Major leagues: Dodgers cut into Rockies’ NL West lead
Justin Turner hit a two-run homer as part of a four-hit day and the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed closer to the first-place Colorado Rockies in the NL West with a 9-6 win Sunday.
The Dodgers captured two of three from the Rockies in a pivotal series and moved within a half-game for the division lead. Colorado has never won the NL West crown.
Enrique Hernandez homered and Chris Taylor added a two-run double as the Dodgers pounded out 14 hits on an afternoon when the Rockies’ scoreboard temporarily malfunctioned.
Milwaukee 6, San Francisco 3: Jonathan Schoop hit a grand slam after Ryan Braun was hit by a pitch in a tense sixth inning, and Milwaukee beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3, completing a series sweep and preserving the Brewers’ lead in the NL wild-card race.
Madison Bumgarner hit Braun with his third of three consecutive pitches inside to load the bases with two outs. Brewers players came a couple of steps out of the dugout, and manager Craig Counsell was ejected by plate umpire Tom Hallion.
Schoop, who had struck out in his first-two at-bats, then drove a 2-1 pitch from Bumgarner (5-6) over the wall in left to make it 5-2. It was Schoop’s fourth homer since being acquired from Baltimore July 31.
N.Y. Mets 6, Philadelphia 4: Even after Jacob deGrom was scratched on a rainy afternoon, the Phillies stumbled again when Vince Velasquez wasted a two-run lead in a 6-4 loss to the New York Mets that was as dismal for Philadelphia as Sunday’s weather.
Philadelphia led the NL East before play Aug. 12 but has faded by losing seven straight series and dropping 17 of its last 26 games. The Phillies started the day 3½ games behind first-place Atlanta and also trailed by the same margin for the second wild card with three weeks left.
Atlanta 9, Arizona 5: Ender Inciarte hit a three-run homer during a six-run rally in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks 9-5 to increase their NL East lead to 4½ games.
The Diamondbacks have lost seven of nine. They stayed 2 ½ games behind NL West-leading Colorado.
Cubs-Nationals ppd: Sunday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Thursday at 4:05 p.m.
American League
Toronto 6, Cleveland 2: Blue Jays right fielder Randal Grichuk was injured in a bizarre collision with a security guard’s chair, and replacement Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2.
The Indians began the day with a magic number of five to lock up their third straight AL Central title.
Grichuk was being checked for a possible concussion after slamming face-first into the guard’s chair while chasing Brandon Guyer’s foul fly in the fourth inning.
Oakland 7, Texas 3: Stephen Piscotty homered and Oakland rallied from an early three-run deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 7-3, the Athletics’ fourth straight win and sixth in seven games.
Seattle 3, N.Y. Yankees 2: Mitch Haniger dashed home to score the go-ahead run on a grounder in the eighth inning, then made a diving catch for the final out Sunday that gave the Seattle Mariners a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees.
L.A. Angels 1, Chicago White Sox 0: Andrew Heaney tossed three-hit ball over seven innings and struck out a career-high 12, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the Chicago White Sox 1-0 for a three-game sweep.
Minnesota 3, Kansas City 1: Willians Astudillo hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Minnesota Twins a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Tampa bay 8, Baltimore 3: Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in a five-run first inning and the Tampa Bay Rays tied a team record with their 11th consecutive home win, beating the Baltimore Orioles 8-3.
Interleague
St. Louis 5, Detroit 2: John Gant pitched effectively into the seventh inning and gave the St. Louis Cardinals’ offense enough time to get rolling in a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.