WASHINGTON (AP) Yoenis Cespedes homered and doubled twice and David Wright hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning as the New York Mets downed the Washington Nationals 8-5 to end their five-game winning streak Monday in the opener of a key NL East series.
Michael Conforto and Wilmer Flores also homered for New York, which increased its division lead to five games over the Nats with 25 remaining. The teams play twice more in this set.
Wilson Ramos hit a grand slam for Washington.
New York rookie Greg Bird hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Brian Matusz in the seventh inning as the Yankees rallied past the reeling Baltimore Orioles 8-6.
Alex Rodriguez and John Ryan Murphy also homered for the Yankees (77-59), who overcame a 4-1 deficit and improved to 18 games over .500 for the first time since 2012. With his 29th home run this season, A-Rod got his 3,054th career hit and passed Rod Carew for sole possession of 22nd place.
Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles (65-72).
In Boston, Jackie Bradley Jr. had four hits with a two-run home run and four RBIs, and Rick Porcello pitched into the eighth inning as the Red Sox outslugged the AL East-leading Toronto Red Sox 11-4.
The Blue Jays lost for just the fourth time in 16 games. They had their lead atop the East sliced to a half game over the New York Yankees, who beat Baltimore 8-6.
The Chicago Cubs blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0 after Dexter Fowler had a leadoff home run and two-run double in the first two innings and Dan Haren pitched seven innings.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh, which lost 3-1 to Cincinnati. The Cubs are 7 1/2 games back.
Cleveland’s Ryan Raburn hit a pair of solo home runs and Trevor Bauer pitched two-hit ball for seven innings as the Cavaliers beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2, while the Milwaukee Brewers trounced the Miami Marlins 9-1 after Hernan Perez had three hits and three RBIs.
In other games, Anthony DeSclafani pitched effectively into the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1, the Detroit Tigers edged the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4, the Oakland Athletics outlasted the Houston Astros 10-9, the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Diego Padres 6-4 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 6-1 winners over the San Francisco Giants.
The Texas Rangers shut the Seattle Mariners out 3-0, the Atlanta Braves thrashed the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2, the Minnesota Twins had a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals 6-2 and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-5.
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