Martin Perez returned to his early-season form, Adolis Garcia belted his 14th home run of the season and the Texas Rangers pulled away for a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday in Arlington, Texas.

Perez (5-1) allowed two runs on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over seven innings. That’s the best start this month for Perez, who had given up 11 runs over 8 2/3 innings combined in his first two starts in May. In his six starts over April, Perez had a 2.41 ERA.

The Rangers took control in the middle innings with two runs in the fourth and five in the fifth. Garcia’s opposite-field shot to right after a walk to Nathaniel Lowe in the fourth gave Texas a 2-0 lead. It came against Colorado starter Karl Kauffmann (0-1), who was making his major league debut.

Texas broke it open in the fifth, highlighted by two-run doubles by Corey Seager off Kauffmann and Josh Jung off Colorado reliever Peter Lambert. It was Seager’s first hit since he was activated off the injured list on Wednesday.

Robbie Grossman drove in the other run that inning for the Rangers with an infield single off Lambert.

The Rockies got on the board in the sixth as Elias Diaz had an RBI double and Randal Grichuk had a run-scoring single. Colorado had a chance to do more damage that inning, having runners at second and third with one out, but Perez ended the threat by getting Alan Trejo to line out and Brenton Doyle to strike out.

Perez had a 1-2-3 seventh to close his 104-pitch night. It marked his deepest outing and highest pitch count of the season. The Rangers bullpen, which has been shaky at times this season, got a scoreless inning apiece from Joe Barlow in the eighth and Jose Leclerc in the ninth.

Kauffmann allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. Lambert allowed two runs over 2 2/3 innings, while Fernando Abad worked a scoreless eighth.

The Rangers have won nine of their last 13 games. The Rockies have lost two of their last three.

–Field Level Media

Orlando Arcia singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to complete a two-run rally and help the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting Seattle Mariners 6-2 in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

The Braves, who have won three of their past four games, tied it on Marcell Ozuna’s RBI single and took the lead when Arcia singled sharply to right off reliever Trevor Gott, extending his hitting streak to six games. Arcia has hit safely in eight of 10 games since returning from the injured list.

The Braves iced it with a three-run eighth. Matt Olson hit his 12th homer to open the inning and Ozuna added a two-run single with the bases loaded.

The uprising handed Seattle rookie Bryce Miller (2-1) his first major league loss. Miller pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits, one walk and four strikeouts.

The winning pitcher was Collin McHugh (2-0). Nick Anderson and Raisel Iglesias each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the game.

Atlanta starter Bryce Elder, pitching on his 24th birthday, worked six-plus innings and was knocked out in the top of the seventh. He allowed two runs on seven hits, walked one and whiffed six.

The Braves scored in the first inning when Ronald Acuna Jr. and Olson hit back-to-back doubles.

The Mariners, who have dropped three in a row, had an opportunity in the sixth. J.P. Crawford doubled to center field and went to third on a wild pitch. Ty France flew out to shallow center and Michael Harris II charged it and threw a strike to nail Crawford, who was tagged standing up, about six feet from home plate.

Seattle took the lead with two runs in the seventh. Julio Rodriguez doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Eugenio Suarez singled to left. After Acuna took away an extra-base hit from Cal Raleigh with a leaping catch against the wall, Teoscar Hernandez delivered a single against McHugh that allowed Jarred Kelenic to score.

France went 0-for-4 and saw his hitting streak end at 14 games. Acuna’s homer streak ended at four games.

–Field Level Media

Francisco Lindor hit a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning Friday night as the New York Mets came back to edge the visiting Cleveland Guardians, 10-9, in the opener of a three-game series.

Pete Alonso tied the score with a grand slam in the seventh for the Mets, who overcame a 5-0 fifth-inning deficit.

Gabriel Arias delivered a two-run, one-out homer in the top of the 10th before Mark Vientos’ one-out single in the bottom half scored automatic runner Brett Baty.

Pinch-runner Eduardo Escobar stole second and scored on a two-out single by Francisco Alvarez, who went to third on a single by Brandon Nimmo before Lindor singled on the first pitch against Emmanuel Clase (1-4).

Drew Smith (3-1) threw the top of the 10th for the Mets.

Prior to Alonso’s grand slam, Brett Baty had two hits, including a homer, for the Mets. Alvarez also homered while Jeff McNeil laced a run-scoring single.

Josh Naylor finished with five RBIs via a three-run homer and a two-run single among his three hits for the Guardians. Cam Gallagher (second inning) and Amed Rosario (fifth inning) added RBI singles for Cleveland.

The Guardians went ahead immediately against Carlos Carrasco, who missed the previous month with right elbow inflammation. Rosario singled with one out and Jose Ramirez walked before Naylor homered to right.

Cleveland extended the lead in the second, when Myles Straw led off with a double, took third on a groundout by Will Brennan and scored on Gallagher’s single.

The Guardians built a fifth run in the fifth. Brennan drew a leadoff walk, stole second, went to third on a groundout by Steven Kwan and scored on Rosario’s single.

Guardians starter Cal Quantrill gave up just one hit before Alvarez homered with one out in the fifth. Francisco Lindor doubled with two outs and scored on McNeil’s single.

Baty homered leading off the sixth, with his fourth of the season making it 5-3.

Naylor delivered a two-run, two-out single in the top of the seventh, but the Mets loaded the bases with none out against Sam Hentges in the bottom half before Alonso homered off James Karinchak.

Quantrill allowed three runs on six hits and no walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings. Carrasco, opposing his former team for the first time, allowed five runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings.

–Field Level Media

Ryan Mountcastle hit a three-run home run, leading the visiting Baltimore Orioles to a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

Adam Frazier added a two-run homer and Anthony Santander had a solo shot for the Orioles in the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles were coming off a 6-4 homestand. The Blue Jays fell to 4-4 on their 10-game homestand as they fell for the fourth time in five games.

Baltimore right-hander Kyle Gibson (5-3) gave up one run, five hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out five.

Blue Jays left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (5-1) allowed three runs, three hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Toronto’s Brandon Belt doubled with two outs in the second inning and took third on a wild pitch. After Whit Merrifield walked, Danny Jansen hit an RBI single.

Baltimore’s Joey Ortiz singled to lead off the third, Adley Rutschman walked with one out and Mountcastle hit his 10th home run of the season, a blast to center for a 3-1 lead.

Kikuchi was replaced by Trevor Richards after walking Rutschman with two outs in the fifth. Richards retired Mountcastle to end the inning.

Santander led off the sixth inning against Richards with his eighth home run of the season.

Tim Mayza pitched a perfect top of the seventh inning for Toronto.

Gibson retired the final 10 batters that he faced, including two strikeouts in the seventh inning.

Toronto’s Anthony Bass survived a walk to Santander and an errant pickoff throw in the eighth.

Baltimore’s Yennier Cano allowed Kevin Kiermaier’s single and George Springer’s ground-rule double to open the bottom of the eighth. Bo Bichette’s groundout scored a run to slice the deficit to 4-2. Cano retired the next two batters.

In the ninth, Toronto’s Erik Swanson allowed Jorge Mateo’s one-out single, a stolen base and Frazier’s fifth homer of the season.

Felix Bautista worked around a walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth.

Kiermaier returned to the Toronto lineup after missing two games due to an illness. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.(sore right knee) went 1-for-4 as the Blue Jays’ designated hitter. He did not play Wednesday and was used a pinch hitter on Thursday.

–Field Level Media

Akil Baddoo homered and drove in four runs as the Detroit Tigers topped the host Washington Nationals 8-6 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Detroit starting pitcher Matthew Boyd didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.

Baddoo’s three-run shot in the third inning was his first homer of the season, coming in his 31st game.

Zach McKinstry led off the game with a home run en route to the Tigers’ third victory in their last four games. Matt Vierling added a solo shot in the fifth and Riley Greene followed suit in the sixth.

Boyd (3-3) made it through five innings on 58 pitches, pitching to the minimum number of batters thanks to a pair of double plays.

Keibert Ruiz doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth for the Nationals’ first hit. Then CJ Abrams roped a one-out double to dash the shutout. Lane Thomas followed with a two-run homer for his sixth bomb of the season.

Boyd lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up four hits (all for extra bases) and one walk, and he struck out four.

Washington scored on a wild pitch and Ruiz’s two-run homer to close within 8-6 before an out was recorded in the the seventh. It marked Ruiz’s fourth home run.

Still, the Nationals lost their fourth game in a row.

Right-hander Alex Lange worked 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts for his eighth save.

Nationals starter Jake Irvin (1-2), a rookie in his fourth big-league game, surrendered six runs, four earned, in 2 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out only one in his second rough outing in a row.

McKinstry’s third homer of the season came on Irvin’s fifth pitch. Detroit added two more runs in the inning on Andy Ibanez’s groundout and Baddoo’s two-out single. Irvin delivered 36 pitches before the top of the first concluded.

The homers for Vierling and Greene marked their third and fourth, respectively, of the season. Vierling and Greene joined Baddoo with two hits.

–Field Level Media

Nico Hoerner had three hits, including a pair of two-run doubles, to help the visiting Chicago Cubs to a 10-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of their three-game series on Friday night.

Christopher Morel hit a two-run homer and scored three times and Nick Madrigal had two hits, two RBIs and scored twice for the Cubs, who ended a five-game losing streak.

Cubs starter Marcus Stroman (3-4) allowed one run and three hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (0-1) allowed four runs and five hits in two innings, striking out four and walking three.

The Phillies have lost five straight and seven in a row against Chicago.

The Cubs gave up a first-inning run for the sixth straight game, although this time it did not matter.

Bryson Stott led off with a single up the middle, Bryce Harper hit a grounder to the opposite side that went off the glove of Madrigal and into shallow left for a double, putting runners on second and third with one out. Nick Castellanos followed with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs loaded the bases with no outs in the second before Madrigal grounded a single up the middle just out of the reach of diving shortstop Trea Turner, scoring two runs for a 2-1 lead.

Hoerner, who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Friday (hamstring), pulled a curveball into the left-field corner for a two-run double and a 4-1 lead.

Yan Gomes drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 5-1.

Morel followed with a high chopper to Turner with two outs, but he was unable to field the ball with a backhand, allowing another run to score on the error for a 6-1 lead. After Madrigal walked, Hoerner followed with a line drive over the head of Castellanos in right, scoring two more runs for an 8-1 lead.

Morel clubbed his two-run homer in the ninth to extend the lead to 10-1.

–Field Level Media

Aaron Judge hit his fifth homer of the week and Anthony Rizzo also went deep as the visiting New York Yankees recorded a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

Coming off a highly charged four-game series in Toronto, the Yankees won for the 12th time in 17 games.

Judge homered for the seventh time in seven games since coming off the injured list two batters in, sending a 2-2 fastball over the center field fence. Rizzo hit a two-run homer on a 2-2 pitch to right off Ian Gibaut for a 3-0 lead in the sixth.

Kyle Higashioka added a two-run double in the ninth after slamming his bat on the bat rack in frustration for a strikeout with two on in the seventh. Harrison Bader contributed an RBI single for a four-run lead after entering as a pinch hitter in the eighth.

After Rizzo’s 23rd career homer in Cincinnati, Jake Fraley hit a two-run double off the base of the left-center field wall against Jimmy Cordero in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-2. Cordero protected the one-run lead by fanning Nick Senzel and Henry Ramos with two on.

New York’s Clarke Schmidt (2-4) earlier was checked twice for sticky substances and rebounded from his worst start of the season to get his second career win as a starter. Schmidt allowed two runs on five hits in five-plus innings while striking out six and walking two.

Wandy Peralta fanned two in a 1-2-3 eighth and Nick Ramirez pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.

Cincinnati’s Ben Lively (1-2) allowed two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings in his first start since April 26, 2018, for Philadelphia. Lively retired 16 straight before walking Judge ahead of Rizzo’s homer.

In the fifth, Schmidt was checked for sticky substances for the second time. He returned after cleaning up the substances following instructions from umpires. Cincinnati manager David Bell was ejected by plate umpire Brian O’Nora for voicing his disapproval at Schmidt being allowed to continue.

It was the second time this season an opposing manager was tossed after a sticky substance check on a Yankees pitcher.

On April 15, Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli was tossed when Domingo German was allowed to keep pitching. German was handed a 10-game suspension after using sticky substances during Tuesday’s start in Toronto.

–Field Level Media

The Tampa Bay Rays manufactured a run on Francisco Mejia’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning that lifted them to a 1-0 win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

With the win, the Rays avoided losing three in a row for the first time this season.

Tampa Bay broke through when Milwaukee reliever Peter Strzelecki (2-3) clipped Luke Raley with a pitch. Raley stole second and advanced to third on catcher William Contreras’ throwing error.

Mejia’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Raley with the game’s lone run.

Pete Fairbanks (fourth save) had to work out of trouble in the ninth inning after Jesse Winker singled and pinch-runner Brice Turang stole second with one out. A wild pitch moved him to third one out later. But Fairbanks ended it by getting Tyrone Taylor to bounce back to the mound.

Reliever Jason Adam (1-1) threw the eighth inning, and picked up the win.

Rays ace Shane McClanahan went seven scoreless innings, giving up six hits and a walk. The left-hander was able to work out of jams, courtesy of seven strikeouts.

Milwaukee’s Adrian Houser tossed six shutout innings, scattering four hits. The right-hander struck out four and walked one, before giving way to Joel Payamps in the seventh.

The few chances each team had were quickly erased.

In the sixth inning, the Brewers had an opportunity after Contreras laced a one-out double to center. But McClanahan left him stranded by retiring Christian Yelich on a foul ball to left and getting Willy Adames to ground out to third.

Tampa Bay squandered a first-and-third, one-out chance in the third inning.

Jose Siri and Mejia had back-to-back, one-out singles, but with runners on the corners, Josh Lowe bounced to first. After getting the force at second, Siri was caught in a rundown at third, and tagged out to complete a double play.

Owen Miller put the Brewers in position to get on the board in the eighth inning. After reaching on an infield single, Miller stole second and he advanced to third on Yelich’s grounder to second. But Adam struck out Adames to end the threat.

–Field Level Media

Jack Suwinski hit a two-run double and Josh Palacios had a two-run single during a seven-run fourth inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who trounced the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 13-3 on Friday.

Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run homer, Ke’Bryan Hayes contributed a two-run single and an RBI double and Palacios and Ji Hwan Bae each had an RBI single for the Pirates, who have won three of four after losing 11 of 12.

Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo (3-3) allowed one run and two hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Geraldo Perdomo homered and Josh Rojas added a two-run double for the Diamondbacks, who had won five of six.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen (6-2) was rocked for eight runs, five earned, and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, with two strikeouts and a season-high four walks.

In the second inning, Carlos Santana doubled to right-center and scored on Hayes’ double off the wall in center for a 1-0 Pirates lead.

Arizona tied it in the third when Perdomo hit his fourth homer, to right-center.

With one out in the fourth, Tucupita Marcano walked and Bae doubled to center. Palacios, with his first hit as a Pirate, drove in both with a single to left for a 3-1 lead.

Austin Hedges reached on Rojas’ fielding error at third. Andrew McCutchen walked to load the bases, and Reynolds walked to force in a run. Suwinski doubled to right to drive in Hedges and McCutchen. An out later, Reynolds and Suwinski scored on Hayes’ single up the middle to make it 8-1.

In the fifth, Bae and McCutchen singled before Reynolds hit his sixth homer, his first since April 7, to up the margin to 11-1.

Rojas drove in two in the seventh to make it 11-3 with a two-run double to right. Pittsburgh reliever Duane Underwood Jr. then left because of an arm injury.

With Arizona backup catcher Jose Herrera pitching in the eighth, Pittsburgh tacked on two more on RBI singles by Bae and Palacios.

–Field Level Media

Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Luis Garcia underwent surgery on his right elbow on Friday, general manager Dana Brown said.

The ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, or Tommy John surgery, means Garcia will miss the rest of the 2023 season and is expected to return at some point in the 2024 season.

Garcia had exited his May 1 start after just eight pitches of a 7-3 home win over the San Francisco Giants and went on the injured list for the first time in his entire career, in the majors and minors.

In six games (all starts) this season, Garcia is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 10 walks and 25 hits in 27 innings. He is 28-19 with a 3.61 ERA in 352 innings over 69 games (63 starts), all with the Astros.

The 26-year-old finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, going 11-8 with a 3.48 ERA in 30 apperances (28 starts).

The Astros’ rotation already been without Lance McCullers Jr., who has not pitched this season because of a forearm strain. Right-handed starter Jose Urquidy is on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury and said Friday he hopes to resume throwing next week, the Houston Chronicle reported.

–Field Level Media