WASHINGTON -- Justin Turner homered twice and drove in five runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers ended Stephen Strasburg's undefeated streak by beating the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Thursday.
Turner hit his 16th and 17th home runs, a two-run shot off Strasburg in the first and a three-run shot off the right-hander in the third, to set a career high.
Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to 13 games and Adrian Gonzalez also drove in a run for the Dodgers, who defeated the Nationals for the fifth time in six games this season.
Strasburg (13-1) lost for the first time since Sept. 9, ending a run of 16 consecutive winning decisions. Making it through the sixth, he allowed a season-high six earned runs and seven hits -- all in the first three innings -- and struck out 10.
Before Strasburg could settle down, the Dodgers crushed the ball against him, including a double off the left-field wall from Gonzalez and Turner's two home runs (see full recap).
Liriano strikes out 13 in Pirates' victory
PITTSBURGH -- Francisco Liriano took another step toward putting his season-long control issues behind him, striking out 13 to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.
Liriano (6-9) gave up three runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings and didn't issue a walk for just the second time in 19 starts. The left-hander entered the game having issued a major-league high 62 base on balls this season.
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Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 28th save.
Matt Joyce hit a three-run homer off Matt Garza (1-4) in the first inning and finished with four RBIs after being a last-second substitution in the outfield when Starling Marte was diagnosed with flu-like symptoms shortly before the first pitch.
Gregory Polanco finished with two hits for the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 3 to snap out of a 1-for-16 funk.
Jonathan Villar hit his seventh home run of the season for the Brewers. Hernan Perez added two hits for Milwaukee, which fell to 17-31 away from Miller Park, the second-worst road mark in the National League. Garza dropped his fourth straight decision, allowing five runs, four earned, in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts (see full recap).
Pedroia, Red Sox pound Twins
BOSTON -- Mookie Betts homered on the first pitch Boston faced, David Ortiz added a late two-run homer and the Red Sox continued to surge through July with a 13-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Dustin Pedroia went 5 for 5 with two doubles for Boston, which had 17 hits while winning its third straight and improving to 12-3 in July.
Betts, Ortiz and Xander Bogaerts had three hits apiece and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a solo homer and finished with three RBIs.
Steven Wright (12-5) tied his career high with nine strikeouts and held Minnesota to four hits in eight innings. The Twins didn't reach base against the knuckleballer until the fifth and finished with five hits, adding a ground-rule double by pinch-hitter Eduardo Escobar in the ninth off reliever Clay Buchholz.
Boston, which had 16 hits in an 11-7 win over San Francisco on Wednesday, was up 3-0 after getting four hits against Minnesota starter Tyler Duffey (5-7) in the first.
Betts hit the first pitch Duffey threw out to left, then led off the third with a single as Boston added three more runs and led 6-0. Duffey allowed six runs before being pulled with one out in the third after Bradley doubled for Boston's ninth hit (see full recap).
