UNDATED (AP) — Don Mattingly teed off on his players Wednesday morning, just before his players teed off on the Milwaukee Brewers.

Don Mattingly publicly discussed his club's lack of mental toughness and said he wanted a balanced team that has grit and fight. He benched All-Star outfielder Andre Ethier (EE'-thee-ur) for the third time in six games and said he was "putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive and going to compete the hardest." The comments came with the Dodgers mired in the NL West basement at 19-26.

Mattingly's club responded by scoring seven runs over the first three innings of a 9-2 rout of Milwaukee. Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke drove in two runs each and Ramon Hernandez hit his first home run with the Dodgers.

Also in the majors, Evan Gattis (GAT'-his) launched a grand slam and Atlanta picked up its sixth consecutive win by whipping Minnesota 8-3. B.J. Upton and Ramiro Pena also went deep as the Braves dealt the Twins their eighth straight loss.

Colorado has grabbed a piece of the NL West lead by taking the rubber match of its series with Arizona, beating the visiting Diamondbacks 4-1. Carlos Gonzalez hit a solo homer and an RBI triple to help Jorge De La Rosa improve to 8-0 lifetime against the Diamondbacks at Coors Field.

San Francisco dropped into a first-place tie by failing to complete a three-game sweep of Washington, losing 2-1 in 10 innings. Bryce Harper hit a solo homer in the sixth and scored the winning run on Ian Desmond's RBI single.

Tyler Lyons was outstanding in his major league debut, surrendering only one run and four hits in seven innings to pitch St. Louis past San Diego 5-3. Lyons had a three-hit shutout until Jedd Gyorko (JUR'-koh) led off the bottom of the seventh with a homer.

Brandon Phillips provided the tiebreaking, RBI double while Cincinnati was scoring three times in the ninth to beat the Mets 7-4 and complete a three-game sweep. Phillips had a pair of RBIs, Joey Votto (VAH'-toh) belted a two-run homer and Zach Cozart went 4-for-5 with two runs scored in the Reds' 10th win in 12 games.

Pittsburgh won for the 10th time in 12 games as Francisco Liriano gave up just two hits in seven innings of a 1-0 shutout of the Chicago Cubs. Andrew McCutchen doubled twice and scored the game's only run on a single by Garrett Jones in the first.

Cliff Lee tossed a three-hitter and Delmon Young homered for the second straight day in Philadelphia's 3-0 victory at Miami. It was Lee's 12th career shutout and first since Sept. 5, 2011.

Miguel Cabrera continued his torrid start by going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBIs in Detroit's 11-7 win at Cleveland. Cabrera has 13 homers and leads the majors with a .387 average and 52 RBIs.

Texas used first inning homers by David Murphy and Adrian Beltre (BEHL'-tray) for a 3-1 win over Oakland. Thirty-year old Ross Wolf picked up the win in his first major league start, allowing a run and three hits in five-plus innings.

Chris Davis socked his league-leading 14th homer and Matt Wieters (WEE'-turz) added a three-run shot as Baltimore doubled up the New York Yankees 6-3 in the rubber match of the series. Nick Markakis (mahr-KAY'-kihs) also homered for the Birds, who've won two straight since a six-game skid.

Clay Buchholz is 7-0 after holding the White Sox to a run and five hits in seven innings of Boston's 6-2 victory at Chicago. David Ortiz and Daniel Nava (NAH'-vah) poke two-run singles as the Red Sox win for the sixth time in eight games.

C.J. Wilson struck out 10 while allowing a run and six hits in eight innings of the Angels' 7-1 win over Seattle. Josh Hamilton hit a two-run single and Alberto Callaspo (ky-AS'-poh) had two RBIs as Los Angeles sent the Mariners to their season-high sixth straight loss.

Toronto rode Jose Bautista's bat to a 4-3, 10-inning win over Tampa Bay. Bautista was 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs, including the walk-off single.

J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer off James Shields before Houston completed a 3-1 win against Kansas City. Jordan Lyles allowed a run and six hits in six innings to help the Astros win a series for only the fourth time this year.

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees have suffered another injury to a key player.

Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (hih-ROH'-kee kuh-ROH'-dah) suffered a bruised left calf when struck in the leg by a line drive off the bat of Manny Machado in the second inning. Kuroda tried to pitch through the pain before coming out in the third inning.

Kuroda was tagged for five runs and eight hits in two-plus innings.

In other major league news, Cardinals hurler Jaime (HY'-may) Garcia is expected to miss the rest of the season following surgery to repair tears in his rotator cuff and labrum. Garcia is 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts this year.

Right-hander Kyle Lohse (lohsh) will miss his next scheduled turn in the Milwaukee Brewers' rotation because of irritation in his pitching elbow. Lohse signed a $33 million, three-year contract with Milwaukee a week before opening day and is 1-5 with a 3.76 ERA.

Third baseman Trevor Plouffe (ploof) has been placed on the seven-day disabled list by the Twins with a concussion. He was struck in the head by Dan Uggla's shin while breaking up an attempted double play Tuesday in a game with Atlanta.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is scheduled for an MRI on his sore ribcage on Thursday. Utley was scratched from the Phillies' 7-3 win against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night and wasn't in Wednesday's lineup. He is hitting .272 with seven homers and 25 RBIs.

More From AM 1400 The Cowboy