Nationals punish Phillies 8-1

NEW YORK — Bryce Harper said after Friday’s game that he was having a lot of fun. The Washington outfielder has certainly been making Philadelphia a fun place to play for the Nationals as Washington drubbed the Phillies, 8-1. After driving in a run in the first inning with a sacrifice fly, Harper clubbed a two-run homer — his second home run in as many nights — off Phillies starter Aaron Nola to extend Washington’s lead to 7-0. Harper went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, extending his dominance at Citizens Bank Park to 12 hits in his last 20 at-bats in five games. Cubs 6, Rockies 2: Jake Arrieta returned to form in his first Wrigley Field outing since a 2015 playoff loss, striking out eight and allowing just five hits as the Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies. Arrieta, who went 22-6 in a 2015 National League Cy Young season, improved to 3-0 as he worked eight shutout innings and walked just one. Mariners 3, Yankees 2: Felix Hernandez matched Hall of Famer Randy Johnson for the most strikeouts in Seattle franchise history but pitched only five innings. Hernandez (1-1) needed four strikeouts to match Johnson’s mark of 2,162 from 1989 to 1998 and did so by getting Didi Gregorius to end the fifth with two on. It also was Hernandez’s final pitch because his pitch count was at 106 due to a career-high tying six walks. Twins 6, Angels 4: Oswaldo Arcia and Byung Ho Park hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie game to lift Minnesota over Los Angeles. The Twins have won back-to-back games after starting the season 0-9. The Angels have lost two straight following a four-game winning streak. Arcia’s solo blast came off Angels Joe Smith and landed in the bullpen over the left-center field fence. Park followed with a mammoth blast, 462 feet in center field on a 2-2 offering from Smith for his second homer of the season. Reds 9, Cardinals 8: Brandon Phillips’ RBI double capped a four-run sixth inning and Cincinnati hung on for a win to snap a four-game losing streak. The Reds trailed 4-0 before they rallied to tie the game with two runs in the fourth and two in the fifth, then knocked out Adam Wainwright and took an 8-4 lead in the sixth. Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 2: Continuing his career domination of one of his former teams, David Price picked up his first home win for his new one. The left-hander, who signed a seven-year, $217 million contract to leave Toronto for Boston, worked seven strong innings and Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer. Price gave up six hits and ended his day by striking out the side in the seventh inning, giving him nine strikeouts (and no walks) as he improved his career mark to 17-2 against the Jays. In other games it was: Indians 7, Mets 5; A’s 5, Royals 3; Braves 6, Marlins 4; Pirates 5, Brewers 0; Rays 7, White Sox 2; Rangers 8, Orioles 4; Giants 4, Dodgers 3; Padres 5, Diamondbacks 3 (14 innings); Tigers 5, Astros 3.