Orioles prevent Yankees from clinching AL East with 9-7 win

NEW YORK (AP) — Gunnar Henderson had three of Baltimore’s 12 hits in the first four innings, and the Orioles again prevented the New York Yankees from clinching the AL East title by holding on for a 9-7 victory Wednesday night despite another home run from Aaron Judge.

Colton Cowser drove in three runs for the playoff-bound Orioles, who tagged substitute starter Marcus Stroman (10-9) early and improved to 8-4 against New York with one matchup left in their season series.

Judge went deep for the fourth game in a row, connecting on his major league-leading 57th homer in a four-run ninth inning. The three-run shot off Matt Bowman upped Judge’s total to 142 RBIs, also most in the majors, and shaved New York’s deficit to 9-7.

Keegan Akin entered and retired the next two batters for his third career save and first this year.

Juan Soto also homered and knocked in three runs for New York, which could have wrapped up the AL East race with a victory over the Orioles either of the past two nights. Anthony Volpe had an RBI single.

Baltimore moved within four games of the Yankees in the division standings with four remaining. Cedric Mullins went 3 for 4 with a walk, three runs scored and two stolen bases.

MARINERS 8, ASTROS 1

HOUSTON (AP) — Mitch Garver and Julio Rodríguez homered, and Seattle took advantage of five Houston errors during a victory.

Seattle (82-77) won for the fifth time in seven games as it tries to rally into an AL wild card. It is chasing Detroit and Kansas City for one of the last two spots.

The Mariners were down 1-0 before rallying in the sixth. Dylan Moore reached on the first of four errors by rookie third baseman Shay Whitcomb, who entered in the fourth. Victor Robles walked and Cal Raleigh hit a one-out single to load the bases.

Justin Turner then extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games with his single on a line drive to left field that scored two.

Garver opened the seventh with his 14th homer on a line drive into the seats in left field. The Mariners added two more runs in the inning thanks to three errors by the Astros, including two more by Whitcomb.

A fourth error by Whitcomb allowed Moore to reach with no outs in the ninth, and he scored on a double by Robles. Rodríguez then hit his 20th homer of the season.

PIRATES 2, BREWERS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Liover Peguero slashed a two-run double, Luis Ortiz pitched seven strong innings and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.

Ortiz (7-6) allowed one run on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts in seven innings. His only mistake was a second-inning pitch to Jake Bauers that Milwaukee’s designated hitter sent to the seats in right-center for his 12th homer of the season.

Peguero led all Pirates minor leaguers this season in hits, RBIs and doubles before being called up on Tuesday after Pittsburgh s urprisingly released first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The shortstop laced a ball to the notch in left-center against Freddy Peralta (11-9) in the fifth that drove in Yasmani Grandal and Nick Yorke, both of whom reached base after working full-count walks.

GUARDIANS 5, REDS 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning after Cleveland pitchers retired the first 18 batters, lifting the AL Central champions to a victory over Cincinnati.

Ramírez hit his 38th homer of the season, connecting against Emilio Pagán (4-5) with two outs to score Steven Kwan and Angel Martínez. The All-Star third baseman also doubled, tripled and scored twice. He has 115 RBIs.

Cleveland has wrapped up a first-round bye in the playoffs and remains in the hunt for the top seed in the AL, trailing the New York Yankees by a game with three remaining.

The Guardians used seven pitchers, with Hunter Gaddis (6-3) picking up the win and Emmanuel Clase loading the bases before getting his franchise-record 47th save. Clase tied St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley for the major league lead.

Cincinnati did not have a baserunner until TJ Friedl reached on a bunt single in the seventh that Tim Herrin could not field in time. Friedl came home on a throwing error by Andrés Giménez a batter later, pulling the Reds to 2-1.

PHILLIES 9, CUBS 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered, and Philadelphia beat Chicago and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who claimed their first NL East title in 13 years on Monday night.

Coupled with Milwaukee’s 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the NL Central champions.

Nico Hoerner homered twice for Chicago, and Isaac Paredes hit four singles. The Cubs lost two of three in the series to finish with a 39-42 road record.

ROYALS 3, NATIONALS 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five Kansas City relievers pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball after starter Michael Lorenzen’s early exit, Robbie Grossman hit a two-run double, and the Royals held on to the second American League wild card with a win over Washington.

Michael Massey singled in a run off DJ Herz (4-9) to help lift the Royals to a second-straight shutout victory after a season high-tying seven-game losing streak.

Kansas City and Detroit are both 84-74 but the Royals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Tigers for the second wild-card spot.

Daniel Lynch IV (2-0) worked 2 2/3 scoreless frames in relief of Lorenzen, who exited with lower body fatigue after 2 1/3 innings in his first start since sustaining a left hamstring strain on Aug. 27.

Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber and Sam Long bridged the gap to Lucas Erceg, who completed his 13th save. That effort extended the Kansas City bullpen’s scoreless streak to 14 1/3 innings over four games.

TIGERS 7, RAYS 1

DETROIT (AP) — Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson homered, and Detroit strengthened their bid for an AL wild card with a win over Tampa.

Detroit moved 10 games over .500 with its fourth consecutive victory. It is tied with Kansas City (84-74) for second in the wild-card standings behind Baltimore.

The Tigers play the Rays on Thursday before finishing the season with three home games against the lowly Chicago White Sox.

Detroit is 29-11 since Aug. 10, thanks to ace Tarik Skubal, one of the favorites for the AL Cy Young Award, and a cast of young pitchers. On Wednesday, rookie Keider Montero pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball before five relievers combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

Jackson Jobe, Detroit’s best pitching prospect, worked the ninth in his major league debut.

BLUE JAYS 6, RED SOX 1

TORONTO (AP) — Jonatan Clase hit his first career home run, Kevin Gausman pitched six innings to win his final start of the season and Toronto beat Boston, eliminating the Red Sox from postseason contention.

The Red Sox, who had won four in a row, needed to win their final four games and get help from opponents in the American League wild-card race.

Clase went 3 for 3 with a walk, scored twice and drove in two. He extended Toronto’s lead with a homer off Josh Winckowski in the seventh inning.

Alejandro Kirk, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 17 games, had three hits and three RBIs as the Blue Jays won for the first time in six games and avoided a three-game sweep. Boston had been 5-0 in Toronto this season.

The Blue Jays finished 21-31 against AL East opponents for the second straight year.

TWINS 8, MARLINS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Manuel Margot scored from second in a five-run seventh inning on one of four Miami errors and Minnesota rallied to win, snapping a three-game skid.

Christian Vázquez’s sacrifice bunt in the seventh was thrown wide of first base, allowing Margot to score. Carlos Correa followed with an RBI double that scored Vázquez, and Carlos Santana added a three-run double as Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak and sent Miami to its 100th loss of the season for the fourth time in franchise history.

The Twins kept their playoff hopes alive. Minnesota is 1 1/2 games behind Detroit in the race for the AL’s final wild card with four games to play. Detroit, Kansas City (which owns the second wild card) and and Seattle, which trails Minnesota by a half-game, were all victorious on Wednesday.

Griffin Jax (5-5) worked 1 1/3 innings of relief and earned the win for the Twins.

Marlins right-hander Declan Cronin allowed the inherited runner to score in the seventh after Brooks Lee had doubled off the right-field wall against Michael Peterson (3-1). Peterson allowed one run in one-plus innings. Cronin surrendered four unearned runs.

WHITE SOX 4, ANGELS 3, 10 INNINGS

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago avoided a record-breaking 121st loss for the second straight game, beating Los Angeles on Andrew Benintendi’s 10th-inning single.

Chicago is tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record for losses in a season. It plays Los Angeles again on Thursday before finishing its schedule with three games at Detroit.

Benintendi delivered the go-ahead hit for the second time in as many games when he lined a one-out single to left-center against José Quijada (2-1), helping the White Sox (38-120) put off infamy for the second night in a row. Designated runner Miguel Vargas scored from second.

On Tuesday, Benintendi hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning to lift Chicago to a 3-2 win.

Korey Lee gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the second Wednesday night. Lenyn Sosa put Chicago back on top with a tiebreaking solo drive in the fourth against José Suarez.

CARDINALS 5, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Iván Herrera had two hits and two runs scored, Masyn Winn tripled and doubled and Erick Fedde struck out 10 as St. Louis beat Colorado.

Pedro Pagés had two RBI singles and Thomas Saggese added a pair of hits for the Cardinals, who have won four straight and will try to complete a series sweep in Thursday’s finale.

Brenton Doyle homered leading off the bottom of the ninth against Matthew Liberatore, who was relieved by Ryan Helsley after issuing a one-out walk to Michael Toglia. Sam Hilliard then grounded into a game-ending double play for Helsley’s 48th save in 52 chances.

Aaron Schunk had an RBI single for the Rockies (60-98) who need to win three of their final four games to avoid their second straight 100-loss season. Colorado lost a franchise record 103 games last season. The Rockies close out the season with a weekend series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fedde (9-9) went seven innings and allowed one run on six hits, snapping a string of four consecutive losing decisions.

DIAMONDBACKS 8, GIANTS 2

PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen struck out 11 in six innings, pinch hitter Gavin Smith hit a three-run homer and Arizona ended a three-game losing streak with a win over San Francisco.

Arizona needed a rebound after a losing streak that included a blown eight-run lead in a loss to Milwaukee and Tuesday’s lackluster 11-0 loss to the Giants.

The Diamondbacks responded behind a strong performance from their ace to tie the New York Mets in the National League wild card, a game ahead of Atlanta. The Braves and Mets had to postpone the final two games of their series until a Monday doubleheader due to Hurricane Helene.

Gallen (14-6) gave up a run-scoring double to Tyler Fitzgerald in the second inning, but shut the Giants down after that. The right-hander retired 12 straight starting in the second inning and struck out the side in the fifth.

Gallen allowed a run on two hits with two walks to win his fifth straight decision.

RANGERS 5, ATHLETICS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Wyatt Langford and Adolis García homered to help Texas spoil the final scheduled night baseball game at the Oakland Coliseum, beating the Athletics.

An animated crowd of 35,270 came out on a chilly late September evening, regularly chanting “Sell the team!” as a message to owner John Fisher. The A’s have played in the Coliseum since 1968 and are scheduled to move to Sacramento for at least the next three seasons while waiting for a ballpark they hope to open in Las Vegas.

A tribute video to the Coliseum played on the big screen before the game, and the grounds crew has written “Thank You Oakland” into the outfield grass for the final series.

A night earlier, the A’s won 5-4 on Jacob Wilson’s single in the ninth. Manager Mark Kotsay typically tears up the lineup card after each game and throws it away. After ripping this one, he thought twice about tossing it. Instead, he kept it — knowing it might the final victory in Oakland for his club.

Security will be elevated for Thursday afternoon’s sold-out finale, and Kotsay didn’t feel he needed to speak publicly to fans afterward but rather let the club’s play honor the fans.

DODGERS 4, PADRES 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani singled in the go-ahead run before stealing his 56th base of the season in the sixth inning and Los Angeles defeated San Diego to move within a victory of clinching the NL West.

The Dodgers increased their lead over the second-place Padres to three games with four to play and reduced their magic number to two. Los Angeles needs a win in Thursday’s series finale to earn its 11th division title 12 years. The Dodgers have already clinched a postseason berth.

The Padres’ five-game winning streak ended a night after they celebrated making the postseason with a game-ending triple play on their biggest rival’s field.

Ohtani’s two-strike, two-out single to center off Adrián Morejón scored Will Smith, who drew a leadoff walk, and made it 4-3. Ohtani stole second, but Mookie Betts followed with a popup to end the inning. Betts popped up to every infield position.

The Associated Press