UNDATED (AP) — The San Francisco Giants have increased their lead in the NL West to two games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants are 40 games over .500 after putting together a four-run ninth in a 7-4 victory at Colorado. The Rockies led 4-3 until Lamonte Wade Jr. lined a two-run single and scored on Evan Longoria’s two-run double.
Brandon Crawford homered and Brandon Belt had three hits for the NL West leaders, who are the first major league team with 90 wins.
Tyler Rogers helped San Francisco get its fourth straight victory, working a scoreless eighth to move to 6-1.
The Cardinals did the Giants a favor by beating the Dodgers, 5-4. Yadier Molina homered and winning pitcher Adam Wainwright came within two outs of a complete game.
Tyler O’Neill added a solo home run in the eighth inning as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak.
Givoanny Gallegos recorded the final two outs in the ninth inning with the potential winning run at the plate for his fifth save.
Checking out the rest of Wednesday’s major league slate:
— Bryan De La Cruz had three hits, including a game-winning single that lifted the Marlins past the Mets, 2-1. Miami starter Sandy Alcantara struck out a career-best 14 and allowed one run in nine innings. The right-hander gave up four hits and threw a career-high 114 pitches.
— The Cubs made it eight wins in their last nine games as Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to complete a 4-1 downing of the Reds. Ian Happ homered for the third straight game, extending his hitting streak to a career-high nine games and helping the Cubs win their third consecutive series. Joey Votto homered for Cincinnati, which lost for the fourth time in six games and fell one game behind San Diego for the second NL wild card.
— The Padres were 8-5 winners over the Angels as Yu Darvish threw six innings of one-run ball to earn his first victory in 11 starts. Adam Frazier had two hits and three RBIs during an eight-run second. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his 37th save, tops in the majors.
— Juan Soto crushed a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of the Nationals’ 4-2 decision over the Braves. Washington relied on its bullpen after Sean Nolin was ejected eight pitches into his start for throwing behind Freddie Freeman. Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario hit solo homers for Atlanta, which continues to pace the NL East by 2 1/2 games over Philadelphia.
— Milwaukee leads the NL Central by 12 games after Eduardo Escobar hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning to send the Brewers past the Phillies, 4-3. Milwaukee’s bullpen covered 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Freddy Peralta. Bryce Harper homered for the Phillies, who dropped two of three in the series.
— The Red Sox knocked off the Rays, 2-1 as Hunter Renfroe belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning and threw out Joey Wendle trying for a triple from right field for the final out of the ninth. Boston avoided a three-game sweep in a game that was scoreless entering the eighth inning. Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight while limiting the AL East leaders to three hits over seven innings.
— The Blue Jays have a seven-game winning streak after Teoscar Hernández singled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning of Toronto’s 6-3 victory over the Yankees. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. capped the scoring for the Jays with his 41st home run, a ninth-inning solo shot off Aroldis Chapman. The Yankees fell a half-game behind Boston for the first AL wild card and are just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays for the second slot.
— The Mariners avoided a three-game sweep by scoring four times in the ninth inning of an 8-5 win over the Astros. José Marmolejos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two out in the ninth before J.P. Crawford slammed a two-run homer. The Mariners trailed most of the game before tying it at 4 on a two-run double by Jarred Kelenic with two out in the seventh.
— The Athletics’ 5-1 win over the White Sox puts Oakland within three games of the Yankees for the second AL wild card. Frankie Montas was sharp over seven innings as he limited the runaway AL Central leaders to six hits and a run while fanning seven over seven frames. Matt Chapman opened the scoring with a solo homer and Chad Pinder delivered an RBI triple as the A’s ended a four-game slide.
— Joe Ryan carried a perfect game into the seventh inning of his second big league appearance to lead the Twins to a 3-0 shutout of the Indians. Ryan retired his first 19 batters before Amed Rosario lined a single, Cleveland’s only hit of the night. Ryan struck out four over seven innings, throwing 61 strikes in 85 pitches.
— The Tigers were 5-1 winners over the Pirates as Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Grossman each had four hits. Cabrera was 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs to help Detroit avoid a sweep. Grossman was 4 for 5 and scored three runs.
— Jose Trevino drove in three runs and Nathaniel Lowe had three hits as the Rangers beat the Diamondbacks, 8-5. Arizona’s Luke Weaver retired his first nine batters before Texas broke through with three runs while sending nine to the plate in the fourth. The Rangers’ fourth straight win ties a season high.
— The Orioles erupted for nine runs in the eighth inning of a 9-8 stunner against the Royals. Ryan Mountcastle capped the fireworks with a two-run homer after two Kansas City outfielders collided on a ball hit by Cedric Mullins, allowing two runs to score. Salvador Pérez hit his 42nd homer for Kansas City and trails Shohei Ohtani by one for most in MLB.
