Baseball-Highlights of MLB games on Wednesday

(Adds later games) Sept 23 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Wednesday: - - - - Angels 6, Astros 5 David Freese delivered a two-run double in a three-run eighth inning that helped the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros. Freese pushed the Angels (78-74) in front with his blast to left-center field that drove in Mike Trout and pinch-runner Collin Cowgill to erase the Astros' 4-3 lead. The Angels closed to within 1-1/2 games of the Astros (80-73) in the chase for the second wild card in the American League. - - Tigers 7, White Sox 4 Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings and Victor Martinez blasted his 200th career home run to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Verlander (4-8), who struck out eight, held the White Sox to three runs and five hits, while Martinez gave him an early cushion with his two-run shot in the first inning. - - Braves 6, Mets 3 First baseman Freddie Freeman capped a brief but very productive game by hitting a three-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 6-3 win over the New York Mets. Freeman entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth and delivered a two-run double to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. He wound up with five RBIs. - - Blue Jays 4, Yankees 0 Marcus Stroman pitched seven scoreless innings while Russell Martin hit a three-run homer as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees. The victory gave the Blue Jays (87-65) a 3-1/2 game lead over the second-place Yankees (83-68) in the American League East. Stroman (3-0) allowed five hits, one walk and struck out five. - - Orioles 4, Nationals 3 Third baseman Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Max Scherzer as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Machado was also hit by a pitch in the ninth by closer Jonathan Papelbon, who was then ejected as the benches cleared. The Orioles (75-76) are still within touching distance of the second wild card spot in the American League, four games behind Houston. The Nationals (78-73) remained 6-1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East. - - Red Sox 6, Rays 2 Daniel Nava hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and spark the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. - - Marlins 4, Phillies 3 (11 innings) Second baseman Dee Gordon hit a double to drive in Miguel Rojas in the 11th inning to lead the Miami Marlins to a 4-3 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The game had no effect on the playoff races as Miami (65-87) and Philadelphia (57-95) are well out of the running in the National League. - - Brewers 4, Cubs 1 Right-hander Zach Davies worked six shutout innings as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. Milwaukee starter Zach Davies allowed two hits, walked one and struck out four before reliever Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 35th save. - - Twins 4, Indians 2 Trevor Plouffe had three hits while Phil Hughes pitched five scoreless innings as the Minnesota Twins toppled the Cleveland Indians. The Twins did all of their damage in the fourth inning against reigning Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber, who was tagged for four runs and lasted just 3-2/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. - - Cardinals 10, Reds 2 St. Louis belted four homers to cruise to a 10-2 rout of Cincinnati with second baseman Matt Carpenter hitting two. Right fielder Randal Grichuk and center fielder Peter Bourjos cracked solo shots for the Cardinals. - - Royals 4, Mariners 3, (10 innings) Lorenzo Cain hit a single in the 10th inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Jarrod Dyson's sacrifice fly in the ninth had scored Cain to send the game into extra innings. Wade Davis (8-1) claimed the victory, while David Rollins (0-2) took the loss. - - Pirates 13, Rockies 7 The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched a playoff berth for the third successive year after they scored six runs in the ninth to beat the Colorado Rockies. Second baseman Neil Walker had a career-high six RBIs, the first five coming in the first three innings. He singled home two runs in the first and hit a three-run homer in the third off starter Christian Bergman (3-1). - - Rangers 10, Athletics 3 Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre hit three-run homers, and Rougned Odor added a solo shot, powering Texas to victory - - Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 1 Second baseman Chase Utley homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Utley doubled off reliever David Hernandez to score shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Utley also hit a lead-off home run for the Dodgers (85-65) who are within sight of their third consecutive National League West title. - - Padres 5, Giants 4 Jedd Gyorko's two-out RBI single off Santiago Casilla in the ninth inning lifted the San Diego Padres to a 5-4 win over the Giants, dealing a serious blow to San Francisco's playoff hopes. The defending World Series champion Giants fell seven games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West with 11 games remaining. - - (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)