@Dodgers 6, Giants 2 — LA scored twice in the 6th, 7th and 8th to overcome their rivals’ early edge. Fortunes turned quickly after Matt Cain walked Dee Gordon leading off the 6th. He stole, Puig’s popup fell in front of a lumbering Moose, and Han-Ram walked to load the bags for Adrian Gonzalez. Southpaw Jeremy Affeldt got the slugger on a scoring DP, leaving the tying run on third for Matt Kemp, whose career line says .336/.957 off lefties. What would Bruce Bochy do?

Affeldt is no LOOGy, and he’s done all right against RHBs in recent years. Still, Kemp is deadly on lefties. Would Bochy use a second reliever in just the 6th inning? He has plenty of good ones, and he only used one the night before. But Affeldt stayed in, Kemp bounced a hit through the left side, and the game was tied.

You wonder if the skipper looked ahead to Carl Crawford, who hasn’t hit a lick off lefties lately (24-124 since 2013), and grounded out to end the 6th — and maybe even to Chone Figgins (25-156 since 2011), whom Affeldt whiffed to start the home 7th. Bochy stayed with Affeldt against righty Drew Butera (long double), RH pinch-hitter Justin Turner (groundout), and Gordon, whose double put LA ahead (and Zack Greinke in line to win). Finally, right-hander Jean Machi came in for Puig, but he bounced a double over the wall for a 2-run edge.

Greinke had given 2 runs in the 2nd, imperiling his streak. But he earned an extension by working through the 7th, stranding a pair that inning to hold the tie. His 20 straight starts of 2 runs or less since last July are the longest such streak since before 1914, and five more than the longest since WWII.

Don Mattingly let Brian Wilson clean up his own mess in the 8th, and he popped up Hunter Pence to leave the bases full. Kemp homered in the home half, as LA built a 6-2 cushion, and Chris Perez worked a rare 1-2-3 inning to close it. Greinke is 21-5, 2.58 in 36 Dodger starts.

• Dee Gordon was just 5 for 31 off southpaws this year before his clutch double. But he was Affeldt’s 7th batter, a place he hasn’t gone since 2012, and Affeldt fell behind him, 2-and-0. Gordon’s now 18 for 32 when ahead in the count, and 18 for 42 with 2 outs. Butera, by the way, was 5 for 31 off RHPs (all singles) when he faced Affeldt, but 3 for 9 with 2 bombs off southpaws. Whatever Bochy’s reason for riding Affeldt, he paid for it.
• Gordon swiped three more bags, reaching 24 SB in the team’s 38th game (his 35th). It also gave him 90 steals in 216 career games. Alas, the Play Index won’t give SB totals through N games; but Gordon has tied Gary Redus for 13th place in the live-ball era with 66 games of at least one steal within their first 216 games. The rest of that leader board: Vince Coleman, 100; Tim Raines, 87; Rickey, 79; Willie Wilson, 73; Kenny Lofton and Jarrod Dyson, 72; Gary Pettis, 70; Juan Samuel, Delino Deshields and Chuck Carr, 69; Alan Wiggins, 68; and Julio Cruz, 67.
• Gordon is having a shockingly good year, given his recent marks. But if you wonder why his .336 BA and all those steals have only produced 22 runs scored (10th in the NL), look no farther than his performance leading off an inning: 14 for 52, 2 walks, a .296 OBP. Only 8 of his 24 steals have come with no outs.

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@Brewers 5, Yankees 4 — Rickie Weeks slipped a grounder through the SS hole with 2 outs in the 7th (“past a diving Solarte!“), driving in Jonathan Lucroy for his first RBI this year, after a balk put the catcher on third. The last six Yanks went down in order against Will Smith and Francisco Rodriguez. The lefty Smith has allowed one earned run in 16.1 IP, with 24 Ks, while K-Rod (he’s that again) remains unscathed through 19 straight one-inning closures.

After Carlos Gomez gallumphed CC Sabathia’s second pitch of the night, New York gave him a 2-1 lead. But he couldn’t overcome a two-out error by SS Brendan Ryan (in his starting debut), as Jonathan Lucroy and Aramis Ramirez went deep on consecutive pitches. Dellin Betances bailed out CC with the bags full in the 6th, fanning Scooter Gennett and Gomez, and the Yanks eked out the equalizer. But Jeff Bianchi started a 5-4-3 DP on Carlos Beltran, after taking over for the injured Aramis, and Lucroy’s one-out double set up the Weeks breakthrough.

• K-Rod’s scoreless string is tied for second-best of his career, by games. He went 30 games, 30.2 IP in 2006, and 19 games, 19.2 IP in 2011, his last year in New York. He’s allowed 13 runners in 19 IP (8 singles, 4 walks and a HBP), and has saved all seven one-run wins, giving him the top WPA among relievers.
• How times do change … When I looked up and saw “MIL 4, NYY 2” in the home 4th inning, my very first thought was: Must be CC’s turn. Only one run was earned, but he’s allowed 10 HRs in 46 IP and a 1.48 WHIP.
• Brett Gardner tripled, just his 5th extra-base hit in 33 games. He had 51 XBH last year, 7th among all CFs.
• Milwaukee hasn’t missed Ryan Braun’s power as much as his on-base skills. They’ve hit 14 HRs in 13 games since he went down, but their OBP is about .275.

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@Padres 9, Marlins 3 — Seth Smith’s huge night led the Friars to a second straight Fish fry, and just their third time scoring 9 runs or more in consecutive games at Petco Park. Smith tripled home a run in the 1st and homered in the 3rd, wiping out Miami’s lead from Casey McGehee’s first homer. The Pads stranded nine men in their first five raps, but they finally broke the 2-all tie with a 4-run 6th that started with two down, none on against Carlos Marmol. Everth Cabrera bunted his way on and swiped second, and Smith was walked intentionally after a 3-1 count. Jedd Gyorko singled for the lead, and Chase Headley hammered a 3-run homer. After the Marlins got one back, Smith followed a two-out walk to Cabrera with a 2-run double, giving him 4 RBI and a slash line of .327/.420/.574 — a stark contrast to most of that lineup.

• After taking the opener of their 11-game western trip, Miami’s been clobbered twice, falling to 3-12 away. At home, their average score is 5.7 to 3.2; on the road, 2.6 to 5.2.
• Everth Cabrera scored 3 runs — the first such game by a Padre this year. There’s still one team with no such games, and I’ll bet you can guess who.
• But for 12 left on base, San Diego could have been the first team since 2006 with consecutive double-digit scores in Petco.

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@Mariners 3, Royals 1 — Chris Young lasted 8 innings for the first time since 2008, and Justin Smoak guessed right on a 2-run homer off Yordano Ventura that flushed KC’s early lead. The Royals scored on a Mike Moustakas triple and a sac fly, but got no other men past first base. Dustin Ackley jerked one in the 6th for a little cushion, and the whole drama was finished in a tidy 2:18.

• Seattle’s won four straight Young starts, and 10 of 13 overall. Their 19-17 start is their best at this point since 2003.

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Rockies 11, @Reds 2 — Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson homered back-to-back to start the game, putting the Rockies in the groove. Alfredo Simon never found his, and Jordan Lyles cruised to 5-0. Simon got a scoring DP to clear the bases in the 3rd, but Nolan Arenado doubled (“start another one, kid“), and Justin Morneau banged his 8th home run for a 5-1 lead. That ended Simon’s string of six straight quality starts, and he didn’t come back for the 4th, when Blackmon & Dickerson doubled up on ribby two-baggers. Dickerson would unload again, a 2-run shot in the 6th, his fourth extra-base hit, giving him a chance to set a club record in his next time up (he’d whiff). Then Tulo took a piece of the action, following up with his 10th bomb to keep his average over .400.

• Rockies’ third road game with 10+ extra-base hits, first since 2003. They’ve had 19 such games in Coors Field.
• Dickerson had the franchise’s third 4-XBH game on the road. Larry Walker did it in 2004 (3 HRs and a double in Cleveland), and Jeff Baker in 2008 (4 doubles in Wrigley). Last month, Blackmon had their fourth at home.
• First time this year a game started with two home runs. No home team has gotten two homers to start their 1st. One prior case of back-to-backs in the top-1st, by #3-4 Albert Pujols and David Freese on April 8. Angels also got three straight in the home 1st by #2-4 Trout, Pujols and Ibanez, against the Mets on April 13.
• Rockies had one game-starting HR each of the past 4 years. Thirteen players have now done it for them, including Eric Young, Sr. and Jr.
• Blackmon had hit all 7 prior HRs in Coors this year. (Any mnemonic tips for keeping straight Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, and Charlie Culberson, who ended the game in the top 3 spots? I thought Dickerson had the walk-off blast against the Mets, but that was Culberson.)
• Many things have diverted notice from Justin Morneau. But his .336-8-29 has been more valuable than Arenado’s hitting streak.

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@Atlanta 2, Cubs 0 — Samardzija’s pitching, so who’ll shut out the Cubs tonight? Chicago’s winless ace swapped zeroes with Ervin Santana for six innings, but he left then on a rainy night. Atlanta manufactured a pair in the 7th, keyed on Ryan Doumit’s pinch-double to the wrong-field corner. Chris Johnson started it with his second hit, Atlanta’s third (all singles before Doumit), and there were two sac bunts, including a squeeze. The bullpen got six outs, five Ks, and Santana got a bump to 4-0, 1.99. (Samardzija, 0-3, 1.45.)

• Chicago 1st: Leadoff single, double play. 2nd: Leadoff double, to third with one out, zippo. 4th: Two hits to start, but Rizzo out stretching at second (or thereabouts), and the lead man died at third. 6th: Single, another double play.
• Cubs have been blanked in 3 Samardzija starts, one run in 2 others, and have lost 7 of 8, averaging just under 1.9 R/G.

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@Orioles 5, Astros 4 (10 inn.) — The game that wouldn’t die came down to infield hits, a twisty carom in the right-field corner and a throw that short-hopped the relay may, letting J.J. Hardy score from first on Steve Clevenger’s line double.

Houston led early, starting with George Springer’s 2nd HR; the rookie’s mixed night included a double, three whiffs, and that final tough play in the corner. Colin McHugh pitched around four runners in the first two frames, but he kept the Birds grounded until two outs in the 6th. A solo trot by Adam Jones started a picket fence. Baltimore chalked singletons in the 7th (wild pitch) and 8th, forging ahead on a Cruz missile. Tommy Hunter found a heap o’ trouble in the 9th, but Jonathan Schoop cut down the tying run at home, leaving Hunter an out away. No such luck: Jose Altuve’s two-out single put the Astros back on top. And then the skies opened up.

An hour later, the O’s were down to their last strike with nothing cooking. But Schoop eked out an infield hit, Markakis singled and Machado walked. Delmon Young tied it with a chopper up the middle that Jonathan Villar gloved with no chance. Houston put a man in scoring position in their 10th, but Springer and Marwin Gonzalez went down swinging. Finally, Hardy started the winning surge with yet another infield hit, and Clevenger jerked the first pitch down the line, where it rattled around just long enough.

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@Pirates 4, Cardinals 3 — Two scoring frames: St. Louis got 3 in the 2nd off a wild Edinson Volquez, with 2 walks (one to Lance Lynn), a HBP and a scoring wild one. Pittsburgh loaded up in the 4th on two singles and a HBP; two scoring groundouts and an infield single tied it, and singles by Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez brought the lead. Volquez couldn’t get through the 5th, leaving sacks full for Jared Hughes after his 4th walk. But Hughes got out of that and worked a clean 6th. And though the Cards got the tying run to scoring position in each remaining chance — including their only extra-base hit, an Adams leadoff double in the 8th — those all fell short in another night with no RISP magic (1-9).

• Nineteen one-run games in Pittsburgh’s first 36, their 11-8 mark keeping them afloat.

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@Tampa 7, Cleveland 1 — Erik Bedard allowed one hit in six scoreless innings, and the Rays scored in four separate stanzas to snap a 4-game skid. James Loney’s 3 hits left him batting .326 with a .399 OBP, and Matt Joyce hit two more sac flies.

• Bedard’s allowed 2 runs over his last three starts, 17 IP. So, as usual, I know nothing.
• I cut this note last night, but now … Joyce has 7 sac flies, 3 more than any other player, and more than six different teams.

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@Athletics 4, Nationals 3 (10 inn.) — In which we learned that half the reason pitchers are assigned to back up home plate is just to keep them from bothering those who know what they’re doing. Rafael Soriano’s self-designed cutoff play in the 9th completed his lightning-quick liquidation of a 3-1 lead that had stood since the 3rd. And in the 10th, leadoff man John Jaso doubled high off the RF wall to score Alberto Callaspo with the winning run.

Washington’s ragtag army featured infielder Nate McLouth’s 4-for-45 in RF, Zach Walters making his second pro appearance in far pastures, and journeyman Kevin Frandsen batting second. But after Danny Espinosa’s solo shot put the Nats on top in the 3rd, Walters started a followup rally that Frandsen cashed with a 2-run double. Jaso got one back with a homer, but he was the only man to reach safely off Tanner Roark until the 8th. The sophomore right-hander went 7.2 IP on 2 hits, no walks, the second commanding performance in his last three. Sonny Gray was almost that sharp after his bad inning, working through the 7th with just two more hits — an infield affair, and a popup that fooled CF Craig Gentry, but for which he atoned. Luke Gregerson and Sean Doolittle got nine straight outs to enable the walk-off.

• Jaso has started games in the leadoff spot for five straight years; no other catcher has done so since 2010.

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@Tigers 9, Twins 3 — Given a 6-0 lead in the 2nd by Miguel Cabrera’s 3-run shot, Max Scherzer labored through the next four innings, giving up Brian Dozier’s 9th HR (also a trey) and throwing a season-high 116 pitches just to complete his six. But he retired the potential tying run four times, and Victor Martinez put this one away with his own 3-pointer in the 7th, after Miggy was clipped.

• V-Mart now has 8 HRs, 7 doubles, 5 strikeouts. Just for fun … The last players with at least 25 HRs, and fewer strikeouts than either HRs or doubles, were Ted Williams and Yogi Berra, both in 1950. Martinez also has 40 hits; in the last 30 years, only Tony Gwynn and Ozzie Smith have had 150+ hits with at least 8 H/SO. Gwynn did it seven times, six straight from 1991-96.
• Miggy’s fence-clanger was his second in four games that barely cleared almost the same exit point. He now has 21 RBI in his last 16 games, with 14 runs and 24 hits.
• Since joining Detroit in 2008, Cabrera leads MLB in hits and total bases (by 1,190-1,180 and 2,134-1,950, both over Cano), HRs (232-220 over Albert), RBI (765-673 over Fielder), Runs (632-608 over Kinsler) … yadda, yadda, yadda.

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Angels 5, @Blue Jays 3 — Joe Smith started a 1-6-3 DP on Adam Lind, squelching Toronto’s last-ditch rally that started with a 4-run deficit but saw the tying runs reach base. LA’s second straight win in this series pulled them back over .500 and sunk the Jays below. Chris Iannetta put the Angels on top in the 2nd with a 2-run homer off J.A. Happ, who departed in the 3rd soon after C.J. Cron’s first career blast. Tyler Skaggs stiffed Toronto on 2 hits through the 8th, and he went after his first complete game against the top of the order. Two quick hits brought on Smith, who yielded two of his own (including Jose Bautista’s streak-saver), but got the groundball outs he needed.

• Toronto failed to homer for first time in 16 home games this year. Despite ranking 2nd to Colorado in HRs at home, their record is just 7-9.

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Late Friday

Royals 6, @Mariners 1 — Jason Vargas posted 7 scoreless innings. He has a 2.05 Mulligan ERA, and tied for 3rd with 5 high-quality starts (7+ IP, 2 runs or less). The others with 5 or more have received a bit more notice: Cueto, Wainwright, Teheran, Hudson, Samardzija.

• KC’s 16 hits all were singles, the first such game since 2011. Although they’ve only been around since 1969, the Royals own four of the 42 such games in regulation since 1914. (Guess which KC starter went hitless.)
• Brandon Maurer beamed in from a bygone era and gave up 14 of the hits in 7.1 IP, with no walks or strikeouts. The combo of 14+/0/0 has been done just one other time since 1943.

@Orioles 4, Astros 3 — Not this again: O’s now 8-3 in one-run games, winning five straight of those decisions.

• They are who they are: Baltimore’s dead last in walks drawn, their rate of 2.2 BB/G down even from last year’s 28th-place showing.
• Steve Pearce has homered in three of Balto’s 4-game win streak.
• Preseason concern about Tommy Hunter closing was focused on his being vulnerable to lefties, who crunched an .840 OPS or better in the past three years. But he’s been hit from both sides this year, righties 10 for 29 with 5 doubles.
• Darren O’Day, one run in 14 IP this year, 2.22 ERA since the Mets foolishly cut him in April 2009. That move was made to clear a spot for the DL return of J.J. Putz; but both O’Day and Joe Smith, who was dealt in the offseason to land Putz, have been more productive since then, and far more valuable than any Mets reliever in that span. Francisco Rodriguez, whom they overbought and then dumped, has had a career renaissance. They declined to re-sign LaTroy Hawkins after a solid 2013 which he ended as their closer, banking instead on Bobby Parnell’s questionable health; Hawkins has converted all 9 save tries for Colorado, and Parnell’s out for the year. There’s some luck in all personnel decisions, and no one doubted at the time that K-Rod had to go. But at some point you have to take a hard look at your process.

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Masahiro Tanaka has been dominant at times, but while his 2.57 ERA is 7th among AL qualifiers, his .659 OPS allowed is only 15th. He’s choked off rallies by yielding just a .159 BA and .443 OPS with men on base, ranking 7th and 8th for those splits among all with 30+ IP.

Luck may be involved, but Tanaka’s K rate with men aboard is 36% (25 of 69) — 2nd to Max Scherzer among the 42 pitchers with at least 17 such Ks so far, and a 10-point gain over his work with bases empty. Last year’s best was Yu Darvish at 34%, among those with 150+ IP, with Scherzer 2nd at 28%.

Milwaukee’s SO/CS that ended the 7th with a man on third, a 2-run deficit and their best active hitter on deck, scored -0.19 WPA, the 2nd-worst of all their outs this year. Logan Schafer is not a proficient thief, with a 62-35 career SB record as a pro, 7 steals in 134 games last year, and a high of 17 in the minors. It was a planned play, apparently, with Jean Segura breaking from third as soon as the throw was on its way, but a very odd time to try and steal a run. Last year, Milwaukee’s 142 SB led the NL, with a healthy 74% success rate. They’re 22-14 so far this year, leading in CS, and last in success rate.