Baseball-Highlights of Monday's MLB games

May 4 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games: - - - Rangers 2, Astros 1 Robinson Chirinos' sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning drove in Adrian Beltre with the winning run as the Texas Rangers beat Houston 2-1 at Minute Maid Park on Monday, ending the Astros' 10-game winning streak. Beltre led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a single by Kyle Blanks with no outs. Pinch-hitter Rougned Odor struck out but Chirinos hit a fly ball to medium center and Jake Marisnick's throw home was wide of the plate. Rangers reliever Keone Kela (2-1) picked up the win with a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Neftali Feliz earned his third save. - - - Brewers 4, Dodgers 3 Ryan Braun drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and Milwaukee extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Craig Counsell's managerial debut for the Brewers. The Brewers (8-18) had been stymied all game by Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who struck out the first four batters and eight in all while scattering three hits over his first seven innings. - - - Nationals 6, Marlins 4 Yunel Escobar had a career-high five hits, including a two-run single in the eighth inning, to help Washington top Miami 6-4. The Nationals scored four runs in the eighth and took the lead as Escobar sliced his tie-breaking hit to right field against Marlins reliever Bryan Morris (3-1). - - - Phillies 5, Braves 2 Philadelphia's Jeff Francoeur, who came back home to Atlanta mired in an 0-for-19 skid, broke out of his slump by going 4-for-5 with a double, triple and two RBIs in the Phillies' 5-2 win. Right-hander Aaron Harang, also a former Brave, got the win, allowing five hits and a run in six innings. - - - Twins 8, Athletics 7 Torii Hunter's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a tie game and lifted the Minnesota Twins to an 8-7 win over the Oakland Athletics at Target Field. It was the fifth consecutive win for the Twins (14-12). With the game tied at 5-5 and two outs, Hunter blasted a 1-0 fastball from Oakland reliever R.J. Alvarez just inside the left-field foul pole for his third home run of the season, giving the Twins an 8-5 lead. - - - Cardinals 10, Cubs 9 Pulling a two-run double past diving third baseman Kris Bryant in the bottom of the seventh inning, Tony Cruz lifted St Louis to a wild 10-9 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. In a game that lasted more than three-and-a-half hours, including a brief delay in the sixth inning as two fans ran on the field, the Cardinals improved their major league-best record to 19-6 despite trailing 5-0 before batting. - - - Rays 5, Red Sox 1 Tampa Bay got a strong start from right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who picked up his first win in his last four starts as the Rays beat Boston 5-1. He ran his record to 3-2 with seven strong innings. He allowed a run on seven hits (no walks, six strikeouts) and tied a club record with his sixth straight game without surrendering a home run. - - - Blue Jays 3, Yankees 1 Pinch-hitter Russell Martin drove in the tie-breaking run with an infield single in a three-run eighth inning as Toronto topped the New York Yankees 3-1. Blue Jays right-handed knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-3) held the Yankees to three hits and two walks over eight innings to earn his first win of the season in six starts and snap New York's three-game winning streak. (Editing by Cameron French)