NEW YORK -- Stephen Strasburg stayed undefeated, winning a marquee pitching matchup against an ailing Noah Syndergaard by tossing seven innings of two-hit ball Friday night that sent the Washington Nationals to a 3-1 victory over the banged-up New York Mets.
Clint Robinson hit a two-run homer for the Nationals, going deep for the second consecutive night, and Daniel Murphy added an RBI double against his former team. Strasburg (12-0) struck out nine and became the first National League pitcher in 104 years to win his first 12 decisions in a season.
Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen combined to escape an eighth-inning jam, and Washington extended its NL East lead to four games over the Mets after dropping the opener of the four-game series Thursday night.
Syndergaard (9-4) and slugger Yoenis Cespedes left early with injuries -- hours after New York announced that struggling pitcher Matt Harvey will have season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome (see full recap).
Astros' Valbuena caps huge game with walk-off HR
HOUSTON -- Luis Valbuena drove in four runs, highlighted by a three-run homer with one out in the ninth, to lift the Houston Astros to a wild 10-9 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.
The Athletics took the lead with a five-run ninth inning before Jose Altuve singled with one out in the bottom of the inning. Carlos Correa struck out, but reached on a wild pitch before Valbuena connected off Ryan Madson (3-3) for his homer to right field to give Houston the win.
Houston led by three runs entering the ninth before Yonder Alonso connected off closer Will Harris with no outs to cut the lead to 7-6. Pinch-hitter Jake Smolinski singled with one out before a double by Jed Lowrie chased Harris.
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He was replaced by Michael Feliz (6-1) who was greeted by the double from Davis that put the A's up 8-7.
Josh Reddick added a run with an RBI single to make it 9-7 (see full recap).
Blue Jays blank Tigers for 7th straight win
TORONTO -- J.A. Happ and two relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays extended their season-high winning streak to seven games with a 6-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
In his final start before the All-Star break, Happ (12-3) matched his career-high in wins by giving up six hits, striking out nine and walking none in 5 2-3 innings. The left-hander, who went 12-4 for Philadelphia in 2009, has won six consecutive starts.
Jesse Chavez worked 1 1-3 innings and Bo Schultz finished as Toronto won for the seventh time in nine meetings with Detroit.
Tigers right-hander Mike Pelfrey (2-8) allowed one run and six hits in six innings. He has won just once in seven starts (see full recap).
