ARLINGTON, Texas—Josh Hamilton went 5-for-5 with two long homers and five RBIs, and the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros 16-8 Friday night in a wild Lone Star Series opener.

Ian Kinsler scored the go-ahead run on a close play that led to the ejection of Astros manager Cecil Cooper.

Hamilton’s second homer, a three-run shot off the facade of the second deck of seats in right, gave Texas an 8-2 lead in the third. After Houston rallied to tie the game, Kinsler drew a two-out walk in the seventh, stole second base and came home on Michael Young’s single, scoring just ahead of the tag by catcher J.R. Towles.

Cooper was ejected after coming out to argue the call. Hamilton followed with an RBI triple off Wesley Wright (3-1) to make it 10-8.



Phillies 10, Blue Jays 3

PHILADELPHIA—Jayson Werth homered in his first three at-bats and tied a Philadelphia Phillies record with eight RBIs in a 10-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Werth had a chance to tie the major league record of four homers in a game in the seventh inning. But with most of the 36,600 fans still in the stands despite the lopsided score and brisk weather, he fouled out to first base on a 3-2 pitch off Brian Tallet.

The homers and eight RBIs were career highs for Werth. He became the 18th Phillies player to record three homers in a game. Ryan Howard was the last to hit three, on Sept. 3, 2006.

The eight RBIs tied a franchise record held by four players, most recently accomplished by Mike Schmidt in a 10-inning game at Chicago on April 17, 1976. The others are Kitty Bransfeld (1910), Gavvy Cravath (1915) and Willie Jones (1958).

Jamie Moyer (3-3) went 6 2-3 innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs.



Rays 3, Cardinals 1

ST. LOUIS—Andy Sonnanstine carried a shutout into the eighth inning and added two singles to a 12-hit outburst that helped the streaking Rays win again.

Akinori Iwamura had three hits and an RBI for the AL East leaders, who are eight games above .500 for the first time in franchise history. The Rays (25-17) have won eight of nine.

Albert Pujols was 0-for-4, ending his streak of reaching base in all 42 games to start the season. It also ended Pujols’ 14-game hitting streak, and he made his first error of the year.

Sonnanstine (6-1) is 5-0 in his last six starts, matching last year’s win total in a 6-10 season. The right-hander yielded one run and eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Braden Looper (5-3) threw a career-high 117 pitches while giving up three runs and 10 hits in six innings. The Rays stranded at least one runner in every inning.



Royals 7, Marlins 6

MIAMI—Brett Tomko pitched six innings for his first victory in nearly six weeks, and two unearned runs helped Kansas City extend its winning streak to five games.

Closer Joakim Soria allowed a run for the first time this season when he gave up a two-run homer to Jeremy Hermida on an 0-2 pitch with one out in the ninth. Soria then struck out Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu for his 11th save.

The Royals’ win streak is their longest since last June. NL East-leading Florida has lost four in a row for the first time this year.

Tomko (2-4) allowed five hits and two runs to win for the first time since April 6.

Andrew Miller (3-3) allowed four runs, two earned, in five innings for the Marlins.



Reds 4, Indians 3

CINCINNATI—Adam Dunn homered and drew a tiebreaking walk with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, sending Cincinnati to its season-high fourth straight win.

The Reds got homers from Brandon Phillips and Dunn, then won it after Joey Votto’s double, a pair of walks from Jensen Lewis (0-2), and the full-count walk to Dunn.

David Weathers (1-2) escaped a threat in the eighth, forcing the Indians to strand a runner at third. Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in nine chances.

Phillips’ upper-deck homer ended Cleveland’s streak of near-perfect pitching in the first inning. The two-run shot yielded the first earned runs off Indians starters in 52 innings.



Orioles 5, Nationals 3

BALTIMORE—Luke Scott homered, Melvin Mora hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth inning and the Orioles won for the sixth time in seven games.

Left-hander Garrett Olson (3-0) struggled through five innings but is undefeated in four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He allowed three runs and nine hits.

The wild two-run fifth inning off Shawn Hill (0-1)—two baserunners were thrown out and Washington outfielders twice misjudged fly balls—broke a 3-all tie and gave the Orioles their third consecutive come-from-behind victory.

Matt Albers worked two scoreless innings, Jim Johnson struck out the side in the eighth and George Sherrill got the final three outs for his 16th save in 18 tries.



Braves 3, Athletics 2

ATLANTA—Mark Kotsay knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a two-out RBI double, and Atlanta won its eighth straight at home.

The loss was a season-high fourth in a row for the A’s, who have dropped six of seven on their current nine-game road trip. The Braves have the best home record in the majors at 15-4, and the worst record away from home at 6-16.

Alan Embree (1-2) took the loss when he gave up Kotsay’s RBI double.

Manny Acosta (2-1) got the win with two scoreless innings of relief.



National League

Cubs 7, Pirates 4

CHICAGO—Alfonso Soriano homered in his first two at-bats, Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa went deep and the surging Cubs won for the seventh time in eight games.

Soriano connected on the first pitch from Tom Gorzelanny for his third leadoff home run in four games. Soriano launched a three-run shot in the second inning that made it 6-0, giving him five homers this week and eight this season. He has 15 hits in his last 32 at-bats.

Soto capped a three-run first with a solo homer, and DeRosa added one in the sixth inning. Chicago won its 10th straight overall against the Pirates, including 7-0 this year.

Sean Gallagher (1-0) earned his first major league win in his second start for Chicago. He allowed one run and four hits before pitcher Carlos Zambrano pinch-hit in the sixth.

Gorzelanny (3-4) gave up a career-high four homers and seven runs in six innings.