Ian Desmond hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth, lifting the Colorado Rockies to a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Aug. 23 in Denver.
David Dahl also went deep, and Chris Rusin (1-2) got the win with an inning of relief as the Rockies celebrated the return of veteran Matt Holliday.
Colorado moved into a tie with the idle Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League wild-card position. Both teams are a half-game behind the St. Louis Cardinals, who occupy the top NL wild-card spot.
Holliday, back with his first major league club, went 0-for-3. Jose Pirela had three hits, and Hunter Renfroe homered for San Diego.
Braves 5, Marlins 0
Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. homered and got hit by another pitch, and Sean Newcomb pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball, leading Atlanta to a victory at Miami.
Acuna’s third-inning solo blast was his 21st homer of the season and his seventh in 16 games against Miami. The Marlins responded on Aug. 15 when Jose Urena was ejected after hitting the red-hot Acuna with the first pitch of the game, leading to a suspension for the right-hander.
Acuna was hit again on Aug. 23, this time by Marlins reliever Javy Guerra. The Braves later plunked Marlins rookie Brian Anderson in both the sixth and eighth innings.
Phillies 2, Nationals 0
Odubel Herrera hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave Philadelphia a win at Washington, preventing the Nationals from completing a three-game sweep.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (15-3) won his third start in a row. He tossed eight shutout innings and gave up five hits while striking out nine and walking just one. Pat Neshek came on in the ninth and closed it, earning his fourth save of the season.
Washington starter Max Scherzer (16-6) allowed two runs on two hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking four.
Rays 4, Royals 3
Ryan O’Hearn’s throwing error with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning allowed the winning run to score as Tampa Bay completed a seven-game season sweep of Kansas City in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out, and Kevin Kiermaier hit a 3-2 bouncer to first base. O’Hearn threw home for the force, but his throw short-hopped catcher Salvador Perez as Jake Bauers scored the decisive run.
The misplay allowed the Rays to finish a four-game sweep of the series. Tampa Bay has won five straight games while the Royals have lost five in a row.
Giants 3, Mets 1
Madison Bumgarner continued his mastery of New York, outdueling Jacob deGrom and earning the win by tossing eight strong innings in San Francisco’s victory. The Giants earned a split of the four-game series.
Bumgarner (5-5) allowed one run on five hits and no walks while striking out eight and improving to 6-0 in six career regular season and postseason starts at Citi Field. His ERA at Citi Field is 0.59.
Todd Frazier’s home run leading off the seventh inning snapped Bumgarner’s scoreless streak at Citi Field at 33 2/3 innings. Bumgarner also hit an RBI double, and Evan Longoria homered for the Giants.
Red Sox 7, Indians 0
David Price pitched eight scoreless innings, and host Boston used three two-RBI doubles in the fifth inning to break open a scoreless game en route to a win over Cleveland and split of a four-game series.
Price (14-6) scattered just three hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
Blake Swihart, Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Nunez had the key hits in the fifth that gave the Red Sox a 6-0 lead. J.D. Martinez drove in his major-league-leading 109th run with a single in the sixth.
Cubs 7, Reds 1
Cole Hamels notched his first complete game of the season and the 17th of his career, and Chicago cruised past visiting Cincinnati.
Hamels (9-9) improved to 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA since the Cubs acquired him July 27 from the Texas Rangers. In a masterful 114-pitch performance, the 34-year-old limited the Reds to one run on eight hits, walking two and striking out seven.
Anthony Rizzo and Javy Baez homered for the Cubs, who have gone deep in a season-high eight consecutive games. Phillip Ervin went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base to lead the Reds.
Twins 6, A’s 4
Max Kepler homered, and Joe Mauer moved into a tie for second place with Rod Carew on Minnesota’s all-time hits list with an RBI single to help lead the Twins past Oakland in Minneapolis.
Mitch Garver added a two-run double, and Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco also had RBI singles for Minnesota. Reliever Alan Busenitz (4-0) picked up the win, allowing one hit in 1 1/3 innings.
Khris Davis hit his major-league-leading 39th home run of the year, Matt Olson had two doubles, and Jed Lowrie also homered for Oakland, which fell 1 1/2 games behind first-place Houston in the American League West.
Tigers 7, White Sox 2
Matthew Boyd tossed six scoreless innings, Detroit batters hit three homers in the sixth inning, and the Tigers cruised past visiting Chicago.
Ronny Rodriguez hit his first major league homer and drove in two runs. Mikie Mahtook and Nicholas Castellanos supplied solo shots, and Jim Adduci added two hits, including a two-run double. Boyd (8-11) gave up six hits and a walk while striking out six.
Jose Rondon hit a two-run homer for the White Sox. James Shields (5-15) surrendered seven runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
