Los Angeles took a step back in the race for the National League's best record. The Dodgers are a game back of the Pirates and Cardinals and three back of the Braves.
Here is a recap of Sunday's relevant action:
Giants 4, Dodgers 3: Hunter Pence continued to torment the Dodgers on Sunday. Pence was 2-3 with two homers and three RBIs. In San Francisco's four game series against Los Angeles, the outfielder hit five homers and had 12 RBIs. The Dodgers also left seven runners in scoring position.
Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 2: Paul Goldschmidt continued to add to his 2013 NL MVP resume. The slugger went 4-4 with a two-run homer and five RBIs. Arizona got a quality start from Randall Delgado who gave up two runs over six innings.
Cardinals 12, Mariners 2: Seven different St. Louis hitters knocked in at least one run. Both Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday went 3-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Yadier Molina was 4-5 with one RBI and three runs scored.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2: Francisco Liriano had a no-hitter through six innings until Junior Lake singled with no outs in the seventh. The lefty gave up two runs on three hits over six innings. The win kept Pittsburgh tied with St. Louis for first place in the NL Central.
Brewers 6, Reds 5: Cincinnati was up 5-1 through 6.5 innings before blowing the game. Milwaukee won the game when rookie first baseman Sean Halton hit a walk-off homer. It was Halton's third home run of his career.
Padres 4, Braves 0: Atlanta was shutout by Burch Smith, Nick Vincent, and Huston Street. Smith gave up no runs on three hits over seven innings. The righty walked two and struck out ten.
Nationals 11, Phillies 2: Washington dominated Philadelphia with the help of Wilson Ramos. The catcher was 4-4 with a solo homer and five RBIs. Ramos has been on a tear lately. Over the last ten days, Ramos is hitting .333 with five homers and 17 RBIs.
*** If Pittsburgh and St. Louis tie, they would play each other on September 30th in a one game playoff to decide who would be the first wild card and who would win the division. Because the Pirates are 10-9 against the Cardinals this season, they would host the game.***
Here is a look at relevant games on Monday (all times PT):
- 4:05 p.m. - Atlanta (Mike Minor) at Washington (Dan Haren)
- 4:05 p.m. - San Diego (Andrew Cashner) at Pittsburgh (A.J. Burnett)
- 5:10 p.m. - Cincinnati (Johnny Cueto) at Houston (Erik Bedard)
- 5:40 p.m. - St. Louis (Lance Lynn) at Colorado (Collin McHugh)
- 6:40 p.m. - Los Angeles (Hyun-Jin Ryu) at Arizona (Trevor Cahill)