Cubs Clip Cardinals, Tigers Edge White Sox

Cubs Clip Cardinals

(Chicago, IL) -- Welington Castillo singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Cubs to a 4-3 win over the Cardinals from Wrigley Field. He also hit a two-run homer in the second inning for Chicago, which had lost four of five. Matt Szczur also went deep for the Cubs. Zac Rosscup picked up the win. Matt Holliday hit a two-run shot for St. Louis, which is up a 1 1/2 game on the Pirates for first place in the NL Central. Pat Neshek took the loss.

The Cardinals close out their three-game series with the Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. John Lackey goes after his 15th win for St. Louis, while Chicago sends nine-game winner Jake Arrieta to the mound. The Cards finish the regular season with three games at Arizona starting Friday.

Tigers Edge White Sox In Ninth After Blowing Lead

(Detroit, MI) -- Miguel Cabrera hit a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tigers past the White Sox 4-3 in the second of three at Comerica Park. David Price cruised through eight innings before giving up three runs in the top of the ninth for a no-decision. Joe Nathan was credited with the win after recording the final out in the ninth. Ian Kinsler and Torii Hunter both drove in a run while Rajai Davis scored twice for the Tigers, who remain one game ahead of the Royals for first in the AL Central. Avisail Garcia had a two-run single in the ninth for Chicago and then scored the tying run on Marcus Semien's RBI-single. Jake Petricka suffered the loss.

Nationals Double Up Mets

(Washington, DC) -- Adam LaRoche clubbed a three-run homer as the Nationals doubled up the Mets 4-2 in the opener of a three-game series at Nationals Park.  Michael Taylor doubled in the other run in the fifth and scored on LaRoche's homer. Tanner Roark tossed 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball to improve his mark to 15-10. Drew Storen closed it out for his 10th save. The Nats have won five straight and nine of their last 10 overall. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Ruben Tejada plated a run each for New York, which had won its previous three. Bartolo Colon yielded all four runs in six frames as he slipped to 14-13.

Marlins Blank Phillies

(Miami, FL) -- The Marlins pulled out a 2-0 win against the Phillies in a pitcher's duel to open up a three-game series at Marlins Park. Henderson Alvarez got the best of Cole Hamels. Alvarez earned his 12th win, pitching 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Steve Cishek nailed down his 38th save after working around two hits in the ninth. Casey McGehee and Ed Lucas each had an RBI for Miami, which is 75-81. Hamels took the loss despite allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Philadelphia was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on its way to 71-86.

Pirates Top Braves, Clinch Playoff Berth

(Atlanta, GA) -- Gerrit Cole tossed seven innings of two-run ball as the Pirates topped the Braves 3-2 in Atlanta to clinch a postseason berth. Cole struck out eight as he improved to 11-5. Tony Watson picked up his second save for Pittsburgh, which is just a 1 1/2 game back of St. Louis for first place in the NL Central. Travis Snider went deep for the Bucs while Starling Marte doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Alex Wood slipped to 11-11 after 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball. Freddie Freeman had the lone RBI for Atlanta, which has lost five straight.

Reds Clip Brewers

(Cincinnati, OH) -- The Brewers dwindling playoff hopes took another hit falling 3-1 to the Reds in the first of three at Great American Ball Park. Mike Fiers gave up two runs in the first inning on back-to-back home runs to Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco on his way to his fourth loss. It was the 28th bomb of the season for Frazier and 25th for Mesoraco. Johnny Cueto earned his 19th win striking out seven and giving up one run over eight innings. Aroldis Chapman clinched his 34th save. Cincinnati is 73-84. Carlos Gomez supplied Milwaukee's only offense with a solo homer. The Brewers' magic number for elimination from the playoffs is down to one.

Dodgers Drop Giants

(Los Angeles, CA) -- Zack Greinke outdueled Madison Bumgarner as the Dodgers doubled up the Giants 4-2 at Dodgers Stadium. Greinke improved to 16-8 with eight innings of two-run ball. Kenley Jansen picked up his 44th save for Los Angeles, which is four-and-a-half games up on the Giants for first place in the division. They can clinch the NL West in the series finale with Clayton Kershaw on the mound. Justin Turner hit two homers while Matt Kemp went deep on his birthday. The benches cleared in the bottom of the first inning when Yasiel Puig was hit with a pitch. Bumgarner allowed four runs in 7 1/3 innings for the loss. He also had a two-run homer for San Francisco, which has yet to clinch a postseason spot. They are five up on the Brewers for a Wild Card spot.

Rockies Edge Padres

(San Diego, CA) -- Drew Stubbs smacked a go-ahead solo homer in the top of the eighth inning as the Rockies edged the Padres 3-2 in the middle of a three-game series at Petco Park. Justin Morneau and DJ LeMahieu also plated a run each for Colorado, which has won seven of eight. Juan Nicasio picked up the win and LaTroy Hawkins closed it out for his 23rd save. Rymer Liriano and Alexi Amarista drove in runs for the Friars, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Dale Thayer suffered the loss.

Yankees Fall To Orioles

(Bronx, NY) -- Derek Jeter's final homestand began with him striking out with the tying run on first in the bottom of the ninth as the Yankees fell to the Orioles 5-4 in the Bronx. Nelson Cruz connected for his 40th homer of the season, while Nick Markakis hit a two-run shot. Markakis finished with four hits and three RBI. Kelly Johnson also hit a solo homer against the team that traded him earlier in the year. Ubaldo Jimenez earned his sixth victory for the 94-and-63 O's. New York's magic number to be eliminated from playoff contention is down to one. Brian McCann was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI. Brandon McCarthy was lit up to the tune of 11 hits and five runs in five-and-a-third innings to drop to 7-5.

Royals Dump Indians

(Cleveland, OH) -- Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Omar Infante each had two RBI in the Royals' 7-1 win victory over the Indians in the second of three games at Progressive Field. Yordano Ventura tossed seven shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up his 14th win. Kansas City holds one of the two Wild Card spots in the American League and is a game behind the Tigers for first in the AL Central. Michael Brantley had two of the five hits for Cleveland in the loss. Danny Salazar fell to 6-8 giving up five runs and not making it out of the fifth inning. Cleveland's elimination number from playoff contention is down to one.

Blue Jays Blast Mariners

(Toronto, Ontario) -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer and knocked in four runs as the Blue Jays blew out the Mariners 10-2 in Toronto. Jose Bautista scored three runs while Dalton Pompey hit his first career homer for Toronto, which has won three of four. R.A. Dickey tossed seven innings of two-run ball for the win. He's 14-12. Felix Hernandez was shelled for eight runs in under five innings to slip to 14-6. Robinson Cano knocked in two runs for Seattle, which is three games back of Oakland and Kansas City for the second AL Wild Card spot.

Rays Drop Red Sox

(Boston, MA)  --  The Rays used a five-run eighth inning to lift them to a 6-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Ben Zobrist and James Loney each batted in a pair of runs and Matt Joyce chipped in with a ninth-inning solo homer. Alex Cobb threw seven innings of one-run ball for his 10th win for Tampa, which has won two of three. Clay Buchholz got tagged for five runs in 7 2/3 innings to fall to 8-10 for Boston, which has lost five of seven. Daniel Nava and Jemile Weeks each plated a run in defeat.

Rangers Edge Astros

(Arlington, TX) -- Robinson Chirinos homered to back a strong outing from Nick Martinez as the Rangers topped the Astros 2-1 at Globe Life Park. Martinez went six-and-two-thirds scoreless innings for the win as he improved to 5-11. Neal Cotts notched his second save. Daniel Robertson tallied the other RBI for Texas, which has won 10 of its last 11. Dexter Fowler scored on a Matt Dominguez sac fly for the Astros lone run. Brett Oberholtzer fell to 5-13 after allowing two runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Angels Top Athletics

(Oakland, CA) -- Gordon Beckham hit a solo homer to help the Angels top the Athletics 2-0 from Oakland. Wade LeBlanc allowed five hits in five-and-a-third innings of shutout ball for his first win. Huston Street locked up his 16th save for Los Angeles, which is 2 1/2 games up on the Orioles for the best record in baseball. Sonny Gray pitched a gem, striking out 12 over seven frames of two-run, three-hit ball for the touch-luck loss. The A's were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Oakland and Kansas City are tied in the Wild Card race and are three games ahead of Seattle.

Twins Down Diamondbacks

(Minneapolis, MN) -- Chris Parmelee plated two runs and scored as the Twins doubled up the Diamondbacks 6-3 in the middle of a three-game set at Target Field. Josmil Pinto, Aaron Hicks and Eduardo Escobar all drove in a run and scored for the Twins, who snapped a three-game skid. Kyle Gibson tossed seven innings of one-run ball to improve to 13-11. Ender Inciarte went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored for Arizona, which has dropped seven of eight. Andrew Chafin permitted four runs in three-plus frames to suffer his first career loss.

Tuesday, September 23 Scoreboard

MLB National League

Washington Nationals 4, New York Mets 2

Miami Marlins 2, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Atlanta Braves 2

Cincinnati Reds 3, Milwaukee Brewers 1

Chicago Cubs 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3 (10 inn)

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, San Francisco Giants 2

Colorado Rockies 3, San Diego Padres 2

MLB American League

Baltimore Orioles 5, New York Yankees 4

Kansas City Royals 7, Cleveland Indians 1

Toronto Blue Jays 10, Seattle Mariners 2

Detroit Tigers 4, Chicago White Sox 3

Tampa Bay Rays 6, Boston Red Sox 2

Texas Rangers 2, Houston Astros 1

LA Angels of Anaheim 2, Oakland Athletics 0

MLB Interleague

Minnesota Twins 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 3

Wednesday, September 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

MLB National League

6:05 p.m. - New York Mets at Washington Nationals

6:10 p.m. - Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Marlins

6:10 p.m. - Pittsburgh Pirates at Atlanta Braves

6:10 p.m. - Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds

7:05 p.m. - St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

8:10 p.m. - Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres

9:10 p.m. - San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers

MLB American League

12:05 p.m. - Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees

12:08 p.m. - Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

2:35 p.m. - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics

6:07 p.m. - Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays

6:10 p.m. - Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Indians

6:10 p.m. - Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox

7:05 p.m. - Houston Astros at Texas Rangers

MLB Interleague

12:10 p.m. - Arizona Diamondbacks at Minnesota Twins