Thompson fights back pain, takes LPGA lead

BELMONT, Mich. — Defending champion Lexi Thompson fought through back pain Friday to take the second-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic.

The 21-year-old Thompson shot a 4-under 67, rebounding from bogeys on 15 and 16 with birdies on the final two holes to reach 10-under 132 at Blythefield.

Canada’s Alena Sharp bogeyed her final hole to drop into a tie for second with South Korean players In Gee Chun, So Yeon Ryu and Q Baek. They all shot 67.

Thompson won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February for her seventh LPGA Tour title. The long-hitting Florida player, ranked fourth in the world, also won a Japan LPGA event last month.

USA 2

Ecuador 1

SEATTLE — Clint Dempsey scored for the third straight game on a first-half header and set up Gyasi Zardes for a tap-in goal midway through the second half, boosting the United States into the Copa America semifinals with a 2-1 win over Ecuador on Thursday night.

Playing before a boisterous and almost completely partisan home crowd in the soccer-mad Pacific Northwest, the U.S. won a knockout game against a nation outside its region for only the second time and will play Argentina or Venezuela on Tuesday in Houston.

American midfielder Jermaine Jones and Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia were both ejected early in the second half. Jones will be suspended for the semifinal along with U.S. midfielder Alejandro Bedoya and Bobby Wood, who both got their second yellow cards of the tournament.

Cubs 6

Pirates 0

CHICAGO — Jake Arrieta pitched two-hit ball over six innings, Matt Szczur homered, Albert Almora Jr. had three hits as the Chicago Cubs beat the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on Friday.

Arrieta (11-1) struck out 11 and walked three as the Cubs started the weekend series on a strong note after dropping two of three at Washington.

Szczur hit a two-run homer in the first on Francisco Liriano’s second pitch.

Marlins 5

Rockies 1

MIAMI — Adam Conley and four relievers combined on a one-hitter, and the Miami Marlins snapped Colorado’s four-game winning streak by rallying for a 5-1 victory on Friday night.

Struggling Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton had a two-out, two-run single in the seventh for his first multiple-RBI game since May 6. He also had a scratch single and a walk in four plate appearances, raising his average to .200.

Christian Yelich put Miami ahead to stay with a two-run homer. Ichiro Suzuki had a pinch-hit single for his 2,980th career hit.

Diamondbacks 10

Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA — Peter O’Brien and Yasmany Tomas each hit two of Arizona’s team-record six home runs to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 10-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Paul Goldschmidt and Wellington Castillo also went deep for Arizona, which opened a 10-game trip by tying the club record for home runs in a game. Goldschmidt also singled and doubled while extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

O’Brien, who drove in four runs, has homered for all three of his hits this season. He was called up from Triple-A on June 10 and is 3 for 20.

Mariners 8

Red Sox 4

BOSTON — Franklin Gutierrez homered in his first two at-bats and drove in a career-high six runs as the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Friday night.

Robinson Cano added a pair of RBIs, including his 19th homer with a leadoff shot in the seventh, as Seattle won its second straight since a four-game losing streak.

Hisashi Iwakuma (6-5) had plenty of offensive support from the start and went seven innings, allowing four runs on nine hits.

Blue Jays 13

Orioles 2

BALTIMORE — Michael Saunders set career highs with three homers and eight RBIs, and the Toronto Blue Jays blew past the Baltimore Orioles 13-2 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.

Saunders connected with two on against Mike Wright (3-4) in the first inning, added another three-run drive off Wright in the fourth and went deep against Ubaldo Jimenez with a man on in the sixth.

Batting in the eighth against T.J. McFarland and with the chance to tie the major league record of four homers in a game, Saunders bounced into a bases-loaded double play.

From wire reports