ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings to become the AL’s third 11-game winner, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Friday night in a matchup of the top teams in the American League.

Baltimore, which won 4-3 in 10 innings on Thursday night in the opener of the four-game set, leads the AL East with a .608 winning percentage compared to Tampa Bay’s .604. The Orioles trailed the Rays by 6 1/2 games at the beginning of July.

Eflin (11-5) allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked one, improving to 10-1 in 11 starts at home. The right-hander joined teammate Shane McClanahan and Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi with 11 victories.

After Colin Poche struck out the side in the eighth, Pete Fairbanks finished the two-hitter for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Isaac Paredes and Jose Siri homered for the Rays, who stopped a five-game skid and improved to 4-12 in July.

Paredes made it 2-0 on his solo homer off Kyle Bradish (6-5) in the sixth.

Bradish, coming off consecutive wins in which didn’t allow a run over 13 1/3 innings, gave up two runs and six hits in six innings.

Baltimore lost for just the third time in 13 games, and had a season-high six-game road win streak end.

YANKEES 5, ROYALS 4: Billy McKinney hit a three-run homer and made two key catches in center field as New York got a much-needed win, beating visiting Kansas City.

Franchy Cordero homered for the second straight game and Gleyber Torres also went deep for the Yankees, who stopped a four-game slide and won for only the third time in 12 games since July 4. Torres extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

TWINS 9, WHITE SOX 4: Byron Buxton halted an 0-for-26 skid by homering in his first two at-bats, and Alex Kirilloff and Ryan Jeffers also took Lance Lynn deep for Minnesota in a  victory over Chicago in Minneapolis.

Buxton hit a first-pitch fastball from Lynn into the bullpen in left-center to cap a five-run first inning that Kirilloff sparked with a two-run shot. Buxton, whose batting average fell below .200 last week during his third hitless streak of at least 20 at-bats this year, led off the fourth with a drive into the left-field bleachers off a 2-2 slider for his 17th homer of the season.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 6, BREWERS 4: Austin Riley homered for the fifth time in his last four games, Orlando Arcia also went deep and Atlanta held on to win in Milwaukee.

Riley hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and then singled and scored in the fifth to help the Braves win the matchup of division leaders. Riley is 8 for 17 with 13 RBI over his last four games, hitting a three-run shot in the eighth inning of a 7-5 victory over Arizona on Thursday.

Arcia connected for a two-run homer in Atlanta’s three-run second, helping the Braves erase an early 2-0 deficit.

CUBS 4, CARDINALS 3: Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer, and Chicago stopped St. Louis’ six-game winning streak with a win at home.

Bellinger capped Chicago’s four-run third inning with a 400-foot drive to right against Jack Flaherty. He finished with three hits in another strong performance at the plate.

Bellinger, a possible trade target ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, is 10 for 20 in his last five games. Since returning from a bruised knee on June 15, the 2019 NL MVP is batting .381 (40 for 105) with six homers.

All-Star left-hander Justin Steele (10-3) struck out a season-high nine in 6 1/3 innings for Chicago, bouncing back from a lackluster performance against Boston. He allowed two runs and six hits.

NATIONALS 5, GIANTS 3: CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas homered, rookie Jake Irvin struck out a career-high nine and Washington beat visiting San Francisco.

J.D. Davis and Joc Pederson homered for the Giants, who have dropped three in a row since a seven-game winning streak that spanned the All-Star break. San Francisco began play Friday two games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

ROCKIES 6, MARLINS 1: C.J. Cron and Jurickson Profar hit two-run homers and Peter Lambert pitched five shutout innings as Colorado won in Miami to hand the Marlins their seventh straight loss.

REDS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 6: Rookie Matt McLain hit his first career grand slam and Cincinnati extended its winning streak to three games with a win over Arizona in a matchup of surprising MLB teams in Cincinnati.

INTERLEAGUE

PADRES 5, TIGERS 4: Juan Soto hit two long home runs and San Diego won in Detroit.

Soto’s home run in the first inning was estimated at 447 feet and his third-inning shot came in at 463 feet.

Seth Lugo (4-4) allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. Three relievers finished, with Josh Hader pitching the ninth for his 24th save. Hader ended the game by striking out pinch-hitter Miguel Cabrera.

GUARDIANS 6, PHILLIES 5: Bryce Harper flashed some glove with a stunning catch in his first career start at first base, but Cleveland ended Philadelphia’s interleague winning streak at 12 games by edging the visiting Phillies.

José Ramírez had four hits and David Fry drove in two runs for Cleveland.

J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run homer and Bryson Stott had a solo shot for Philadelphia, which squandered some early scoring chances and lost for just the fourth time in its last 19 road games.

NOTES

ANGELS: Mike Trout is making progress in his recovery from a broken bone in his left hand, but the three-time AL MVP still isn’t close to a return.

Trout had the stitches removed this week following surgery to repair his broken hamate bone, the slugger said. His hand is still bruised and scabbed, and it must heal fully before he can resume swinging a bat.

Trout has been out since July 3, when he hurt his hand on a swing. He is doing mobility work and throwing, but gripping a bat is more difficult.

PHILLIES: Bryce Harper has made quite a first impression.

Making his first career start at first base, Philadelphia’s star slugger made a tough catch while tumbling into a photographer’s pit in the third inning of Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.

Leading off the third, Cleveland’s Amed Rosario hit a towering pop down the first-base line. Harper, who has spent the bulk of his major league career in the outfield, tracked the ball before snagging it and then falling.

Harper was uninjured and popped to his feet as the Phillies and their fans likely exhaled in relief.

The Phillies have moved the two-time MVP to first ahead of the trading deadline to see if he can handle the position before they make any moves.

So far, so good.

Manager Rob Thomson said the initial plan is for the two-time MVP to play in the field every other game. Harper will be the designated hitter when he’s not at first.

Harper, who has made a quick recovery from Tommy John surgery last year, has played 1,258 games – mostly in the outfield. He had not played any defense this year while his elbow recovers.

“I’m excited to see how he does,” Thomson said before the opener of a three-game series with the Guardians. “We’ve prepared him and now it’s just about getting used to game speed and getting used to those situations.”

As if on cue, Harper fielded a grounder by Cleveland leadoff hitter Steven Kwan in the first and flipped the ball to Phillies starter Ranger Suárez covering the bag for an out.

YANKEES: Catcher Jose Trevino has a tear in his right wrist that will require surgery, likely sidelining him for the rest of the season.

The 30-year-old Trevino was placed on the 10-day injured list before the Yankees’ game against Kansas City. He has been playing with the injury throughout the season.

ORIOLES: The AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles activated Shintaro Fujinami before their game at Tampa Bay, two days after acquiring the Japanese right-hander from Oakland for left-hander Easton Lucas.

Fujinami signed a $3.25 million, one-year deal with the Athletics in January after spending 10 years with the Hanshin Tigers.

BLUE JAYS-CARDINALS TRADE: Toronto acquired reliever Génesis Cabrera in a trade with St. Louis for minor league catcher Sammy Hernandez.

The 26-year-old Cabrera was designated for assignment by St. Louis on Monday. The Blue Jays designated right-hander Trent Thornton for assignment to make room for Cabrera on the 40-man roster.

Cabrera made his big league debut with St. Louis in 2019. The left-hander is 13-11 with a 4.14 ERA in 174 games.

TWINS: Minnesota third baseman Willi Castro and outfielder Joey Gallo were scratched from the lineup because of pink eye.