St. Petersburg, US — Toronto pitcher Marco Estrada became the first Major League Baseball hurler in 27 years to carry no-hitters into the eighth inning of consecutive starts but missed out again Wednesday. The Blue Jays won 1-0 over Tampa Bay on Chris Colabello's solo home run in the 12th inning, but the biggest excitement of the night belonged to Estrada. The 31-year-old Mexican right-hander, who came within six outs of a no-hitter last Friday against Baltimore, had a perfect game through seven innings at Tampa Bay.
Estrada retired the first 22 Rays batters he faced, the last of them when Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson dove into the stands to make a spectacular catch for the first out of the eighth inning.
But the next batter, Tampa Bay's Logan Forsythe, beat out an infield single to break-up the perfect game and no-hit bid. Donaldson barehanded Forsythe's bouncing ground ball and threw to first base but the ball arrived a split-second too late, a verdict by umpire Joe West upheld after video review following a challenge by the Blue Jays.
Estrada was the first pitcher to go into the eighth inning with no-hit hopes in back-to-back starts since Toronto's Dave Stieb in 1988. Each time, the American right-hander was stopped with two outs in the ninth inning, settling for a pair of one-hit shutouts.
Angels 2, Astros 1 (13 innings)
Taylor Featherston's RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros. The Angels' (37-36) bullpen combined to throw seven scoreless innings in relief of starter Andrew Heaney.
The AL West-leading Astros fell to 42-32.
Red Sox 5, Orioles 1
David Ortiz hit a two-run homer during Boston's five-run, sixth-inning rally and Clay Buchholz struck out seven as the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Mookie Betts had an RBI single in the sixth and extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games for the Red Sox (32-41), who ended a six-game skid against their American League East rival Orioles (37-34).
Other results: A's 8, Rangers 2; Twins 6, White Sox 1; Indians 8, Tigers 2; Royals 8, Mariners 2
National League Reds 5, Pirates 2
The Reds scored four runs before the Pittsburgh Pirates had even picked up their bats as Cincinnati coasted to a 5-2 victory.
Left fielder Marlon Byrd went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead Cincinnati's (33-37) 12-hit attack.
Pirates (40-31) right-hander Gerrit Cole did not pitch through the fifth inning for the first time this year. Cole (11-3) was charged for a season-high five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Cardinals 6, Marlins 1
Jason Heyward homered for the third straight game, leading the St Louis Cardinals to a 6-1 win over the Miami Marlins.
The Cardinals, who have the best record in baseball at 47-24, also got a two-run homer from second baseman Kolten Wong in the third inning. Miami (30-43) got another homer from Giancarlo Stanton, who has a Major League-leading 27.
Dodgers 5, Cubs 2
Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner homered early and the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers (40-33) never trailed after a second-inning solo homer from Gonzalez and padded the lead in the third with Turner's three-run shot Five Dodgers relievers combined to shut out the Cubs (39-31).
Ivan Nova pitched effectively into the seventh inning in his first start in more than 14 months as the New York Yankees rolled to a rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Returning from Tommy John surgery, Nova (1-0) allowed three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Jose Pirela drove in two runs apiece for the Yankees (39-33), who snapped a three-game losing streak. — Agencies
