In the usual shorter lineup of games on Thursday, the Boston Red Sox clobbered the Minnesota Twins with home runs, the St. Louis Cardinals remained hot with an Aledmys Diaz walk off RBI, Francisco Liriano gave the Pittsburgh Pirates something to smile about, and the Detroit Tigers enjoyed a rain delay to turn a 7th inning lead into a win.

Los Angeles Dodgers 6  Washington Nationals 3: Two home runs from Justin Turner off of Stephen Strasburg gave the Nationals ace his first loss of the season, while the Dodgers are now just four games behind the Giants in the NL West.

Baltimore Orioles 4  New York Yankees 1: The Orioles avoid a four-game sweep, as Chris Tillman struck out 7 in 7 for his 14th win this season, and both J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop picked up a couple of RBIs.

Miami Marlins 9  Philadelphia Phillies 3: Ichiro Suzuki got two hits, which means he’s now only four away from 3000 in his major league career. The red hot Christian Yelich hit his 9th home run of the season, and Tom Koehler was fantastic for 8 innings, allowing only two hits (both of them home runs).

Milwaukee Brewers 3  Pittsburgh Pirates 5: Francisco Liriano struck out 13 in 6.2 innings, giving up four hits and three runs, while Matt Joyce stood out with a three-run homer and four RBIs.

Minnesota Twins 2  Boston Red Sox 13: The Red Sox got 17 hits, five of them by Dustin Pedroia, finishing with three runs and one RBI. David Ortiz hit his 24th home run of the season, Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. joined him in the long game too. Steve Wright through a four-hitter in 8 innings, striking out 9.

San Diego Padres 5  St. Louis Cardinals 6: A fourth straight win for the Cards, coming back in the 8th inning from four runs down, as a Stephen Piscotty home run erased a three run lead to tie the game, and a 9th inning walk off single came off the bat of Aledmys Diaz.

Detroit Tigers 2  Chicago White Sox 1: Things get worse for the White Sox, now three games below .500, 10.5 games out of first. The game was stopped after a two-hour rain delay in the 7th inning, which the Tigers didn’t mind. The Sox scored first, but Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera with solo home runs in the 5th won the game, along with the weather.

Atlanta Braves 3  Colorado Rockies 7: Carlos Gonzalez started the game with a three-run homer, his 20th of the season, followed by Mark Reynolds hitting a solo shot. The Braves never could keep up, struggling against Chad Bettis, allowing only four hits and one run in 6.2 innings.

Tampa Bay Rays 7  Oakland Athletics 3: Corey Dickerson had a strong day with a home run and three RBIs overall, Tim Beckham hit a home run too, as the A’s continue to occupy the bottom position in the AL West.

American League Standings

American League East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	54	39	0.581	—	33–20	21–19
Baltimore Orioles	54	40	0.574	½	33–14	21–26
Toronto Blue Jays	54	42	0.562	1½	27–20	27–22
New York Yankees	48	47	0.505	7	27–21	21–26
Tampa Bay Rays	38	57	0.400	17	19–30	19–27

American League Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	56	38	0.596	—	26–16	30–22
Detroit Tigers	50	46	0.521	7	26–19	24–27
Kansas City Royals	47	47	0.500	9	30–15	17–32
Chicago White Sox	46	49	0.484	10½	24–23	22–26
Minnesota Twins	35	60	0.368	21½	20–29	15–31

American League West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	55	41	0.573	—	29–15	26–26
Houston Astros	51	44	0.537	3½	28–19	23–25
Seattle Mariners	48	47	0.505	6½	25–23	23–24
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	43	52	0.453	11½	22–26	21–26
Oakland Athletics	42	54	0.438	13	21–29	21–25

National League Standings

National League East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Washington Nationals	57	39	0.594	—	30–18	27–21
Miami Marlins	52	43	0.547	4½	24–19	28–24
New York Mets	50	44	0.532	6	26–20	24–24
Philadelphia Phillies	44	53	0.454	13½	23–28	21–25
Atlanta Braves	33	63	0.344	24	14–36	19–27

National League Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	57	37	0.606	—	30–16	27–21
St. Louis Cardinals	51	44	0.537	6½	24–28	27–16
Pittsburgh Pirates	49	46	0.516	8½	26–21	23–25
Milwaukee Brewers	40	53	0.430	16½	23–22	17–31
Cincinnati Reds	36	59	0.379	21½	22–27	14–32

National League West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	57	38	0.600	—	29–17	28–21
Los Angeles Dodgers	54	43	0.557	4	30–18	24–25
Colorado Rockies	44	51	0.463	13	22–24	22–27
San Diego Padres	41	55	0.427	16½	23–25	18–30
Arizona Diamondbacks	40	55	0.421	17	17–35	23–20

Image: Source