MLB: Reds continue to impress

Todd Frazier: Two homers and three RBIs as the Reds beat the Padres

The Cincinnati Reds continued their impressive form as they made it 13 wins in 14 matches with a 9-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs as the Reds maintained their 3.5 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central.

At the top of the American League East, the Texas Rangers followed up Wednesday's remarkable 11-10 victory over nearest challengers the Los Angeles Angels with a 15-9 triumph in another high-scoring encounter between the two sides.

The Rangers led 6-2 after the second inning but found themselves trailing 8-7 after the fifth before pulling away in the closing stages.

The Washington Nationals stayed 2.5 games clear at the top of the NL East standings after beating the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0.

Washington's Ross Detwiler pitched seven scoreless innings in the victory, giving up just three singles as well as retiring his final 14 batters.

Braves win again

The Atlanta Braves remain tucked in behind the Nationals after beating the Miami Marlins 6-1 for their eighth win in 10 matches.

Atlanta did most of the damage early on as they raced into a 6-0 lead after two innings, with Chipper Jones hitting a two-run double in the first and Freddie Freeman doing likewise in the second.

The New York Mets and the Colorado Rockies were also celebrating convincing victories, beating the San Francisco Giants 9-1 and St Louis Cardinals 8-2 respectively.

In San Francisco, Ronny Cedeno drove in five runs to equal his career high as the Mets won their first series in a month having defeated stumbling NL West pacesetters the Giants in three of four matches.

For the Rockies, Tyler Colvin hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and rookie Josh Rutledge scored a home run for the fourth successive game as Colorado brought to an end a run of seven successive home defeats.

Twins topple Red Sox

The Minnesota Twins were also clear winners over the Boston Red Sox, with Samuel Deduno shutting out Boston on two hits over six innings in a 5-0 win.

The Kansas City Royals were made to work hard for their 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Royals got off to a flier with a six-run first inning but that advantage was erased by the sixth and it needed a Eric Hosmer run in the bottom of the 11th to secure the win for Kansas City .

Hosmer also homered in the first while Alcides Escobar gave the first walk-off hit of his career with two outs in the 11th inning.

Also, the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1.