Baseball-Highlights of Tuesday's MLB games

(Adds late games) Sept 16 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Tuesday's Major League Baseball Games - - Brewers 3, Cardinals 2 (12 innings) Hector Gomez pinch ran in the ninth and scored the tying run and then blooped a two-out single to right in the top of the 12th to score the go-ahead run as the Milwaukee Brewers' won 3-2 over the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the fifth win in six games for the Brewers (79-72), who pulled within four games of the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central and stayed 1-1/2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second NL wild card spot. St. Louis (83-68) lost for just the sixth time in 26 home games and had their division lead over Pittsburgh dipped to 2-1/2 games. - - Nationals 3, Braves 0 Shortstop Ian Desmond hit a long two-run homer and right-hander Tanner Roark pitched seven scoreless innings as the Washington Nationals clinched the National League East championship with a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Desmond ripped his 23rd homer deep in the left-center field stands at Turner Field against Atlanta right-hander Aaron Harang in the sixth inning to break up a scoreless game and give the Nationals the only runs they would need. Roark (14-10) allowed five hits and struck out four as Washington won its second division championship in three years. - - Orioles 8, Blue Jays 2 Steve Pearce and Jimmy Paredes both homered early while Alejandro De Aza added a three-run triple as the Baltimore Orioles wrapped up their first American League East division title in 17 years with an 8-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. - - Pirates 4, Red Sox 0 Charlie Morton pitched five scoreless innings and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates blanked the Boston Red Sox 4-0. Morton (6-12) notched his first win since July 2 and helped the Pirates (80-70) to their ninth victory in 11 games. The Pirates remain ahead of Milwaukee for the second National League wild card and closed in to 2-1/2 games behind St. Louis for the NL Central. Catcher Russell Martin and left fielder Starling Marte both hit home runs. - - Twins 4, Tigers 3 Aaron Hicks' walk-off RBI infield single lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 4-3 victory over the first-place Detroit Tigers. Down one after closer Glen Perkins blew a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, the Twins rallied to upset the American League Central leaders, allowing Kansas City a chance to reel in their division lead. - - Rockies 10, Dodgers 4 The Colorado Rockies emphatically ended their offensive drought, pounding the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4. The Rockies had nine hits, seven fewer than the Dodgers, but Colorado utilized several productive outs to score its first three runs, then got a two-run homer from left fielder Corey Dickerson in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. - - Giants 2, Diamondbacks 1 San Francisco catcher Buster Posey homered and shortstop Brandon Crawford hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to give the Giants a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Right-hander Jake Peavy (6-4) gave up one run and five hits in 7-2/3 innings as the Giants (83-68) broke a three-game losing streak and closed to within three games of the Dodgers in the NL West. - - Rays 6, Yankees 1 Derek Jeter got hit by a pitch that nearly started a brawl and the Tampa Bay Rays ran off to a 6-1 win over the New York Yankees. The Rays blew the game open with a four-run rally in the seventh while Rays reliever Steve Geltz struck shortstop Jeter on the forearm with a pitch in the eighth, one of a handful of spiteful incidents. - - Mets 9, Marlins 1 New York Mets rookie second baseman Wilmer Flores enjoyed the first two-homer game of his career in a 9-1 win over the Miami Marlins. Flores hit a three-run homer in the fifth and a two-run shot in the seventh on his way to finishing 3-for-4 with three extra-base hits, three runs scored and six RBIs. - - Cubs 7, Reds 0 Right-hander Jake Arrieta fell short in a no-hitter bid but still closed with a one-hit shutout as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-0. Arrieta (9-5) tossed 7 1/3 no-hit innings before giving up a double to left-center to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips with one out in the eighth. He threw 109 pitches, struck out a season-high 13 and walked just one. - - Indians 4, Astros 2 Corey Kluber struck out a career-high 14 batters as the Cleveland Indians won 4-2 over Houston. Kluber (16-9) allowed one run on seven hits and two walks over seven innings while recording his ninth double-digit strikeout game this season. - - White Sox 7, Royals 5 Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run triple in the seventh inning, and the Chicago White Sox rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 7-5. Chicago trailed 5-4 before loading the bases in the seventh ahead of Gillaspie's hit. - - Rangers 6, A's 3 Rookie Jake Smolinski hit his first career home run, powering the Texas Rangers to a 6-3 victory over Oakland, delivering a blow to the Athletics' wild-card playoff push. Smolinski, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, launched a two-run homer off A's left-hander Scott Kazmir in the fourth inning, giving Texas a 2-0 lead. The A's (83-67) own the American League's top wild-card spot, but the Kansas City Royals are one game back. - - Padres 5, Phillies 4 Shortstop Alexi Amarista put the Padres ahead with a two-run homer in the sixth inning and right-handed starter Ian Kennedy and three relievers held Philadelphia to four hits as San Diego beat the Phillies 5-4. Amarista's two-out, 357-foot drive into the first row of seats in right erased a 3-2 Phillies lead. Amarista was 3-for-4 and finished a triple shy of the first cycle in Padres history. - - Mariners 13, Angels 2 The Seattle Mariners built an insurmountable lead with two big innings on their way to a 13-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. With the win, the Mariners moved into a tie with the Royals for the second wild-card spot. For the Angels, their magic number to clinch the division was reduced to two thanks to the Rangers' victory over the A's. - - (Compiled by Ben Everill)