NEW YORK: Madison Bumgarner lost his bid for a perfect game in the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 3-0.
The San Francisco left-hander retired the first 21 Colorado batters before first baseman Justin Morneau doubled to right field leading off the eighth.
But that was the only hit Bumgarner (15-9) gave up as he pitched a complete game. He threw 103 pitches and tied his career high of 13 strikeouts
Buster Posey hit two home runs for the Giants.
Carlos Ruiz drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals.
Second baseman Freddy Galvis and first baseman Darin Ruf homered for Philadelphia.
Second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera hit a game-tying homer off Cole Hamels in the eighth for Washington, who lost for only the third time in 15 games to remain runaway leader in the NL East.
Mets 4, Braves 3
Juan Lagares hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fourth inning as the New York Mets edged the Atlanta Braves.
Right-hander Dillon Gee tossed 6-2/3 solid innings to snap a seven-start winless streak and the Mets won despite the absence of two top hitters, second baseman Daniel Murphy and third baseman David Wright.
Pirates 5, Cardinals 2
A pinch-hit, three-run home run by Ike Davis in the eighth inning lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Davis connected with two outs off right-handed reliever Seth Maness (5-3) for his ninth home run of the season and third as a pinch hitter.
The win was costly for the Pirates with center fielder Andrew McCutchen leaving the game in the fifth inning with discomfort in his ribs, though he said later it was minor.
Cubs 3, Reds 0
Travis Wood pitched six shutout innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo and center fielder Arismendy Alcantara homered for the Cubs.
Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto (15-8) gave up three earned runs on seven hits. Cueto walked two and fanned eight.
He allowed two homers in a game for the fourth time this season.
Orioles 4, Rays 2
Jonathan Schoop delivered the tie-breaking RBI single in the sixth, and Nelson Cruz added an RBI double an inning later to give the Baltimore Orioles victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Orioles also needed a big effort from their bullpen, which allowed just one hit over 4-1/3 shutout innings to lock up the win as Baltimore pulled seven games clear of the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Tigers 5, Yankees 2
Rick Porcello reached 15 wins for the first time in his six-year career and JD Martinez had three hits, driving in a run and scoring twice, to guide the Detroit Tigers to victory over the New York Yankees.
The first eight outs recorded by Porcello (15-8) came on ground balls and although he allowed nine hits, the right-hander had two runners on just once.
Royals 2, Twins 1
Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins. The Royals won even though their offense did nothing against Twins starter Ricky Nolasco, who restricted Kansas City to three singles and one walk.
REUTERS
