Cueto wins ML-best 17th as Reds top D'backs

PHOENIX: Johnny Cueto scattered four hits over seven innings for his major league-leading 17th win and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Cueto (17-4) gave up two runs, struck out one and walked five for his eighth victory in nine decisions. The right-hander lowered his NL-leading ERA to 2.48. Ryan Hanigan hit a two-run single and Todd Frazier added a two-run triple for the Reds, who won for the third time in four games and stretched their lead in the NL Central to seven games over St. Louis.
Jonathan Broxton pitched the eighth and Aroldis Chapman closed it out for his 33rd save and 25th straight, tied with Texas reliever Joe Nathan for the longest active streak in the majors.

Braves 2 Padres 0: In San Diego, Kris Medlen extended his scoreless streak to 28 1-3 innings by holding San Diego to five singles over eight innings and leading the Atlanta Braves to a 2-0 victory.
Medlen allowed only five baserunners and erased two of them on pickoffs at first base. He struck out nine to tie his career high and walked none.
Atlanta, the NL wild-card leader, ended the Padres' season-high eight-game winning streak.
Medlen (6-1) has not allowed a run since the second inning of a 9-3 victory against the New York Mets on Aug. 11. Five days after that, he threw his first complete game and shutout in a 6-0 victory against San Diego at Atlanta, allowing only five hits.
Atlanta has won Medlen's last 17 starts dating to May 2010 and is 20-4 in his 24 career starts.

Rockies 8 Dodgers 4: In Denver, Wilin Rosario homered among three hits and drove in three runs, Tyler Chatwood pitched five effective innings and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 on Tuesday night.
Andrew Brown had three hits for the Rockies, who have won eight of 10.
Hanley Ramirez homered for the Dodgers, who have lost three straight after winning their first game following a nine-player deal that brought Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett to Los Angeles.
The Dodgers lost Matt Kemp to a right knee contusion after he crashed hard into the wall in center field trying to chase down Josh Rutledge's triple in the first inning. He turned into the padding while running full speed and fell backward onto the warning track.

Giants 3 Astros 2: In Houston, inch-hitter Hector Sanchez connected on the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied for a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros.
The Giants were down 2-1 entering the ninth. Brandon Belt singled off Wesley Wright to start inning before pinch-hitter Joaquin Arias doubled down the left field line off Wilton Lopez (5-3) to score Belt and tie it 2-2.
Sanchez completed the rally with his one-out line drive to center field that scored Arias.
Houston took the lead on a wild pitch by Matt Cain in the eighth inning.

Mets 9 Phillies 5: In Philadelphia, Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking double during a four-run 10th inning, Kelly Shoppach had a two-run homer and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-5 for their third straight victory.
Shoppach hit a tying double in the eighth and then connected off B.J. Rosenberg (0-2). Mike Baxter also hit a two-run shot for the Mets, who are 6-1 in Philadelphia this season.
It was the first time in 10 games New York scored more than three runs.
Ryan Howard hit a grand slam and Chase Utley had a solo shot for the Phillies, who had won four straight.

Brewers 4 Cubs 1: In Chicago, Jeff Bianchi hit a three-run shot for his first big league homer, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Bianchi went deep off Travis Wood (4-11) with two outs in the second for Milwaukee, which has won seven of eight overall and has beaten the Cubs seven straight times.
Yovani Gallardo (14-8) won his seventh straight start, holding Chicago to one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out nine.

John Axford finished up for his 21st save in 29 chances.
Pirates 9 Cardinals 0: In Pittsbugh, Pedro Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs, James McDonald scattered two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beats the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0.
Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Pirates a comfortable lead, added an RBI double in the fourth then hit a 469-foot blast to center in the sixth. He went 4 for 5 as Pittsburgh drew within two games of the Cardinals in the race for the NL's second wild-card spot.
McDonald (12-6) gave up two hits, walked one and struck out six to beat the Cardinals and Jake Westbrook (13-10) for the second time in the last two weeks.

Marlins 9 Nationals 0: In Miami, Stephen Strasburg pitched as badly as his teammates have been playing.
Strasburg gave up a career-high seven runs in five innings and the first-place Washington Nationals' losing streak reached five games when they were beaten by Ricky Nolasco and the last-place Miami Marlins 9-0.
Nolasco (10-12) allowed five hits in his third career shutout and eighth complete game.
Strasburg (15-6) came into the game with a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings against Miami in five starts since last September. But he gave up a homer to his second batter, Justin Ruggiano, and trailed 5-0 by the third inning.
Strasburg, who had won his past four starts, allowed five earned runs, gave up nine hits and struck out only three. He leads the NL with 186 strikeouts.