ST. LOUIS — Kyle Hendricks took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up Jeremy Hazelbaker’s leadoff home run, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 Monday night to close in on the NL Central crown.

Hazelbaker drove an 0-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his 12th homer this season. Hendricks, the major league ERA leader, was relieved by Aroldis Chapman.

Ben Zobrist and Dexter Fowler homered for the Cubs, who lowered their magic number to three for clinching the division crown. They lead the second-place Cardinals by 17 games.

Soon after Hazelbaker’s shot cleared the fence, teammates went to the mound to talk to Hendricks – leading to an argument between Cubs Manager Joe Maddon and plate umpire Joe West.

Maddon was ejected, and Chapman came in.

NATIONALS 8, METS 1: Starting pitcher Mat Latos hit a solo home run and Anthony Rendon added a three-run shot as Washington won at home.

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The Nationals increased their lead over the Mets to 10 games in the Nationals League East – matching their largest cushion of the season

PHILLIES 6, PIRATES 2: Roman Quinn had two hits, two RBI, a stolen base and made a big impression in his second major league game, leading Philadelphia to a win at home in his second straight start after being promoted to the big leagues.

REDS 3, BREWERS 0: Scott Schebler hit a two-run single in a three-run first and four pitchers teamed up for the host Reds’ eighth shutout this year.

BRAVES 12, MARLINS 7: Nick Markakis doubled to drive in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and Tyler Flowers had four RBI as Atlanta rallied to win at home.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 2: Tampa Bay and Toronto cleared the benches and bullpens after the Blue Jays wrapped up a win, ending the skirmish without throwing any punches.

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Steven Souza Jr. hit a fly for the final out, and appeared to be upset at the way closer Roberto Osuna celebrated the win. Souza spoke with Toronto catcher Russell Martin before leaving the field.

The Blue Jays improved to 3-7 in September, and moved a game ahead of Baltimore in the AL wild card race.

TIGERS 4, TWINS 2: Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler homered, and Detroit scored two runs in the seventh inning on close plays at the plate, rallying to win at home.

ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 3: Khris Davis and Marcus Semien hit three-run homers and the Athletics matched a season high with 17 hits and 10 walks as they won in a rout at Kansas City, Missouri.

It was a potentially crippling loss for the defending world Series champions (74-69), who began the day four back of the final wild-card spot with 20 games remaining.

INTERLeAGUE

DODGERS 8, YANKEES 2: Aaron Judge dropped Chase Utley’s fly ball to the warning track and catcher Gary Sanchez threw wildly to second base, leading to four unearned runs that helped the NL West-leading Dodgers beat the AL wild-card chasing Yankees in New York.


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