Ichiro Suzuki remained two hits shy of 3,000 as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Miami’s 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at the Major League Baseball on Friday night.  Suzuki lined into a double play, grounded twice and struck out. Kolten Wong went 3-for-5 with two RBI and Tommy Pham had three RBIs as St. Louis (56-47) took a one-game lead over the Marlins (55-48) for the second wild card spot in the National League. St. Louis right-hander Mike Leake allowed six runs in five innings.
Jose Urena gave up eight runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, doing so hours after the Marlins acquired starting pitchers Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea in a seven-player trade with the San Diego Padres.
Suzuki is pleased with his amazing Major League Baseball career, so pleased that he wants to keep playing until he’s 50. The 42-year-old Suzuki made the proclamation in an interview with ESPN, which quizzed him about his many hitting records and talked a little smack about Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose.
One of the questions put to the Aichi, Japan-born superstar involved his feelings when Pete Rose knocked him once he exceeded in combined Japan/MLB hits Rose’s record. ESPN wondered if Rose’s comments bothered him. Ichiro, though, said he was “happy” when Rose went off on him.
“I was actually happy to see the Hit King get defensive,” Suzuki said. “I kind of felt I was accepted. I heard that about five years ago Rose did an interview, and he said that he wished that I could break that record. Obviously, this time around it was a different vibe.”

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5
Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki hit solo home runs in the first inning and Toronto moved within a half-game of first-place Baltimore in the American League East. Manny Machado homered for Baltimore, which has dropped four straight.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (2-8) allowed six hits, three walks and six runs in three innings. Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada (6-4) gave up five hits, two walks and four runs (three earned) and had six strikeouts in six innings.

Indians 5, Athletics 3
Carlos Santana homered in the sixth inning and Cleveland scored four more in the seventh and rallied past Oakland. Abraham Almonte and Jason Kipnis had RBI singles in the seventh for the Indians. Josh Reddick and Khris Davis homered for Oakland.

Cubs 12, Mariners 1
Jason Heyward and David Ross homered as Chicago rolled past Seattle. Heyward and Anthony Rizzo had three RBIs apiece for the Cubs, and Jon Lester allowed four hits in six scoreless innings. Hisashi Iwakuma allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings for Seattle.

Rays 5, Yankees 1
Jake Odorizzi, the subject of trade rumors, pitched six shutout innings to lead Tampa Bay past New York.
Logan Forsythe and Corey Dickerson hit solo home runs in the first inning for Tampa Bay. Ivan Nova allowed five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings for the Yankees.

Tigers 14, Astros 6
Tyler Collins and Justin Upton blasted three-run homers and James McCann hit a pinch-homer to help Detroit trounce Houston. Matt Boyd allowed four hits in five innings, but two were homers that accounted for three Astros runs. Collin McHugh (7-7) lasted only 1 2/3 innings and was roughed up for 10 hits and the Tigers’ first eight runs.

Rockies 6, Mets 1
Carlos Gonzalez finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs as the Colorado remained red-hot. Gonzalez opened the scoring and extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI double in the first inning and provided the Rockies plenty of insurance in the ninth with a long three-run homer.
The Rockies have won 11 of 15 since the All-Star break to get within a game of.500. James Loney went 2-for-4 with a second-inning homer for the Mets, who have lost three straight and four of five, a stretch in which they have scored just 11 runs.

Braves 2, Phillies 1
Rookie Tyrell Jenkins allowed an unearned run in six innings and picked up his first major league win in Atlanta’s win over Philadelphia. Jenkins, the organization’s 2015 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, gave up four hits and four walks, one intentional, in his fourth career start. The losing pitcher was rookie Vince Velasquez, who allowed two runs, seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.

Rangers 8, Royals 3
Rougned Odor homered twice as Texas routed struggling Kansas City. AJ Griffin allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings for his first victory in more than three months. Edinson Volquez allowed six runs and nine hits in six.