TORONTO — Right-hander Marco Estrada pitched seven innings, designated hitter Josh Donaldson had a homer and three runs batted in and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Miami Marlins 11-3 Monday for their sixth straight win.
The Blue Jays (29-30) scored six runs in the first inning against left-hander Brad Hand (1-2), who allowed six hits and lasted just two-thirds of an inning.
Estrada (3-3) allowed seven hits, no walks and three runs while striking out six to win his second straight start.
Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton homered for the Marlins (24-34).
Stanton had three hits. He doubled in the sixth and scored on a single by center fielder Marcell Ozuna to cut the lead to 8-3 and doubled in the eighth.
Reds 6, Phillies 4
CINCINNATI — Ivan De Jesus Jr. hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot in the sixth, lifting Cincinnati to a victory over Philadelphia in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
With the score tied 3-3, De Jesus, who was promoted from Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday, launched a 1-1 pitch from Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels into the left-field seats to put Cincinnati ahead to stay.
Hamels (5-5) has dominated the Reds for much of his career, but he didn’t fare as well, allowing five earned runs and eight hits in six innings.
Royals 3, Twins 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Kansas City got just enough early offense and six shutout innings from starter Jason Vargas in a win over Minnesota at Target Field.
The victory pulled the Royals into a tie for first place with the Twins in the American League Central race, 3 1/2 games clear of the third-place Detroit Tigers.
Vargas was superb, allowing just five hits while striking out two and walking none to improve to 5-2 this season. It was Vargas’ third crack at the Twins lineup this season and by far his best. He entered the game 0-1 with a 9.88 ERA in his previous two outings against Minnesota.
Padres 5, Braves 3 (11 innings)
ATLANTA — Atlanta could have used Craig Kimbrel. Instead, its former All-Star closer picked up his 14th save for San Diego in his first trip back to Atlanta.
The Padres tied the game in the ninth inning thanks to a throwing error by new Braves closer Jason Grilli and scored twice in the 11th for a comeback victory.
Matt Kemp had a tie-breaking double off right-hander Cody Martin and pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista drove in an insurance run with a two-bagger against Luis Avilan as the Braves bullpen faltered again.
Rockies 11, Cardinals 3
DENVER — Colorado piled on St. Louis starter John Lackey with two early uprisings and routed the Cardinals.
A five-run first was the Rockies’ biggest first inning of the season, and a five-run fourth blew the game open, putting Colorado ahead 10-1.
Troy Tulowitzki hit his seventh home run of the season for the Rockies in the first, a three-run shot. Nolan Arenado added a two-run homer in the fifth, his 14th of the season.
White Sox 3, Astros 1
CHICAGO — Left-hander Chris Sale set a team record with another double-digit strikeout performance as Chicago beat Houston. The game was held up by two rain delays totaling 1 hour, 3 minutes yet still officially finished in 2 hours, 13 minutes.
Avisail Garcia’s two-run homer in the fourth provided the margin as the White Sox stopped a two-game skid in the opener of a three-game series.
Sale (6-2) had a season-high 14 strikeouts — one short of a career high — while allowing just five hits and one walk in an eight-inning outing. He threw 118 pitches, 84 for strikes. It was his team-record fourth straight game with 10 or more strikeouts and third in a row with at least 12.
Brewers 2, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH — Jimmy Nelson pitched six strong innings and combined with three relievers on a five-hit shutout as Milwaukee blanked Pittsburgh on a soggy night.
Nelson (3-6) gave up four hits in six innings as he won for just the second time in his last 11 starts. The right-hander had six strikeouts and four walks after giving up 11 runs in 11 innings over his previous two starts. Two of Nelson’s three wins have come against the Brewers.
Right-handers Jonathan Broxton, Jeremy Jeffress and Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning each. Rodriguez notched his 11th save.