Yankees clinch AL home field despite 9-4 loss to Pirates

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Skenes pitched two perfect innings in his Yankee Stadium debut and the Pittsburgh Pirates hit five homers, including four off rookie Luis Gil, in a 9-4 win Saturday that delayed New York from clinching home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.

Yasmani Grandal and Nick Gonzales hit solo homers in the first four innings off Gil (15-7). Rookie Billy Cook in the fifth and Jared Triolo in the sixth added two-run drives. Nick Yorke hit a two-run homer in the ninth against Will Warren.

New York has lost four of five and opens the Division Series at home Oct. 5. The Yankees would be assured of home-field advantage in the League Championship Series by winning their regular-season finale or by Cleveland losing one of its last two.

Aaron Judge followed his third game off this season with his third five-strikeout game, his first since May 5, 2021.

WHITE SOX 4, TIGERS 0

DETROIT (AP) — Sean Burke pitched two-hit ball over five innings, Andrew Benintendi tied his career high with his 20th homer and the Chicago White Sox beat the playoff-bound Detroit Tigers 4-0 on Saturday to stay at 121 losses going into their season finale.

Making his fourth big league appearance, Burke (2-0) struck out six and walked three, helping stop Detroit’s six-game winning streak.

Detroit had two baserunners in each of the first two innings. Burke allowed only one runner in his last three innings.

CUBS 3, REDS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks waved to appreciative fans after what may have been his final start for the Cubs, and Chicago beat Cincinnati.

Hendricks allowed only only a pair of singles, one an infield hit, and walked two over 7 1/3 innings on an afternoon with a strong wind blowing in from the northeast at Wrigley Field. The 34-year-old right-hander struck out two and retired 11 in a row in one stretch.

Dansby Swanson doubled off Buck Farmer (3-2) starting the eighth. Justin Wilson relieved, Cody Bellinger singled and Seiya Suzuki was intentionally walked.

Paredes pinch hit and looped a single to center to drive in the first run. After Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single, Mike Tauchman drew a bases-loaded walk.

Tyson Milller (5-1) got two outs in the eighth, and Porter Hodge pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 12 chances, finishing a three-hitter.

Cincinnati has lost five in a row. The Reds were shut out for the 16th time and held to three hits or fewer for the 20th time.

NATIONALS 6, PHILLIES 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Philadelphia lost to Washington who got a three-run homer from Joey Gallo in a four-run eighth-inning.

James Wood hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the sixth off Zack Wheeler, who finished 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA after allowing three hits in 6 1/3 innings while tying his season high with 11 strikeouts. Wheeler struck out 224 in 200 innings.

Trea Turner tied the score with a two-out homer in the eighth against Jose A. Ferrer (1-0).

Wood tripled leading off the bottom half against Jeff Hoffman (3-3) and scored on Keibert Ruiz’s bloop single. Dylan Crews singled with two outs and Gallo followed with his 10th homer, a drive down the right-field line.

Alec Bohm hit an RBI grounder in the ninth.

MARLINS 8, BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO (AP) — Dane Myers hit a three-run homer and finished with a career-high five RBIs, Griffin Conine had three hits and an RBI and Miami claimed a series against Toronto for the first time since 2009 with a victory.

Miami’s Jesús Sánchez scored three runs for the second straight game.

Myers was activated off the 60-day injured list Tuesday. He fractured his left ankle when he kicked a door out of frustration after being ejected in a 10-6 loss at Cincinnati on July 13.

RAYS 7, RED SOX 2

BOSTON (AP) — Kutter Crawford allowed his major league-high 34th home run, a go-ahead drive by Junior Caminero, and took his big league-worst 16th loss when Tampa Bay beat the Boston.

Caminero had three RBIs for the Rays (80-81), who with a series sweep would avoid their first losing season since 2017. Caminero and Brandon Lowe had three hits each.

Shane Baz (4-3) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings with seven strikeouts, one walk, two hit batters and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Crawford (9-16) gave up six runs, five hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts, finishing with a 4.36 ERA. His 33 starts tied for the major league lead.

Tristan Casas’ 13th homer put Boston ahead in the first.

ASTROS 4, GUARDIANS 3

CLEVELAND (AP) — Justin Verlander gave up three runs in six innings for his 262nd victory and the AL West champion Houston beat Cleveland.

José Ramírez hit his 39th homer, stole his 41st base and drove in three runs for AL Central champion Cleveland, moving within one home run of becoming the seventh player in major league history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.

Cleveland’s loss clinched home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs for the New York Yankees, who lost to the Pirates 9-4 on Saturday, while locking the Guardians into the second spot. Both have first-round byes.

Shawn Dubin worked a scoreless ninth for his second save. Houston will host either Detroit or Kansas City in the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday.

BREWERS 6, METS 0

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Ortiz drove in three runs for Milwaukee and the New York mustered just two hits as their playoff hopes sustained another blow with a loss to the Brewers.

New York (87-72) lost their third straight and fell one game behind Atlanta (88-71) in the NL wild card race when the Braves beat Kansas City 2-1 on a ninth-inning, walk-off homer from former Met Travis d’Arnaud.

The Mets are competing for the NL’s final two wild-card spots with the Braves and Arizona (88-72), which was hosting San Diego.

Both the Mets and Braves have head-to-head tiebreaker advantages over the Diamondbacks. The Mets and Braves would play a Monday doubleheader in Atlanta if their postseason fates haven’t been settled.

ORIOLES 9, TWINS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Emmanuel Rivera went 4 for 4 with two homers and four RBIs to lead the Baltimore to a win over Minnesota.

Ryan O’Hearn also homered and Jackson Holliday added three hits for the Orioles, who have clinched the top wild card in the American League and will face either the Kansas City Royals or Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs.

Brooks Lee had two hits for the Twins, who have lost six of their last seven and were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday. Ryan Jeffers helped the Twins avoid the shutout with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.

BRAVES 2, ROYALS 1

ATLANTA (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning and Atlanta kept up their postseason push with a win over the playoff-bound Kansas City.

Reynaldo López came off the injured list to throw six strong innings for the Braves, who moved one game ahead of the New York Mets and a half-game in front of Arizona for the final two wild-card spots in the National League. The Mets lost 6-0 at Milwaukee and the Diamondbacks were hosting San Diego.

D’Arnaud ended it with one swing in the ninth, launching a 2-0 pitch from Sam Long (3-3) over the center-field wall for his 15th homer this season.

Raisel Iglesias (6-2) earned the win.

GIANTS 6, CARDINALS 5

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tyler Fitzgerald reached on an infield single and scored the eventual winning run in the eighth inning on a throwing error by St. Louis pitcher Matthew Liberatore, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 6-5 win over the Cardinals on Saturday.

The Cardinals rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 5. In the bottom of the eighth, Fitzgerald singled off the leg of Liberatore (3-4). He wound up scoring when Brett Wisley dropped down a two-out bunt that Liberatore fielded and threw wildly toward first base and into foul territory beyond the bag, allowing Fitzgerald to score from first.

Matt Chapman had two doubles and all but one San Francisco starter had a hit as the Giants banged out 11 hits. Patrick Bailey finished with two RBIs.

PADRES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 0

PHOENIX (AP) — Kyle Higashioka, Brandon Lockridge and Donovan Solano homered in the ninth inning, lifting the San Diego to a win over Arizona, who continued to lose ground in the National League playoff race.

The Diamondbacks (88-73) have lost five of six as they chase an NL wild card. They’re currently behind the Braves (88-71) and Mets (87-72), who hold the final two playoff spots.

The game was scoreless heading into the ninth. With one out, David Peralta singled up the middle and then Higashioka cranked a no-doubt, two-run homer deep into the left field stands.

Lockridge followed with his first big league homer, which was also hit to left.

DODGERS 13, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Shohei Ohtani had two hits and raised his average to .310 in his bid to overtake batting leader Luis Arraez and become the National League’s first Triple Crown winner since 1937, helping the playoff-bound Los Angeles beat Colorado.

Ohtani went 2 for 5 and closed within four points of Arraez, who got a night off from San Diego and is hitting .314 going into the regular season’s final day.

Ohtani leads the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs. The last NL Triple Crown winner was Joe Medwick of the 1937 St. Louis Cardinals. The last to achieve the feat in the major leagues was Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

In addition, Ohtani stole his 58th base of a season in which he became the first 50-50 player.

MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 6, 10 INNINGS

SEATTLE (AP) — Leo Rivas scored on Justin Turner’s fielder’s-choice grounder to lift Seattle over Oakland in 10 innings.

Pinch-runner Rivas avoided Shea Langeliers’ tag attempt at the plate with a wide slide, giving Seattle its third straight win and 11th victory in its final at-bat of the season.

Luke Raley rallied the Mariners twice for their seventh win in their last nine. First, Julio Rodríguez scored from first base on Raley’s double into the left-field corner for a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning.

Then he hit a two-run homer to right field to tie it 6-6 in the ninth. His 22nd homer came after Langeliers had put the A’s up 6-4 in the top of the inning with a three-run homer.

Eduard Bazardo (2-0) earned the win and Scott Alexander (1-3) took the loss.

RANGERS 9, ANGELS 8

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jonathan Ornelas had a two-run single in Texas’ four-run ninth inning and the Rangers scored six times in the final two innings to beat Los Angeles.

Nathaniel Lowe had a home run among his three hits and drove in three runs, including one on a bases-loaded walk for the Rangers’ first run of the ninth. Dane Dunning (5-7) pitched a scoreless inning for the win and Kirby Yates got the last three outs for his 33rd save.

Rookies Gustavo Campero and Niko Kavadas hit back-to-back home runs, and Logan O’Hoppe had four hits to tie a career high and scored twice for the Angels. Los Angeles squandered a 7-1 lead after three innings and lost their fifth straight game. They have lost 14th of their last 17 and extended their franchise record for losses in a season to 98.

The Associated Press