ST. LOUIS -- Matt Holliday hit his third home run in two games and broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run single, rallying the St. Louis Cardinals past the Chicago Cubs 9-6 on Sunday.
Holliday had three hits and four RBIs for the Cardinals, who began the day one game behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong left in the top of the eighth after falling backward when he tried to catch a popup in short right field. He appeared to hurt his head and shoulder, and was replaced by Pete Kozma.
Kozma, in his third stint with St. Louis this season, led off the bottom half with a double. It was his second hit in four at-bats this year. After failing to get down two bunt attempts, Daniel Descalso got the third one down and beat Carlos Villanueva's throw to first for a single.
Giants 15, Brewers 5
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer among his three RBIs and finished a double shy of the cycle, powering the San Francisco Giants past the Milwaukee Brewers 15-5 on Sunday to match a season high with their sixth straight win.
Madison Bumgarner (16-9) followed up his one-hit gem Tuesday against Colorado with seven strikeouts in six innings to win his third straight start. The left-hander finished August at 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA.
Reds 3, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH -- Chris Heisey hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking shot in the ninth inning, and Johnny Cueto overcame an early jolt to earn his 16th win as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Sunday.
Heisey's solo drive with one out in the ninth off Jared Hughes (6-5) helped the Reds avoid getting swept at PNC Park. Heisey began the day with just five homers in 229 at-bats this year.
Dodgers 7, Padres 1
SAN DIEGO -- Hyun-Jin Ryu came off the disabled list to pitch four-hit ball over seven innings, and Matt Kemp singled in the go-ahead run to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-1 Sunday and avoid a three-game sweep.
Ryu (14-6) struck out seven and walked none while allowing one run in his first start since a loss at Atlanta on Aug. 13, when he hurt his right hip. Ryu improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Padres.
Braves 1, Marlins 0
ATLANTA -- Alex Wood struck out 12 in eight dominant innings and Evan Gattis homered to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Sunday.
The Marlins had gone 60 games without getting shut out, the longest active streak in the majors.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 2
PHOENIX -- Chase Anderson pitched six strong innings to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 on Sunday.
Anderson (8-6) gave up five hits and one run while matching his career high with eight strikeouts.
Nolan Reimold's first career pinch-hit homer in the seventh was the decisive hit. His two-run shot highlighted a four-run inning that broke the game open.
Mets 6, Phillies 5
NEW YORK -- Anthony Recker snapped a sixth-inning tie with a three-run homer in a rare start, and the New York Mets held off the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 Sunday to avoid dropping into last place.
Wilmer Flores had three hits and made two sparkling defensive plays at shortstop in the final two innings to help New York hang on. By taking two of three in the weekend series, the Mets kept Philadelphia in the NL East cellar.
American League
Astros 3, Rangers 2
HOUSTON -- Matt Dominguez hit a tying homer and Jose Altuve's fourth hit drove in the go-ahead run as the Houston Astros rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Sunday.
Dominguez connected off reliever Neal Cotts (2-8) with one out in the eighth to make it 2-all. One out, one pitching change and three batters later, Altuve singled home Jake Marisnick.
Angels 8, Athletics 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout homered and drove in three runs, Matt Shoemaker pitched seven shutout innings of five-hit ball, and the Los Angeles Angels completed a masterful four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with an 8-1 victory Sunday.
The Angels won their sixth in row and own the best record in the majors at 83-53. They shut out the A's for the 29 consecutive innings while opening a five-game lead atop the AL West heading into September.
Orioles 12, Twins 8
BALTIMORE -- J.J. Hardy hit his fourth career grand slam during a seven-run sixth inning, Nelson Cruz connected for his major league-leading 35th home run and Ryan Flaherty also homered, leading the Baltimore Orioles over the Minnesota Twins 12-8 on Sunday.
Caleb Joseph had a career-high four hits for the Orioles, who extended their AL East lead over the second-place New York Yankees to nine games.
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3
TORONTO -- Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Melky Cabrera each hit a solo homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays erased a three-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 Sunday.
Derek Jeter had a chance to tie it for the Yankees in the ninth inning. With the sellout crowd of 45,678 on its feet, Jeter popped up with a runner on third for the final out in his last regular-season at-bat in Toronto.
White Sox 6, Tigers 2
CHICAGO -- Jose Quintana allowed two runs over seven innings to earn his first win in more than a month, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-2 after trading Adam Dunn on Sunday afternoon.
The White Sox sent Dunn to Oakland before the game, ending a disappointing four-year run in Chicago for the veteran slugger. Then, they took advantage of a season-high four errors by the Tigers to salvage a four-game split.
Red Sox 3, Rays 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Clay Buchholz threw a three-hitter to stop his string of seven starts without a win, leading the Boston Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 on Sunday.
Buchholz (6-8) walked none and struck out six. Only one runner reached second base during his second shutout this season and sixth of his career.
Interleague
Mariners 5, Nationals 3
SEATTLE -- Dustin Ackley homered and drove in four runs and the Seattle Mariners averted a three-game sweep, beating the Washington Nationals 5-3 Sunday.
Bryce Harper homered twice for Washington and Nate Schierholz also connected. The NL East-leading Nationals homered 10 times in the series, one short of the Safeco Field record set by Cleveland in 2009.
Sports on 09/01/2014