BALTIMORE (AP) — Luke Raley hit a tiebreaking home run and Tampa Bay’s bullpen retired Baltimore's last 12 batters to give the Rays a 4-3 victory over the Orioles on Thursday night in the opener of a critical series.

The Rays pulled within a game of first-place Baltimore in the AL East, and their relievers extended their streak to 34 innings without an earned run.

Ryan O’Hearn and Gunnar Henderson homered for the Orioles, but with the game tied at 3, Raley hit a drive to center field off Kyle Bradish (11-7) in the seventh inning.

Brandon Lowe hit an RBI single and Randy Arozarena hit a two-run triple in the third for the Rays.

Tampa Bay starter Aaron Civale gave up four hits and three runs over five innings while striking out eight.

Colin Poche (12-3), Shawn Armstrong, Robert Stephenson and Pete Fairbanks teamed up to retire 12 straight batters, with Fairbanks striking out the side for his 24th save in 26 chances.

RED SOX 5, YANKEES 0, 1ST GAME

YANKEES 8, RED SOX 5, 2ND GAME

Aaron Judge hit a grand slam, DJ LeMahieu broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI double, and New York beat Boston in the second game of a doubleheader split.

The games were played after the Red Sox fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom after nearly four seasons.

Oswald Peraza hit his first career homer, a two-run shot in the ninth for the Yankees (74-73), who won three of four at Boston to draw even with their rival at the bottom of the AL East.

Judge slugged a 2-0 pitch from Brennan Bernardino over the wall in center field with the bases loaded in the second inning to make it 5-2.

Rafael Devers hit his 31st homer in the third to get the Red Sox within 5-3. Boston added a run in the fifth, and in the seventh to make it 5-5. LeMahieu hit the go-ahead double off Mauricio Llovera (1-2).

Wandy Peralta (4-2) pitched the seventh for New York and Tommy Kahnle worked the final two innings for his second save.

Trevor Story hit a three-run homer, Tanner Houck pitched six effective innings and Boston beat New York in the first game.

Rookie Ceddanne Rafaela added a solo shot and Wilyer Abreu had a first-inning RBI single for Boston.

Houck (5-9) allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked three. Garrett Whitlock retired all six batters he faced, and Chris Martin finished a six-hitter.

Gleyber Torres had two doubles for the Yankees.

New York right-hander Michael King (4-6) gave up a run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

BREWERS 4, MARLINS 2

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tyrone Taylor hit two RBI doubles and put Milwaukee ahead for good with an impressive slide home in the NL Central-leading Brewers’ victory over Miami.

The Brewers won three of four from the Marlins and extended their division lead to 4 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs.

Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the fifth inning when Andruw Monasterio hit a leadoff single off Marlins starter Eury Pérez (5-5). Monasterio moved to second on Brice Turang’s bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Taylor’s double to left.

The Brewers extended their lead to 4-2 in the seventh when Turang hit a leadoff single, stole second and came home on Taylor’s double.

Brewers starter Adrian Houser (6-4), in his first appearance since Aug. 27, struck out five and allowed five hits and two runs in five innings. Devin Williams retired the side in order in the ninth for his 34th save in 38 opportunities.

METS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Kodai Senga struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, Jeff McNeil and Jonathan Araúz homered, and New York continued playing the spoiler with a rout of Arizona.

The Diamondbacks dropped the final three games of a four-game series against the Mets to fall into a tie for the third NL wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Reds (76-72) and San Francisco Giants (75-71). The Reds, who visit New York for a weekend series, have the tiebreaker over Arizona by virtue of winning the season series 4-3.

Senga (11-7) gave up two hits, walked two and lowered his ERA to 2.95. He retired 13 straight at one point.

Merrill Kelly (11-7) allowed seven runs and struck out seven in five innings.

Pete Alonso hit an RBI double and DJ Stewart hit a two-run single before McNeil capped the five-run fifth with his second homer of the series, a two-run shot to right.

Francisco Alvarez had an RBI double in the seventh. Arizona backup catcher Seby Zavala got the final two outs of the eighth after Araúz hit a three-run pinch-hit homer.

TIGERS 8, REDS 2

DETROIT (AP) — Matt Vierling hit a grand slam, Reese Olson allowed two hits in six sharp innings and Detroit beat Cincinnati.

Akil Baddoo also went deep for Detroit, which salvaged the finale of the three-game series. Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run.

Olson (4-7) permitted one run, struck out seven and walked four.

Spencer Steer and TJ Friedl homered for the Reds, who had won three straight. Cincinnati finished with five hits, hurting its pursuit of an NL wild card. Derek Law (4-6) took the loss.

PIRATES 2, NATIONALS 0

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, and Pittsburgh beat Washington.

Keller (12-9) struck out seven and walked one. The 27-year-old right-hander improved to 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA in his last seven starts.

David Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 35th save.

Pittsburgh won the final three games of the four-game set against last-place Washington.

The Nationals wasted a solid performance by Josiah Gray (7-12), who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander was charged with two runs and five hits.

Pittsburgh jumped in front when Jack Suwinski led off the second with his team-high 25th homer on a drive to right. Alfonso Rivas connected with two out in the fifth, hitting a 411-foot shot to center.

RANGERS 9, BLUE JAYS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Corey Seager homered and drove in three runs, Jonah Heim hit a solo home run and Texas completed a four-game sweep with a win over Toronto.

Robbie Grossman reached base four times and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk as the Rangers won their sixth straight, moving 2 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the AL wild-card race.

The Rangers outscored Toronto 35-9 over the four games.

Toronto (80-67) is 1 1/2 games behind Seattle, the third AL wild card. Tampa Bay is in the top wild-card spot.

Seager opened the scoring with a solo homer off right-hander Kevin Gausman (11-9) in the first. Gausman allowed four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five, raising his AL-leading total to 222.

Left-hander Cody Bradford (4-1) pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief for the win.

TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Farmer's two-run homer capped Minnesota’s four-run seventh inning, Kenta Maeda threw seven strong innings in a rout over Chicago that extended the Twins' lead in the AL Central to eight games over idle Cleveland.

Rookies Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis hit solo shots in the fourth to get the Twins rolling. Matt Wallner drove in two runs with a single in the seventh break to break open a tight game. Alex Kirilloff added two RBIs on his second hit of the night as the Twins tacked on four unearned runs in the ninth.

Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn hit his 20th homer, a two-run shot in the seventh, for the only runs off Maeda (5-7) who allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked one.

José Ureña (0-6) was tagged with six runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked none.

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