DENVER -- Justin Morneau tied a season high with six RBI, including five as part of an eight-run first inning against spot starter Carlos Frias, and the Colorado Rockies routed the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 16-2 on Wednesday.
Morneau hit a three-run homer and a two-run single in the opening frame as the last-place Rockies chased Frias (0-1) after just two outs. Morneau and Carlos Gonzalez are the only Rockies players to drive in five runs in an inning.
The Associated Press
GOING, GOING, GONE: Carlos Frias reacts after giving up a three-run to Justin Morneau in an eight-run Colorado first inning Wednesday as the lowly Rockies, playing at home, rout the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 16-2.
Charlie Blackmon went 5 for 5 with a solo homer as the Rockies took two of three from the Dodgers. Los Angeles began the day with a three-game division lead over San Francisco, but trailed 15-0 after six innings against the team with the worst record in the league.
Morneau had three hits and a sacrifice fly, raising his average to .320 and leaping over Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison for the NL batting lead.
Jorge De La Rosa (14-11) gave up two hits in six scoreless innings to improve to 10-2 at home this season.
Giants 4, D'backs 2
PHOENIX -- Pinch-hitter Matt Duffy delivered a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the San Francisco Giants narrowed their gap in the NL West, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Giants pulled within two games of the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost at Colorado 16-2. The contenders each have 10 games left.
Duffy's one-out hit came on a full count against closer Addison Reed (1-6). Pablo Sandoval walked with one out, Brandon Crawford singled and pinch-hitter Brandon Belt walked, setting up Duffy. Crawford had four hits.
Sergio Romo (6-4) pitched one inning, and Duffy batted for him. Santiago Casilla got his 17th save.
Tuesday's games
Orioles 8, Blue Jays 2
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles won their first AL East crown since 1997, using home runs by Steve Pearce and Jimmy Paredes to beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
With their ninth win in 10 games, the Orioles clinched their second playoff appearance in three years following a run of 14 consecutive losing seasons. It was Baltimore's ninth AL East title and only its second since 1983, when the Orioles last won the World Series.
The franchise has enjoyed a rebirth under the guidance of manager Buck Showalter, whose 1,254th victory thrust him past mentor Billy Martin into sole possession of 36th place on the career list.
Nationals 3, Braves 0
ATLANTA -- The Washington Nationals are again champions of the NL East, wrapping up their second division title in three years against the team that knocked them out of the top spot last season.
Tanner Roark pitched five-hit ball over seven innings, Ian Desmond's two-run homer broke a scoreless tie and the Nationals celebrated another trip to the playoffs with a victory over Atlanta.
The clinching victory was especially sweet coming against the Braves, who finished 10 games ahead of the Nationals in 2013. The roles were reserved this season as Washington steadily pulled away down the stretch.
Atlanta (75-76) lost for the 11th time in 14 games, further damaging its hopes of making a third-straight playoff appearance as a wild card. The Braves have lost five straight and are under .500 for the first time since losing on opening day.
Cubs 7, Reds 0
CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before giving up Brandon Phillips' one-out double, the only blemish for the Chicago Cubs pitcher in a win over Cincinnati.
Arrieta (9-5) struck out 13 and walked one in his first career complete game. He was five outs from the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field in 42 years when Phillips drove an 0-2 pitch to deep left-center, just beyond the desperate dive of center fielder Matt Szczur on the warning track.
It was the third time this season Arrieta has flirted with a no-hitter.
Chicago gave Arrieta plenty of run support against Reds ace Johnny Cueto (18-9). Chris Coghlan capped a five-run sixth inning with a three-run double, and Jorge Soler homered in the seventh.
Brewers 3, Cards 2 (12)
ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Gomez walked, stole second and third and scored the go-ahead run on a bloop hit by rookie Hector Gomez in the 12th inning as Milwaukee ended NL Central-leading St. Louis' three-game winning streak.
Brandon Kintzler (3-3) got the last out in the 11th, and Francisco Rodriguez closed for his 42nd save in 47 chances. The third-place Brewers have won five of six and are four games back of St. Louis, which has a 2 1/2-game lead on Pittsburgh with 11 to go.
Gerardo Parra homered and rookie Matt Clark's sacrifice fly tied it against Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth. The Cardinals were blanked on four hits over the last 11 innings after jumping on Wily Peralta for two quick runs in the first.
White Sox 7, Royals 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis both gave up runs for the first time in nearly three months as Kansas City's dominant bullpen was touched up in a loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Davis replaced Herrera (3-3) with two on in the seventh inning and walked Jose Abreu to load the bases for Conor Gillaspie, who cleared them with a triple to right-center that gave Chicago a 7-5 lead.
That ended Herrera's scoreless streak at 30 2-3 innings, dating to June 24. Also snapped was Davis' shutout streak of 31 2-3 innings, a club record for a reliever, with the first run charged to him since June 25.
The rare bullpen failure prevented Kansas City from gaining ground on AL Central leader Detroit, which lost at Minnesota. The Royals remained 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers, but still lead Seattle for the second wild-card spot.
Pirates 4, Red Sox 0
PITTSBURGH -- Charlie Morton came off the disabled list to gain his first victory since July 2, and Pittsburgh beat Boston for its ninth win in 11 games.
Sidelined since Aug. 16 because of right hip inflammation and a sports hernia, Morton (6-12) allowed four hits in five innings, struck out six and walked two. He had been 0-3 with a 5.09 ERA in his eight previous starts.
Rays 6, Yankees 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Derek Jeter was hit on the arm by a Steve Geltz pitch in the eighth inning of a loss to Tampa Bay, the fifth time a New York Yankees batter has been hit by a Rays pitcher in the past week.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out of the dugout and was ejected after New York's captain was hit.
New York's David Phelps was ejected by plate umpire Rob Drake in the bottom half after throwing a tight pitch to Kevin Kiermaier. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but little occurred except for a couple players being restrained by teammates or coaches.
Jeter, who is retiring at the end of the season, was honored in a pregame ceremony and went 0 for 2. He is hitless in 26 at-bats, the second-longest skid of his career, dropping his batting average to .249.
Twins 4, Tigers 3
MINNEAPOLIS -- Aaron Hicks hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning, and Minnesota rallied for a win over AL Central-leading Detroit.
Mariners 13, Angels 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Zunino's two-run double keyed a four-run fifth inning, and Seattle climbed within a game of the second AL wild-card spot by routing the Los Angeles Angels.
One night after becoming the first team to secure a playoff berth, the Angels lost for only the fourth time in 21 games. Their magic number for clinching the AL West dropped to two because of Oakland's loss to Texas.
Rangers 6, Athletics 3
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Scott Kazmir allowed a two-run homer to Jake Smolinski, and shortstop Jed Lowrie made an error that led to a pair of unearned runs as Oakland lost to last-place Texas.
After strengthening their AL wild-card lead by beating Seattle in the final two games of a weekend series, the A's looked sloppy in the opener of a nine-game homestand and failed in their attempt to win three straight for the first time since Aug. 7-9.
Sports on 09/18/2014