ATLANTA — Cincinnati Reds right-hander Mike Leake took it upon himself to make sure he finally got his first victory of the season.
Leake allowed just two singles over eight scoreless innings and hit the fifth homer of his career as the Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-1 Thursday night at Turner Field.
Leake, who went at least seven innings in each of his previous three starts, retired the final 12 batters in faced. He struck out three, walked two and faced just two batters over the minimum thanks to a double play and caught stealing.
Tucker Barnhart, Todd Frazier and Billy Hamilton also homered for the Reds. Joey Votto had two doubles and an RBI.
Blue Jays 5, Indians 1
CLEVELAND — Toronto was held scoreless on three hits for eight of the nine innings, but it scored five runs on four hits in the fourth, and that was enough for a victory over Cleveland.
Danny Valencia and Russell Martin had RBI hits in the decisive inning, and Kevin Pillar hit a two-run double.
Michael Brantley and Ryan Raburn each had three hits for the Indians, who lost for the 13th time in 18 games.
Nationals 8, Mets 2
NEW YORK — Wilson Ramos had the go-ahead RBI groundout in the fourth inning and added an RBI single in the sixth as Washington became the first visiting team to win this season at Citi Field.
Ryan Zimmerman also had two RBIs — via a fourth-inning sacrifice fly and a sixth-inning infield single — and Bryce Harper hit a three-run double in the ninth for the Nationals, who came back from an early two-run deficit to win their third straight.
The Mets lost for the fifth time in seven games since a 10-0 homestand from April 13-23.
Cardinals 9, Phillies 3
ST. LOUIS — Matt Carpenter, Matt Holliday and Matt Adams took turns pounding Philadelphia into submission, leading St. Louis to an easy win.
Carpenter doubled home the Cardinals’ first run in the bottom of the first inning and scored three runs, drawing walks his next two times up and scoring. Holliday delivered a pair of RBI doubles and scored twice, while Adams went 3-for-5, clouting a two-run homer in the third to snap a 3-3 tie.
St. Louis reliever Carlos Villanueva (2-1) pitched 3 2/3 perfect innings after starter Tim Cooney picked up only seven outs in his major league debut.
Angels 6, A’s 5
OAKLAND, Calif. — Garrett Richards pitched six solid innings, and Los Angeles survived Oakland’s furious ninth-inning rally.
Richards (2-1) allowed one run and four hits, struck out five and walked three as the Angels beat the A’s for the second straight time to take two of three in the series.
The A’s trailed 6-2 entering the bottom of the ninth but rallied for three runs on four hits. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ike Davis hit a deep fly to center off Huston Street, but center fielder Mike Trout made a leaping catch near the fence for the final out.