Pirates Continue Run To The Playoffs – MLB Roundup For Sept. 13th

UNDATED (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their September run for the playoffs. The Pirates climbed into a tie for the NL Central lead with St. Louis by beating the Chicago Cubs 3-1 for their fourth straight victory. Jeff Locke allowed three hits over seven innings to earn his first victory in nearly two months. He's 10-5.

__ Meanwhile, Milwaukee was doing the Pirates a big favor by knocking off St. Louis 5-3. That ended the Cards' five-game winning streak. Tyler Thornburg threw six solid innings and Sean Halton homered for the Brewers.

In other NL action:

— Adrian Gonzalez singled home the winning run in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers reduced their magic number to five for clinching their first NL West title since 2009.

— Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer on his 24th birthday to help Atlanta top Miami 6-1. Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson had two-run doubles for the NL East leading Braves. Johnson had three hits to raise his average to .330. Freddy Garcia pitched well in a spot start for Atlanta. He gave up a run on five hits in six innings to pick up his first win since joining the Braves last month.

— Ryan Zimmerman's first inning solo home run was the first of four Washington hit in a 7-2 win over the Mets. Adam LaRoche, Wilson Ramos and Anthony Rendon (rehn-DOHN ') also went deep for the Nationals who won their sixth in a row. The Nats have pulled to within 5 1-2 games of the final wild card spot in the National League.

__Carlos Ruiz had three hits and three RBIs and rookie Cesar Hernandez reached base four times as the Philadelphia Phillies rode a six-run first inning to a 10-5 win over San Diego.

In the AL:

__A.J. Griffin allowed just two hits in seven innings to lead Oakland to an 8-2 win over Minnesota. Josh Reddick homered and had three RBIs to help the Athletics open a 3½ game lead over idle Texas in the American League West. It is Oakland's largest lead over the Rangers since Aug. 3. The teams are to scheduled play a three-game series this weekend in the Lone Star State.

__Wil Myers hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. The Rays lead the crowded race for the second AL wild card despite going 5-13 since Aug. 25.

__ The New York Yankees stayed within a game of the second AL wild card slot by edging Baltimore 6-5. Brendan Ryan scored the winning run in the ninth inning on a wild pitch by Jim Johnson, the Orioles closer who fell to 3-8.

__ The Cleveland Indians remained in the wild card hunt by walloping the Chicago White Sox 14-3. The Indians are a game and a-half out of the final wild card berth. Ryan Raburn went 3 for 3 with a homer and five RBIs.

__ The L.A. Angels nipped Toronto 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Garrett Richards pitched 6 2-3 innings for his third straight win. Kole Calhoun hit a solo home run.