Seattle Mariners' Seth Smith follows through with an RBI single against the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 19, 2016, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
Seattle Mariners' Seth Smith follows through with an RBI single against the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 19, 2016, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton) Credit: Gail Burton

Chicago — Chris Sale went the distance on a masterful four-hitter on Thursday night, becoming the first major league pitcher since 2008 to win his first nine starts, and the Chicago White Sox edged the Houston Astros 2-1 to snap their season-high four game losing streak.

Sale walked none and struck out a season-high nine en route to his second straight complete game. No other pitcher has more than seven victories in the big leagues this season.

Sale lowered his earned run average to 1.58, second to teammate Jose Quintana (1.54) in the American League. He retired the first five batters, allowed a single to Gattis in the second inning then mowed down the next 12 before Jose Altuve singled in the sixth.

In the fourth inning, Sale caught George Springer looking for his 1,068th career strikeout, which moved the left-hander past Doc White into ninth place in franchise history.

Indians 7, Reds 2

Cincinnati — Carlos Santana hit two two-run homers, and Josh Tomlin stayed unbeaten by allowing only five hits while pitching into the eighth inning, leading Cleveland to its first sweep of their annual intrastate series.

The Indians won two games in Cleveland and two at Great American Ball Park by outscoring the Reds 43-16. Neither team had swept the season series that started in 1997.

Pirates 8, Braves 2

Pittsburgh — Gregory Polanco homered and tripled, John Jaso collected three hits and Pittsburgh rolled.

Polanco hit a two-run shot to left-center in the second off Mike Foltynewicz (1-2) and finished 2 for 4. The left fielder is hitting .461 (12 for 26) in his last seven games.

Mariners 7, Orioles 2

Baltimore — Adam Lind broke open a close game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and Seattle beat Baltimore to complete another successful road series.

Leonys Martin also homered for the Mariners, who took two of three from Baltimore to improve to an AL-best 15-7 in away games. Seattle is 6-0-1 in seven road series.

Brewers 5, Cubs 3

Milwaukee — Junior Guerra struck out a career-high 11, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Chris Carter homered and Milwaukee slowed Chicago.

Jason Hammel (5-1) allowed four runs and five hits in six innings. He had been 8-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 career starts against the Brewers. Chicago, a big-league best 28-11, has lost three times in a four-game span for the first time this season. The Cubs scored seven runs in the three-game series.

Cardinals 13, Rockies 7

St. Louis — Matt Carpenter homered and drove in a career-high six runs and Matt Adams added four RBIs to lead St. Louis over Colorado.

St. Louis, which has won three of four, scored a season-high six runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

Nationals 9, Mets 1

New York— Unbeaten Stephen Strasburg struck out 10, Daniel Murphy homered against his old team and Bryce Harper finally got a hit off shaky Matt Harvey as Washington routed New York.

Slumping Ben Revere singled to start a seven-run burst in the third inning and capped it with a two-run triple for a 9-1 lead, chasing Harvey and sending boos bouncing all around Citi Field.

The NL East-leading Nationals handed the Mets their sixth loss in seven games.

Strasburg (7-0) gave up one run and six hits in six innings, and tied Cubs ace Jake Arrieta for the league lead in wins. Harvey (3-6) was tagged for a career-worst nine runs.