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BASEBALL ROUNDUP

Baseball roundup: Pirates close in on wild-card race, top Cardinals, 3-1

Ike Davis wasn’t able to play meaningful late-season games during his time with the New York Mets. He’s making the most of his chance with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

‘‘It’s the first time he’s been involved in games that have this kind of significance this late in the season,’’ Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Wednesday after Davis’s long home run keyed a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. ‘‘He’s showing up to the ballpark ready to contribute any way he can.’’

Davis hit a two-run drive off a speaker above the seats in right-center field in the second inning. A day earlier, Davis had a pinch-hit, tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning of Pittsburgh’s 5-2 win.

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Davis arrived in the major leagues with the New York Mets in 2010 and was traded to Pittsburgh in April. The Mets finished with losing records in all of his seasons in New York.

‘‘It’s hard when you’re mathematically eliminated,” Davis said. ‘‘You hit a home run and it’s a great feeling still, but it’s kind of like it didn’t really matter. If you’re still in it, it definitely feels a little sweeter.’’

Davis hit his 10th homer after Adam Wainwright (15-9) plunked Russell Martin on the left elbow with a pitch that Martin barely tried to avoid.

Pittsburgh took two of three from the defending NL champions and has won five of seven overall. St. Louis (71-61) leads the NL wild-card race, with San Francisco (69-62) trailing by 1½ games and the Pirates (69-64) one game back of the Giants for the second wild-card berth.

Rays 3, Orioles 1 — Drew Smyly allowed two hits over seven innings in his second straight overpowering performance, and Tampa Bay jumped to an early lead against rookie Kevin Gausman for a victory IN Baltimore.

Evan Longoria had three hits for the Rays, who won for only the fourth time in 11 games. Tampa Bay scored all its runs in the first two innings and Smyly (9-10) made the margin stand.

Phillies 8, Nationals 4 — Pinch-hitter Grady Sizemore hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning, helping host Philadelphia beat NL East-leading Washington to complete a three-game sweep.

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Marlon Byrd hit a two-run homer and Jimmy Rollins hit a solo shot to back Kyle Kendrick (7-11). The righthander allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Rangers 12, Mariners 4 — Rougned Odor hit a third-inning grand slam to back Colby Lewis, and last-place Texas beat Seattle to take two of three from its hosts.

Lewis (9-11) allowed seven hits, struck out seven and walked one in his second complete game of the season and second in August. He had been 0-3 since pitching a five-hit shutout at the White Sox on Aug. 5.

Athletics 5, Astros 4 — Sam Fuld hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth inning to give Oakland the win in Houston.

The A’s trailed by one entering the ninth before Eric Sogard’s RBI single, and Fuld’s two-out shot off Chad Qualls (1-4) put Oakland up, 5-3.

Yankees 8, Tigers 4 — Visiting New York chased David Price with nine straight hits in the third inning to beat Detroit.

The Yankees scored all eight of their runs in the third off Price (12-10), who had pitched a one-hitter in his previous start. Jacoby Ellsbury started the barrage, and New York went all the way through the batting order until Price was pulled after the ninth hit of the inning.

Royals 6, Twins 1 — Nori Aoki drove in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning, sending Kansas City past visiting Minnesota.

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Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1 — Clayton Kershaw allowed only an unearned run in eight innings to become the first 16-game winner in the majors, and Los Angeles beat Arizona in Phoenix.

Angels 6, Marlins 1 — Mike Trout tied a career high with his 30th home run, Gordon Beckham homered for the first time with his new club, and Los Angeles beat visiting Miami.

Padres 3, Brewers 2 — Rene Rivera tied the game with a home run in the ninth inning, then won it with an RBI single in the 10th inning as host San Diego beat Milwaukee.

Giants 4, Rockies 2 — Buster Posey hit a two run-homer in the ninth to lead host San Francisco over Colorado.

White Sox 3, Indians 2 — Jose Abreu hit a pair of run-scoring singles against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, and host Chicago stopped its season-high, seven-game losing streak.

Reds 7, Cubs 5 — Skip Schumaker drove in a pair of runs and host Cincinnati withstood Jorge Soler’s first-at-bat homer and an RBI single for a victory over Chicago.

Braves 3, Mets 2 — Jason Heyward hit a leadoff home run off Zack Wheeler, Julio Teheran won his third straight start and Atlanta won in New York to stop a three-game losing streak.