady to fly out deep to right, on a fastball down the middle in an 0-2 count. Save!!!

Four HRs and four doubles in 15.2 IP (.500 SLG), 10 runs (7 ER), two losses in games he entered tied — but 8-for-9 in save conversions. It’s all in how you define success.

— Three SD qualifiers are among the bottom five in OPS+ — Yonder Alonso (21), Jedd Gyorko (36), Will Venable (44). The team’s OPS+ is 71; next worst are Cubs & Astros, 82.

— I’ll try to wait for the right moment to make “groaner” quip on this guy.

— Shin-Soo Island: Texas’s big free agent score has a 174 OPS+, but the Rangers are 11th in the AL at 94. Just one other regular is at 100 or above, while Elvis Andrus (58) and Prince Fielder (77) are among the worst at their positions. Adrian Beltre has gone 5 for 30 with one RBI in 8 games off the DL.

Andrus’s four at-bats Saturday after Choo reached base: strikeout; inning-ending strikeout (first-and-third); inning-ending strikeout (first-and-third); game-ending 5-4-3. He’s now 1 for 23 with men in scoring position. Choo has scored just 9 times out of 49 safe times on base (not counting HRs).

— Could this be the year Howie Kendrick (5-2-4-1) finally hits .300 for a full season, maybe even vies for a batting crown? He hit .360 in the minors, 400 games; some friendly parks, but still, .360. He had a career .292 BA before this year — .306 over his first three years, at half-time play, but .287 in four qualifying seasons.

— I think this name looks better in all-caps on a jersey; on paper, it just looks wrong. But he’s not the first, not even for the Angels. Anyway, local native C.J. had the first 3-hit debut since Junior Lake last July (including two go-ahead RBI), and 4th in Angels history — and one more hit than dad got in 25 ABs. C.J.’s.309 WPA is tops for a debut starter since Kosuke Fukudome, 2008. But let’s work on that baserunning.

— Nice grab by another local boy, Grant Green, for his first outfield putout. Mainly a middle infielder, but he’s played some pasture in the minors, even center field. I can’t see that in his future, and not just because of Trout; that’s no CF stride he showed in tracking Beltre’s fly.

— Another Tolleson? But this Texas lad is no relation to the Spartanburg clan.

— Still a lot of season to see, but Trout has a 171 OPS+ so far, right in line with his past two years. His career mark of 166 right now stands 2nd to Ted Williams among those with 1,500 PAs by age 22.

— A welcome remark from Willie Bloomquist on sliding headfirst at first base: “The times I’ve done it, I get up and go: Why did I just do that? That’s so stupid. I don’t mean to do it…. I don’t think it’s as fast as running through the base.”

— Pirates are the only team still without a scoreless start of 7+ IP. They ranked 2nd last year with 17 such outings.