MIAMI (AP) - Jose Fernandez's comeback required a comeback. The precocious right-hander shook off a rocky start in his return from Tommy John surgery, pitching six innings and hitting a homer Thursday to help the Miami Marlins rally past the San Francisco Giants 5-4 and complete a three-game sweep.
The first two batters to face Fernandez scored, and he screamed at himself as he walked off the mound to end the first inning.
After that, Fernandez (1-0) found the form that made him the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year. Pitching for the first time since May 9, 2014, he went six innings and allowed three runs.
A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances. The sweep was the first in a series of at least three games for Miami at home against the Giants since 1999.
Fernandez outpitched Matt Cain (0-1), who was also making his 2015 debut. Cain, sidelined last July by an elbow injury that required surgery, allowed five runs in five innings.
TWINS 2, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Kyle Gibson threw eight innings of four-hit ball, Danny Santana and Eduardo Escobar had RBI triples, and Minnesota beat AL Central-leading Kansas City.
Gibson (6-6) stranded a pair of runners in the eighth before turning the lead over to Glen Perkins, who remained perfect in 26 save attempts. Perkins is two saves shy of matching Eddie Guardado (116) for third-most in Twins history.
The Royals' Chris Young (7-4) dodged trouble for most of 5 1/3 innings, the only run he allowed coming on a triple by Santana in the fifth. The big, lanky right-hander turned over a 1-0 deficit to the game's best bullpen, but his offense was unable to bail him out.
Kansas City has lost four straight.
PADRES 5, CARDINALS 3, 11 INNINGS
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Will Venable hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning and San Diego snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over suddenly scuffling St. Louis.
Venable had been 1 for 17 coming off the bench before connecting on the first pitch from Carlos Villanueva (3-3) after the Padres successfully challenged a fair-foul ruling that resulted in a ground-rule double by Clint Barmes. The ball appeared to tick the line as right fielder Jason Heyward made an unsuccessful attempt at a sliding catch near the stands. Venable followed with his sixth homer of the year.
Shawn Kelley (1-2) had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings and Craig Kimbrel earned his 20th save in 21 chances.
Heyward and Matt Carpenter had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Cardinals.
RED SOX 12, BLUE JAYS 6
TORONTO (AP) - David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez had consecutive homers in an eight-run first inning, Xander Bogaerts had four hits and Boston beat Toronto.
Brock Holt also had four hits and Bogaerts drove in two runs as the last-place Red Sox took three of four from Toronto. Boston had a season-high 19 hits.
Mookie Betts had two hits before teammate Wade Miley (8-7) threw a pitch. Miley won for the third time in four starts and snapped a five-start losing streak against AL East opponents. Miley allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, walking a season-high seven.
Ortiz hit a three-run homer in Boston's opening inning and Ramirez followed with a second-deck blast, the fourth time this season the Red Sox have gone back-to-back.
Blue Jays starter Matt Boyd didn't record an out in his second big league start, leaving after the first seven batters reached safely.
ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Scott Kazmir pitched eight sparkling innings, Marcus Semien homered for the first time in nearly two months, and Oakland beat Seattle.
Josh Phegley had a two-run single and Mark Canha added an RBI triple for the A's, who ended a five-game losing streak against the Mariners.
Kazmir (5-5) retired 21 of his first 22 batters, allowing only a one-out double to Franklin Gutierrez on a 1-2 pitch in the fifth. Gutierrez also singled leading off the eighth but was erased on a double play.
A possible trade deadline target this month, Kazmir struck out seven and hit a batter while improving to 5-0 in seven starts against the AL West this season.
PIRATES 8, TIGERS 4
DETROIT (AP) - Francisco Liriano pitched seven shutout innings in a rare victory over Detroit as Pittsburgh finished a three-game sweep.
Liriano (5-6) came into the game with a 1-9 record in his last 14 games against Detroit, including 11 starts. He allowed five hits and three walks in his first victory over the Tigers since August 15, 2011.
Neil Walker had his second straight four-hit game for Pittsburgh and drove in three runs. Mark Melancon came on to get the final out and his 25th save.
Kyle Ryan (1-2) took the loss, giving up two runs on three hits and five walks in four-plus innings.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was ejected in the fifth inning by home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook for arguing a called third strike on J.D. Martinez.
BRAVES 2, NATIONALS 1
ATLANTA (AP) - Cameron Maybin drove in the go-ahead run with a chopper against Max Scherzer that bounced over third base in the ninth inning, lifting Atlanta to a victory over Washington.
Pinch-hitter Pedro Ciriaco began the Atlanta ninth with an infield single, beating shortstop Danny Espinosa's throw to stop a string of 10 in a row retired by Scherzer (9-6). He advanced to second on Jace Peterson's sacrifice and scored on Maybin's single.
Scherzer (9-6) allowed five hits and struck out nine in his third complete game in his last four starts. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA during the dominant stretch, including a no-hitter June 20 against Pittsburgh.
The Braves won their second straight to earn a rare series victory over NL East-leading Washington, which dropped to 9-3 against Atlanta this year.
Jason Grilli (3-3) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ROCKIES 1
PHOENIX (AP) - David Peralta had a tiebreaking, two-run triple with two outs in the sixth inning for Arizona, helping Jeremy Hellickson to his fourth straight win at home.
Hellickson (6-5) held the Rockies to a run on three hits in seven innings, striking out six in his first appearance against Colorado.
A.J. Pollock led off the sixth with a home run. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado's first of two errors prolonged the inning before Peralta sent a hard grounder down the right field line to drive in Welington Castillo and Aaron Hill.
Yasmany Tomas continued to have success against the Rockies, lacing a two-run double in the seventh off reliever Scott Oberg. Tomas is 12 for 30 (.400 average) with three doubles and 10 runs batted in in seven games against Colorado this season.
Hill capped off the four-run seventh with a two-run double. Peralta, Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt had two hits each.
RANGERS 2, ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE (AP) - Leonys Martin ended a scoreless duel with an RBI single in the ninth inning, and Texas beat Baltimore behind a dominant pitching performance by Yovani Gallardo and three relievers.
After Shin-Soo Choo led off the ninth with a walk from Chaz Roe (2-1) and moved up on a bunt, Martin ended a 4-for-34 slump with a single to center. Martin came home on a single by Rougned Odor.
Gallardo gave up two hits and three walks over six innings to extend his run of shutout innings to 29 1/3 - the longest streak in the majors this year and fourth-longest in franchise history.
Keone Kela (5-5) got two outs and Shawn Tolleson worked a perfect ninth to complete the three-hitter and earn his 12th save.
CUBS 6, METS 1
NEW YORK (AP) - Jonathan Herrera filled in neatly for Kris Bryant, driving in three runs with a squeeze bunt and homer that sent Jake Arrieta and Chicago past feeble New York for a three-game sweep.
Miguel Montero also homered as the Cubs beat the Mets for a team-record ninth time in a row, and finished 7-0 against them this season.
Arrieta (8-5) pitched eight sharp innings, helping extend the Cubs' shutout string to 25 innings before the Mets managed their only run of this series.
Arrieta gave up five hits, walked none and struck out seven. The crowd booed several times as New York kept making weak outs and breaking their bats.
Jacob deGrom (8-6) doubled and scored for the Mets, who have totaled a mere 23 runs in 14 games.
INDIANS 5, RAYS 4, 10 INNINGS
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mike Aviles homered on the first pitch of the 10th inning, giving Cleveland a victory and four-game sweep over Tampa Bay.
Corey Kluber struck out 14 over eight innings. Brian Shaw (1-1) pitched one scoreless inning for the win, and Cody Allen struck out the side in the 10th to earn his 15th save in 16 opportunities. Tampa Bay struck out a franchise-record 19 times in the game.
Aviles homered off Xavier Cedeno (1-0), extending Tampa Bay's losing streak to five games. Michael Brantley had a RBI single and sacrifice fly for the Indians, who also got run-scoring singles from Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor.
Matched up against lefty Matt Moore, who was making his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2014, Kluber allowed four runs and seven hits. He struck out the side in the seventh and eighth innings.
BREWERS 8, PHILLIES 7, 11 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Adam Lind hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning to help Milwaukee beat Philadelphia to complete a four-game sweep.
The Brewers blew leads of 4-0, 5-2 and 7-4 but still won their fifth straight game in a matchup of teams with the two worst records in the majors.
Jonathan Lucroy opened the 11th with a double off Luis Garcia (2-3) and advanced to third on Ryan Braun's groundout. Lind then singled up the middle to break the tie.
Michael Blazek (5-2) tossed two scoreless innings for the win. Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 18th save in 18 tries.
Cody Asche hit a two-run homer and was one of four Phillies with three hits. Odubel Herrera, Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis all had three hits each.
Both teams had 16 hits.