CHICAGO — Adam Wainwright joined Clayton Kershaw as the majors’ only 20-game winners, pitching three-hit ball over seven innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 on Monday night.
Wainwright hit the 20-win mark for the second time while matching his career-high for victories, and the Cardinals moved a step closer toward their second straight division title.
They remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central with five to play with the Pirates beating Atlanta 1-0. St. Louis clinched its fourth straight playoff appearance on Sunday.
Wainwright (20-9) won his fifth straight start and made it look easy, striking out eight and walking one.
He gave up a double to Anthony Rizzo with two out in the first and did not allow another hit until back-to-back singles by Luis Valbuena and Welington Castillo with two out in the seventh.
The only other time Wainwright won 20 was in 2010, and that year, victory No. 20 also came at Wrigley Field.
He got plenty of support in this one, with the Cardinals pounding Travis Wood (8-13) for seven runs and eight hits over five innings.
They scored four in the fourth and three in the fifth on the way to their eighth win in 10 games.
Matt Holliday had two hits and scored two runs. He also drove in one.
GIANTS 5, DODGERS 2, 13 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES — The San Francisco Giants aren’t giving up on their hopes of winning the NL West.
Pinch-hitter Andrew Susac singled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the 13th inning, and the Giants beat the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers to climb within 3 1/2 games of the division lead.
“Hit something hard so we can go home,” a tired Susac said, describing his mindset. “It was up and down emotionally for both teams. It was nice to pull one off.”
Susac singled to left field off Kevin Correia (2-4), scoring Brandon Belt. San Francisco tacked on two more runs to take a 5-2 lead on Gregor Blanco’s double.
Blanco homered and scored twice for the Giants, who snapped a three-game skid and remained tied with Pittsburgh for the two NL wild-card slots. San Francisco can clinch a playoff berth Tuesday night with a win and a Milwaukee loss.
Santiago Casilla (3-3) got the victory with two innings of relief, and Hunter Strickland pitched the 13th to earn his first career save.
ROYALS 2, INDIANS 0
CLEVELAND — Danny Duffy pitched six shutout innings for his first win in more than a month as the Kansas City Royals moved closer to the top of the AL Central and kept some distance over Cleveland in the wild-card race, beating the Indians.
Duffy (9-11), who had thrown just one pitch in September before the start, held the Indians to six hits. The left-hander had been sidelined since Sept. 6 with a sore shoulder.
Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 44th save as the Royals, seeking their first postseason appearance since 1985, moved within one game of first-place Detroit. The Tigers lost 2-0 at home to the White Sox.
Carlos Carrasco (8-6) couldn’t keep the momentum going for the Indians, who earlier completed a 4-3 win in 10 innings in a game suspended on Aug. 31 in Kansas City.
ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jeff Samardzija pitched seven strong innings and received some rare run support as Oakland kept hold of the top AL wild-card spot by beating the West champions.
The A’s moved one game ahead of Kansas City for the first wild card.
Geovany Soto hit a two-run single to highlight a six-run first inning as the A’s chased C.J. Wilson (13-10) after just two outs for the second-shortest start of his career. Stephen Vogt added a two-run single in the seventh.
Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Los Angeles, giving him 1,602 RBIs for 33rd on the career list.
Samardzija (5-5) beat the Angels for the first time in three career starts and won for the first time in five starts since a victory at Houston on Aug. 25. He has worked at least seven innings in six straight starts.
YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 0
NEW YORK — Derek Jeter began his final series at Yankee Stadium by breaking open the game with a two-run double, and he had three RBIs to lead the Yankees over the Orioles.
Michael Pineda retired his first 13 batters before J.J. Hardy singled sharply to left field, pitching 7 1-3 innings and combining with three relievers on a one-hitter. Jose Pirela, the Yankees’ team-record 57th player this season, became New York’s first player in 34 years to triple in his first big league at-bat. He went 2 for 3 with the go-ahead RBI.
Despite the loss, AL East champion Baltimore clinched home-field advantage in an AL division series starting Oct. 2 when Detroit lost to the Chicago White Sox. The Orioles open the postseason against the wild-card playoff winner or the AL Central champion.
PIRATES 1, BRAVES 0
ATLANTA — Andrew McCutchen homered, Francisco Liriano won his fourth straight start and the Pirates moved closer to a postseason berth, beating the Braves.
The Pirates, winners in 10 of their last 12, have a five-game lead over Milwaukee with six games remaining for both teams. Any combination of two Pittsburgh wins or Brewers losses will guarantee the Pirates at least a spot in the NL wild-card game for the second straight year.
The Pirates still have hopes of winning the NL Central, but they began the night 2½ games behind first-place St. Louis.
McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP, hit his 24th homer in the sixth off starter Aaron Harang.
Liriano (7-10) allowed three hits, walked four and struck out seven in six innings. He extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 28 innings.
BLUE JAYS 14, MARINERS 4
TORONTO — Jose Bautista homered and reached base four times, J.A. Happ won for the first time in four starts and the Blue Jays dealt a blow to Seattle’s wild card hopes, routing the Mariners.
Bautista went 3 for 3 with a walk and drove in two runs before getting the rest of the night off. His solo homer in the fifth against Mariners reliever Tom Wilhelmsen was his 35th.
Kevin Pillar hit a two-run homer and Anthony Gose added a solo blast as the Blue Jays handed Seattle its third straight defeat.
Happ (10-11) allowed an RBI double by Robinson Cano in the first, and Kyle Seager’s solo homer in the sixth.
Seattle’s James Paxton (6-4) gave up a career-high nine runs, walked a career-high six and matched a career-high by giving up seven hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest career start.
WHITE SOX 2, TIGERS 0
DETROIT — Chris Bassitt pitched into the eighth inning for his first major league win, and the White Sox slowed Detroit’s chase of the AL Central title with a victory over the Tigers.
Detroit remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Royals, pending the result of their regularly scheduled game in Cleveland. Hours earlier, the Indians finished off a win in a suspended game against Kansas City.
Tyler Flowers hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, and the Tigers were unable to take advantage of Chicago’s inexperienced starter.
The loss assured Detroit would start a division series on the road, even if it wins the AL Central.
The game turned into an unexpected pitchers’ duel between Bassitt and fellow rookie Kyle Lobstein. Both were making their fifth career start, but they looked like aces in the middle of a pennant race.
RANGERS 4, ASTROS 3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Guilder Rodriguez had his first two major league hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single, as the Rangers opened their final homestand with a victory over the Astros.
Rougned Odor had a three-run triple for Texas, which won for the ninth time in its last 10 games. The Rangers got win No. 63 overall, ensuring that they will avoid their first 100-loss season since 1973.
The 31-year-old Rodriguez made his major league debut two weeks ago, when the switch-hitting utility infielder was called up after 13 seasons and 1,095 games in the minors, then the most by any current player before finally getting to the majors.
Rodriguez got his first major league RBI in the seventh, his two-out single sending home Jake Smolinski and chasing Astros starter Nick Tropeano (1-2). Smolinski was hit by a pitch to start the inning.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Josh Collmenter pitched six strong innings for his career-best 11th win, Mark Trumbo homered and the Diamondbacks beat the Twins to snap a six-game losing streak.
Trumbo’s two-run shot off Ricky Nolasco (5-12) — his fourth homer in the last 11 games — capped a five-run fifth for the Diamondbacks, who are 7-11 in interleague play.
Collmenter (11-8) has allowed two runs or fewer in his last six starts, matching the longest streak of his career. He’s 3-1 during that span.
Nearly all the hitters in Minnesota’s lineup faced Collmenter for the first time in their careers, and it showed as the Twins reached 90 losses for the fourth straight year since winning the AL Central in 2010.
PADRES 1, ROCKIES 0
SAN DIEGO — Eric Stults pitched effectively into the seventh inning and San Diego won its fifth straight game by beating Colorado.
Stults (8-17), tied with Philadelphia right-hander A.J. Burnett for the major league lead in losses, scattered seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in beating the Rockies for the first time this season after two defeats.
Kevin Quackenbush worked the ninth for his sixth save, ending Colorado’s season-high, six-game winning streak.
The Padres, outhit 10-5, went ahead in the first inning when Rene Rivera’s double scored Jedd Gyorko, who walked. Rockies starter Tyler Matzek (6-11) struck out eight in six innings.
