LDN - Sports

MLB roundup: Giants, Cardinals, Mets tied in wild card

[September 22, 2016] The Sports Xchange

LOS ANGELES -- Solo home runs by Eduardo Nunez in the fifth inning and Brandon Belt in the ninth held up as the San Francisco Giants defeated Los Angeles 2-0 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

San Francisco snapped a three-game losing streak, but it came with a price. Winning pitcher Johnny Cueto (17-5) left the game in the sixth inning with a groin strain, while standout shortstop Brandon Crawford is out with a fractured left pinky.

Cueto is listed as day-to-day, while there's not yet a timetable for Crawford.

The Giants (80-71) pulled into a three-way tie with St. Louis and the New York Mets for the two National League wild-card spots, and trail the Dodgers by five games in the West.

Cardinals 10, Rockies 5

DENVER -- Adam Wainwright earned the victory and recorded a career-high four RBIs to help St. Louis rout Colorado at Coors Field.

St. Louis are tied with the New York Mets for the top wild-card spot in the National League. San Francisco was a half-game back pending the outcome of their late game with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wainwright (12-9) worked 5 1/3 innings, the third time in four starts he failed to reach the sixth. He improved to 9-1 with a 1.70 ERA in 14 games (10 starts) versus the Rockies, 3-0, 2.73 in five games (four starts) in Denver.

Braves 5, Mets 4

NEW YORK -- Julio Teheran continued his mastery of New York as the right-hander allowed one run over seven strong innings to lead Atlanta to its second straight victory over the Mets.

The National League wild card-leading Mets (80-71) entered Tuesday with a one-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

Teheran (6-10) allowed five hits and one walk while striking out one as his ERA against New York this season rose from 0.78 to 0.90. He is 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 15 career games (14 starts) versus the Mets.

Red Sox 5, Orioles 2

BALTIMORE -- David Ortiz got his 36th home run, a three-run shot in the seventh inning, and Boston extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards.

The Red Sox increased their lead over the Orioles to five games in the American League East. Baltimore lost three out of four, but still holds a narrow margin for one of the two wild-card spots.

Mookie Betts continued to pound Orioles' pitching and went 3-for-5 with two runs, while Jackie Bradley Jr. got his 26th homer.

Cubs 6, Reds 1

CHICAGO -- Jon Lester claimed his National League-leading 18th victory as Chicago beat Cincinnati at Wrigley Field.

Lester (18-4) allowed one run on six hits while striking out five and walking none in a seven-inning outing.

His 18 wins are the most since going 19-9 with the Red Sox in 2009.

Anthony Rizzo was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, Kris Bryant added three hits and Dexter Fowler reached base four times as the Cubs mounted a 11-hit attack.

Marlins 1, Nationals 0

MIAMI -- Jose Fernandez pitched eight scoreless innings, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run as Miami defeated Washington at Marlins Park.

The Nationals, till comfortably ahead in the NL East, lost four games in a row. The Marlins have been projected to have less than a one percent chance to make the playoffs as an NL wild-card team. They won three games in a row.

Fernandez struck out 12 and allowed just three hits and no walks. It was his ninth double-figure strikeout game of the season, and he retired 21 consecutive batters before running into trouble in the eighth.

Indians 2, Royals 1

CLEVELAND -- Brandon Guyer's pinch-hit double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Cleveland a victory over Kansas City at Progressive Field.

Andrew Miller pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. Brian Flynn took the loss.

The win reduced the Indians' magic number for winning the AL Central Division to six games.

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Rangers 5, Angels 4

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Nomar Mazara added to his Rookie of the Year candidacy with his 20th home run to lead Texas past Los Angeles at Globe Life Park.

The American League-leading Rangers (90-62) took the first two games of the series and tied their high-water mark of the season at 28 games above .500. Texas' magic number to clinch the AL West was two games prior to the outcome of late games for Houston and Seattle.

Mazara leads all American League rookies in homers, RBIs, hits, runs and total bases. He's the fourth rookie in Texas franchise history to hit at least 20 home runs.

Blue Jays 10, Mariners 4

SEATTLE -- Toronto's J.A. Happ became baseball's second 20-game winner as the Blue Jays used an eight-run fourth inning to rout Seattle.

Happ (20-4) pitched five innings, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out eight, and got plenty of support as Toronto piled up 14 hits including four home runs.

The Blue Jays (83-68) moved into first place in the American League wild-card standings, one game ahead of Baltimore. Seattle (79-72) is three games behind the Orioles in the race for the second spot.

Tigers 8, Twins 1

MINNEAPOLIS -- Miguel Cabrera hit his 442nd career home run, and added a bit of drama with his legs, to back Matt Boyd's career-high eight innings as Detroit beat Minnesota at Target Field.

Boyd (6-4) bounced back from a disappointing loss at home to Minnesota last week by giving up three hits and one walk. He tied a career high with seven strikeouts.

Cabrera's 34th homer of the season was a two-run liner to left in the seventh inning to tie him with Dave Kingman for 41st in major league history. He also passed Joe DiMaggio for 48th all-time with 1,538 RBIs.

Astros 2, Athletics 1 (10 innings)

OAKLAND -- Tony Kemp hit a leadoff double in the 10th inning and scored the go-ahead run on George Springer's single as Houston prevailed at the Oakland Coliseum.

The Astros moved within two games of the second American League wild-card spot by defeating the Athletics for the sixth straight time.

Reliever Chris Devenski (4-4) pitched 3 2/3 innings perfect innings for the win, striking out four.

Yankees 5, Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Gary Sanchez belted a three-run homer in a four-run seventh inning as New York rallied past Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Sanchez's 17 home runs are the most by a Yankees rookie since Alfonso Soriano in 2001. They're also tied for the most home runs in a player's first 44 career games in the last century, equaling the Boston Braves' Wally Berger in 1930. He's hit home runs in three straight games and has six in his last 11 contests.

New York bounced back from a four-game sweep against Boston that had them losing seven of eight games. Tampa Bay had won four of six coming in with two victories apiece over American League East contenders Toronto and Baltimore.

Pirates 6, Brewers 3

MILWAUKEE -- Josh Bell and Jordy Mercer drove in two runs apiece and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee at Miller Park.

Adam Frazier finished with three hits while Andrew McCutchen, Francisco Cervelli and Mercer recorded two each for the Pirates, who totaled 13.

Martin Maldonado and Hernan Perez recorded two hits apiece for Milwaukee.

Phillies 7, White Sox 6

PHILADELPHIA -- Odubel Herrera continued his stellar week as he went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, two stolen bases and three RBIs to power Philadelphia over Chicago at Citizens Bank Park.

Over his last seven games, Herrera is 15-for-28 with two home runs, four doubles and six RBIs.

Tommy Joseph went 2-for-3 with an RBI double as the Phillies' 2-3-4 hitters went a combined 7-for-11 with five runs scored and six RBIs.

Padres 5, Diamondbacks 2

SAN DIEGO -- Adam Rosales drove in four runs with a pair of sacrifice flies and a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning to lead San Diego to a rain-delayed victory over Arizona.

Ryan Schimpf opened the sixth with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch as Alex Dickerson struck out. Rosales then hit a 360-foot liner into the left field stands off Zack Godley (4-4) to snap a 2-2 tie. The home run was Rosales 11th of the season and second in three games.

Paul Goldschmidt had two hits for the Diamondbacks, including a two-run, sixth-inning homer. Dickerson and Arizona's Yasmany Tomas each had two hits as the teams finished with four hits apiece.

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