CHICAGO - Kyle Hendricks pitched six scoreless innings, Ben Zobrist drove in four runs and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series between two of baseball's hottest teams.

Hendricks (2-2) allowed two hits, struck out four and walked two as Chicago began a 10-game homestand with its fourth consecutive win and eighth in nine games.

Zobrist hit a two-run single in the fourth and a two-run homer in the eighth, helping the Cubs improve their major league-best record to 21-6 for their best start since they were 23-4 in 1907.

Jayson Werth hit a long two-run homer in the ninth for Washington, which had won five of six. The Nationals began the day with baseball's second-best record at 19-8.

Joe Ross (3-1) matched Hendricks for much of the chilly night, striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed five hits and walked two.

PADRES 5, METS 3

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Colin Rea lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh inning when Yoenis Cespedes singled the other way against a shift, and finished with eight-plus innings of three-hit ball as San Diego beat New York.

The Padres remain the only team in the major leagues without a no-hitter, failing to achieve the milestone in 7,519 games since 1969.

Rea (3-1) had retired 19 straight batters until Cespedes grounded a single through the right side where the second baseman normally would have been. The no-hit bid was extended by the shift several times.

Fernando Rodney got the final two outs for seventh save.

Rea got enough support from the Padres' sometimes anemic offence, which jumped on Jacob deGrom (3-1).

RED SOX 7, WHITE SOX 3

Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. homered to lead Boston over Chicago.

The Red Sox won for the ninth time in 11 games and took two of three in this series between AL division leaders, although this was anything but a thing of beauty.

The teams combined to strand 21 runners and draw 16 walks. But the East-leading Red Sox came up with enough big hits to prevail in a game that lasted 3 hours, 57 minutes.

Pedroia had three hits, starting with a solo homer in the first. Ramirez connected leading off a two-run third against Erik Johnson (0-1).

Reliever Matt Barnes (2-1) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.

MARINERS 6, ASTROS 3

HOUSTON (AP) — Robinson Cano had three hits and his tiebreaking three-run double in the ninth inning lifted Seattle to its fourth straight win.

The bases were loaded with one out in the ninth when Cano cleared them with his double off Luke Gregerson (0-1) that sailed just out of reach of centre fielder Carlos Gomez.

Cano, who has at least two hits in five straight games, also drove in a run in the third inning to give him four RBIs and an American League-leading 30 this season.

Nick Vincent (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win and Steve Cishek allowed one hit in the ninth for his ninth save.

CARDINALS 4, PHILLIES 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaime Garcia pitched seven sharp innings, Brandon Moss hit a long home run and St. Louis beat Philadelphia.

Stephen Piscotty drove in two runs and also made an outstanding catch in right field to help preserve the shutout.

St. Louis won three of four in the series.

Garcia (2-2) gave up two hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five.

Moss launched a drive estimated at 462 feet to right field in the first off Jerad Eickhoff (1-4). It was the longest homer by a left-handed hitter in the history of the new Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006.

ORIOLES 1, YANKEES 0, 10 INNINGS

BALTIMORE (AP) — Pedro Alvarez drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and Baltimore finally broke through, beating New York.

A day after getting shut out by the Yankees, the Orioles managed only five hits in eight innings against Masahiro Tanaka. Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman did even better, limiting New York to three hits through eight.

Hyun Soo Kim began the Baltimore 10th with an infield hit off Johnny Barbato (1-2). Kim took third on a single by Jonathan Schoop. Nolan Reimould pinch ran for Kim and Andrew Miller relieved Barbato.

Alvarez hit a soft fly to centre, and Reimould easily beat Jacoby Ellsbury's throw to the plate.

Zach Britton (2-1) gave up a leadoff walk in the 10th and then struck out the next three batters.

BLUE JAYS 12, RANGERS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion homered, doubled twice and drove in six runs, powering Toronto past Texas.

Toronto set season highs for runs and hits (15).

Kevin Pillar doubled twice, singled and had two RBIs for Toronto.

J.A. Happ (4-0) gave up one run in seven innings

Derek Holland (3-2) was tagged for five runs in the first and chased during a six-run third.

INDIANS 9, TIGERS 4

CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Brantley was 4 for 5 with three RBIs, Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer and Cleveland beat Detroit for the sixth straight time this season.

Brantley came into the game batting .167. He had an RBI single in the first and a two-run double in the eighth, raising his average to .276.

Brantley also ended a potential Detroit rally in the sixth with a catch on the warning track after a long run.

Trevor Bauer (2-0) allowed three hits in 5 2/3 innings and overcame Nick Castellanos' three-run homer in the fourth.

Napoli's homer off rookie Michael Fulmer (1-1) capped a four-run first inning in which six straight hitters reached base.

ROCKIES 17, GIANTS 7

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story each homered and drove in three runs, and Colorado set a franchise record with a 13-run fifth inning in a victory over San Francisco.

Gerardo Parra had two hits and three RBIs in the fifth, when Colorado sent 17 batters to the plate.

It's the most runs scored in an inning by any team since Arizona scored 13 in the fourth against Pittsburgh on April 11, 2010.

Every Rockies hitter either scored or drove in a run in the inning, including starting pitcher Chris Rusin, who singled home a pair of runs. Seven of the nine did both.

Matt Cain (0-4) lost his first four decisions in a season for the first time in his career. He allowed eight runs on 10 hits in four-plus innings.

Christian Bergman (1-3) threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

REDS 9, BREWERS 5

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer during his latest big game against Milwaukee, and Cincinnati beat the Brewers even though their bullpen extended its historically bad streak of allowing runs.

Alfredo Simon (1-3) made it easy on the major leagues' worst bullpen, becoming only the second Reds starter to last seven innings. He allowed three runs in 7 2/3 innings, including Alex Presley's two-run homer.

The bullpen couldn't close it out smoothly. J.J. Hoover gave up Chris Carter's 10th homer leading off the ninth inning, extending the bullpen's major league record to 23 consecutive games allowing at least one run.

Bruce homered during a five-run first inning off Chase Anderson (1-4). His 34 career homers against the Brewers are by far his highest total against any team.

MARLINS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 0

MIAMI (AP) — Adam Conley pitched shutout ball for the second start in a row and Miami completed a three-game sweep of Arizona.

Christian Yelich hit a two-run homer, and Derek Dietrich and Chris Johnson had two-out RBI hits.

Conley (2-1) gave up two hits in 5 1/3 innings and departed after throwing 88 pitches. The left-hander allowed no hits in 7 2/3 shutout innings last Friday against Milwaukee.

A.J. Ramos completed the five-hitter by pitching the ninth, lowering his ERA to 0.73.

Robbie Ray (1-2) allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings for Arizona.