Baseball-Highlights from Thursday's MLB games

(Adds late game) Oct 1 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Thursday: - - - - Dodgers 3, Giants 2 The Los Angeles Dodgers moved into a tie with the New York Mets in the overall National League standings by riding left-hander Brett Anderson's strong pitching to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Right fielder Andre Ethier tripled, scored Los Angeles' first run and drove in its third for the Dodgers (89-70), who have clinched the National League West title and finish the season at home with three games against the San Diego Padres. The NL East champion Mets (89-70) finish at home with three games against the Washington Nationals. The team with the better record will earn home-field advantage in the best-of-five playoff series between the two teams that begins next Friday. - - Cubs 5, Reds 3 Austin Jackson homered while Jason Hammel pitched five shutout innings to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. It rained steadily through most of the game but not enough to result in a delay. Chicago (94-65) won their fifth successive game to pull within two games of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the battle for home field in the National League wild-card game. - - Phillies 3, Mets 0 Jerad Eickhoff combined with two relievers on a six-hit shutout as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets. First baseman Darin Ruf and third baseman Andres Blanco homered for the Phillies. Eickhoff, facing a lineup of Mets reserves, went seven innings and allowed four hits as he struck out 10 and walked one. - - Orioles 6, Blue Jays 4 Manny Machado homered twice and stole two bases as the Baltimore Orioles outlasted a rain delay of almost 3-1/2 hours to beat the Toronto Blue Jays. The start time was also brought forward because of concerns about the impending Hurricane Joaquin that is starting to affect the East Coast. Machado hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added a solo shot in the sixth, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs. - - Yankees 4, Red Sox 1 Right fielder Carlos Beltran, first baseman Greg Bird and second baseman Rob Refsnyder hit solo home runs while CC Sabathia pitched five innings as the New York Yankees clinched a post-season berth with a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees (87-72) clinched their first post-season berth since 2012. Sabathia (6-10) allowed one run and six hits while pitching through rain and wind during his fifth start since returning from right knee inflammation. - - Rangers 5, Angels 3 The Texas Rangers guaranteed themselves a post-season spot by beating the Los Angeles Angels with third baseman Adrian Beltre driving in three runs for Texas. Rangers starter Derek Holland (4-3) worked into the seventh and allowed three runs. The left-hander struck out six and gave up three hits in 6-1/3 innings. Texas (87-72) can do no worse than a wild card. The Rangers are three games ahead of Houston (84-75) in the American League West with three games left in the regular season. The Astros begin a three-game series with Arizona on Friday. Texas needs one more win, or an Astros loss, to clinch their sixth division title. - - Nationals 3, Braves 0 Stephen Strasburg pitched six scoreless innings in his final start of the season, helping the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves. Strasburg (11-7) allowed six hits and one walk while striking out seven. - - Twins 4, Indians 2 The Minnesota Twins rallied to score two unearned runs in the ninth inning to beat the Cleveland Indians. Glen Perkins (3-5), who pitched the bottom of the eighth, got the win before Kevin Jepsen picked up his 15th save. - - Rays 4, Marlins 1 Third baseman Evan Longoria recorded a solo home run and an RBI double as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins. The Rays got a strong start from Jake Odorizzi (9-9), who gave up four hits in seven innings, striking out seven. - - Padres 3, Brewers 1 Third baseman Yangervis Solarte broke up a scoreless tie with a two-run homer as San Diego defeated the Milwaukee Brewers. Ian Kennedy (9-15) allowed one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts over six innings for his first win since Aug. 22. Craig Kimbrel picked up his 39th save. - - Royals 6, White Sox 4 The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, but they had two more key players leave the game early with injuries. A day after center fielder Lorenzo Cain was hurt fouling a ball off his right knee, designated hitter Kendrys Morales experienced tightness in his left quadriceps in the fifth inning, while catcher Salvador Perez left in the eighth with swelling in his right thumb. - - Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 6 Catcher Welington Castillo doubled and drove in three runs and rookie left fielder Socrates Brito had three hits and scored twice in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field. Castillo's two-run double in a four-run seventh inning put Arizona ahead for good in a see-saw game in which they lost left fielder David Peralta to a wrist injury in the fourth inning. Peralta caught his glove in the turf and his wrist bent back on a sliding attempt to catch Rafael Ynoa's liner to short left field. The Diamondbacks did not characterize the injury, but said X-rays were negative. (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury/Peter Rutherford)