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Rookies help Cards close in on Giants

 
Published Sept. 19, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO — Alex Reyes pitched seven dominant innings in his third major-league start, fellow rookie Aledmys Diaz hit a two-run homer and the Cardinals moved up in the tight NL wild-card race, blanking the Giants 3-0 Sunday.

San Francisco dropped one game behind the Mets for the top wild-card spot. St. Louis closed within one game of the Giants.

St. Louis split this four-game series, winning the final two. The Giants finished up a 2-5 homestand and have won just one series at AT&T Park since the All-Star break.

Reyes, 22, considered one of the majors' best pitching prospects, hasn't disappointed since he was called up from the minors Aug. 9 when Michael Wacha went on the disabled list with shoulder discomfort. The right-hander's fastball was consistently in the mid to upper 90s.

METS 3, TWINS 2: Gabriel Ynoa struck out eight over 42/3 innings in his first major-league start to aid an injury-plagued rotation, and host New York completed a three-game sweep to move to a season-high 11 games over .500.

BREWERS 3, CUBS 1: Majors ERA leader Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs in six innings for host Chicago, which has lost four of six in its bid to secure homefield advantage in the playoffs.

D'BACKS 10, DODGERS 9 (12): Brandon Drury singled with two outs in the 12th inning to score Paul Goldschmidt for host Arizona in a game that lasted 4 hours, 29 minutes.

BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 2 (7): Adonis Garcia drove in three runs for host Atlanta in a rain-shortened game.

REDS 7, PIRATES 4: Tucker Barnhart tied his career high with four RBIs, and host Cincinnati snapped Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak.

MARLINS 5, PHILLIES 4: J.T. Realmuto hit a go-ahead infield single in the eighth after Christian Yelich hit a tying homer as visiting Miami rallied to avoid a sweep.

ANGELS 4, BLUE JAYS 0: Mike Trout and Albert Pujols scored twice each, Alex Meyer pitched five solid innings and host Los Angeles dropped Toronto out of a tie with the Orioles for the top AL wild-card spot.

MARINERS 7, ASTROS 3: Seth Smith hit two home runs and drove in four to back up a solid outing by Ariel Miranda for host Seattle, which remained in the thick of the AL wild-card race.

A'S 5, RANGERS 2: Khris Davis homered twice, giving him 40 for the season, and visiting Oakland kept Texas' magic number at five for clinching the AL West.

TIGERS 9, INDIANS 5: J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton homered as visiting Detroit beat Cleveland for only the second time in 15 games this season. The Tigers had been outscored 91-40 in their first 14 meetings.

ROYALS 10, WHITE SOX 3: Kendrys Morales homered for his 1,000th career hit and drove in four runs and Danny Duffy pitched effectively into the eighth inning for host Kansas City.

Around the league

D'BACKS: The team will not pick up senior vice president of baseball operations De Jon Watson's contract for 2017, the Arizona Republic reported.