WASHINGTON (AP) - Jason Heyward singled and Justin Upton doubled in a three-run eighth inning Wednesday night in the Atlanta Braves' sweep-capping 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals, a game played nicely by both sides one night after a fastball to Bryce Harper's thigh cleared both benches.
Upton also homered, and Kris Medlen (9-10) pitched seven solid innings as the Braves won their 13th straight to take a staggering-for-early-August 15 1/2-game lead over the second-place Nationals in the NL East. While Atlanta has a ways to go before it can mathematically clinch, the three-game dismissal of Washington was undoubtedly a psychological clincher that only could be undone by a monumental collapse.
The Braves rallied off relievers Ryan Mattheus (0-1) and Ian Krol with two outs in the eighth as the Nationals lost their fourth straight. The defending division champs scored only six runs in the three games and are losing hope for an alternate path to the postseason as well, falling nine games off the wild-card pace.
Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 36th save.
METS 5, ROCKIES 0
NEW YORK (AP) - Matt Harvey pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout and Wilmer Flores had a three-run double, leading the Mets to the victory.
Harvey (9-3) struck out six and walked none in his 33rd career start.
Omar Quintanilla and John Buck each had RBI singles off Jhoulys Chacin (10-6), who lost for just the third time in his last 11 starts. Flores got his first big league hit and scored on Quintanilla's hit in the second inning.
The Rockies played without All-Star left fielder Carlos Gonzalez for the second straight night and lost for the eighth time in nine games on their 10-game road trip.
Gonzalez was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Wednesday's game with a sprained right middle finger.
CUBS 5, PHILLIES 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Donnie Murphy hit a tiebreaking three-run shot in the ninth inning for his second homer of the game, lifting the Cubs to the win.
Murphy drove a 3-1 pitch from Justin De Fratus deep into the left field seats for his third homer in two games. He also had a solo shot in the third.
Luis Garcia (0-1) set up Murphy's winning homer by issuing three walks, including one to Cole Gillespie after Cody Ransom was picked off first for the second out of the inning.
Pedro Strop (2-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win and Kevin Gregg worked the ninth for his 23rd save.
The day wasn't a complete loss for the Phillies. Two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that Chase Utley has agreed to a two-year contract through the 2015 season.
Utley was thrown out at home plate trying to score the tying run in the seventh. Utley banged knees with catcher Dioner Navarro on the play. Navarro was tended to by trainers and carted off the field. Cubs left fielder Thomas Neal left the game the same inning with a dislocated right shoulder.
PIRATES 4, MARLINS 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Charlie Morton retired his final 11 batters over seven strong innings, and the Pirates maintained the best record in the majors.
Morton (4-3) shook off a shaky beginning in which he allowed six hits over his first three-plus innings to beat Miami for the second time in an 11-day span.
Morton, who also had an RBI single, allowed two runs and six hits. Justin Wilson pitched a perfect eighth, and Mark Melancon finished for his seventh save.
Andrew McCutchen homered for the Pirates (69-44), who have won four straight and are a season-high 25 games over .500.
Christian Yelich had two hits for Miami, which has lost four in a row. Tom Koehler (3-7) gave up three runs and four hits in five innings.
BREWERS 6, GIANTS 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Norichika Aori drove in two runs, Khris Davis hit a home run and the Brewers defeated the Giants.
Marco Estrada and three relievers combined to throw a three-hitter as the Brewers won their third in four games. Jeff Bianchi and Martin Maldonado also drove in runs for the Brewers.
Alfredo Figaro (2-3) pitched two innings to earn the win.
Buster Posey drove in a run for the Giants, who have lost four of five.
Madison Bumgarner (11-7) took a shutout into the eighth inning, but lost. He gave up four runs - three earned - on five hits in seven-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Estrada gave the Brewers more than they could expect in his first start in two months. The right-hander allowed a hit over five scoreless innings. He did not walk and struck out six.
DODGERS 13, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Carl Crawford's line-drive double off Shelby Miller's right elbow ended the Cardinals starter's night after just two pitches and the Dodgers punished the rookie's replacements, too.
Andre Ethier and Skip Schumaker each had three hits and a season-best four RBIs and Crawford had a season-best four hits and a walk. The Dodgers had 18 hits to top their previous best by one, a night after the Cardinals ended their franchise-record 15-game road winning streak, and are 16-3 since the All-Star break.
X-rays were negative for the 22-year-old Miller, among the league leaders with a 2.89 ERA while going 11-7 in 22 starts, on what the team described as an elbow contusion. Miller pivoted after the pitch to Crawford, but couldn't get his arm out of the way of the liner that bounded into shallow left field for a double.
INTERLEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 9, RAYS 8
PHOENIX (AP) - Martin Prado hit a two-run single in the eighth inning and also had a two-run homer, helping the Diamondbacks rally for a victory over the Rays.
Arizona trailed 3-0 in the first inning, went up 7-4 by the fifth and was down a run after Tampa Bay's four-run seventh.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases against Joel Peralta (1-5) and Fernando Rodney, setting up Prado's two-run liner to center to cap a wild game that featured 28 combined hits and 12 pitchers.
J.J. Putz (3-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Brad Ziegler worked around two baserunners in the ninth for his seventh save to complete the two-game sweep.
Prado had four RBIs and four of Arizona's 12 hits.
REDS 6, ATHLETICS 5
CINCINNATI (AP) - Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer and threw out a runner at the plate, helping the Reds get the win.
Corky Miller added two run-scoring doubles for Cincinnati, which won consecutive games for the first time since July 24 in San Francisco and July 25 in Los Angeles. Bruce also had a run-scoring grounder in the first.
Oakland scored as many runs as it had in its previous three games, but still lost for the sixth time in seven games.
A's right-hander Bartolo Colon (14-4) allowed five runs and seven hits in 2 2-3 innings in his shortest outing of the season.
Homer Bailey (7-10) won his second straight start despite allowing nine hits and five runs in 5 1-3 innings. Aroldis Chapman tossed a perfect ninth for his 27th save.
ORIOLES 10, PADRES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Chris Davis hit his major league-best 41st homer in Baltimore's four-run eighth inning.
Davis belted a tiebreaking three-run shot into the bleachers in right-center on the first pitch from Colt Hynes. Brian Roberts tacked on a sacrifice fly, and the Orioles then broke it open with three more runs in the ninth.
Luke Gregerson (5-6) allowed singles to Manny Machado and Adam Jones before Davis went deep, giving him a majors-best 106 RBIs.
Jedd Gyorko hit a tying three-run homer in the sixth for San Diego, which has dropped three of four.
The Orioles' scoring outburst handed a win to Francisco Rodriguez (1-0), who struck out two in a perfect seventh inning.