MLB scores: Cubs inch closer to playoffs with 4-0 win over Brewers

Chicago Cubs' Jake Arrieta hits a single off Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Kyle Lohse during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Chicago on Sept. 22, 2015. (AP / Charles Rex Arbogast)

CHICAGO - Jake Arrieta threw a three-hitter to become the first pitcher in the major leagues to reach 20 wins, Kris Bryant set the Cubs rookie record for home runs and Chicago inched closer to a playoff berth with a victory over the Brewers.

Arietta (20-6) struck out 11 for Chicago, whose magic number for making its first post-season in seven years dropped to three.

The right-hander retired 14 in a row at one point in becoming the first Cubs pitcher to win 20 games since Jon Lieber in 2001.

Bryant, whose April 17 debut was one of the most anticipated in years, hit a two-run homer in the third off Tyler Cravy (0-8) to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. It was Bryant's 26th longball, besting Billy Williams' mark in 1961. Bryant added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 4

TORONTO - Greg Bird hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 Tuesday night to move closer in the AL East race.

Bird connected off reliever Mark Lowe (1-3) for the rookie's 10th home run in 34 games and third in the past three nights.

Brian McCann led off the 10th with a bunt single and was replaced by pinch-runner Rico Noel. Slade Heathcott reached on catcher's interference before Bird drove a 2-2 pitch into the right-field bullpen. Six of his 10 homers have given the Yankees a lead.

Andrew Miller (3-2) pitched two innings for the win and New York closed within 2 1/2 games of first-place Toronto. The teams meet for the final time this season Wednesday night.

ORIOLES 4, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON - Ubaldo Jimenez pitched six gritty innings to earn his 100th career win and added an RBI single as the Orioles beat the Nationals in the rain-delayed opener of a series between teams fighting to remain in the playoff race.

The 31-year-old Jimenez (12-9) won his third straight decision for Baltimore, which began the night trailing three teams and six games back for the AL's second wild card.

The Nationals remained 6 1-2 games back of the Mets, who lost to Atlanta, in the NL East. But New York's magic number to clinch the division dropped to six.

Bryce Harper set the Nationals record for walks, getting three free passes that upped his season total to 118.

Jimenez walked five, but allowed just an unearned run on three hits while also striking out five.

Monday's opener was postponed by rain. The teams are scheduled to play a makeup game Thursday.

BRAVES 6, METS 2

NEW YORK - Rookie right-hander Matt Wisler stopped his nine-start winless drought and the Braves stalled the Mets' push toward the NL East title.

David Wright homered as the Mets lost for the fifth time in seven games. They held their 6 1/2-game lead over Washington, whose loss to Baltimore cut New York's magic number to six for clinching the division.

Down 4-1, the Mets loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Edwin Jackson, Atlanta's fourth pitcher of the inning, gave up a sacrifice fly to pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer and got Wilmer Flores on a grounder to protect the lead.

Pinch-hitter Adonis Garcia lined a two-out, two-run double in the ninth off Mets reliever Tyler Clippard.

TIGERS 2, WHITE SOX 1, 10 innings

DETROIT - Rajai Davis' two-out triple in the 10th gave Detroit a victory over the White Sox, one inning after the Tigers lost a combined no-hitter.

Anthony Gose drew a two-out walk from Zach Duke (3-6) in the 10th. Davis sliced a 3-1 fastball into the corner in right field and Gose easily beat Trayce Thompson's throw to the plate.

Blaine Hardy (5-3) got the win with a scoreless 10th.

The Tigers were two outs away from the first combined no-hitter in franchise history, but Neftali Feliz, making his debut as the Tigers' closer after Bruce Rondon was sent home earlier in the day, couldn't finish it.

With one out, Tyler Saladino tripled to break up the no-hitter and Adam Eaton, who had broken up Detroit's attempt at a perfect game by being hit with a pitch in the seventh, tied the game with a single.

RANGERS 8, ATHLETICS 6

OAKLAND, Calif. - Delino DeShields hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth four batters after Mitch Moreland connected for a tying two-run homer, and the Rangers beat the Athletics to increase their lead in the AL West.

Chi Chi Gonzalez (4-5) pitched two scoreless innings for the win in relief of starter Martin Perez as the Rangers moved two games ahead of Houston after the Astros lost 4-3 at home to the Angels.

DeShields hit another sacrifice fly in the eighth, while Shin-Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre hit consecutive sacrifice flies in the fifth to aid the Texas comeback.

Jake Smolinski and Marcus Semien hit back-to-back RBI triples in the second to give the A's 40 on the season, tying the Oakland record set in 1968.

GIANTS 4, PADRES 2

SAN DIEGO - Rookie Trevor Brown's RBI double was his first major league hit and Angel Pagan had a two-run home run for the Giants, who beat the Padres to pull within six games of first-place Los Angeles in the NL West.

Time's running out for the defending World Series champion Giants, who have only 12 games left. They trail the Chicago Cubs by 9 1-2 games for the second wild card spot. The Giants have beaten the Padres six straight times and eight of nine.

San Diego's Tyson Ross (10-11) struck out 11 to tie his career high. That gave him a career-high 205 for the season. His previous high was 195 last year.

Brown got the start after catcher Buster Posey was a late scratch.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 2

BOSTON - Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer and Matt Moore recovered from a difficult start to strike out seven as the Rays beat the Red Sox.

Moore (2-4) allowed two hits and walked two in the first inning as Boston took a 2-0 lead.

Boston rookie Henry Owens was perfect through four innings.

Logan Forsythe led off the fifth with a double for Tampa Bay's first hit and he scored on a sacrifice fly. Owens (3-3) unraveled in the sixth.

Owens walked Richie Shaffer to start the inning and hit Brandon Guyer with one out. Mahtook singled to load the bases. Evan Longoria hit a sacrifice fly to right and Tampa Bay got another run when Mookie Betts' throw home sailed high and ended up in the stands for a 3-2 lead.

Mahtook added two runs in the eighth with a homer that cleared the Green Monster in left field.

TWINS 3, INDIANS 1

MINNEAPOLIS - Ervin Santana pitched strong into the eighth inning, Aaron Hicks and Brian Dozier each had two hits and an RBI from the top two spots in Minnesota's lineup, and the Twins beat the Indians to start a critical series for the American League wild card chasers.

Santana (6-4) turned in his fifth straight stellar start, surrendering five hits, one run and one walk while striking out seven. He gave up two singles to start the eighth, but Glen Perkins got three straight outs.

Kevin Jepsen struck out two in the ninth inning for his eighth save in nine tries since replacing Perkins as the closer.

Danny Salazar (13-9) struck out 21 batters over 13 innings in his first two turns against the Twins this season, beating them April 18 and May 10 with just seven hits and three runs allowed.

MARINERS 11, ROYALS 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Robinson Cano homered twice and drove in four runs and Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a season-high 10 as the Mariners romped past the slumping Royals.

The AL Central-leading Royals have dropped 12 of 17. Their magic number for clinching the division remained three.

Cano and Kyle Seager each hit solo homers in the first inning for Seattle, which has the league's best record in September at 13-6 but is still three games under .500 (74-77). It was Seager's 25th home run and his seventh in 23 games.

Cano hit a three-run shot in a seven-run third inning for his 15th career multihomer game. Cano's next hit will be the 2,000th of his career.

Iwakuma (9-4), who is 7-2 in his past nine starts, curbed the Royals on three singles over seven scoreless innings. He has allowed one run and 10 hits in 13 innings in his past two starts, while striking out 19 and walking one.

PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 2

MIAMI - Cody Asche hit two home runs to help Aaron Harang get his first victory in over a month as the Phillies beat the Marlins.

It was Harang's first win since July 30 against Atlanta, a span of eight starts. Harang (6-15) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and seven hits.

Darin Ruf homered and Freddy Galvis had three hits and drove in two runs for the Phillies, who announced before the game that Pete Mackanin would be their manager for the 2016 season, dropping the interim title he had since taking over for Ryne Sandberg on June 26.

Marlins starter Tom Koehler (10-14) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings.

Miguel Rojas hit a two-run homer for the Marlins. Rojas is hitting .343 (12 for 35) over his last 11 games.

CARDINALS 3, REDS 1

ST. LOUIS - John Lackey pitched seven strong innings, rookie Tommy Pham continued his productive hitting and the Cardinals beat the Reds.

Lackey (13-9) allowed only a first-inning homer by Jay Bruce during his 16th quality start in 16 outings at Busch Stadium. The veteran right-hander struck out seven, walked none and lowered his home ERA to 1.97.

St. Louis improved to a major league-best 95-56 with its second straight low-scoring victory over Cincinnati. Steve Cishek worked the ninth to earn his first save for St. Louis.

Pham hit a sacrifice fly to deep centre in the seventh that scored Tony Cruz and broke a 1-all tie. Pham drove in the Cardinals' first run with a third-inning double that brought in Matt Carpenter, who doubled with one out. Since moving into the lineup eight games ago, Pham has nine RBIs, eight extra-base hits and is batting .407.

ANGELS 4, ASTROS 3

HOUSTON - Mike Trout and Albert Pujols hit back-to-back homers in the first inning and the Angels held on for an important victory over the Astros.

The victory moves the Angels 2 1-2 games behind Houston for the second American League wild-card spot.

There was one on in the first when Trout launched his 40th homer into left-centre to make it 2-0. The 36th home run this season by Pujols extended the lead to 3-0.

Houston cut the lead to 1 when Marwin Gonzalez and Chris Carter hit consecutive solo shots in the second inning.

The Angels added an insurance run on an RBI single by Kole Calhoun in the eighth to help them snap a six-game losing streak in Houston.

Hector Santiago (9-9) allowed four hits and two runs in five-plus innings.

PIRATES 6, ROCKIES 3

DENVER - Starling Marte drove in two runs and the Pirates closed in on their third straight playoff berth by beating the Rockies.

The Pirates reduced their magic number to one for securing at least an NL wild card. A loss by San Francisco, which played later at San Diego, or a win Wednesday against the Rockies would clinch another trip to the post-season.

Pittsburgh also kept pace with NL Central leader St. Louis. The Cardinals beat Cincinnati to maintain a four-game lead over the second-place Pirates.

Pittsburgh scored in each of the first four innings against Chris Rusin to build a 6-3 lead.

DIAMONDBACKS 8, DODGERS 0

LOS ANGELES - Robbie Ray pitched six innings of three-hit ball, A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt hit back-to-back homers in the seventh, and the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers.

The Dodgers lost their fourth straight game, equaling their longest slide of the season, and their magic number for clinching their third straight NL West title remained at seven pending the outcome of San Francisco's game at San Diego.

The Diamondbacks have won the first two games of this four-game series after losing their previous nine at Dodger Stadium. But the Dodgers have aces for the next two - major league ERA leader Zack Greinke on Wednesday night and reigning NL MVP Clayton Kershaw on Thursday afternoon.

Ray (5-12) struck out seven, walked two and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning.