Hunter Brown and three relievers combined on a four-hitter and the Houston Astros moved into a tie for the AL West lead with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Yainer Diaz delivered the big blow with a two-run single and the Astros (51-46) won for the 18th time in 24 games. They trailed the Mariners by 10 games and were seven games under .500 on June 18.

Seattle, meanwhile, has stumbled to an 8-16 mark during that span and turned in a listless effort against a division rival coming out of the All-Star break that led to boos from the home fans after the final out.

Brown allowed four hits with three walks and five strikeouts to win for the sixth time in seven starts.

Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly each worked a perfect inning and Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 19th save.

Houston did all its scoring in the third against Luis Castillo.

Trey Cabbage doubled, then scored as Jose Altuve reached on a bunt single and a bad throw by Josh Rojas got away from first baseman Ty France. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch and Yordan Alvarez walked to load the bases.

Diaz then jumped on Castillo’s first pitch for a two-run single and a 3-0 lead.

Pirates rally, walk-off Phillies

Nick Gonzales delivered a walk-off single and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates completed a rally from a three-run deficit for an 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pittsburgh trailed 7-4 but pulled to within one in the seventh on an RBI infield single by Oneil Cruz and Rowdy Tellez’s sacrifice fly.

Jose Alvardo was called on to protect the slim lead in the ninth, but Connor Joe led off with a single and Andew McCutchen walked. After a double steal, Bryan Reynolds struck out and Cruz brought home the tying run on a fielder’s choice.

Gonzales then sent a first-pitch cutter through the left side of the infield to give the Pirates their fifth straight win and seventh in eight games.

Pittsburgh (49-48) moved over .500 for the first time since April 24.

Trea Turner homered and Weston Wilson had a career-high three hits, including his first home run of the season, for the major league-best Phillies, who lost their third in four games.  

Freeman’s slam lifts Dodgers

Freddie Freeman drilled a grand slam in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen worked four scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Nick Pivetta limited the Dodgers to two hits over six scoreless innings, but the Dodgers got to Boston’s bullpen in the eighth.

Miguel Vargas drew a leadoff walk against Zach Kelly and Chris Taylor struck out before Brennan Bernadino entered. He gave up a ground-rule double down the left-field line to Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Freeman followed by sending an 0-1 slider over the wall in right field for his 15th home run and seventh career grand slam.

Gavin Stone allowed one run and six hits over five innings before Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia and Ryan Yarbrough each pitched a scoreless frame. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

All-Star MVP Jarren Duran homered for the Red Sox, who entered the break with 10 wins in 14 games.  

Bobby Witt homered to cap a nine-run first inning and finished with four hits, two home runs and five RBIs as the Kansas City Royals routed the Houston Astros 12-3 for their seventh consecutive victory on Thursday.

Vinnie Pasquantino added three hits and three RBIs and Maikel Garcia knocked in two runs for the Royals, who completed a perfect seven-game homestand. It’s just the third time in franchise history they’ve played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two came in 1988 and 1985.

Kansas City sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning and tied a club record with 11 hits. The Royals batted around in an inning for the second straight game.

Hunter Brown recorded just two outs and allowed nine runs and 11 hits.

Houston gave up 24 runs in the final two games of the series and dropped to 4-10. It is the Astros’ worst 14-game start since also opening 4-10 in 2013.

Sears, Athletics 1-hit Rangers

JP Sears pitched no-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Oakland Athletics combined on a 1-hitter in a 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

Sears allowed leadoff walks in the first, second and fifth innings before Adolis Garcia ended his no-hit bid with a one-out single in the seventh on an 0-2 pitch.

Sears struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.

Austin Adams got the final two outs of the seventh and Lucas Erceg and Mason Miller each worked one inning to finish the one-hitter.

Cowser hits 2 homers as Orioles sweep

Rookie Colton Cowser capped a stellar series with his first two career home runs and four RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles rallied for a 9-4 win in 10 innings to complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Gunnar Henderson opened the 10th with a two-run homer off Isaiah Campbell and Cedric Mullins singled home a run before Cowser drilled a 3-0 pitch over the wall in right field for a three-run shot.

Cowser, who hit his first career homer in the fifth inning, went 6 for 13 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in the three-game set.

Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday scored two runs but went 0 for 4 for the second straight game.