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The first Wednesday in August brought a full slate of action. Here is our recap of Wednesday's baseball action, including the latest scores, highlights, and notes from around the league.

Final scores

Tigers 2, Yankees 0 (box score)
Blue Jays 5, White Sox 1 (box score)
Twins 5, Padres 2 (box score)
Reds 5, Pirates 2 (box score)
Orioles 6, Royals 0 (box score)
Indians at Red Sox - Postponed
Marlins 7, Nationals 0 (box score)
Braves 5, Dodgers 3 (box score)
Diamondbacks 3, Cubs 0 (box score)
Rangers 5, Mariners 1 (box score)
Cardinals 5, Brewers 4 (box score)
Rays 3, Astros 0 (box score)
Mets 10, Rockies 5 (box score)
Angels 7, Phillies 0 (box score)
Athletics 6, Giants 1 (box score)

Braves slay the dragon

So I guess the Dodgers better hope they don't play the Braves in the postseason, huh?

The Braves beat the Dodgers for the third time in the past two weeks thanks to a clutch two-run home run from Tyler Flowers. Here's the video:

Two weeks ago, the Braves split four games with the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The two teams have now split the first two games of their three-game series in Atlanta. I know going 3-3 in six games doesn't sound impressive, but:

To make this victory even more impressive, the Braves trailed 3-2 in the fifth inning. The Dodgers went into the game having won an MLB-record 53 consecutive games in which they held a lead. That streak came to an end Wednesday.

The Dodgers, by the way, haven't lost to a team other than the Braves since July 2. The Padres got the best of them that day.

Orioles win fifth straight

Don't look now, but the Orioles are starting to make some noise in the AL wild-card race. Baltimore won their fifth straight Wednesday night, this time shutting out the Royals thanks to new pickup Jeremy Hellickson. His O's debut went splendidly.

I don't know about you, but I was little confused by the Hellickson trade. Seemed ... unnecessary. It's already paying dividends, though. The O's rotation, which has struggled so much overall this season, has allowed three earned runs total in these past five games for a 0.76 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. 

The three-game sweep of the Royals has brought the Orioles to within 2 1/2 games of the second wild-card spot. That was a timely sweep. Kansas City is still sitting in that second wild-card spot, but suddenly the race is getting awfully close. The O's looked dead and buried a few weeks ago. Suddenly they're a good weekend away from sitting in postseason position.

Rockies blow five-run lead

No lead is safe at Coors Field. The Rockies know that better than anyone.

The Rockies and Tyler Chatwood held a 5-0 lead over the Mets after three innings, but, by the sixth, they were down five runs. The Mets scored two in the fourth, two in the fifth, then six in the sixth. Curtis Granderson's go-ahead three-run home run was the big blow:

The loss combined with the D-Backs' victory moved Colorado a half-game behind Arizona for the top wild-card spot. The Rockies are not in imminent danger of falling out of postseason position -- they still have a 5½-game lead over the Brewers for a wild-card spot -- though home-field advantage for these teams is kind of a big deal.

Rockies at home: 32-20 (+44 run differential)
Rockies on the road: 29-27 (+2 run differential)

D-Backs at home: 36-18 (+93 run differential)
D-Backs on the road: 25-28 (+22 run differential)

Both clubs have been considerably better at home this season and you can be sure they want that wild-card game in their ballpark. These two teams might have a decent lead on a wild-card spot, but the race for home-field advantage is very real. Losses like the one the Rockies suffered Wednesday really sting.

Struggling Astros lose again

The second half has not been kind to the Astros. Houston lost for the fourth time in their past five games, this time getting shut out by the Rays at home. It was their fourth shutout loss of the season and only their second at home. Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison got Tampa Bay on the board early with a back-to-back home runs against Dallas Keuchel in the first inning:

The Astros are 9-9 since the All-Star break and are dealing with an awful lot of injuries. George Springer, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr. are all on the disabled list.

Fortunately, Houston still has a 15-game lead in the AL West, so it's not in danger of falling out of a postseason spot. Houston has the luxury of time. Time to get everyone healthy and time for the guys who are healthy to straighten things out a bit. The Astros will be fine, they've just hit a little rough patch of late.

Bellinger hits 30th (already)

Dodgers young cloutsman Cody Bellinger entered Wednesday night's game against the Braves with 29 home runs and a slugging percentage of .608. He hits for power, in other words.

Speaking of which, here's what did in his first time up on Wednesday in Atlanta ... 

That's his 30th home run, and he's reached that mark in his 87th career game. And that brings us to this ... 

Yes, it's a great era for home runs, but Bellinger is a legit frontline power hitter (you, too, Gary Sanchez). On the franchise front, he joins Mike Piazza (35 in 1993) as the only Dodgers rookies to hit 30 or more spanks. 

Bellinger of course wasn't called up until April 25. If he had broken camp with the Dodgers, we might be talking about whether he can get to 60 homers as a rookie. Things as they are, we'll "merely" appreciate him as one of the best rookie home run hitters in the history of this sport.

Santana goes the distance again

Here's what Twins right-hander Ervin Santana did against the Padres on Wednesday ... 

player headshot
Ervin Santana
KC • SP • #54
vs. SD (8/2)
IP9
H4
R2
SO9
BB1
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As you see, he pitched the full nine innings, and that gives him an MLB-leading five complete games on the season (he also leads the bigs with three shutouts).

Speaking of which, there's leading a category, and then there's dominating a category. Santana's doing the latter ... 

In the process, Santana lowered his ERA to 3.28, and those nine strikeouts made for a season high. This is all especially relevant to the Twins because Santana is a candidate to be traded during the August waiver period. He's owed $13.5 million for 2018, and his contract also includes a $14 million option (with a $1 million buyout) for 2019. That option, however, could automatically vest. 

That's perhaps enough of a financial commitment to get Santana through waivers until the contenders have shots at claiming him. When a contender looks at Santana, they'll see a pitcher who might be in line for regression (he's stranding more than 80 percent of base-runners, which probably isn't sustainable), but they'll also see a guy who's obviously capable of pitching deep into games and giving the bullpen some stretch-drive rest.

Quick hits