Jays end slide against Red Sox

NEW YORK — Melvin Upton Jr. hit a two-run homer, J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six-plus innings to earn his 18th win and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 Saturday afternoon to end a four-game losing streak. The Blue Jays (78-63) moved to within one game of the first-place Red Sox (79-62) in the American League East with the rubber match in the three-game series to be played Sunday. Happ (18-4) allowed four hits and one walk. The left-hander struck out five. Braves 4, Mets 3 (10 innings): Atlanta ended New York’s winning streak at six games in dramatic fashion, with Adonis Garcia singling with two outs in the 10th inning to drive in rookie Dansby Swanson for a walk-off victory. Swanson singled leading off the 10th against Erik Goeddel (1-1) and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Employing a five-man infield after one out, the Mets nearly escaped but Garcia grounded a single through the middle off Josh Smoker to end it. Royals 6, White Sox 5: Whit Merrifield delivered a two-run go-ahead single in the seventh inning as Kansas City claimed a come-from-behind victory over Chicago. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and kept the Royals in the hunt for an American League wild-card spot. Twins 2, Indians 1: Joe Mauer’s two-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Brian Dozier from second base and lifted Minnesota over Cleveland. One night after picking up his first major league win, Joe Colon took the loss. J.T. Chargois was credited with the win in one inning of relief. Reds 8, Pirates 7: Tucker Barnhart drove in three runs and Joey Votto hit a homer on his 33rd birthday as Cincinnati, far out of playoff contention, refused to quit against Pittsburgh at PNC Park. The Pirates, trying to stay in the chase for a National League wild-card spot, lost for the second night in a row and the 10th time in the past 12 games. They missed a chance to climb back to .500. Kang Jung-ho hit his fourth homer in five days to help the Pirates take a 4-0 lead, but Cincinnati scored seven straight runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a 7-4 lead. Giants 11, Diamondbacks 3: Hunter Pence had three hits, including a homer, and Johnny Cueto got his second victory since the All-Star break in San Francisco’s victory over Arizona at Chase Field. Eduardo Nunez had three hits and two RBIs and Joe Panik and Angel Pagan also had three hits each as the Giants pounded out 19 hits to keep pace with the National League West-leading Dodgers and remain ahead in the NL wild-card race. Padres 6, Rockies 3: Christian Friedrich shut out his former teammates on two hits for seven innings to lead San Diego over Colorado at Petco Park. Yangervis Solarte and Wil Myers each had a double and single. Solarte drove in half the Padres’ runs and Myers had two RBIs. Jon Jay had two hits and an RBI and scored two runs. In other games it was: Yankees 5, Rays 1; Mariners 14, Athletics 3; Orioles 11, Tigers 3; Dodgers 5, Marlins 0; Nationals 3, Phillies 0; Cardinals 5, Brewers 1; Rangers 8, Angels 5; Astros 2, Cubs 1. — Agencies