Rangers 2, Astros 1: For the second time this season, Yu Darvish flirted with a no-hitter against the poor Astros, and for the second time this season, he fell short. Darvish allowed a one-out solo home run to Carlos Corporan in the bottom of the eighth inning. That came more than four months after he surrendered a two-out single to Marwin Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth to end his no-hit bid in his first start of the season.
The Rangers picked up both of their runs in the first inning on run-scoring hits by Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski, who was thrown out of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa after Darvish's attempt at a perfect game ended with a walk to Jonathan Villar.
Darvish allowed just the one run on one hit and struck out 15 batters.
Dodgers 4, Mets 2: The Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to improve to 38-8 since June 22, setting a new modern-era record for the franchise's best-ever 46-game run.
Ricky Nolasco got past a rocky second inning to earn his fourth victory in a Dodgers uniform. He allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits, including one that scored a pair of runs with the help of a throwing error by Mets center fielder Juan Lagares in the bottom of the sixth. Nick Punto added a solo home run.
Reds 2, Cubs 0:Brandon Phillips hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and preserve Mat Latos' shot at a win. Latos tossed eight shutout innings, allowing six hits and racking up nine strikeouts. He outdueled former teammate Travis Wood, who gave up just two runs on four hits in eight innings of work.
Cubs third baseman Donnie Murphy was the only player to register more than one hit in the game. He went 2-for-3 with a double.
Yankees 2, Angels 1: Not too long after Mike Trout took to the sports radio airwaves to bash PED users, Alex Rodriguez's Yankees picked up a much-needed win thanks to a stellar effort from starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda tossed eight shutout innings, notching seven strikeouts and giving up just three hits.
Mariano Rivera was left in the bullpen after blowing three consecutive saves. Yankees manager Joe Girardi instead called upon David Robertson, who surrendered a hit and two walks but held on to earn his first save of the year.
Twins 3, Indians 0: Twins rookie starter Andrew Albers followed up his impressive big-league debut with an even better outing. Albers tossed a complete-game shutout, holding the Tribe to just two hits. Albers is now 17 ⅓ innings into his big league career and still hasn't allowed a run. He's given up just six hits, but has only managed to strike out four batters.
Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe each hit a solo home run off Indians' starter Danny Salazar, giving Albers all the support he would need.
White Sox 6, Tigers 2:Chris Sale got off to a rough start, giving up runs in each of the first two innings, including one on Miguel Cabrera's 37th home run of the season. However, Chicago's ace settled in and wound up pitching a complete game, scattering nine hits and registering six strikeouts.
Gordon Beckham and Jeff Keppinger had three hits apiece for the White Sox, who were able to shrug off an 0-for-4, seven-LOB performance from former Tiger Avisail Garcia, as well as this tremendous play by Jose Iglesias, who was involved in the same trade that sent Garcia to Chicago:
Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1: The A's scored four times against Jays closer Casey Janssen to break a tie and earn a victory in the first game of the day. That came after J.A. Happ and Dan Straily went toe-to-toe for seven-plus innings. Each hurler allowed just one run during their time on the hill.
Recently acquired Alberto Callaspo led the A's with a pair of hits and two runs batted in.
Phillies 5, Braves 1:Cole Hamels allowed a run on six hits en route to hurling his first complete game of the year and 13th of his career. Hamels struck out nine batters and issued just one walk to help improve his record to 5-13.
Cody Asche hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning off Braves' starter Julio Teheran to give the Phillies a four-run cushion. Asche finished with two hits, three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Royals 6, Marlins 2: Kansas City won for the 17th time in its last 20 games and moved ahead of Cleveland for second place in the American League Central. Chris Getz finished with three hits, Billy Butler hit a solo home run and Wade Davis allowed two runs on six hits in six innings to earn the victory.
Rockies 14, Padres 2: Colorado piled on with six runs in the eighth inning after a 1:03 rain delay to turn an 8-1 blowout into a 14-2 slaughter. The Rockies pounded out 17 hits and took advantage of four errors -- and numerous others that weren't scored as such -- by San Diego to notch their first four-game winning streak since April.
Jhoulys Chacin surrendered one run in eight innings, marking the fifth straight start in which he has lasted seven or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs. Padres outfielder Jaff Decker's solo home run, which was also his first big-league hit, represented the only damage against Chacin.
Diamondbacks 7, Orioles 6: Adam Eaton's first home run of the season was of the walk-off variety. The 24-year-old outfielder took Darren O'Day deep on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning to help Arizona overcome a solid-but-short start by Baltimore starter Scott Feldman, as well as O's slugger Chris Davis' 43rd home run of the season.
More from SB Nation:
• Where Delmon Young goes from here
• Video: Alfonso Soriano's 2000th hit was a HR | A-Rod passes Stan the Man
• Neyer: On being a fan (or not)