Baseball-Highlights of Monday's MLB games

(Adds late games) Sept 28 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Monday: - - - Cardinals 3, Pirates 0 Mark Reynolds hit a two-run home run to cap a three-run ninth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a scoreless tie and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Monday night to get closer to their third straight National League Central title. The Cardinals increased their division lead to four games over the Pirates. Both teams have five games remaining and St. Louis can wrap up the title with a win Tuesday night in the second game of a three-game series. - - - Cubs 1, Royals 0 (11 innings) Chris Denorfia led off the 11th inning with a first-pitch home run as the Chicago Cubs claimed a walk-off victory over Kansas City. Denorfia's lead-off home run off right-handed reliever Miguel Almonte gave the Cubs their major league-leading 13th walk-off win of the season. - - - Twins 4, Indians 2 Trevor Plouffe's two-run home run capped a three-run first inning as Minnesota beat Cleveland at Progressive Field. The win keeps the Twins squarely in the hunt for the second wild card spot in the American League. Left-hander Tommy Milone pitched into the sixth inning to get the win. - - - Blue Jays 4, Orioles 3 Justin Smoak drove in the tie-breaking run on a fielder's choice in the ninth as Toronto scored three runs in the final two innings and moved one step closer to the American League East title with a victory over Baltimore. The Blue Jays are winners of five straight games and reduced their magic number to three. - - - Red Sox 5, Yankees 1 Travis Shaw and Jackie Bradley hit two-run home runs in consecutive innings off right-hander Ivan Nova as Boston prevented the New York Yankees from inching closer to clinching a postseason berth. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez allowed one run and seven hits over six innings during his final start of the season. He became the first Boston rookie southpaw to win 10 games since John Curtis in 1972 and finished his rookie season at 121 2/3 innings. - - - Tigers 7, Rangers 4 For the third consecutive day, Texas missed an opportunity to directly reduce its magic number to clinch the American League West. The latest setback came at the hands of lowly Detroit. Starter Justin Verlander worked six solid innings and Tyler Collins added a three-run homer for the Tigers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 73-83. Texas starter Colby Lewis, seeking his 18th win, was shelled and couldn't get out of the fifth. Lewis lost for the first time in four outings. - - - Nationals 5, Reds 1 Right-hander Max Scherzer took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as Washington ended the home portion of its season with a win over Cincinnati. Scherzer did not allow a hit until Tucker Barnhart lined a clean single to left with one in the eighth. Later in the inning, Skip Schumaker had an RBI single to break up the shutout bid. - - - Astros 3, Mariners 2 George Springer, Evan Gattis and Chris Cater all hit home runs to lift Houston to win against Seattle. The Astros are now just 1 1/2 back of the division lead thanks to the Rangers' loss to the Tigers. - - - Angels 5, Athletics 4 David Murphy's pinch-hit line-drive single to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a win over Oakland at Angel Stadium. - - - Giants 3, Dodgers 2 (12 innings) Pinch-hitter Alejandro De Aza's sacrifice fly scored Marlon Byrd from third base in the bottom of the 12th inning night as San Francisco kept its slim playoff hopes alive by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers. Right-hander Jake Peavy pitched seven strong innings and Trevor Brown had a two-run double as the Giants kept the Dodgers from clinching the National League West, trimming their lead to five games with six remaining. (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)