New York: Wilmer Flores launched a grand slam, Asdrubal Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate and even Bartolo Colon had two helpful hits while pitching the New York Mets to a 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Jose Reyes and Cabrera opened the Mets’ half of the first inning with consecutive home runs, only the second time the franchise has accomplished the feat. Trying to make a significant move in the crowded NL wild-card race, New York (65-63) opened a 10-game homestand by winning for the fifth time in its past six.
The 43-year-old Colon (12-7) carried a two-hitter into the eighth inning. He also lashed two sharp hits that delighted the crowd, a leadoff double in the fifth and a line-drive single in the sixth.
The pudgy pitcher scored both times, first ahead of Flores’ third career slam and then in front of Cabrera’s second homer of the night. The switch-hitting shortstop became the first Mets player to go deep from both sides in one game since Carlos Beltran at Colorado on May 12, 2011.
Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan (1-8) took the loss.
In Arlington, Texas, Corey Kluber pitched six strong innings for a career-best sixth straight victory and Abraham Almonte hit two run-scoring doubles, helping Cleveland rout Texas 12-1 in a match-up of division leaders.
The Indians (73-54) snapped a three-game losing streak, which had tied a season high, and pulled within a game of the Rangers (75-54) for the best record in the American League a night after losing 9-0 to Texas ace Cole Hamels.
Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth inning and Justin Upton homered for the fourth time in five games to lead Detroit 4-2 past Los Angeles.
The Tigers have won five straight to move back into contention in the AL Central and wild-card races.
Upton was hitting .226 when Tigers manager Brad Ausmus held him out of the starting lineup for three days last week. Since returning Saturday, he’s batting .417 with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBIs.
