MLB Wrap: Cardinals picking up steam

The Phillies' loss Monday was two-fold.

They fell, 6-1, to the Braves — their 60th loss of the season, which equals the total number of losses they had all of last year (see game story). And if that wasn't enough, their 257-game regular season sellout streak came to an end.

One bright spot was Domonic Brown, who batted second in the lineup and reached base twice in five plate appearances. Charlie Manuel has been impressed by Brown (see story).

Here's a look at other notable Monday games:

Cardinals picking up steam
The Cardinals won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 13-4 over their last 17 with an 8-2 win over the Giants (see full recap).

St. Louis is first in baseball in on-base percentage, second in batting average and runs and fourth in slugging percentage. The Cards have the best run differential in the game and it's not even close. They're at plus-116, the Yankees are second at plus-87.

But despite all the shiny numbers, St. Louis is still in third place in the NL Central behind the Reds and Pirates. They have six games remaining against each opponent.

Jon Jay went 4 for 4 with two RBI and a run in the win. Hunter Pence was 0 for 4 for the Giants, and is 4 for 26 since being traded from the Phillies.

Darvish rocked again
So... has anyone noticed how bad Yu Darvish has been since April?

The Rangers' prized international signing gave up six runs, 11 hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings at Fenway Park Monday night as the Red Sox beat the Rangers, 9-2 (see full recap).

Darvish was 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA at the end of April, but in 16 starts since is 7-8 with a 5.35 ERA. He now has 74 walks in 134 innings. Only Ubaldo Jimenez and Edinson Volquez have issued more free passes.

Texas began the night 5 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics and six games better than the Angels in the AL West. The Red Sox are now 55-55, just four games off the AL wild card pace.

Pirates blank D-backs
Three Pirates pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night, as the Bucs won, 4-0, to improve to 62-46 on the season. (See full recap.)

Erik Bedard allowed just two baserunners over seven innings, improving to 6-12 with a 4.53 ERA.

Andrew McCutchen was 2 for 4 with two runs. He's hitting .369/.429/.626 and if he's not the NL MVP as of this date, someone better make an incredible argument for another player.

Pittsburgh is 2 1/2 games ahead of the surging Cardinals, while the Diamondbacks are 7 1/2 games off the wild card pace.

The Phils, meanwhile, are 13 1/2 behind the Pirates.

E-mail Corey Seidman at cseidman@comcastsportsnet.com