National League

Padres 7, Dodgers 2

With a mighty swing and a brief pose at home plate to fire up his teammates, Trent Grisham added some spice to what could be a sprint to the finish between his San Diego Padres and the seven-time defending NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Grisham's home run off Clayton Kershaw tied the game in the sixth inning and the Padres delivered the knockout punch in a five-run seventh to beat the Dodgers on Monday night and win their eighth straight game.

Dinelson Lamet outpitched Kershaw, and rookie Jorge Oña hit a go-ahead double in the opener of a series between the NL’s top two teams.

The Padres cut the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West to 1½ games. San Diego, closing in on its first playoff berth since 2006, has won 12 of 14.

The most memorable moment came when Grisham hit a no-doubter leading off the sixth against Kershaw (5-2) who had been cruising with a two-hit shutout and hadn't lost to San Diego since 2013.

Grisham posed for a second after hitting his ninth homer, looking toward the Padres’ dugout and gesturing toward his teammates. He then had an exchange with the Dodgers’ dugout just before hopping onto the plate.

“They wanted me to run and that was really about it. They told me to get going a little sooner. That was it,” Grisham said of the chatter that came from the Dodgers' dugout.

He said his gesture toward his teammates “happened naturally in the moment. It’s a big situation off a big pitcher in a big game. We look forward to this series and it’s one of the biggest series of the year. The look into the dugout was, ‘Hey, let’s go, let’s pick it up, let’s get after it and let’s go get this game.'"

“It was emotional, it was fun, it got us going and it was just an exciting time,” he added.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts felt Grisham disrespected Kershaw.

“I don’t mind guys admiring a homer,” Roberts said. “Certainly it’s a big game, big hit. Really like the player. But I just felt that to kind of overstay at home, certainly against a guy like Clayton, who’s got the respect of everyone in the big leagues and what he’s done in this game, I just took exception to that. I think there’s a certain respect you give a guy if you homer against him.”

Padres rookie manager Jayce Tingler said it was no big deal.

“We really don’t worry about it,” Tingler said. "We worry about our guys and our team. It was a big moment in the game. It was a huge hit, got us fired up. We have fun. We play the game right, we respect the game, but we’re going to have fun and we’re going to pull for one another. To us, that’s all it is.”

Lamet (3-1) got the victory thanks to a seventh-inning outburst that chased Kershaw (5-2). Lamet matched his season strikeout high with 11 while holding the Dodgers to one run and three hits. He walked only two.

Wil Myers added a solo homer in the eighth, his 13th.

Myers hit a leadoff single and Jurickson Profar had a one-out base hit to chase Kershaw in the seventh. Oña greeted Pedro Baez by lofting a double down the left-field line to give San Diego a 2-1 lead, and the Padres kept adding on.

Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia hit a grounder to first baseman Max Muncy, who couldn’t decide whether to throw home or touch first, allowing Profar to score. Grisham hit a grounder to Muncy, who tried to get Garcia at second but threw the ball into left field for an error that allowed Oña to score. Manny Machado hit a bases-loaded RBI single, and Austin Nola’s fielder’s choice brought in the final run of the inning.

Kershaw allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked none.

“We want to play well if we want to beat the Padres," Kershaw said. “They’re a good ballclub. You've got some guys really swinging the bat well. Lamet is obviously a really good starting pitcher and they've got some other guys behind him as well, good bullpen. They’re a great team this year. Eventually we might see them again in the playoffs.”

The Padres had a prime chance against Kershaw an inning earlier when rookie Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff double. But Kershaw got Profar to fly out and then struck out rookies Oña and Jorge Mateo.

The Dodgers broke through against Lamet in the third when Austin Barnes walked with one out, went to third as Mookie Betts flared a double down the right-field line and scored on Corey Seager’s groundout.

“For the last couple outings, he’s been as good as anybody in the league and we have a lot of confidence and a lot of faith when he takes the ball on the mound," Tingler said about Lamet.

Brewers 2, Cardinals 1, first game (8 innings)

Cardinals 3, Brewers 2, second game (9 innings)

Paul DeJong knocked in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the ninth inning as the Cardinals salvaged a doubleheader split.

Both games went to extra innings after being scheduled for seven. In the opener, Keston Hiura hit a sacrifice fly to score Avisail Garcia with the winning run in the eighth as the Brewers rallied for the win.

In the second game, DeJong hit a liner off Justin Topa (0-1) that barely eluded the reach of shortstop Orlando Arcia and went into left field to score Tommy Edman from third.

The Brewers had runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, but Tyler Webb induced a double-play grounder from Luis Urias and struck out Jace Peterson to earn his first save.

Genesis Cabrera (4-1) got the win, striking out three in a scoreless eighth inning.

In the first game, St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth when Edman drove in Tyler O’Neill with a two-out single off Freddy Peralta (2-1).

Ryan Braun tied it with an RBI double off the center-field wall against Ryan Helsley (1-1). Hiura won it with his bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Austin Gomber.

Reds 3, Pirates 1, first game

Reds 9, Pirates 4, second game

Mike Moustakas hit a big three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Reds finished a doubleheader sweep.

Moustakas drove in Shogo Akiyama and Eugenio Suárez with a two-out shot to center off Nik Turley (0-2). Pittsburgh had just taken a 4-3 lead on rookie Ke'Bryan Hayes' two-run shot with two out in the top half of the inning.

Brian Goodwin and Joey Votto also connected for Cincinnati, which won a third straight game for the first time since Aug. 28. Sal Romano (1-0) got the victory, retiring Gregory Polanco with the bases loaded for the final out of the fifth.

In the opener, rookie Tyler Stephenson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning. Votto also went deep, and Raisel Iglesias (3-3) got two outs for the win.

Colin Moran homered for Pittsburgh in Game 1, and Sam Howard (2-2) got the loss.

American League

Mariners 6, Athletics 6, first game

Athletics 9, Mariners 0, second game

Mike Minor tossed a two-hitter, Jake Lamb doubled and homered in his first game after signing with Oakland, and the Athletics beat Seattle for a doubleheader split.

Seattle won the opener 6-5, rallying from a 5-0 deficit and scoring twice in the sixth inning with two outs to stay on the heels of Houston in the AL West. Seattle is 1½ games behind the Astros for second.

The games were played with a haze of smoke hovering above the field at T-Mobile Park, even with the retractable roof of the stadium closed. Wildfires on the West Coast have suffocated much of the Pacific Northwest with unhealthy air conditions that brought into question whether the games would even be played.

Minor (1-5) picked up his first victory of the season in his third start since being acquired by the A’s from Texas. Jimmy Yacabonis (0-1) was charged with the loss.

Kyle Lewis had a big day for Seattle. The rookie outfielder hit a two-run homer and reached on a bases-loaded walk that scored the winning run in the opener. He also robbed Ramon Laureano of a grand slam with a spectacular catch in the first inning of the second game.

Despite giving up a season-high five earned runs, Marco Gonzales (6-2) earned the victory in the opener. Yoshihisa Hirano pitched the seventh inning for his second save.

Marcus Semien had four RBIs for division-leading Oakland in Game 1. Joakim Soria (2-2) got the loss.

White Sox 3, Twins 1

Adam Engel delivered a tiebreaking pinch-hit single in the eighth inning, and the White Sox increased their lead in the AL Central.

Chicago opened its pivotal four-game set against Minnesota with its ninth win in 10 games. The White Sox (31-16) moved two games ahead of the second-place Twins (30-19).

Twins reliever Taylor Rogers (1-3) walked Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert with no outs in the eighth. Engel then made it 2-1 with a single to center. After Nick Madrigal lined out, Tim Anderson added an RBI double off the fence in left.

Alex Colomé (2-0) got four outs for the win.

Minnesota went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base. It had won three in a row.

Interleague

Orioles 14, Braves 1

DJ Stewart hit the first of three Baltimore homers in a nine-run third inning, and the Orioles stopped a five-game losing streak.

After winning three of four in Washington to extend their NL East lead to a season-high 3 1/2 games, the Braves were handed their most lopsided defeat of the year, enabling second-place Miami to shave a game off the margin.

A solo home run by Freddie Freeman was the extent of Atlanta’s offense over seven innings against Jorge López (2-0), who entered with a 6.38 ERA.

Recalled from Atlanta’s alternate site to make his fifth start of the season, Touki Toussaint (0-2) permitted five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.