Baseball-Highlights of Thursday's MLB games

(Adds late game) Sept 24 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from Major League Baseball games on Thursday: - - - - Pirates 5, Rockies 4 Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies. Outfielder Starling Marte had four hits for the Pirates, who moved to within 3-1/2 games of St. Louis in the National League Central. The Cardinals play Milwaukee later on Thursday. Pittsburgh clinched at least a wild card on Wednesday. - - Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 3 Center fielder Chris Heisey hit a grand slam to highlight a six-run fifth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (15-7) struck out nine and gave up three runs on six hits before departing after five innings. It was his shortest stint this season. Closer Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 34th save. - - Rangers 8, Athletics 1 Left-hander Cole Hamels pitched six solid innings for his fifth successive victory as the Texas Rangers defeated the Oakland A's. The Rangers increased their lead in the American League West over idle Houston to a season-high 3-1/2 games. Hamels, who came to the Rangers from Philadelphia in an eight-player trade, gave up one unearned run on four hits, struck out two and walked three. - - Orioles 5, Nationals 4 Mike Wieters hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-4 win over the Nationals. Baltimore (76-76) pulled within 3-1/2 games of the idle Houston Astros in the race for the second American League wild card. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop hit a two-run homer in the fourth-inning that gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead. The Nationals replied with two runs in each of the fifth and seventh innings. - - Rays 4, Red Sox 2 Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria hit his 20th home run of the year before Steven Souza Jr. smacked a two-run double to cap a three-run sixth inning as the Rays beat the Boston Red Sox. - - Marlins 1, Phillies 0 Catcher J.T. Realmuto snapped a scoreless tie with a seventh-inning RBI triple to lead the Miami Marlins to a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. - - Yankees 3, White Sox 2 Right fielder Carlos Beltran hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning off left-hander Chris Sale as the New York Yankees held on for a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White. The Yankees (84-68) won for the seventh time in their last 11 games. - - Cardinals 7, Brewers 3 Stephen Piscotty knocked in St. Louis' last four runs to lift the Cardinals to a 7-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Piscotty, who has 37 RBIs in his first 58 big league games, went 3-for-4 to up his average to .313. Starter Michael Wacha (17-6) survived a shaky first to pick up the win. He allowed six hits and three runs over five innings with three walks and a strikeout. - - Mets 6, Reds 4 Lucas Duda delivered two run-scoring doubles while Daniel Murphy hit an RBI triple in the seventh as the New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds. New York (86-67) increased their lead in the National League East to 7-1/2 games over the Washington Nationals who lost to Baltimore. - - Indians 6, Twins 3 Cleveland pitcher Cody Anderson pitched 6-2/3 innings and got plenty of early run support as the Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-3. Cleveland moved to within four games of the idle Houston Astros for the second wild-card spot. Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor had three hits. Designated hitter Carlos Santana hit a three-run home run, and second baseman Jason Kipnis hit a solo shot. Anderson (6-3) scattered 10 hits but walked none and struck out four. After Indians reliever Bryan Shaw gave up two runs in 1-1/3 innings, closer Cody Allen threw a perfect ninth inning for his 32nd save. - - Royals 10, Mariners 4 Mike Moustakas homered, drove in three runs and reached five times as the Kansas City Royals thrashed the Seattle Mariners to seal the American league Central title. The Royals' victory and the Minnesota Twins' loss to the Cleveland Indians ensured Kansas City wrapped up their first divisional title since 1985 when they were in the AL West. - - Padres 5, Giants 4 Pinch hitter Alexi Amarista singled home catcher Derek Norris in the ninth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Gianhts. The loss dropped the World Series champion Giants eight games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers with 10 games to play in the National League West. San Francisco are 10 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card. Norris also hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. - - - - (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)