Marcus Semien had two of a season-high six home runs for the Texas Rangers, who held on for a 9-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday to extend their lead atop the American League West.
Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Leody Tavares and Evan Carter also homered to help the Rangers complete a three-game sweep of their division rival and fellow playoff contender. Texas has now won five in a row overall to increase its lead over slumping Houston to 2 1/2 games, with the Mariners now three games back in the AL West race.
The Astros were dealt a 6-5 defeat to Kansas City as the 102-loss Royals finished a stunning three-game sweep in Houston. The defending World Series champions did remain a half-game ahead of Seattle for the AL's final wild card spot.
Seager's 33rd homer of the season, a two-run shot off Bryan Woo, gave Texas a 3-2 lead in the third inning. The Rangers went deep three more times in the bottom of the fourth, which Garcia led off with his 36th home run before Tavares later launched a two-run blast to chase Woo and extend the margin to 6-2.
Semien, who led off the bottom of the first with a home run, connected again later in the fourth to increase Texas' lead to five runs.
Seattle scored three times in the top of the sixth before Carter's two-run shot in the bottom of the inning put the Rangers up 9-5, but the Mariners closed the gap once more as Teoscar Hernandez, Jarred Kelenic and Eugenio Suarez delivered consecutive RBI singles in the seventh to cut the lead to one.
The Mariners weren't able to score off relievers Jonathan Hernandez, Brock Burke and Jose Leclerc in the final two innings, however, despite putting the tying run in scoring position in both frames.
Hernandez and J.P. Crawford had solo homers for Seattle, while Hernandez, Kelenic and Suarez each drove in two runs.
Blue Jays take series from Rays to strengthen playoff hopes
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered twice and George Springer added a three-run, inside-the-park shot that helped the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bo Bichette also homered as the Blue Jays took two of three from the playoff-bound Rays in the weekend series and increased their lead in the race for the AL's second wild card. Toronto now holds a two-game advantage over Houston and leads Seattle by 2 1/2 games.
Toronto scored five times in the second inning, highlighted by Springer's third career inside-the-park homer, to take a 5-2 lead. The Rays got a run back in the fourth before Guerrero restored the three-run margin with a solo blast off Tampa starter Taj Bradley in the sixth.
Isaac Paredes' 30th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh, cut the Rays' deficit to 6-5, but Daulton Varsho's RBI triple in the eighth gave Toronto some insurance before Bichette and Guerrero connected on back-to-back homers in the ninth.
Whit Merrifield added a two-run single for Toronto, which has won seven of its last nine to boost its chances for a second straight postseason appearance.
Paredes finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Rays offensively. Bradley pitched a career-high seven innings but surrendered six runs.
Diamondbacks eliminate Yankees, keep hold on NL's second wild card
Zac Gallen threw six scoreless innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks maintained their grasp on the National League's second wild card spot with a 7-1 win over the New York Yankees, who will now officially miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Gallen yielded just three hits and struck out eight to notch his 17th victory of the season and keep Arizona a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the second wild card. The Cubs earned a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday to maintain a one-game edge on the Miami Marlins for the No. 3 wild card.
Christian Walker and Evan Longoria each drove in two runs to back Gallen, while Gabriel Moreno went 2 for 5 with an RBI double to help the Diamondbacks (82-73) secure their first winning season since 2019.
The Yankees, who have lost four of six and are now just one game over .500 (78-77), did not score until Jake Bauers doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and later crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk to Aaron Judge.
New York starter Carlos Rodon was charged with five runs - three earned - over 6 1/3 innings.
MLB: Ohtani has career-high 3 doubles in Dodgers' 20-hit attack
Shohei Ohtani had a career-high three doubles and the Los Angeles Dodgers collected 20 hits in an 11-2 rout of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Ohtani went 3 for 6 with RBI doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. He leads the majors in batting average (.371), slugging (.695), OPS (1.128), extra-base hits (21) and doubles (14).
Mookie Betts and Will Smith each had four hits and rookie Andy Pages homered as the Dodgers won their third straight following a three-game skid.
Landon Knack earned his first win in his second career start, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings. He retired his last 13 batters and struck out five.
Nick Senzel homered for the Nationals, who didn’t have a baserunner after the second inning.
Trout hits MLB-leading 10th home run in loss
Mike Trout became the first player in the majors to reach 10 home runs this season, but Gunnar Henderson had three hits and three RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles held off the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5.
Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo shot off starter Dean Kremer in the sixth inning. This is the third time in the past seven seasons that Trout has been the first in MLB to reach double digits in homers.
Los Angeles rallied back from a 6-0 deficit and had the tying run on first in the ninth, but Jo Adell was caught stealing to end the game.
Henderson homered for the second straight game and added a two-run single in Baltimore’s four-run sixth. He is 9 for 20 in the past five games and 18 for 40 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games, helping the Orioles win eight.
Kremer struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and three hits for his first win of the season.
Surging Braves win in 10 innings
Michael Harris II doubled home Ronald Acuna Jr. in the 10th inning and the red-hot Atlanta Braves topped the Miami Marlins, 4-3, after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.
The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias to tie it but failed to score in the top of the 10th.
Harris led off the bottom half with a single to center to score the winning run and send Atlanta to its ninth win in 10 games.
Harris went 3 for 5 and Marcell Ozuna had three hits and two RBIs, giving him an MLB-best 29.
The Marlins were swept for the third time this season and dropped to an NL-worst 6-20.
MLB: Guardians win fifth straight, improve majors' best record to 17-6
Tyler Freeman and Bryan Rocchio delivered RBIs in the seventh inning and Jose Ramirez homered to lift the Cleveland Guardians to their fifth straight victory, 4-1 over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
The Guardians improved the majors’ best record to 17-6, matching their best start through 23 games. Cleveland also was 17-6 in 1999 and 1966.
Ben Lively allowed one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings in his Progressive Field debut. He walked one and struck out seven.
Scott Barlow and Hunter Gaddis got the next five outs before Emmanuel Clase struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save.
Tanner Houck, who threw a three-hit shutout against Cleveland last week, held the Guardians scoreless through six innings before Freeman singled home Will Brennan and Rocchio’s sacrifice fly in the seventh put Cleveland ahead.
Rob Refsnyder had three hits as Boston had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Fried dominates Marlins
Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for Atlanta’s first complete game since 2022 and Adam Duvall belted a two-run homer as the surging Braves blanked the Miami Marlins for the second straight night, 5-0.
Fried didn’t walk anyone and struck out six, needing just 92 pitches to become the first Braves pitcher to complete nine innings since Bryce Elder in an 8-0 win over Washington on Sept. 26, 2022.
Fried notched his fourth career shutout and fifth career complete game as Atlanta won its eighth in nine games.
The Marlins have gone 20 innings without scoring a run and dropped to 6-19.
Duvall’s second home run of the season capped a three-run sixth and extended the lead to 5-0.
Cubs keep Astros reeling
Mike Tauchman hit his first two home runs of the season and the Chicago Cubs scored five first-inning runs in a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros, who dropped 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2016.
Cody Bellinger had a two-run blast in the first inning off J.P. France and Tauchman capped the fast start with a three-run shot. He added a solo home run in the eighth.
Houston has lost three straight and six of seven and, at 7-17, is 10 games under .500 for the first time since an 18-28 start in 2016.
Jordan Wicks limited the Astros to two runs and five hits over a season-best six innings with no walks and four strikeouts.
MLB: Phillies earn seventh straight win
Ranger Suarez and the Philadelphia Phillies each extended impressive streaks in the team's 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Monday's opener of a four-game series.
Suarez increased his run of consecutive scoreless innings to 22 by limiting the Reds to two hits and a walk over seven dominant frames in Philadelphia's seventh straight win. The left-hander struck out five and improved to 4-0 in five starts this season.
Kody Clemens supplied the offence for the Phillies by going 2 for 4 with a three-run homer after being called up from the minors to replace slugger Bryce Harper, who is away from the team to attend the birth of his child.
Hunter Greene threw a season-high seven innings for Cincinnati but was handed the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits.
The Phillies opened the scoring in the second when Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos reached on back-to-back singles before Bryson Stott plated Bohm with a sacrifice fly.
Johan Rojas tripled off Greene to start the third and came home on Kyle Schwarber's sac fly for a 2-0 edge, and the Phillies tacked on another run in the fourth when Bohm doubled and scored on Stott's fielder's choice grounder.
J.T. Realmuto's run-scoring double in the fifth put Philadelphia up 4-0, and Clemens' blast with Castellanos and Stott aboard in the ninth closed out the scoring.
Gelof's homer in ninth lifts Athletics over Yankees
Zack Gelof broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Oakland Athletics a 2-0 win over the New York Yankees in the opener of a four-game series.
Abraham Toro greeted reliever Victor Gonzalez with an infield single to start the ninth before Gelof lined a pitch from the Yankees' left-hander into the right field seats to end the scoreless stalemate.
Mason Miller then struck out Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his fifth save and put an end to Oakland's three-game losing streak.
The Yankees were dealt a second loss in three games despite a dominant start from Carlos Rodon, who yielded only a fifth-inning single and two walks over seven innings.
A's starter JP Sears was equally good, however, as the former Yankee permitted just three hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings.
The Yankees played nearly the entire game without manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in the top of the first inning after questioning whether Oakland lead-off hitter Esteury Ruiz swung a pitch that hit the outfielder.
Boone said after the game Wendelstedt was angered by a remark directed at the umpire by a fan sitting behind New York's dugout.
Orioles stay hot by extending Angels' struggles
James McCann and Colton Cowser homered to back 5 2/3 scoreless innings from Albert Suarez as the Baltimore Orioles continued their surge with a 4-2 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Angels.
Adley Rutschman added two hits and two RBIs to help Baltimore to its seventh win in eight games, a run that has moved the Orioles a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.
The Angels, meanwhile, have now lost five straight after dropping the opener of this three-game series.
Suarez scattered four hits and two walks while striking out five before departing with a 3-0 lead. McCann's solo homer in the second inning put Baltimore on the board before Jorge Mateo stole two bases in the third to precede Rutschman's run-scoring single.
Rutschman made it 3-0 when he followed Gunnar Henderson's single with a double off Los Angeles starter Reid Detmers in the fifth, and Cowser increased the margin in the seventh with his sixth home run of the season.
All four Baltimore runs came off Detmers, who lasted seven innings and was dealt his first loss of the season after going 3-0 over his first four starts.
The Angels did close the gap in the bottom of the seventh, as Jo Adell homered and Logan O'Hoppe followed with a single before later scoring on Nolan Schanuel's base hit that cut the lead to 4-2.
Los Angeles threatened in the ninth by loading the bases with one out, but Baltimore closer Craig Kimbrel got Schanuel to pop out before fanning Mike Trout to end the game and record his sixth save.
O'Hoppe recorded three of the Angels' eight hits for the game.
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