Atlanta 3, @Miami 2 — The Marlins could have claimed first place on their home field, but the guests would not cooperate. Top of the 7th, Atlanta down 2-1, Julio Teheran due to lead off, about 90 pitches in and looking sharp since a 1st-inning homer. What’s your call?

Fredi Gonzalez said, “Go hit,” and Julio obliged, slashing a two-bagger that sparked the winning rally. Jason Heyward found the gap for a triple and the tie, then scooted home on B.J. Upton’s flyout. Teheran put down the Fish in order in the 7th, and two relievers helped him through the 8th, stranding the tying run at second. Craig Kimbrel closed with three flyouts, starting with [gulp] Giancarlo Stanton. Balls tend to carry off Giancarlo’s bat, but not this time.

• Teheran earned his third straight win, averaging 7 IP with a 1.83 ERA through 12 games. His record’s only 5-3, but Atlanta’s 9-3 when he goes.
• Stanton’s pace, one-third through the season: .629 slugging, 48 HRs, 153 RBI, 381 total bases, 90 extra-base hits. Each would break a team record: .624 SLG and 42 HRs (Gary Sheffield, 1996), 121 RBI (Preston Wilson, 2000), 359 total bases (Hanley Ramirez, 2007) and 83 extra-base hits (Han-Ram and Dan Uggla, ’07).

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@Astros 2, Orioles 1 — The kind of game teams on a roll just find a way to win, even with George Springer held in check. Back-to-back 2-out doubles in the 7th flipped over Balto’s 1-0 lead and hung Miguel Gonzalez with a loss after a brilliant start. Five no-hit innings ended on an infield single from hits leader Jose Altuve with one down in the 6th. The mighty mite padded his SB lead to put the tying run in scoring position, but Gonzalez caught Springer gazing and got out of it. Gonzalez almost got past a leadoff double in the 7th, but Robbie Grossman delivered Matt Dominguez to tie, and Jonathan Villar bounced one over the wall to put Brett Oberholtzer in the winner’s circle.

The lefty fanned just one in seven innings, but held the O’s to 4 hits and no walks, earning his second straight win after an 0-6 start. Chad Qualls closed Houston’s 7th straight victory in style, whiffing the homer leaders from last year and this.

• Jim Palmer authored Baltimore’s last no-hitter in 1969, coming back strong from two years of arm trouble.
• J.J. Hardy averaged 26 HRs in the past three years, but he hasn’t gone deep in his last 68 games. Yet his .287 BA in that span is better than his season high (.283), and his 17 doubles make a season pace of 41, ten more than his best.

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@Brewers 11, Cubs 5 — Ryan Braun’s 2-run homer kick-started Milwaukee’s 5-run 1st. Each of the remaining 14 runs scored one at a time. The Brewers’ 9th straight game with 10+ hits tied a franchise record from 2011 and 1983.

• Time to make hay: Milwaukee’s next 19 games are against teams currently under .500. Their entire June schedule features no teams currently holding a playoff spot. For June & July combined, their only games against current division leaders are a 2-game set in Toronto.

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Twins 6, @Yankees 1 — Osvaldo Arcia homered for the game’s first run, and gunned down two speedy Yanks with bullets to plate. Minnesota ripped three taters, while the Bombers were shut down by Ricky Nolasco, who entered with the 2nd-worst ERA among qualifiers. They’ll get a crack at the worst ERA on Saturday, in Kevin Correia.

• Vidal Nuno has served up 9 home runs in six home games this year, none in five road outings. He’s 0-3, 5.81 in six career Stadium starts; 2-0, 1.84 on the road.
• Ichiro’s 2,248th single broke a tie with Lou Brock for #20 on the all-time list. Five more to catch Stan Musial & Wade Boggs in that department.

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Padres 4, @White Sox 1 — Ian Kennedy fanned 9 against the MLB whiff leaders, and Yonder Alonso slugged a 2-run shot to knock the Sox back to .500. Neither side had a hit with men in scoring position. The Friars went in front on Cameron Maybin’s homer; Chicago tied it on a wild pitch in the 4th, but John Danks gave the lead right back in the same fashion.

• Maybin’s first homer in 27 games this year. “So what?” It’s also his first RBI. He’s hitting .307 overall (27 for 92), but 2 for 18 with RISP.
• Huston Street is 72-3 in save tries in his two-plus years with San Diego, a tidy 96%. He leads all relievers in WPA this year.

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@Cleveland 5, Colorado 2 — Corey Kluber’s strikeout surge produced 12 punchouts, helping Cleveland stop a 4-game skid. He’s fanned eight or more in six straight games — the best such streak this year, and the first Clevelander to do that since Sam McDowell (1970). Bob Feller holds the club record with nine straight in 1946. Kluber is 4-0, 2.09 during the streak, with 60 Ks against 8 walks in 43 IP, and now leads the majors with 95 strikeouts.

• Lonnie Chisenhall drove in the first and last runs, now hitting .362 (46 for 127) with 15 doubles.
• Cleveland built on a rousing sweep of Detroit by taking two of their next three, averaging 7 runs and 4.5 extra-base hits over those six games. But the bats went flat again, and four straight losses followed, totaling 7 runs and one extra-base hit. Their three straight games with only singles has been matched by just one other AL team in the last four years.
• The Rox have dropped 12 of 18, as their offense has come back to earth, batting .240 with 3.0 R/G in that span.

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Royals 6, @Blue Jays 1 — Lorenzo Cain drove in four with two singles and a homer, and Billy Butler scored after each of his 3 hits. Jason Vargas earned a solid win despite Jose Bautista’s 14th HR; Edwin Encarnacion was contained, thanks partly to three walks. Bad omens started early for Toronto, with Jose Reyes left on third after a leadoff triple. They went hitless in 10 ribby chances.

• Encarnacion has one more day to boost his 16-HR May. His prior monthly high was 9 HRs, last April and in May 2012.
• Omar Infante: Worst presumption that a batted ball is heading foul. It wasn’t wind that made a fool of him.
• Game Notes tries to stay away from low humor, but on the heels of this photo essay, we can’t resist.

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@Phillies 6, Mets 5 (14 inn.) — As the zeroes mounted — last runs coming in the 5th, the stiff winds blowing in from left field killing every drive — Gary Cohen wondered how these teams might ever score again, and Ron Darling noted, “These games are often lost, not won.” On cue, Chris Young dropped a routine fly for a two-base error; Chooch Rodriguez moved the runner up with his 4th hit, and Reid Brignac singled over the drawn-in outfield, his first Phillies RBI a game-winner.

• A.J. Burnett’s unique line: 7 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 6 walks, 11 Ks — no match in the 100-year database, even without the IP requirement. Steve Carlton and Curt Schilling both matched 4 of the 5 numbers, but just 2 walks; Dave Boswell had everything else with 4 runs; Bruce Berenyi had everything else with 7 hits. They all lost, while A.J. got no decision.
• Mets bright spot: Their relievers were brilliant after Rafael Montero was knocked out in the 4th, stranding his two leftovers and yielding one run on 5 hits over 9 innings before the fateful frame. Mets’ relief ERA was 3.98 in April, 2.87 in May.
• Bobby Abreu was stuck on 399 career steals since September 2012, but he snuck one in the 8th inning tonight, after a leadoff infield hit.

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@Nationals 9, Rangers 2 —

• Texas went from Minnesota yesterday to Washington tonight. Seems about right, if you take a long view.
• Yep, I kiboshed Rougned Odor’s career-starting error-free string. He misfired in the 4th inning, on Nate McLouth’s bunt hit.

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@Athletics 9, Angels 5 — Oakland batted around in the 1st, knocking out Garrett Richards with four singles, Brandon Moss’s first-ever slam, and a trio of walks, forcing in the 5th run.

• Richards had at least 5 IP in his first 10 starts this year, and 7 IP in his last four.
• Perhaps Josh Donaldson can put an end to the overwrought MVP “debate” between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera. Donaldson was #2 in AL WAR last year; this year, he’s #1 with a bullet.

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Giants 9, @Cardinals 4 — The high-toned matchup of Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner went to the lefty, hands down, as the Giants’ May parade rolled on. They’ve won four straight for the 5th time this year, with 25 wins in their last 34 contests. For the second straight game, Bumgarner meted out 3 hits in 7 IP and struck out 10, raising his K rate to a career-best 10.5 K/9.

• Bumgarner’s never fanned 200 in a season, so forgive us if we’ve overlooked his mounting total. His 677 Ks through age 23 (last year) rank 18th in the modern era, and his 581 Ks for ages 21-23 rank 11th. At his current pace, Bumgarner would be the 15th with 900 Ks through age 24.

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Tigers 6, @Mariners 3 — A 3-run shot by Victor Martinez broke a 5th-inning tie — but more importantly, it squared his homers and his strikeouts at 13 apiece. Justin Verlander’s long/strong outing broke a 3-game funk (19 runs, 7 Ks in 17.1 IP).

• Miguel Cabrera’s 2-run shot gave him 48 RBI in 51 team games. Most RBI since 2012: (1) Cabrera, 324; (2) Encarnacion, 262; Miggy leads by 24%.
• Verlander leads the majors in wins since 2011 … and 2010, ’09, ’08, or ’06. (Sabathia still leads by one if you measure from 2007.)
• V-Mart with 2 strikes: 36 for 100, 9 HRs. AL 2-strike average is .178.

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Reds 6, @Diamondbacks 4 — Devin Mesoraco’s slam & solo gave him 25 RBI in 26 games this year. No catcher has ever averaged an RBI per game in 50+ games. Rudy York came closest, with 103 RBI in 104 games as a 1937 rookie, the same year he hit 18 August homers; but York caught just over half his games. Roy Campanella had 142 RBI in 144 games in 1953, his second MVP year, with 140 games behind the plate.

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@Red Sox 3, Rays 2 (10 inn.) — Whoops! A game full of pitches that “slipped” was settled by an honest plunking and a two-man, same-team takeout slide in deep center, giving A.J. Pierzynski the second walk-off triple in the bigs this year. (You might recall the first, a slightly faster runner.)

• 3rd straight 3-hit game for Xander Bogaerts, who tied things with a double in the 7th. He’s hitting .406 in his last 16 games, lifting his BA/OBP to .304/.393 — not bad for a 21-year-old shortstop.
• The only other Fenway walk-off triple in the expansion era was by Troy O’Leary, 1996.

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Pirates 2, @Dodgers 1 — Francisco Liriano’s first win this year left the Dodgers blue over their 11-16 home record.

With 34 stolen bases and 30 runs scored, Dee Gordon is on pace for 98 SB and 87 runs. Only Omar Moreno ever had a year with 90+ SB and less than 90 runs. But Omar had a .306 OBP and 33 caught stealing that season (1980); Gordon’s OBP is .341, and he’s been caught just three times.

Gordon’s poised for the best success rate ever with at least 53 steals, at least since CS figures were maintained. Best SB% for each level:

• 30+ SB — 96.9%, Carlos Beltran, 2001 and Brady Anderson, 1994 (both 30-1)
• 40+ SB — 96.2%, Max Carey, 1922 (51-2)
• 60+ SB — 90.7%, Willy Taveras, 2008 (68-7)
• 70+ SB — 88.9%, Maury Wills, 1962 (104-13); and Rickey Henderson, 1985 (80-10)

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Late Thursday

Pirates 6, @Dodgers 3 — Two timely hits by Josh Harrison paced Pittsburgh’s first win since 2011 in Dodger Stadium. Each 2-out hit by Harrison drove in Clint Barmes after a sac bunt by winner Gerrit Cole, first tying matters in the 5th, then beating Dee Gordon’s leap to fuel a decisive 3-run outburst in the 7th.

The Bucs had lost 9 straight in Chavez Ravine (avg. 1.1 runs, 5.2 hits), and 17 of their last 19 (1.8 R/G, 6.1 hits, .187 BA, .514 OPS). The last time they homered twice at that venue, Jose Bautista was their third baseman.

• Brandon League had not allowed an earned run in his last 22 IP, the longest active streak.
• First 3-hit, 2-run game for Barmes since May 2010.

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Cole has won 15 of his first 30 outings, the first Pirate to start that fast since Mike Dunne in 1987-88. Cole’s 15-10 record reflects good fortune, as his 103 ERA+ is right at the median for those with 150+ IP in the last two years. But what’s most interesting is the weak correlation between Cole’s performance and his W-L results:

• 15 wins — 2.89 ERA … 3.4 K/W … 1.12 WHIP … 6.44 IP/G
• 15 non-wins — 4.03 ERA … 3.0 K/W … 6.11 IP/G

In wins, Cole’s 2.89 ERA ranks #5th-worst of 105 pitchers with at least 10 starting wins since 2013. But his 4.03 ERA in losses ranks 2nd-best out of 131 pitchers with at least 8 starting losses in that span.

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An MLB Network commentator noted that the Dodgers have the 4th-best record among the five California teams. That’s not unusual: Over the past 25 years, the Dodgers rank 3rd in that intramural race, and not too far from 4th place:

1. Athletics, .529
2. Giants, .523
3. Dodgers, .521
4. Angels, .517
5. Padres, .484

The Dodgers have won the “Cali Cup” just four times in those 25 years, trailing the A’s (9), Giants (7) and Angels (5) (making no distinction for ties in rankings).