St Louis: St Louis rookie Stephen Piscotty hit a triple and scored the go-ahead run to give the Cardinals a 2-1 win against San Francisco on Monday, re-establishing a six-game lead in the National League Central Division.
The Cardinals lead was boosted both by their win and a defeat for nearest rivals Pittsburgh, who lost at home against Arizona.
The key result in the American League was an extra-inning victory for the New York Yankees against Minnesota, while Tampa Bay cruised to a win at Houston.
St Louis went ahead when Piscotty score on Mark Reynolds’ groundout in the eighth inning.
The run came a little too late for Cardinals starter Michael Wacha, who allowed one run in seven innings with six strikeouts but had departed by the time the run was scored, meaning he did not become the majors’ first 15-game winner.
The Giants had won their previous four but missed a chance to make up ground on idle NL West leader Los Angeles.
Arizona’s Jeremy Hellickson won on the road for the first time in two-and-a-half months, leading the Diamondbacks to a 4-1 win at the Pirates.
Hellickson (9-8) allowed one run in 5 1-3 innings. He had gone 0-4 with an 8.67 ERA in his previous six road starts.
Jake Lamb hit a solo homer in the fourth inning that put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-0 and helped snapped the Pirates’ four-game winning streak.
New York’s Chase Headley hit a bases-loaded grounder in the 10th inning that Minnesota’s five-man infield bobbled and the Yankees beat the Twins 8-7.
Brian McCann homered, drove in five runs and sliced a double off an infielder’s glove in the 10th that set up the winning misplay. The catcher also threw out three runners trying to steal.
New York won after losing starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell to a line drive to the face.
Tampa Bay’s Tim Beckham hit a three-run homer in the first inning to set up the Rays for a 9-2 win at Houston.
The Rays were up 1-0 when Beckham connected on his first home run in three months to make it 4-0.
Asdrubal Cabrera added three RBIs for the Rays, who got back on track after being swept by Texas in a three-game weekend series.
The Los Angeles Angels edged the Chicago White Sox 2-1, with C.J. Cron hitting a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning.
Albert Pujols also homered for the Angels, who returned home from a loss at Kansas City out of a playoff spot for the first time since July 2. They moved within 2 1-2 games in the division race.
Seattle’s Fernando Rodney walked Adrian Beltre with one out in the ninth inning to force in winning run and give Texas a 4-3 win over the Mariners.
Baltimore’s Steve Clevenger hit a three-run homer to power the Orioles to a 4-2 win against Oakland, completing a four-game sweep.
San Diego rookie Colin Rea won his second straight start to steer the Padres past Atlanta 5-3.
Cleveland’s Danny Salazar pitched seven strong innings to cool off Boston’s hot bats, and lead the Indians to an 8-2 win.
Miami’s rookie Justin Nicolino pitched 6 2-3 solid innings as the Marlins defeated Milwaukee 6-2.
