>>Nats Outslug Cards
(St. Louis, MO) — Howie Kendrick homered in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and put the Nationals up for good as they topped the Cardinals 6-2 at Busch Stadium. Kendrick’s shot tied the Nats’ season home run record at 215. Victor Robles went 2-for-3 with two RBI for Washington, which sits atop the NL wild card race. Patrick Corbin yielded two unearned runs and struck out 11 over six frames to get the win. Miles Mikolas gave up three runs over six innings to take the loss for the Cards, who have dropped five-of-eight.
>>Reds Ride Three-Run First Past Cubs
(Chicago, IL) — Aristides Aquino launched a two-run homer to cap a three-run first inning and the Reds went on to beat the Cubs 4-2 at Wrigley Field. Joey Votto drove in the first run with a double for Cincinnati, which has won four of its last six games. Sonny Gray gave up two runs over six-and-two-thirds, striking out nine for his 11th win. Kyle Schwarber drove in both Chicago runs with a double and a triple. Yu Darvish struck out 13,including eight in-a-row, but gave up four runs in seven innings to take the loss. Chicago had its five-game winning streak snapped.
>>Brewers Get By Padres On “Moose” Homer
(Milwaukee, WI) — Mike Moustakas broke a 1-all tie with a solo homer in the seventh inning and the Brewers went on to beat the Padres 3-1 at Miller Park. Lorenzo Cain also homered as Milwaukee won its fourth in-a-row. Matt Albers got the win and Drew Pomeranz his second save. The Brewers are tied with the Cubs for the second wild card spot as both teams are two games behind St. Louis.
>>A’s Edge Royals
(Oakland, CA) — Brett Anderson and three relievers combined on a six-hitter as the A’s edged the Royals 2-1 in Oakland. Rookie A.J. Puk got the win with two scoreless innings. Liam Hendriks fanned two in a flawless ninth for his 23rd save. Matt Olson’s solo homer tied the game at one in the seventh and Seth Brown doubled in the go-ahead run two batters later. Jorge Lopez took the loss, allowing two runs and four hits in six-plus innings. Nick Dini’s sac-fly scored the KC run in the fifth. The Royals fell 40 games below .500 at 56-and-96.
