Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez continued his amazing start with seven quality innings, and the Rays rallied with seven runs in the seventh inning to stop a season-long four-game losing streak in an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Martinez (5-1) extended his streak of allowing two runs or fewer to 11 consecutive starts to open 2026 by yielding two on eight hits over seven innings. He fanned five with no walks.

Yandy Diaz homered twice, and Jonathan Aranda went deep. Junior Caminero had two hits, while Richie Palacios drove in two with a triple.

The Angels’ Vaughn Grissom (two RBIs, run) and Zach Neto (two runs, RBI, walk) each had two hits and a double. Oswald Peraza and Jose Siri notched two hits.

In his first game in two years, third baseman Nick Madrigal went 2-for-4.

Walbert Urena fired six strong innings, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.

Diaz sliced the second pitch from Urena to right field for a 1-0 lead. The opposite-field homer was his second leading off a game for the Rays this season.

After Neto’s one-out double, Grissom slashed an RBI single to left with two outs to tie it.

Los Angeles took the lead in the fifth when Neto followed Siri’s leadoff double with a single over a drawn-in infield.

The Angels turned a double play to finish the fourth with a runner at second, and left fielder Wade Meckler made a half-sliding catch to end the sixth after appearing to lose Nick Fortes’ liner in the lights with a runner in scoring position.

However, the home side’s bats came alive as it sent 10 batters up in the seventh.

The second batter to face reliever Ryan Zeferjahn (2-3), Diaz teed off with his second homer after Cedric Mullins’ walk. Diaz’s 10th blast was a majestic 400-footer to left for a 3-2 lead. Aranda then went back-to-back with a 410-foot rocket to right-center.

Oliver Dunn’s RBI bunt single, Palacios’ two-run triple and Fortes’ run-scoring sacrifice bunt rounded out the seven-run inning.

RBIs from Grissom, Jo Adell and Meckler trimmed it to 8-5 in the eighth, but closer Bryan Baker got a popout to first baseman Aranda from Grissom with the bases loaded for his 15th save in the ninth.

–Field Level Media

Ivan Herrera belted a go-ahead solo homer in the fifth inning, fueling the host St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

St. Louis’ Nelson Velazquez celebrated his call-up from Triple-A Memphis on Friday by launching a three-run homer in the first inning.

Thomas Saggese crushed a solo shot in the fourth inning and Jose Fermin had an RBI single in the eighth for the Cardinals, who snapped a season high-tying four-game losing streak. They also lost four in a row from April 22-26.

St. Louis used seven pitchers to subdue Chicago, with Gordon Graceffo (4-1) retiring the side in order in the fifth during his lone inning of work.

Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the ninth with a double and came around to score following a pair of outs. Riley O’Brien induced Alex Bregman to ground out to secure his 14th save of the season.

Chicago’s Ian Happ went deep for the third straight game by belting a three-run homer in the first inning.

Michael Busch had an RBI single and joined Seiya Suzuki with three hits for the Cubs, who have lost 11 of their last 13 games.

Shota Imanaga (4-6) surrendered three homers in his second consecutive outing. He lost his fourth straight start after permitting five runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Saggese forged a 4-4 tie after depositing a 2-2 fastball from Imanaga over the wall in left-center field for his first homer of the season. The Cardinals claimed their first lead in the fifth inning after Herrera sent a 0-1 splitter from Imanaga 409 feet to left-center.

Busch and Bregman each had a two-out single to center field before Happ deposited an 0-1 fastball from Andre Pallante over the wall in right-center. Happ’s homer was his team-leading 13th of the season.

Velazquez erased Chicago’s early 3-0 lead by sending a first-pitch fastball from Imanaga 411 feet to left-center.

Dansby Swanson regained the advantage for the Cubs in the second inning with a single and a stolen base before coming around to score on Busch’s RBI single to left field.

–Field Level Media

Jackson Merrill cracked a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh and Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits as the visiting San Diego Padres rallied for a 7-5 win on Friday night against the Washington Nationals.

Ty France added a game-tying solo homer in the sixth for the Padres, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Jeremiah Estrada (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to set the table for Mason Miller, who got four outs for his 17th save.

Merrill and France drilled their home runs off Mitchell Parker (2-2), who allowed three runs (one earned) in middle relief.

Curtis Mead and Keibert Ruiz homered for Washington, which opened a six-game homestand by falling to 10-17 at Nationals Park.

San Diego broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh. Xander Bogaerts singled and Merrill hit his first homer since May 4, a shot to right center with two outs.

Washington put runners on first and third with one out in the eighth. After Jorbit Vivas flied out, Miller came on to face James Wood. Wood walked, but Miller induced a flyout from Luis Garcia Jr.

The Padres took a 1-0 lead off Nats opener Paxton Schultz in the first. Tatis singled, went to third on a single by Gavin Sheets and scored on Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly.

Washington took the lead in the bottom of the first as Wood walked and Mead homered. Ruiz made it 3-1 with a solo homer in the second.

In the San Diego third, Sheets singled and scored when Manny Machado singled to right.

CJ Abrams walked with two outs in the bottom half. He went to second on a wild pitch by Lucas Giolito and scored on a single by Dylan Crews to make it 4-2. Giolito gave up four runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings.

San Diego tied it in the fourth. Ramon Laureano reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. He went to third on France’s infield single and scored when Freddy Fermin grounded out. France scored on a Tatis single.

The first two Nationals reached on a single and a hit-by-pitch in the fifth and Jacob Young’s single scored Mead to make it 5-4.

Schultz gave up one run in his lone inning and Andrew Alvarez allowed three runs over three innings.

–Field Level Media