Rockies maintain edge on Dodgers

DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer off Yoshihisa Hirano in the ninth inning and the NL West-leading Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Wednesday night.

LeMahieu hit a fastball over the fence in right as the Rockies kept their 1½-game advantage over Los Angeles intact after the Dodgers beat Cincinnati 8-1 earlier in the day. The Diamondbacks fell 3 ½ games behind in the division race.

In Denver, trying for a save on consecutive nights, Hirano (4-3) allowed a single by Gerardo Parra off the glove of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to begin the ninth. Charlie Blackmon bunted Goldschmidt over to second and LeMahieu followed with his first career walk-off homer.

Meanwhile, Blake Snell took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his major league-leading 19th win, leading the Tampa Bay Rays over the Cleveland Indians 3-1 on Wednesday in St Petersburg, Fla.

Snell (19-5) lost his bid when Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with his 38th homer. Snell won his team-record seventh straight start, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings.

Tampa Bay temporarily closed within eight games of Oakland for the second AL wild card with 17 games left.

But that was before the Athletics blasted the Orioles 10-0 in Baltimore for their sixth straight win.

Cleveland’s magic number to clinch a third consecutive AL Central title remained at three.

Oakland trails first-place Houston by three games in the AL West.

At Detroit, the Astros swept a series at Comerica Park for the first time, wrapping up a three-game set with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers.

At San Francisco, pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves moved closer to clinching the NL East with a 2-1 victory over the Giants.

At St. Louis, the Cardinals lost 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals begin a key four-game series against the Dodgers on Thursday. St. Louis leads Los Angeles by two games for the second NL wild card.

At Chicago, Curtis Granderson homered, tripled and scored three runs, Lorenzo Cain added three hits and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cubs 5-1 to move within a game of the NL Central lead.