TORONTO (AP) — Raimel Tapia hit a three-run double, José Berríos pitched six innings to remain unbeaten against Baltimore, and the Toronto Blue Jays strengthened their position atop the AL wild card standings by beating the Orioles 6-3 on Saturday.
George Springer had two hits and two RBIs, and Matt Chapman drove in a run and scored a run as Toronto improved to 13-4 in September. The Blue Jays have won six of their last seven against Baltimore.
The Blue Jays lead the wild card race ahead of Seattle and Tampa Bay. Baltimore is five games back of the Rays, who played later Saturday, for the last wild card.
Berríos (11-5) allowed two runs and seven hits to win his third straight decision. He is 8-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 11 starts against the Orioles. Jordan Romano finished for his 34th save in 38 chances.
Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish (3-7) allowed five runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings, his second straight loss.
RAYS 5, RANGERS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Walls homered and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a six-hitter to beat Texas.
Tampa Bay remained 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top AL wild card. The Rays hold a 5 1/2-game advantage over Baltimore, which is fourth in the race for the three wild cards.
Jonah Heim homered and Jon Gray (7-7) allowed two runs and two hits over 4 1/3 innings in his second start for Texas since returning from a left oblique strain.
Heim made it 2-1 with a fourth-inning leadoff homer against Ryan Yarbrough (2-8).
ANGELS 2, MARINERS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings, drove in one run and scored another to help Los Angeles beat Seattle.
The Mariners entered the four-game series tied for the top spot in the AL wild-card chase but are now two games behind Toronto Blue Jays and a half game in back of Tampa Bay. Seattle holds the final wild-card spot, five games ahead of Baltimore.
Ohtani (13-8) reached base twice in three at-bats, drove in his 89th run and lowered his ERA to 2.43 in 148 total innings. He gave up three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts, and now has 196 strikeouts on the season.
Mariners starter George Kirby (7-4) gave up two runs and four hits over six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.
METS 5, PIRATES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Eduardo Escobar hit an early three-run homer and Chris Bassitt pitched six shutout innings for his 14th win as New York topped Pittsburgh.
New York maintained its one-game lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves.
Pete Alonso drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth for his 114th RBI, adding to his NL high. Mets batters were hit by pitches four times, including Jeff McNeil twice.
Bassitt (14-8) permitted three hits and struck out eight.
Rodolfo Castro’s 10th homer of the season in the ninth prevented the Pirates from being shut out for the 15th time. Bryse Wilson (3-9) was charged with loss. He allowed four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and struck out five.
GUARDIANS 5, TWINS 1, GAME 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Shane Bieber allowed one run over eight innings, Amed Rosario had four hits and the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians won their seventh in a row against the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 in a doubleheader opener.
José Ramírez hit a solo homer on his 30th birthday and Owen Miller had a two-run double for Cleveland (78-66), which has won 10 of its last 12 games. The Guardians opened a 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox and a six-game margin ahead of the third-place Twins.
Bieber (11-8) won his third straight start, allowing four hits and walking none for the ninth time in 28 starts.
Minnesota’s Matt Wallner homered in the eighth and went 1 for 3 with a walk in his big league debut.
Emmanuel Clase pitched a perfect ninth.
CARDINALS 5, REDS 1, GAME 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina hit a two-run drive while Albert Pujols went hitless in his quest for 700 homers, and the Cardinals beat the Reds 5-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.
The 42-year-old Pujols hit career homer No. 698 during Friday night’s 6-5 victory over Cincinnati.
Tommy Edman had three hits for the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan each drove in a run.
TJ Friedl hit an RBI double in the seventh to account for Cincinnati’s only run. Mike Minor (4-12) issued five walks in three innings and was charged with five runs and five hits.
St. Louis right-hander Dakota Hudson (8-7) pitched a career-high eight innings of six-hit ball in his first big league start since Aug. 30.
CARDINALS 1, REDS 0, GAME 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andrew Knizner scored on a throwing error by Reds center fielder Nick Senzel, who was playing third base in a five-man infield in the 11th inning, to give St. Louis the doubleheader sweep.
Senzel’s throw hit Knizner in the back as he was running home. Reds manager David Bell argued with home plate umpire Chad Fairchild that Knizner was running out of the baseline in fair territory, to no avail.
José Quintana allowed two hits, hit a batter, and struck out six in eight innings. St. Louis has gone 8-1 in his nine starts since acquiring him from Pittsburgh on Aug. 1.
BREWERS 4, YANKEES 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Willy Adames hit a three-run shot for his 30th homer this season to back Brandon Woodruff as Milwaukee topped New York.
New York’s Aaron Judge went 1 of 3 with a double and a walk to remain at 57 homers. Judge remained four homers from tying Roger Maris’ American League record of 61.
The game included a bizarre moment in the third inning. Catcher Victor Caratini had just received a pitch and was attempting to get the ball back to Woodruff (11-4), but his throw instead struck the left-handed-hitting Marwin Gonzalez on the left side of his head. Gonzalez was examined by a Yankees athletic trainer for a few minutes before getting removed from the game.
Adames opened the scoring in the third inning when he sent a first-pitch sinker from Jameson Taillon (13-5) over the left-field wall.
Devin Williams got his 13th save in 14 opportunities.
ATHLETICS 8, ASTROS 5
HOUSTON (AP) — Seth Brown homered and drove in four runs and Cole Irvin overcame a rocky start to help Oakland beat Houston.
Tony Kemp had three hits and scored three runs as Oakland won for the fourth time in 15 games this month, and snapped Houston’s six-game winning streak a day after the Astros clinched a postseason berth.
Brown crushed an 80mph slider off Astros starter José Urquidy in the fifth inning 432 feet to the right-field upper deck for a three-run homer to give the A’s a 6-4 lead. In his next at-bat, he doubled off Will Smith in the seventh to extend the lead to 7-4.
Urquidy (13-7) allowed six runs and seven hits in six innings while striking out six. Houston’s magic number to clinch the AL West remained at four.
BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 3
ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered and drove in four runs off Aaron Nola and flashed some fancy defense in right field, lifting Atlanta over Philadelphia.
The victory was dampened because Ozzie Albies broke his right pinky finger when sliding head-first into second base. He had just returned from an 81-game absence Friday because of a broken left foot.
Nola (9-12) made his 200th career start, giving up four runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Braves closer Kenley Jansen faced the minimum in the ninth for his 34th save in 41 chances.
Dylan Lee (4-1) got the loss.
PADRES 2, DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX (AP) — Luis Campusano hit his first homer of the season, Joe Musgrove won for the second time in three months and San Diego beat Arizona.
Campusano’s solo shot capped a two-run fourth and Musgrove (10-7) gave up four hits in six innings before the bullpen took over.
San Diego moved within a half-game of Philadelphia for the second NL wild card and remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the third and final spot.
Nick Martinez tossed two perfect innings in relief and Josh Hader pitched around Jake McCarthy’s one-out single in the ninth for his 33rd save in 36 chances.
Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen (12-3) was the hard-luck loser, giving up two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He had won his previous eight starts but took his first loss in 16 starts since June 10.
ROYALS 9, RED SOX 0
BOSTON (AP) — Brady Singer pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody out jam in the third and finished with six shutout innings to lead Kansas City over Boston.
Singer (9-4) won his fifth straight decision, allowing five singles and a walk while striking out five.
MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino had three hits apiece for the Royals; Melendez scored four runs and Pasquantino drove in three. The first four batters in the Kansas City lineup went 10 for 20 with eight RBIs.
Rich Hill (7-7) gave up four runs on eight hits and a balk, striking out four.
WHITE SOX 4, TIGERS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Yoan Moncada hit a tiebreaking single in a two-run 11th inning to give Chicago a win over Detroit.
With the score 2-2, Elvis Andrus reached on a bunt single leading off the 11th. Gregory Soto (2-9) failed to pick up the bunt on the left side of the mound as automatic runner Selby Zavala advanced to third.
Moncada hit an RBI single, José Abreu struck out and, after a double steal, Eloy Jiménez’s sacrifice fly gave Chicago a 4-2 lead.
Pinch-hitter Javier Báez had a two-out, running-scoring single in the bottom half against Aaron Bummer, who retired Spencer Torkelson on a flyout for his second second save.
Liam Hendriks (4-4) retired the side in order in the 10th, a day after giving up Victor Reyes’ game-ending sacrifice fly in the 10th.
NATIONALS 5, MARLINS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lane Thomas got things started with a leadoff homer for Washington, which ended up with four solo shots in a win over Miami.
The Nationals have the worst record in the majors and entered with an NL-low 122 homers — the AL’s Detroit Tigers were at 91.
After Thomas hit his 16th of the season off Marlins starter Trevor Rogers, Luke Voit took Jeff Brigham (0-1) deep in the third for his 21st. Victor Robles then broke a 3-all tie by connecting off Brigham in the fourth for his fifth homer this year, and Alex Call’s fourth homer came against Cole Sulser in the fifth.
Rogers faced seven batters and threw 32 pitches before leaving in the second with back muscle discomfort.
Hunter Harvey (2-1) pitched a 1-2-3 fifth and was credited with the win. Kyle Finnegan collected his 10th save in 14 chances.
ROCKIES 3, CUBS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Charlie Blackmon hit a tiebreaking triple and scored in a two-run ninth, and Colorado earned a rare road win by beating Chicago.
Blackmon drove in pinch runner Garrett Hampson with a triple to the right-field corner against Adbert Alzolay (0-1) after C.J. Cron walked with one out. He scored on a single by Elias Díaz, making it 3-1, and the Rockies came away with the win despite a dominant outing by Cubs rookie Hayden Wesneski in his first major league start.
The Rockies won for just the fifth time time in their past 18 road games. Ureña allowed one run and seven hits. Daniel Bard came on in the ninth for his 31st save in 34 chances.
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