Cinci plays spoiler against Dodgers again

Scooter Gennett had four hits and three RBIs, Joey Votto hit a tworun double on his birthday and the Cincinnati Reds improved to 5-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers this season with a 10-6 victory Monday night.

Eugenio Suarez added a solo home run for the last-place Reds, and Jose Peraza had two hits and scored three runs. That helped Cincinnati overcome Chris Taylor’s two-run homer and Yasmani Grandal’s solo shot.

The loss for Los Angeles dropped them 11/2 games behind the firstplace Colorado Rockies in the NL West. Arizona was another three games back of Colorado.

In the NL wild-card race, the Milwaukee Brewers held onto their 21/2-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals in the battle for the first wild-card spot, beating the Chicago Cubs 3-2 Monday night. The Brewers also moved to within a game of the Central-leading Cubs with their win.

Lorenzo Cain had four hits, and Mike Moustakas scored on Carl Edwards Jr.’s wild pitch in the sixth inning to give the Brewers the win against the Cubs.

Orlando Arcia and Jonathan Schoop each drove in a run as Milwaukee (83-62) won for the seventh time in eight games.

Chicago (83-60) lost for the fifth time in seven games. Ben Zobrist had two of the Cubs’ five hits, and Kris Bryant drove in a run.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 at home to maintain a two-game edge on the Dodgers for the second wildcard position.

In Detroit, Justin Verlander made his triumphant return to his former haunts, pitching the AL West-leading Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. The World Series champion Astros opened a three-game lead over Oakland atop the AL West.

The New York Yankees moved three games ahead of Oakland for the first wild-card spot by virtue of a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.