PHOENIX — Zack Greinke earned his major league-best 16th victory with six strong innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Los Angeles 8-1 on Thursday to complete the first series sweep of the Dodgers this season.

Chris Iannetta and A.J. Pollock homered for the Diamondbacks, who matched their season-best seventh straight victory and pulled 31/2 games ahead of idle Colorado for the National League’s top wild card spot.

The Dodgers, still with the best record in the majors by far (91-40), have lost a season-worst five in a row.

Greinke (16-6) allowed a run and four hits, striking out six and walking two, to improve to 13-1 in 16 home starts this season.

REDS 7, METS 2: Scooter Gennett drove in three runs with a homer and a double off Jacob deGrom, and host Cincinnati took two of three for a rare series win.

Joey Votto added a solo shot in the seventh. After rounding the bases, Votto gave a bat and jersey to a 6-year-old boy he knows through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The boy sat next to the dugout and wore a shirt that said: “BE KIND.”

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Gennett hit a two-run homer in the second inning and doubled home a run in the fifth off deGrom (14-8), who was trying to become a 15-game winner for the first time in his career. Shortstop Jose Reyes’ throwing error let in another run.

PHILLIES 3, MARLINS 2: Ben Lively hastened Giancarlo Stanton’s slide into a slump, and visiting Philadelphia sent Miami below .500.

Stanton failed to get the ball out of the infield in three plate appearances against Lively and finished 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. The major league home run leader (51) is 1 for 15 this week.

His young counterpart, Phillies rookie Rhys Hopkins, singled in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. That’s the longest hitting streak by a Phillies player in the first month of his career since Hall of Famer Chuck Klein had a 13-game streak in 1928.

Hector Neris struck out J.T. Realmuto with the bases loaded to end the game for his 17th save.

BREWERS 6, NATIONALS 3: Zach Davies won his 16th game to tie Arizona’s Zack Greinke for the most victories in the majors, Jonathan Villar homered and Milwaukee beat Washington at home.

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Davies (16-7) scattered six hits, walked two, struck out four and lowered his ERA to 1.77 over the last nine starts.

Villar hit a two-run homer off Gio Gonzalez (13-6) in the fifth, his 11th of the season.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ASTROS 5, RANGERS 1: Jose Altuve homered, the Houston bullpen pitched 41/3 scoreless innings and the Astros beat Texas in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the last game before they return to their flood-ravaged home city.

Josh Reddick added an RBI single for the AL West-leading Astros, who avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of their instate rivals at Tropicana Field, where the series was relocated because of Hurricane Harvey.

Houston will have a previously unscheduled day off Friday and play a doubleheader Saturday against the Mets at Minute Maid Park. The downtown Houston stadium escaped major flood damage. Astros president Reid Ryan has said he hopes the weekend games “can serve as a welcome distraction” for the city.

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BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 8: Baltimore’s seven-game winning streak ended under a barrage of home runs by Kendrys Morales, who went deep three times and had a career-high seven RBI to provide Toronto with a road win.

Looking to sustain its charge into the thick of the AL playoff picture, Baltimore bolted to a 5-2 lead in the third inning before the last-place Blue Jays stormed back behind Morales, who had four hits and scored four runs.

It was his second career three-homer game. The first was Sept. 20, 2015, at Detroit.

TWINS 5, WHITE SOX 4: Max Kepler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and Minnesota rallied to a win at home, its fourth straight victory.

Trailing 4-3 entering their final at-bat at Target Field, the Twins came back and held their slim lead for the second AL wild-card spot. The Twins completed a three-game sweep with their first hop-off win since current Minnesota manager Paul Molitor was plunked in the 10th at the Metrodome in 1996 to beat Kansas City.


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