Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

(Adds late games) Sept 17 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball Games - - Cardinals 2, Brewers 0 Adam Wainwright scattered seven hits in a complete-game shutout to push the St. Louis Cardinals closer to the National League Central title with a 2-0 blanking of Milwaukee. Wainwright (19-9) walked two and struck out seven in his third shutout and fifth complete game of the season, tying Clayton Kershaw for the major league lead in wins while improving to 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA in September. The Cardinals (84-68) stayed 2-1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the Central division while the Brewers (79-73) dropped five games behind St. Louis and 2-1/2 games behind the Pirates for the NL's second wild-card spot. - - Giants 4, Diamondbacks 2 San Francisco pinch hitter Matt Duffy hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the ninth inning, and the Giants moved to within two games of the National League West lead with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Brandon Crawford had a double and three singles and scored twice for the Giants (84-68). San Francisco left-hander Madison Bumgarner (18 wins), who is attempting to become the Giants' first 20-game winner since John Burkett (22) and Bill Swift (21) in 1993, gave up two runs in six innings but did not get a decision. - - Rockies 16, Dodgers 2 The Colorado Rockies pounced on spot starter Carlos Frias for eight runs in the first inning and overwhelmed the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-2. First baseman Justin Morneau drove in five of the eight runs in the first with a three-run home run and two-run single tying the franchise record for RBI in an inning. Center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 5-for-5 with four runs scored and a home run as the Rockies pounded out 21 hits. - - Braves 3, Nationals 1 The Atlanta Braves still maintain their slim hope of nabbing the second National League wild-card spot, but they are running out of time even after snapping their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win the Washington Nationals. The Braves (76-76) remain 5-1/2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last playoff spot with 10 games to play. Shortstop Phil Gosselin had three hits. - - Pirates 9, Red Sox 1 Francisco Liriano won his third straight start, Ike Davis hit a three-run home run and Clint Barmes had three hits to lead the streaking Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Pirates (81-70) remained in the thick of the National League playoff chase, 2-1/2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card race and 2-1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central division. - - Yankees 3, Rays 2 Derek Jeter ended a hitless streak to spark the eventual winning rally while right-hander Brandon McCarthy gave the New York Yankees another strong performance in a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter broke an 0-for-28 slump. - - Marlins 4, Mets 3 The Miami Marlins scored two runs on four straight singles in the first inning on the way to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets. The Marlins never trailed in taking two of three from the Mets who are two losses away from clinching their sixth straight losing season. - - Orioles 6, Blue Jays 1 Steve Pearce drove in four runs with a pair of homers and the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 6-1 victory. Pearce now has 20 home runs on the year, four more than he hit over the past seven seasons combined. - - Indians 2, Astros 0 Carlos Carrasco tossed a two-hit shutout as the Cleveland Indians beat the Houston Astros 2-0. Carrasco (8-5) recorded his first career shutout in dominating fashion, recording a career-high 12 strikeouts and walking one. He retired 17 consecutive batters before Astros second baseman Jose Altuve reached on his second infield single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Indians (78-73) kept alive their faint postseason hopes with their second consecutive win. - - Cubs 3, Reds 1 Ryan Kalish's second-inning RBI double supplied the go-ahead run as the Chicago Cubs completed three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 3-1 victory. - - Angels 5, Mariners 0 The Los Angeles Angels claimed the American League West title courtesy of a 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners and an Oakland A's loss to Texas. The Angels' hero was first baseman C.J. Cron, whose three-run home run in the seventh inning broke open a close game. The Angels' C.J. Wilson and the Mariners' James Paxton were locked in a pitchers' duel for 6 1/2 innings, neither team able to get a baserunner as far as third base but it all ended quickly for Paxton and the Mariners in the bottom of the seventh, when the Angels scored five times. - - Twins 8, Tigers 4 A three-run sixth inning fueled the Minnesota Twins in an 8-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. The loss left the Tigers just a half game ahead of the Royals for first place in the American League Central Division lead. Trailing by a run in the sixth, the top of the Twins lineup strung together three straight extra-base hits, pushing three runs across and giving Minnesota the lead for good. Danny Santana's double drove in Aaron Hicks, tying the game at four before an RBI triple by Brian Dozier and a run-scoring double by Joe Mauer pushed the Minnesota lead to 6-4. - - Royals 6, White Sox 2 Right fielder Nori Aoki set a club record for hits in a three-game series and center fielder Lorenzo Cain belted a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals topped the Chicago White Sox 6-2. Aoki, who had back-to-back four-hit games, went 3-for-4 to bring his hit total to 11 for the series. Cain's three-run homer punctuated a four-run third off left-hander Chris Sale (11-4). - - Phillies 5, Padres 2 Native son Cole Hamels continued his domination of the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs on five hits in the fifth inning to win 5-2. Hamels, who was born and raised in San Diego, allowed one run on seven hits over seven innings to improve to 9-7 on the season and lower the National League's second-best ERA to 2.47. The win was Hamels' sixth straight against the Padres. - - Rangers 6, A's 1 Rougned Odor hit a game-tying double, and J.P. Arencibia crushed a three run homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Texas Rangers rallied for a 6-1 win over the Oakland A's. The Rangers trailed 1-0 entering the top of the ninth inning before scoring six times, sending 12 batters to the plate. The A's (83-68) fell into a tie with Kansas City for the top wild-card spot in the American League and remains two games ahead of the Seattle Mariners, but handed the division to the Angels. - - (Compiled by Ben Everill)