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 on Monday night to close in on the National League Central crown.
Hazelbaker drove an 0-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his 12th home run. Hendricks (15-7), the major league ERA leader at 2.03, was relieved by Aroldis Chapman.
"Just left that one up right there. What are you going to do?" Hendricks said.
Ben Zobrist and Dexter Fowler homered for the Cubs, who lowered their magic number to three for clinching the division title. They lead the second-place Cardinals by 17 games and can wrap up the NL Central with a three-game sweep in St. Louis.
The Cardinals remained a half-game behind the New York Mets for the league's second wild card. New York lost 8-1 at Washington on Monday night.
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 for the third time this season, and Chapman entered to finish the one-hitter. He got three outs for his 14th save with Chicago and is 34 for 37 overall this year with the Cubs and the New York Yankees.
After the pitching change, Maddon argued some more with West before leaving.
Hendricks, who threw 96 pitches, struck out 7 and walked 2.
"Pretty special night all around," he said. "It was fun, man."
The right-hander got some help from his defense, especially in the sixth inning.
Cubs shortstop Addison Russell, deep in the hole, went to his knees on the outfield grass for a sliding stop of Jhonny Peralta's sharp grounder and made a strong throw to first for the out.
Right fielder Jason Heyward then reached into the stands to catch Hazelbaker's foul fly, practically wrestling with a fan in a Cardinals jersey for the ball.
"I made a lot of good pitches," Hendricks said. "I probably made four or five bad pitches, just kind of one of those nights where you get away with them."
It was the fourth no-hit bid broken up in the ninth inning this season. Cubs teammate Jake Arrieta has the lone no-hitter in the majors this year, winning 16-0 at Cincinnati on April 21.
St. Louis starter Mike Leake (9-10) pitched six innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Leake, making his second start since a stint on the disabled list due to shingles, allowed six hits and four runs (three earned).
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run by Zobrist, his 15th, in the second. Chicago added a run in the third on an RBI single by Anthony Rizzo.
Chicago made it 4-0 in fifth. Javier Baez reached on a throwing error by shortstop Jedd Gyorko and scored when Fowler hit a one-out home run to right field.
The last time the Cubs won a division title was 2008. They did it by beating St. Louis on Sept. 20 at Wrigley Field.
BRAVES 12, MARLINS 7 Nick Markakis doubled to drive in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, Tyler Flowers had four RBI and host Atlanta rallied to beat the Miami.
PHILLIES 6, PIRATES 2 Roman Quinn had two hits, two RBI and a stolen base in his second major league game, leading host Philadelphia over Pittsburgh.
NATIONALS 8, METS 1 Starting pitcher Mat Latos hit a home run and Antony Rendon added a three-run shot as host Washington beat the New York . Latos had a solid first start with the Nationals, but left the game with one out in the fifth inning when he appeared to injure his right leg. In his first big league start since June 7, Latos allowed 3 hits and 1 run with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts as the Nationals earned their fourth consecutive victory. Reynaldo Lopez (3-3) was among three relievers to combine for 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
REDS 3, BREWERS 0 Scott Schebler hit a two-run single in host Cincinnati's three-run first inning and four pitchers teamed up on the Reds' eighth shutout of the season in a victory over Milwaukee. Keyvius Sampson started and Blake Wood (6-3), Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias followed as the Reds posted their seventh shutout since the All-Star break.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 4, ASTROS 3 (12) Rougned Odor had three hits and three RBI, including a home run in the 12th inning that lifted visiting Texas to a victory over Houston. The Rangers, who have the best record in the American League at 86-59, improved to 14-3 against AL West rival Houston this season.
RED SOX 12, ORIOLES 2 David Ortiz hit his 536th home run to tie Mickey Mantle for 17th on baseball's career list, and David Price allowed just two solo home runs to lead host Boston over Baltimore.. Chris Young homered, doubled twice and singled, and Hanley Ramirez also homered for the Red Sox, who maintained a two-game edge over Toronto in the AL East.
BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 2 Visiting Tampa Bay and Toronto cleared the benches and bullpens after the Blue Jays wrapped up a victory, ending the skirmish without throwing any punches. Steven Souza Jr. hit a flyball for the final out, and appeared to be upset at the way closer Roberto Osuna celebrated the victory. Souza spoke with Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin before leaving the field. Ezequiel Carrera connected for a tiebreaking, pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning. Jose Bautista added a two-run home run as the Blue Jays improved to 3-7 in September. They began the day tied with Baltimore in the AL wild-card race.
TIGERS 4, TWINS 2 Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler homered, and host Detroit scored two runs in the seventh inning on close plays at the plate, rallying for a victory over Minnesota. Andrew Romine slid in safely with the tying run on a double by Jose Iglesias, and Iglesias scored on Kinsler's sacrifice fly to put the Tigers ahead 3-2. Cabrera's home run in the eighth gave Detroit an insurance run, and the Tigers pulled within a game of Baltimore for the American League's second wild card.
ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 3 Khris Davis and Marcus Semien hit three-run home runs and visiting Oakland matched a season high with 17 hits while drawing 10 walks in a rout over Kansas City. Daniel Coulombe (3-1) earned the victory in relief of Ross Detwiler. The A's scored their most runs this season for their largest margin of victory.
WHITE SOX 11, INDIANS 4 Avisail Garcia matched a career high with four hits, including a tiebreaking home run, and host Chicago pounded Cleveland. Todd Frazier hit his career-best 36th home run and Adam Eaton also went deep as the White Sox improved to 4-3 on their 10-game homestand. Tim Anderson had three of Chicago's 16 hits and Jose Abreu drove in two runs, backing another strong start by Miguel Gonzalez.
INTERLEAGUE
DODGERS 8, YANKEES 2 Aaron Judge dropped Chase Utley's fly ball to the right-field warning track and catcher Gary Sanchez threw wildly to second base, leading to four unearned runs that helped visiting Los Angeles beat AL wild-card chasing New York.
Sports on 09/13/2016