ATL 7, PHI 4   WP Ervin Santana (14-7) LP Mario Hollands (2-2) SV Craig Kimbrel (42)

B.J. Upton made sure the Braves would not be shut out for a third straight against the Phils with a two-run smash in the second…Christian Bethancourt had three hits, scoring and plating a pair…Ervin Santana three six stanzas, allowing seven hits and four runs…Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez was roughed up in his MLB debut, surrendering three hits and two runs in an inning…Grady Sizemore had a two-run shot while Ben Revere had three hits and scored twice.

STL 1, PIT 0   WP Trevor Rosenthal (2-6) LP Mark Melancon (2-4)

The game featured solid pitching early, fireworks in the middle, a couple of seeing eye singles and a bloop to win it late…Shelby Miller outpointed Edinson Volquez but both held their opponents scoreless…Volquez plunked Matt Holliday and Matt Adams in the fourth which prompted Miller to throw behind Andrew McCutchen leading to both sides being warned warned…with the Pirates losing ground to the cards, Melancon started the eighths inning in a tie game. He only needs eight pitches so he came out for his first multiple-inning appearance in almost two years…Peter Bourjos won it for the Cards with a walkoff single.

COL 9, SF 2   WP Christian Bergman (2-2) LP Ryan Vogelsong (8-10)

Corey Dickerson hits his 21st and 22nd, both solo shots…Nolan Arenado chipped in with a three-run blast while Michael McKenry hit a solo-homer of his own…Buster Posey stayed hot with two knocks and the both Colorado RBI.         

 

WSH 8, LAD 5   WP Blake Treinen (2-3) LP Kevin Correia (7-16)

Both Rafael Soriano and Tyler Clippard blew saves before Blake Treinen tossed a scoreless 13th and 14th to salvage a win…Jordan Zimmermann allowed two earned over 6.1 frames, featuring eight whiffs with two walks and four hits…Adam LaRoche put the Nationals ahead in the 9th with a two-run shot…Asdrubal Cabrera came through in the 14th with a two-run shot…Jason Turner and Carl Crawford both went deep as the Dodger came up short…Kenley Jansen had an uncharacteristically rough outing.

SEA 2, OAK 1   WP Felix Hernandez (14-5) WP Jon Lester (13-10) SV Fernando Rodney (41)

This match-up of Cy Young candidates lived up to expectations as both Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester threw eight-strong frames but The King was just a little bit stronger…Kyle Seager and Corey Hart went back-to-back in the seventh, supplying both of the Mariner tallies…Adam Dunn accounted for the Athletics run with a solo-shot.

NYY 5, BOS 1   WP Hiroki Kuroda (10-8) LP Anthony Ranaudo (3-1)

Hiroki Kuroda kept the Red Sox in check for seven innings, fanning eight with no walks, allowing just four hit and one run…this is the fifth straight season Kuroda has tallied double-digit wins…Brian McCann did the heavy lifting with the stick, collecting four hits including a two-run dinger in the second…Jemile Weeks stole a base for Boston and could get a bit of a look down the stretch as the club will play it conservative with Dustin Pedroia.

BAL 6, CIN 0   WP Miguel Gonzalez (8-7) Dylan Axelrod (1-1)

Miguel Gonzalez was on his game, earning his first complete game shutout, allowing just five base runners while punching out eight…the victors continued their home run barrage as David Lough, Chris Davis and Jonathan Schoop all left the yard.

 

 

CLE 7, DET 0   WP Danny Salazar (6-6) LP Justin Verlander (12-12)

Danny Salazar reminded everyone why he was so highly ranked last spring as he stifled the Tigers with a complete-game shutout, punching out nine with no walks and eight hits…Carlos Santana set the tone early with a two-run homer in the first…Jose Ramirez had three knocks, scoring two, plating one with a steal…Justin Verlander worked 6.2 with seven whiff and no walks, but he allowed seven hits resulting in six earned…Miguel Cabrera has two hits in the losing effort.

NYM 4, MIA 3   WP Carlos Torres (6-5) LP Mike Dunn (10-6) SV Jenrry Mejia (23)

Jacob deGrom kept the Mets in the game with a six-inning, six-strikeout, one-run performance…on the other side, Tom Koehler worked seven strong, whiffing ten but he did walk four leading to a pair of runs…Kirk Nieuwenhuis took Koehler to the second deck with a man-on in the fourth…Matt den Dekker had three hits for the winners…Giancarlo Stanton brought the Marlins to within one in the 8th with a solo-blast…Christian Yelich continued his climb towards .300 with two hits, scoring and plating one.

TOR 7, TB 4   WP Marcus Stroman (9-5) LP Chris Archer (8-8)

Marcus Stroman was solid over six, scattering seven hits while allowing two earned…Adam Lind had four hits with two runs…Dioner Navarro got thing started with a two-run bomb in the first…Edwin Encarnacion hit his 29th…the Blue Jays made it official, deeming Brett Lawrie out for the season…Jose Reyes stole his 25th and 26th while Anthony Gose bagged his 15th…Gose could provide a handful of bags down the stretch as Colby Rasmus is falling out of faor a bit.

CHC 6, MIL 2   WP Kyle Hendricks (6-1) LP Matt Garza (7-8)

Kyle Hendricks moved to 6-1 despite not striking out anyone over 5.2 frames…Chris Valaika gave Hendricks an early lead with a three-run bomb in the third…Jorge Soler and Javier Baez both hit the fifth double of their young careers…Khris Davis had three hits in a losing cause.     

 

HOU 4, LAA 1   WP Collin McHugh (8-9) Jered Weaver (15-8) SV Chad Qualls (17)

Collin McHugh was outstanding, silencing the Angels for 7.2 stanzas with a four-hit, one-run, eight-strikeout and no walk effort…Chris Carter supplied the pop with two more homers, bringing his total to 35…Jered Weaver pitched well in a losing effort, working six innings of two-run ball, fanning six…Kole Calhoun had half of the Halos four hits.    

MIN 11, CWS 4   WP Trevor May (1-4) LP John Danks (9-10)

Trevor May earned his first MLB win with a five inning effort…he fanned six with only one free pass, allowing three earned on six hits…Eduardo Nunez had a big day with four hits, two runs and two RBI…Kennys Vargas continues to rake, hitting his sixth homer, first against a lefty…Eduardo Escobar chipped in with three hits, a run and two RBI…Dayan Viciedo had two hits including a three-run blast in the losing effort.

 

KC 4, TEX 1   WP Jason Vargas (11-7) LP Nick Tepesch (4-9) SV Greg Holland (42)

Jason Vargas The first-place Royals got out the brooms and swept the Rangers out of Kansas City behind 6.2 scoreless innings from Jason Vargas, fanning five, walking none while scattering six hits…after hitting nine in August, Alex Gordon hit his first September home run, a two-run smash…Ryan Rua had two hits and the only Rangers RBI…Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin swiped their 25th and 23rd, respectively.  

ARI 6, SD 1   WP Josh Collmenter (10-7) LP Andrew Cashner (2-7)

Josh Collmenter was solid for seven innings, scattering five hits while allowing just one run though he only fanned three…Daniel Hudson retired all three batters he faced in his return from his second Tommy John procedure…David Peralta (2014’s version of 2013’s Kole Calhoun) had two hits and two RBI for the winners…Andrew Cashner was victimized by a close call that was upheld by review and then an error on a rundown in the Snakes three-run fifth…he also tossed seven strong, whiffing five while allowing two earned runs, four total.