AARON Judge hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning as the New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the host Boston Red Sox with a 6-3 win on Sunday that broke a tie for the top American League (AL) wild card spot.
Judge was given new life after foul-tipping a 1-2 fastball from Boston reliever Adam Ottavino that Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez dropped. Judge smoked the very next pitch from Ottavino to plate runners from second and third with one out.
Giancarlo Stanton (2 for 4) added a two-run homer over the Green Monster the next at-bat — his third in as many games in the series. DJ LeMahieu (2 for 4) had a fifth-inning RBI single for the Yankees, who won nine of their final 12 games against Boston after dropping their first seven meetings.
New York moved one game ahead of Boston atop the AL wild card standings with six games remaining for both teams. The Red Sox hold a one-game lead over Toronto for the final AL playoff spot.
Yankees reliever Chad Green (10-7) earned the win after tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Red Sox reliever Garrett Richards (7-8) took the loss after being charged with two of the four Yankee runs in the eighth.
New York starter Jordan Montgomery allowed one run on seven hits with four strikeouts over five innings. Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed two earned runs on six hits while walking one and striking out eight in five innings.
Astros 4, Astros 3: Mark Canha singled off the left-field wall with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Oakland its second consecutive walk-off win over visiting Houston.
By completing a three-game sweep of the first-place Astros, the A’s clung to life in the American League West. They now trail the Astros by six games with six remaining. With the loss, Houston also saw its lead in the West shrink to five games over the Mariners.
Oakland also helped itself in the AL wild card race, matching wins earlier in the day by the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. All three are chasing the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for two spots.
Mariners 5, Angels 1: Marco Gonzales pitched seven strong innings to match Shohei Ohtani as Seattle defeated Los Angeles in Anaheim, CA.
Jake Fraley hit a bases-loaded double in a fourth-run eighth inning as the Mariners broke a 1-1 tie. Seattle’s Jarred Kelenic and Los Angeles’ Kurt Suzuki hit solo homers.
The Mariners went 8-2 on their 10-game trip to pull within 2 1/2 games in the chase for the American League’s second and final wild card berth. The Angels lost for the eighth time in their past 10 games.
Rays 3, Marlins 2: Shane Baz fired 5 2/3 shutout innings, Wander Franco reached base for the 41st straight game and Tampa Bay swept Miami in St. Petersburg, FL.
Making his second career start, Baz (2-0) was again impressive in dominating the visitors from South Florida. The rookie yielded just three hits and a walk while striking out nine over 82 pitches.
Franco, 20, doubled in his first at-bat to push his streak to 41 consecutive games reaching base. He is two games from tying Frank Robinson’s 43-game streak from 1956, the longest ever by a player under 21. The American League East champion Rays tied the franchise record for most wins in a season set in 2008 and are 38 games over .500 for the first time ever.
Blue Jays 5, Twins 2: Danny Jansen hit a three-run home run and George Springer homered for the second straight game to lead Toronto to a victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The Blue Jays, who open a three-game series with the New York Yankees on Tuesday in Toronto, trail both New York and Boston for the American League wild card spots after earning a split of their four-game series with the Twins.
Alek Manoah (8-2) won his third consecutive start, allowing two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out eight as the Blue Jays won for 10th time in his last 11 starts. Jordan Romano struck out three of the four batters he faced over 1 1/3 shutout innings to earn his 21st save.
Cardinals 4, Cubs 2: Andrew Knizner scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning, and Paul Goldschmidt and Harrison Bader homered as visiting St. Louis stretched its franchise-record winning streak to 16 games with a victory against Chicago.
The Cardinals enter the final week of the regular season six games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the second National League wild card.
Goldschmidt launched a solo home run to center field in the third inning to open the scoring. The blast was Goldschmidt’s ninth of the month and 31st of the season.
Braves 4, Padres 3: Atlanta closer Will Smith walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning, but registered three strikeouts in the frame to preserve a win over host San Diego.
Smith earned his 35th save the hard way, preserving the win for A.J. Minter (3-6). He fanned pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis, Jr. with two runners on before giving up his third walk of the inning to Tommy Pham. But Smith then struck out Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim to finish the game. A night earlier, Smith pitched a 1-2-3 inning to earn a save.
Braves pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia doubled home Joc Pederson for the go-ahead run in the sixth against reliever Pierce Johnson (3-4). The Atlanta bullpen followed with four shutout innings.
Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 0: Julio Urias threw five shutout innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win against Arizona in the rubber game of their three-game series at Phoenix.
Urias (19-3) allowed five hits, struck out three and walked one while increasing his major league-leading win total. He came in 9-0 with a 1.90 ERA since June 21.
Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth to earn his 36th save for the Dodgers, who remain two games behind the San Francisco Giants for the NL West lead with six games remaining.
Pirates 6, Phillies 0: Cole Tucker homered, singled and walked twice to lift Pittsburgh past host Philadelphia.
Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled, singled and drove in two runs and Yoshi Tsutsugo added a single and two RBIs for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Pirates starter Max Kranick (2-3) allowed four hits in five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and three walks.
Odubel Herrera produced two hits for the Phillies, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. The Phillies had won the first three games against the Pirates. Philadelphia is 2 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East. The Braves defeated the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Reds 9, Nationals 2: Kyle Farmer hit his first career grand slam and Cincinnati rolled past visiting Washington for its third straight win.
Tyler Stephenson fell a triple short of the cycle and drove in three runs, and Nick Castellanos also homered for the Reds, who began the day six games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second National League wild card spot. The Cardinals won again Sunday, extending their winning streak to 16 games.
Delino DeShields was 2-for-2 with three walks as the Reds took three of four to win their first series since Aug. 19-22, when they swept four games from the Miami Marlins. Tyler Mahle (13-6) pitched six strong innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits while striking out six.
White Sox 5, Indians 2: Lucas Giolito threw six shutout innings to lead visiting Chicago over Cleveland in the rubber game of their five-game series.
Giolito (11-9) allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one in his second straight winning start for the White Sox, who clinched the American League Central on Thursday. Liam Hendriks pitched the ninth for his 36th save.
Everyone in the starting lineup for the White Sox had at least one base hit, led by Yasmani Grandal with three. Eloy Jimenez drove in two runs for Chicago.
Royals 2, Tigers 1: Kris Bubic tossed seven dominant innings and visiting Kansas City downed Detroit. Kansas City won the season series against its American League Central Division rival (11-8).
Bubic (6-6) allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out six. He gave up only three earned runs in four appearances spanning 23 innings against the Tigers this season.
Whit Merrifield had three hits and scored a run. Andrew Benintendi supplied two hits and an RBI. Carlos Santana reached base three times and Salvador Perez added two hits as the Royals won the weekend series (2-1).
Rangers 7, Orioles 4: Andy Ibanez clubbed a two-run homer and joined three of his teammates with two hits to lift visiting Texas to a victory over Baltimore.
Adolis Garcia, whose RBI double in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie, Willie Calhoun and Leody Taveras also had two hits as Texas earned a split of this four-game set.
Rangers starter Dane Dunning allowed just one hit — Anthony Santander’s two-run homer in the fourth — and struck out five, but also walked five over 4 2/3 innings. Jharel Cotton (2-0) permitted one hit in 1 2/3 innings to secure the win.
Brewers 8, Mets 4: Milwaukee clinched the National League Central when Willy Adames hit a first-inning two-run home run to give the hosts the lead for good.
The division title is the fourth full-season division championship for the Brewers, who won the American League East in 1982 — the year the franchise reached the World Series for the only time — and the NL Central in 2011 and 2018. Milwaukee (94-62) will face the winner of the NL East in a National League Division Series.
Francisco Lindor homered in the first for New York (73-82), who led the NL East for 114 days, but are assured of a sub-.500 season after losing for the 13th time in 16 games. Carrasco (1-4) surrendered five runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out three over four innings.
Giants 6, Rockies 2: Tommy La Stella delivered a go-ahead pinch single in the ninth inning, Brandon Crawford homered and San Francisco beat Colorado in Denver.
Brandon Belt, Kris Bryant and Donovan Solano had two hits each for San Francisco. The Giants have won 16 of their last 20 and head into the final week with a hold on first place in the NL West. Belt left the game in the seventh after being hit on the left hand with a pitch.
Starter Kevin Gausman struck out 11 in six strong innings and also singled. He retired 13 straight batters at one point. Camilo Doval (5-1) struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth to get the win. — Reuters