Debuting McCarthy hurls Yankees to win over Reds

NEW YORK –  Brandon McCarthy earned his first win on debut for the Yankees and Brett Gardner drove in three runs from the leadoff spot to send New York past the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Saturday.

Carlos Beltran homered, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run single to back McCarthy (1-0), who allowed one run and six hits, struck out nine and walked none over six innings. McCarthy, acquired from Arizona on July 6, was making his first home start for New York.

The Cardinals’ Matt Adams homered in a four-run first inning as St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 to send All-Star Zack Greinke to losses in consecutive regular-season starts for the first time since September 2010.

Joe Kelly (2-1) gave up four hits, struck out four and walked one in his second outing since a three-month stint on the disabled list. Trevor Rosenthal got his 30th save when Andre Either grounded into a game-ending double play.

At Pittsburgh, Jordy Mercer doubled home Neil Walker with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Pirates over the Colorado Rockies 3-2.

Walker led off the inning with a single against Chad Bettis (0-2), moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored one batter later when Mercer hit a drive deep into the gap in left-center.

Carlos Santana hit a tiebreaking, bases-clearing double off Joe Nathan (4-3) with two outs in the ninth to complete the Cleveland Indians’ a doubleheader sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

Cleveland won 6-2 and 5-2 for four straight victories pull within 4 1-2 games of the American League Central-leading Tigers.

In the opener, Corey Kluber (10-6) came within an out of a complete game, striking out 10. He allowed seven hits, including three by Miguel Cabrera.

At Toronto, Marcus Stroman (5-2) gave up four hits in seven shutout innings to end a three-start winless streak, and Dan Johnson had two RBIs as the Toronto Blue Jays downed the Texas Rangers 4-1.

The Boston Red Sox edged the Kansas City Royals 2-1 for its sixth win in seven games after Rubby De La Rosa (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings.

In other games, David Price (10-7) gave up four hits in eight scoreless innings to win five straight starts for the first time in his major league career as the Tampa Bay Rays trounced the Minnesota Twins 5-1, the Chicago White Sox edged the Houston Astros 4-3, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics 8-4 and the Seattle Mariners finished the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 in the 12th inning.

The Washington Nationals downed the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 2-1, the San Diego Padres blanked the New York Mets 6-0, the San Francisco Giants beat the Miami Marlins 5-3 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 9-3 winners over the Chicago Cubs.