ARLINGTON, Texas >> It seemed like old times for Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers on Friday night.

Hamilton homered in his first two at-bats, his first homers since he belatedly began his major league season this week back with Texas, helping the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-4.

Hamilton pulled both homers into the seats in right field off knuckleballer Steven Wright (2-2), a former University of Hawaii pitcher. The homers came in the second and fourth innings, on pitches measured at 74 and 66 mph.

Hamilton, who starred for Texas from 2008 to 2012 but struggled the past two season with the Los Angeles Angels, said the home runs gave him a sense of relief.

"OK, I can still hit it out of the park," he said. "I think I can be the player I used to be. It’s been fun the last two days."

It was Hamilton’s ninth career multi-homer game. He was activated Monday with the Rangers in Cleveland and went hitless in his first nine at-bats. Since then, he is 5-for-12 with two multi-hit games.

Wright, making his third consecutive start in place of the injured Justin Masterson, lamented his placement on the two deliveries.

"Both of the pitches to Hamilton were up where he likes it and moving to the middle of the plate," he said.

Blue Jays 6, Twins 4

MINNEAPOLIS >> Chris Colabello hit a two-run tie-breaking homer in the ninth inning against former teammate Glen Perkins, giving Mark Buehrle the victory as Toronto stopped Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.

Buehrle (6-4) made a drastic recovery from a four-run first inning for his second complete game this season, raising his record in 51 career starts against the Twins to 29-19. Buehrle retired 24 of the last 26 batters he faced, with one reaching on an error.

Angels 2, Tigers 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. >> Albert Pujols had his 530th career homer among three hits, and Hector Santiago pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning in Los Angeles’ victory over Detroit.

Detroit has scored just six runs in its past five games while losing five of seven overall.

Athletics 6, Yankees 2

OAKLAND, Calif. >> Sonny Gray pitched eight innings for his sixth win of the season, Stephen Vogt drove in two runs and Oakland beat New York.

Mariners 2, Indians 1

SEATTLE >> Taijuan Walker allowed two hits over eight strong innings and Seth Smith hit a two-run homer as Seattle beat Cleveland.

Orioles 2, Rays 1

BALTIMORE >> J.J. Hardy’s single drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, Chris Davis homered and Baltimore beat Tampa Bay to extend the Rays’ losing streak to six games.

White Sox 6, Astros 3, 11 innings

HOUSTON >> Geovany Soto hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the 11th inning and Chicago beat Houston. 

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants 4, Braves 2

SAN FRANCISCO >> Buster Posey hit a two-run homer in the first inning and drove in three, Tim Hudson pitched seven strong innings and San Francisco won its fifth straight, beating Atlanta to move a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

Hudson (3-4) gave up one run on five hits, striking out four and not walking a batter as he beat his 29th major league team. 

That left the Oakland Athletics, his first team, as the only one he has not beaten.

Reds 5, Nationals 2

CINCINNATI >> Washington’s Stephen Strasburg left after only 16 pitches, and Zack Cozart had three hits as Cincinnati rallied to defeat Washington.

Strasburg gave up a solo homer in the first inning to Joey Votto and walked Brayan Pena on his 16th pitch to open the second. He shrugged after the pitch, a trainer went to the mound, and Strasburg headed for the clubhouse after a brief conversation.

It’s unclear whether he’ll have to miss his next scheduled start. Strasburg had a rough May, failing to last four innings in four of his five starts. He left one start with tightness behind his shoulder.

Padres 6, Pirates 2

SAN DIEGO >> Derek Norris hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lift San Diego over Pittsburgh, snapping the Pirates’ season-high seven-game winning streak.

Norris’ homer to center, his fourth, capped a crazy ninth that saw the Pirates get two straight force plays at home while fielding a five-man infield.

Norris had struck out in his four previous at-bats.

Rockies 4, Phillies 1

PHILADELPHIA >> Chad Bettis retired the first 18 batters and took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Troy Tulowitzki hit two solo homers and Colorado beat Philadelphia.

Cody Asche singled through a shift to end Bettis’ no-hit bid with one out in the eighth. Bettis (2-0) lost a perfect game in the seventh when shortstop Tulowitzki made an error on Ben Revere’s grounder up the middle. 

Marlins 4, Mets 3

NEW YORK >> Rookie Justin Bour hit a three-run homer and Miami extended Matt Harvey’s winless streak to five starts by beating New York.

Harvey (5-3) struck out 11, but fell to 0-3 in his past five outings, a string that includes two games in which he pitched shutout ball before leaving in the late innings.

Diamondbacks 7, Brewers 5

MILWAUKEE >> Nick Ahmed’s tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning lifted Arizona over Milwaukee.

INTERLEAGUE

Royals 8, Cubs 4

CHICAGO >> Lorenzo Cain hit a tie-breaking RBI double and scored in a three-run eighth inning, and Kansas City beat Chicago to snap a four-game losing streak.