As the Toronto Blue Jays fell 4-2 to the New York Yankees, here’s a roundup of how the other teams in the hunt for the American League wild-card spots fared Sunday plus a look around the majors.
AL WILD CARD STANDINGS
RAYS 3, ROYALS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Harold Ramirez had three hits and drove in two runs, leading Tampa Bay past Kansas City.
The Rays have won seven of nine, and held opponents to three runs or fewer in eight of their last nine games.
Kansas City right-hander Zack Greinke was lifted after allowing two runs and five hits over four innings. Jose Cuas (2-2) started the fifth and took the loss.
Shawn Armstrong (2-1) went 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, while Pete Fairbanks worked the ninth to get his fourth save.
ATHLETICS 5, MARINERS 3
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shea Langeliers got three hits, including Oakland’s first triple after an 81-game drought in a win over Seattle.
No team in major league history had gone longer without a triple since 1901 until Langeliers, a catcher, hit an RBI drive in the eighth inning. He had two triples this season in Triple-A.
JP Sears (5-0) allowed one run, on Mitch Haniger’s homer, in five innings. Six A’s relievers held the lead for the team with the worst record in the AL.
Seattle, near the top of the wild-card standings, lost for the second straight day to the A’s. Cal Raleigh had two doubles for the Mariners. Luis Castillo (1-1) yielded four runs and eight hits in five innings.
ORIOLES 5, RED SOX 3
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Jorge Mateo lined a bases-loaded double to left field in the eighth inning, driving in three runs and sparking Baltimore Orioles to a win over Boston in front of hundreds of cheering Little League World Series players from around the world.
Mateo kept the Orioles 2 1/2 games behind in the race for the final AL wild-card spot, and Baltimore won the fifth MLB Little League Classic in front of former President George W. Bush and a sellout crowd of 2,467 fans at historic Bowman Field. Bush shook hands with Orioles and Red Sox players and went into the stands to meet Little Leaguers and their families.
The kids went wild when Mateo ripped a shot off John Schreiber for the three-RBI double and a 5-2 lead. Matt Barnes (0-4) took the loss.
Red Sox pinch-hitter Franchy Cordero hit a tying solo homer off reliever Dillon Tate in the eighth that made it 2-all. Cordero had been called up for the game from Triple-A Worcester.
Cionel Perez (7-1) earned the win in relief. Felix Bautista gave up a solo homer to Xander Bogaerts in the ninth, but still picked up his eighth save.
RANGERS 7, TWINS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Marcus Semien and Nathaniel Lowe homered, Kohei Arihara pitched a career-high six innings and combined with Taylor Hearn for the shutout for Texas.
Semien drove in three runs as the Rangers won for the third time in four games. Adolis García extended his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest current streak in the majors.
Arihara (1-1) was impressive in just his second major league start of the season, giving up four hits and pitching into the seventh inning. Hearn earned his first career save.
Ryan (9-6) allowed two hits and two runs, but he walked three and was done after 6 1/3 innings when Texas put together a three-run inning off Ryan and reliever Trevor Megill.
GIANTS 9, ROCKIES 8, 11 INNINGS
DENVER (AP) — Wilmer Flores delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, Evan Longoria had a grand slam among his three hits and San Francisco averted a series sweep.
Elehuris Montero homered for the third time in three games for Colorado. Randal Grichuk and Brian Serven also homered.
The Rockies came back from three- and two-run deficits late to tie it, before the Giants finally prevailed when LaMonte Wade Jr. opened the 11th with a sacrifice bunt off Jake Bird (1-4) to advance automatic runner Mike Yastrzemski to third. Flores followed with a sacrifice fly to right field as the Giants snapped a four-game losing streak.
Dominic Leone (4-4) picked up the win and Zack Littell got three outs for his first save.
TIGERS 4, ANGELS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Eduardo Rodriguez pitched five shutout innings in his return to Detroit in a win over Los Angeles.
The Tigers’ Riley Greene had a 448-foot homer on the first pitch he saw from Angels starter Shohei Ohtani (10-8) — the longest home run Ohtani has allowed in the majors. Greene ended up reaching base four times.
Ohtani left the game with a stomach virus after four innings, in which he allowed three runs on five hits and four walks.
Rodriguez (2-3) hadn’t pitched in the majors since suffering a rib-cage injury on May 18.
ASTROS 5, BRAVES 4
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta outfielder Marcell Ozuna was booed by his home fans in his return, Kyle Tucker singled to drive in Yordan Alvarez for the go-ahead run in the eighth and Houston beat the Braves to avoid a three-game sweep.
José Urquidy (12-4) gave up two runs and five hits. He walked two and struck out six in seven innings for the AL-leading Astros.
The Braves started Ozuna in left field, and the embattled left fielder was booed each time he came to the plate after getting charged for DUI early Friday morning. It was Ozuna’s first appearance on the field since his arrest. He struck out in his only at-bats before getting pulled for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
Matt Olson hit a two-run homer for the Braves. Reliever Dylan Lee (3-1) took the loss.
YANKEES 4, BLUE JAYS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Benintendi hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees got a win they desperately needed, beating the Toronto Blue to avoid a four-game sweep.
The AL East-leading Yankees won for just the 10th time in 30 games since the All-Star break. They top the division by eight games over Toronto.
Anthony Rizzo scored on a throwing error by Toronto left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr in the first. and DJ LeMahieu hit a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth.
Whit Merrifield hit a bizarre home run in the Toronto fourth on a ball that twice bounced on the fence before going over. The Blue Jays had won four in a row.
Lou Trivino (2-7) got the final seven outs and the win. Adam Cimber (9-5) took the loss.
REDS 9, PIRATES 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jake Fraley had three RBIs and scored four times in Cincinnati’s win over Pittsburgh.
Fraley led off Sunday by grooving an 0-2 curveball from Zach Thompson (3-10) 341 feet to right for his seventh homer and fourth in six games. He walked in three of his next four at bats, and also drove in two runs with a single off the right-field wall in the sixth.
Cincinnati took two of three from Pittsburgh, which has dropped eight of 10.
Reds left-hander Mike Minor (2-10) won for the first time since June 13, despite surrendering five runs on nine hits.
Minor gave up two in the first, but was handed back a 3-2 lead when Mike Moustakas hit a two-run home run in the third that went 416 feet and landed in the final row above the wall in right.
Fraley scored the third of four runs off Manny Bañuelos in the sixth, stealing second after his two-run single before going home on a triple from Jonathan India. Donovan Solano capped the outburst with an RBI single, making it 7-2.
Thompson worked five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
PADRES 2, NATIONALS 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Josh Bell hit a two-run homer and Sean Manaea pitched seven strong innings as San Diego beat Washington to earn a series split.
Manaea (7-6) scattered five hits and allowed one run, a solo homer by Nelson Cruz in the fourth, for his first win since July 31. Nick Martinez earning his fifth save.
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (4-17) gave up two runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings — his sixth loss without a win dating to July 9.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Keston Hiura homered twice and drove in three runs, and Milwaukee beat Chicago to salvage the finale of the weekend series.
Rowdy Tellez also connected and Willy Adames hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly for Milwaukee, which had dropped three of four.
Brent Suter (5-3) got four outs for the win on manager Craig Counsell’s 52nd birthday, and Taylor Rogers worked the ninth for his first save since he was acquired in the Aug. 1 trade that sent Josh Hader to San Diego.
Chicago got homers from Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, but finished with just five hits. Rowan Wick (3-6) took the loss.
CARDINALS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a two-run single in the seventh inning and finished with three RBIs, helping St. Louis stretch its winning streak to seven games.
Trailing 4-3, the Cardinals loaded the bases in the seventh after pinch-hitter Albert Pujols singled off Joe Mantiply (1-4) and Kevin Ginkel hit Paul Goldschmidt with a pitch. Arenado, who had a run-scoring single in the first inning, lined a single to right-center to put St. Louis up 5-4.
Jake Woodford (2-0) allowed a hit in 1 1/3 innings and Giovanny Gallegos worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save to complete the NL Central-leading Cardinals’ seventh sweep this season.
Lars Nootbaar hit his first career leadoff homer and Tommy Edman added a run-scoring single for the Cardinals.
DODGERS 10, MARLINS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rookie Ryan Pepiot celebrated his 25th birthday by getting the best of a matchup with All-Star and Cy Young Award candidate Sandy Alcantara in Los Angeles’ win over Miami.
Pepiot held the Marlins to two runs on four hits as Los Angeles won its ninth consecutive home game. Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy hit a home runs and Will Smith drove in three runs for the Dodgers.
Alcantara (11-6) was no match for the Dodgers. Alcantara’s 3 2/3 innings were a season low, while his six runs and 10 hits allowed were season highs. The right-hander had one walk and five strikeouts.
After struggling with his control at the start of his major league career, Pepiot (2-0) gave up two walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
METS 10, PHILLIES 9
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Reliever Nate Fisher pitched three scoreless innings in his major league debut, Mark Canha hit two homers and drove in five runs and New York rallied past Philadelphia.
Canha’s second homer was a go-ahead, two-run drive in the ninth inning. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo homer two batters later for the NL East leaders, who took three of four in the series.
Fisher, who a year ago was working in a bank. allowed one hit while striking out one and walking two.
Alec Bohm hit a pair of three-run homers and Jean Segura also went deep for the Phillies, who have lost four of five. Philadelphia entered second in the NL wild-card race. David Robertson (3-1) took the loss.
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