Anibal Sanchez helps Braves get closer to NL East crown

On a day when Anibal Sanchez didn’t have his best command, he found a way to help the Atlanta Braves on their march toward the postseason.

Sanchez kept the Braves close with six strong innings, pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth, and the Braves moved closer to clinching the NL East with a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

The Giants lost their 11th straight, the worst skid since the team moved to San Francisco and the longest for the franchise since 1951.

The Braves reduced their magic number for winning the division to 11 with their fifth straight win, matching their best streak of the season, and clinched their first winning record since their last division crown in 2013. Going into Wednesday, Atlanta led second-place Philadelphia by 61⁄2 games.

“We’ve worked hard to get to this point,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve grinded through things to get to that position. We can look to bigger things now.”

Dodgers 8, Reds 1: Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner drove in three runs each as visiting Los Angeles avoided a season sweep by last-place Cincinnati.

Joc Pederson homered and Grandal had three hits for the Dodgers, who began the day 1 1/2 games behind NL West-leading Colorado and two games back of St. Louis for the second NL wild card.

Pirates 4, Cardinals 3: Jameson Taillon (13-9) won his fourth straight start, Jacob Stallings drove in three runs and visiting Pittsburgh stopped St. Louis’ three-game winning streak.

Rays 3, Indians 1: Blake Snell took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his major league-leading 19th win for host Tampa Bay.

Snell (19-5) lost his bid when Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with his 38th homer. Snell won his team-record seventh straight start, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 consecutive home starts.

Chaz Roe and Jose Alvarado each got three outs, completing a one-hitter. Alvarado got his eighth save in 11 chances.

Cleveland’s magic number to clinch a third consecutive AL Central title remained at three.

Tommy Pham extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games with a two-out infield single in the first and scored on Choi’s drive to centerfield.

Astros 5, Tigers 4: George Springer made a diving catch in the eighth inning to help preserve Houston’s lead, and the Astros swept a series at Comerica Park for the first time.

Gerrit Cole (14-5) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings.