NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez reached 3,000 career hits by hitting a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the first inning off Justin Verlander and the New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-2 on Friday night.
Rodriguez became the 29th player and joined Derek Jeter as the only players to do it for the Yankees when he sent a first-pitch fastball by Verlander (0-1) into Section 104 of the right-field seats. He rounded the bases with a wide smile on his face, slapped first base coach Tony Pena’s hand and pointed to various portions of the crowd.
Upon crossing home plate, Rodriguez accepted hugs and handshakes from teammates before taking a curtain call to acknowledge the standing ovation from the crowd of 44,588. The Yankees acknowledged the hit with a large graphic on the centerfield scoreboard that read: “Congratulations Alex, 3,000.”
The ball was caught by 38-year-old Zack Hample, a baseball collector, who told the Yankees that he was keeping the ball.
Reds5, Marlins 0
CINCINNATI — Marlon Byrd homered in his return to the lineup, and Mike Leake pitched seven solid innings, lifting Cincinnati over Miami.
Byrd was reinstated from the disabled list on Friday after missing 15 games with a fractured right wrist and homered in his second at-bat.
Todd Frazier and Tucker Barnhart each had a pair of hits including a double for Cincinnati, which has won 11 of 15 against the Marlins over the past two seasons.
Nationals 4, Pirates 1
WASHINGTON — Rookie Joe Ross fanned 11 and pitched into the eighth inning, and catcher Wilson Ramos had two hits and two RBIs as the Washington beat Pittsburgh to snap the Pirates’ eight-game winning streak.
Ross gave his struggling team a lift as he gave up just one run, one walk and six hits in 7 1/3 innings while veteran A.J. Burnett yielded four runs and a career-high 14 hits.
David Carpenter got the final two outs in the eighth for the Nationals, and Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his 20th save.
Braves 2, Mets 1
ATLANTA — Jace Peterson drove in two runs with a long double in the eighth inning to spark Atlanta to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over New York.
Atlanta’s rally began when Andrelton Simmons smacked a double off the left-field wall against Jacob deGrom, who entered the eighth inning having surrendered only two hits. Simmons took third on a sacrifice and stayed put when pinch hitter Pedro Ciriaco beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners.
New York brought in Sean Gilmartin to face Peterson, who lifted a long fly that kept rising over the head of center fielder Juan Legares and wound up rolling to the warning track. The double scored Simmons and Ciriaco.
Rays 4, Indians 1
CLEVELAND — Joey Butler, Asdrubal Cabrera and Steven Souza hit solo home runs to lead streaking Tampa Bay over Cleveland.
The first-place Rays, who lead the American League East, have won seven of their last eight games and 15 of their last 20. They are 13-5 in the month of June.
Nathan Karns pitched into the sixth inning to get the win. Karns held Cleveland to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Right-hander Brad Boxberger pitched the ninth inning to pick up his 17th save.
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4
TORONTO — Marco Estrada lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning and Toronto held on to defeat Baltimore.
Estrada walked four over the first three innings before retiring his next 15 batters.
Pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes led off the eighth inning and blooped a single into shallow left field to end Estrada’s bid for a no-hitter.
Cardinals 12, Phillies 4
PHILADELPHIA — Yadier Molina and Kolton Wong hit two-run homers as St. Louis battered Philadelphia in a meeting of the major leagues’ best and worst teams.
The Cardinals also benefited from 10 walks and a Philadelphia error.
Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer for the Phillies, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games and the 20th time in 24.
Twins 7, Cubs 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Phil Hughes had his best outing of the season and Trevor Plouffe knocked in four runs as Minnesota beat Chicago.
It was the second time this season Hughes lasted eight innings — his first in a win — allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four and walking none. Hughes retired the final 15 he faced and the win was his first since May 27.
For Plouffe, who entered the game hitting just .164 in the month of June, it was his second game this season with at least four RBIs. He had driven in just five runs in his last 16 games.
Rangers 2, White Sox 1
CHICAGO — Pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland lined a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning to lead Texas past Chicago.
Moreland’s sharp single to right field lifted Texas to its sixth victory in the past eight games. The Rangers won for the third time in 27 games this season when trailing after eight innings.
The White Sox lost their eighth consecutive game and fell a season-worst 10 games below .500.
Red Sox 7, Royals 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mookie Betts stroked a career-high four hits and Pablo Sandoval had his sixth straight two-hit game as Boston punished Kansas City.
Betts went 4-for-5 and is 15-for-23 in a seven-game hitting streak. Sandoval doubled and singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
The Red Sox collected 16 hits, the most allowed by the Royals in a game this season.