SAN FRANCISCO (AP) San Francisco’s Kelby Tomlinson hit a grand slam with his first career home run to help the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 9-1 on Thursday, tightening the race between the two teams for the National League’s second wild-card berth.
The Giants moved within 5-1/2 games of the Cubs, while St. Louis continued its relentless pursuit of the top seed in the NL playoffs by completing a four-game road sweep of Arizona.
Kansas City is in the position of all teams heading toward the playoffs, with victory over Baltimore moving the Royals 13 games clear atop the American League Central with 35 games to play.
Toronto’s lead in the AL East was trimmed to 1-1/2 games, as its five-game winning streak ended at Texas.
San Francisco cruised past the Cubs thanks to Tomlinson’s four-run shot and a three-run homer by Marlon Byrd.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (16-6) struck out 12 in six innings, giving up one run. He won his fifth straight start and matched the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta for most victories in the majors.
After the game, Chicago acquired struggling reliever Fernando Rodney from Seattle for cash.
St. Louis’ Brandon Moss hit his first home run for the team and Tony Cruz hit his first of the season to lead the Cardinals past Arizona 5-3 to complete the four-game sweep.
Moss’s tiebreaking two-run shot in the fifth inning put the Cardinals ahead 5-3.
It was the Cardinals’ fifth straight win overall and they finished 7-0 against the Diamondbacks this season.
Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura struck out a career-high 11 in just six innings to steer the Royals past Baltimore 5-3.
Ventura (9-7) allowed only two hits to improve to 5-0 in his past seven starts.
Paulo Orlando homered for Kansas City.
Texas’ Yovani Gallardo earned his 100th career victory as the Rangers beat Toronto 4-1.
Gallardo (11-9) threw 5 1-3 scoreless innings and improved to 100-73 in 241 career games with Milwaukee and Texas.
Delino DeShields drew a walk in the first and scored on Mitch Moreland’s single. DeShields finished 2 for 2 with three walks as the Rangers avoided a sweep and moved a half-game ahead of Minnesota for the second AL wild-card spot.
Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole snapped the longest winless drought of his career as the Pirates won 2-1 against Miami.
Cole (15-7) allowed one run and no walks in 7 1-3 innings after having gone five starts without a win.
Pedro Alvarez homered for the Pirates.
Tampa Bay relievers combined for 4-2/3 scoreless innings to enable the Rays to hang on and beat Minnesota 5-4, ending the Twins’ six-game winning streak.
Brandon Gomes (2-4) got an inning-ending double play with two runners on base in the fifth during his 1 2-3 innings. After Alex Colome worked two innings, Brad Boxberger struck out all three batters he faced for his 31st save.
Washington starter Joe Ross allowed only a bunt single in six innings to guide the Nationals past San Diego 4-2.
Los Angeles’ Matt Shoemaker pitched one-hit ball into the eighth inning in his hometown ballpark, helping the Angels defeat Detroit 2-0.
The Angels’ city rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, completed a sweep of reeling Cincinnati with a 1-0 victory, as Zack Greinke and two relievers combined to shut out the Reds.
New York’s Daniel Murphy hit a go-ahead double in the 13th inning after making a spectacular defensive play to end the 10th, leading the Mets over Philadelphia 9-5 for their seventh straight win.
Chicago’s Carlos Rodon held Seattle scoreless into the seventh inning as the White Sox beat the Mariners 4-2.
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