A day of big pitching performances by Vince Velasquez of the Philadelphia Phillies and Jaime Garcia of the St. Louis Cardinals; a day of the Baltimore Orioles dropping their second game of the season; and also a day of the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals maintaining their dominance in the standings since the start of the season.

Cincinnati Reds 1  Chicago Cubs 8: The Cubs win number 8 in a row, sweeping their series against the Reds and off to their best nine-game start since 1969. Jason Hammel didn’t allow a run in six innings and after Kris Bryant hit a home run to open the game, it was quite clear this was going to be another good day for the Cubbies. Dexter Fowler continues his good form, hitting 3-for-4 and finishing with two RBIs.

Detroit Tigers 7  Pittsburgh Pirates 4: The Tigers win their third game in a row behind a strong performance by Jordan Zimmermann with six innings, four hits and four strikeouts, followed by a bullpen that let it slightly deteriorate. After a 4-0 start, the Pirates came back to make it just one run between the two, but a sac fly by J.D. Martinez and a two-run homer by Nick Castellanos finished the job.

San Diego Padres 0  Philadelphia Phillies 3: This was all about Vince Velasquez on the mound, completing the game allowing only three hits and striking out 16 batters. The Padres became the first team in major league history to be shut out five times in the first 10 games scoring just one run in the last three games.

Chicago White Sox 3  Minnesota Twins 1: The Twins are still winless, getting only four hits in the game, three against Mat Latos who picked up a second win this season. Avisail Garcia hit his second home run of the season.

Cleveland Indians 6  Tampa Bay Rays 0: A big offensive performance from the Indians, backed by Danny Salazar improving to 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA after six innings with only three hits and striking out nine batters. The Indians hit three home runs, including a two-run homer by Marlon Byrd.

Milwaukee Brewers 0  St. Louis Cardinals 7: Jaime Garcia bounced back from his first performance by delivering a nine-inning shutout, striking out 13 batters. Offense was delivered by Randal Grichuk and Jeremy Hazelbaker, both hitting two-run homers.

San Francisco Giants 6  Colorado Rockies 11: The Rockies offense at home continues to be wild and strong. Just one home run (Gerardo Parra), but Mark Reynolds had three RBIs and every player in the lineup finished with at least one hit.

Atlanta Braves 2  Washington Nationals 6: The Braves lose number nine since the season began. Stephen Strasburg looked very good on the mound for almost eight complete innings, allowing only four hits while striking out 7. Bryce Harper hit a grand slam home run and third overall of the season. Wilson Ramos followed with a two-run homer.

New York Yankees 2  Toronto Blue Jays 4: The Blue Jays take a second in a row against the Yankees, allowing only three hits the entire game, with Marcus Stroman delivering a strong eight innings. The Yankees had a 2-0 lead going into the fifth, but Josh Donaldson with a three run homer and another big one from Troy Tulowitzki kept the win in Toronto.

Baltimore Orioles 3  Texas Rangers 6: The Rangers are the second team to beat the Orioles this season, building on a huge sixth innings, scoring five runs after going 3-1 down. Rougned Odor hit a double that gave them the lead followed by Elvis Andrus who scored Odor and gave the Rangers the final score of the game.

Kansas City Royals 6  Houston Astros 2: The Royals remain fantastic, sharing the best record in the AL. Ian Kennedy looked great in 7 innings of work, striking out 7 batters. Mike Moustakas hit his third home run of the season while Eric Hosmer picked up two RBIs on a double he hit earlier in the game.

American League Standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	7	2	0.778	—	5–0	2–2
New York Yankees	4	4	0.500	2½	2–1	2–3
Boston Red Sox	4	4	0.500	2½	1–2	3–2
Toronto Blue Jays	5	5	0.500	2½	3–3	2–2
Tampa Bay Rays	3	6	0.333	4	3–4	0–2

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	7	2	0.778	—	1–1	6–1
Kansas City Royals	7	2	0.778	—	4–1	3–1
Detroit Tigers	6	2	0.750	½	2–2	4–0
Cleveland Indians	4	3	0.571	2	1–1	3–2
Minnesota Twins	0	9	0.000	7	0–3	0–6

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	5	4	0.556	—	2–4	3–0
Texas Rangers	6	5	0.545	—	2–2	4–3
Oakland Athletics	4	6	0.400	1½	1–6	3–0
Seattle Mariners	3	6	0.333	2	1–5	2–1
Houston Astros	3	7	0.300	2½	1–3	2–4

National League Standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Washington Nationals	7	1	0.875	—	5–1	2–0
Philadelphia Phillies	5	5	0.500	3	3–1	2–4
Miami Marlins	3	4	0.429	3½	0–2	3–2
New York Mets	3	5	0.375	4	2–4	1–1
Atlanta Braves	0	9	0.000	7½	0–5	0–4

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	8	1	0.889	—	3–0	5–1
Cincinnati Reds	5	4	0.556	3	5–1	0–3
St. Louis Cardinals	5	4	0.556	3	2–1	3–3
Pittsburgh Pirates	5	5	0.500	3½	3–2	2–3
Milwaukee Brewers	4	5	0.444	4	3–3	1–2

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	6	4	0.600	—	3–1	3–3
Los Angeles Dodgers	6	4	0.600	—	2–1	4–3
Colorado Rockies	5	4	0.556	½	3–3	2–1
Arizona Diamondbacks	3	7	0.300	3	2–5	1–2
San Diego Padres	3	7	0.300	3	0–3	3–4

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