FRIDAY’S MLB ROUNDUP

NATIONAL LEAGUE REDS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3

PHOENIX — Joey Votto and Josh VanMeter homered, Luis Castillo pitched five solid innings and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks .

The Diamondbacks lost their sixth straight to tumble further out of the NL wild card race. They won 11 out of 12 from Aug. 25-Sept. 7 to pull within 1½ games of the second wild card spot, but are now 4½ behind the Chicago Cubs with just 14 to play.

Votto, who turned 36 earlier this week, gave the Reds a 2-0 lead in the third inning when he hit a two-run homer over the left field wall. It was his 15th of the season.

The Diamondbacks pulled within 2-1 in the fourth before VanMeter launched a two-out, two-run homer to extend the Reds’ lead. Both runs were unearned because of an error by second baseman Wilmer Flores.

BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 0

WASHINGTON — Mike Soroka allowed one hit over six innings, Ozzie Albies homered and finished with the three hits in Atlanta’s victory over Washington.

Atlanta moved 9½ games in front of Washington in the NL East and reduced its magic number to six. Washington leads the NL wild card race.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was lifted for precautionary reasons in the fourth inning with right elbow soreness. Atlanta’s Nick Markakis, back after missing 43 games with a fractured left wrist, had a single, a double and a sacrifice fly and made a sliding catch in left field to take a hit away from Victor Robles.

GIANTS 1, MARLINS 0

SAN FRANCISCO — Tyler Beede allowed three hits in 6 1/3 innings, Buster Posey drove in the game’s only run, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Miami Marlins.

Beede (5-9) struck out five and walked one. Brandon Belt had three hits including two doubles for the Giants, who lead the majors with five 1-0 wins.

The Marlins got another solid start from Sandy Alcantara (5-13), who struck out six, walked none and gave up nine hits and one run in seven innings.

Miami has lost five straight and seven of eight and is 10-33 since July 30.

DODGERS 9, METS 2

NEW YORK — Noah Syndergaard again wobbled with Wilson Ramos as his catcher while Clayton Kershaw was right in the pocket, sending Los Angeles past New York.

Kershaw (14-5) stopped a rare threestart skid and improved to 10-0 in regular-season play against the Mets. Rookies Gavin Lux and Edwin Ríos homered to help the NL West champion Dodgers win their ninth in a row at Citi Field dating to 2016.

AMERICAN LEAGUE ORIOLES 6, TIGERS 2

DETROIT — In the first meeting in 50 years of major league teams both 50 or more games under .500, DJ Stewart and Trey Mancini homered to lead Baltimore past Detroit.

This was just the fourth time teams 50 or more games under .500 met, according to STATS, the first since Montreal played at San Diego on Aug. 29, 1969. The others were between Kansas City and Washington on Oct. 7, 1886, and between St. Louis and Louisville on Sept. 13, 1886, STATS said.

Detroit dropped to a big league-worst 43-103, its most losses since setting a team mark at 43-119 in 2003. Baltimore is 48-99.

Aaron Brooks (5-8) allowed two runs and seven hits in 51/3 innings to win for the third win time in four decisions. Jordan Zimmermann (1-11) was the loser.

BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 5, 12 INNINGS

TORONTO — Bo Bichette hit his first game-ending home run, a 12th-inning drive that gave the Toronto Blue Jays a win over the New York Yankees.

A 21-year-old who debuted on July 29, Bichette led off the 12th against Tyler Lyons (1-2) with his 11th home run.

Wilmer Font (4-4) pitched two innings for the win. Toronto at 58-90 is trying to avoid losing 100 games for the first time since 1977-79, its first three seasons.

Blue Jays left-hander Tim Mayza entered in the 10th but left after injuring his elbow on a wild ball four to his first batter, Didi Gregorius. An emotional Mayza went down on one knee and covered his face with his jersey before walking off with an athletic trainer.