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.
Diamondbacks acquire slugger Suarez from Mariners
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired third baseman Eugenio Suarez from the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday in an attempt to bolster a position that lacked power during the team’s run to the World Series last season.
Arizona finished tied for 28th in Major League Baseball in 2023 with only 10 total home runs by its third baseman. Suarez, meanwhile, hit 22 homers of his own for Seattle.
“It adds a little bit of stability at that spot,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “He’s a guy we’ve liked for a long time.”
Suarez, 32, was a 2018 All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds, who traded him to the Mariners in March 2022.
He’s hit .248 with 246 home runs and 730 RBIs in 1,313 career games for Detroit, Cincinnati and Seattle.
The Mariners acquired reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala from Arizona, which lost in five games to the Texas Rangers in the World Series after going 84-78 during the regular season.
Aaron Nola staying with Phillies on 7-year contract
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola has agreed to a seven-year contract to remain with the Philadelphia Phillies, multiple media outlets reported Sunday.
The deal is worth a reported $172million, as the Phillies keep a cornerstone piece in their rotation.
Nola, 30, is the first major free agent to come off the board in a class that is headlined by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and includes fellow hurlers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.
Nola has spent his entire MLB career in Philadelphia and has finished in the top five of Cy Young award voting twice.
The right-hander saw his numbers slip a bit in 2023 with a 4.46 ERA but rebounded in the post-season with three quality starts and an ERA of 2.35 over 23 innings.
Nola and Zack Wheeler make up one of the best and most reliable rotation duos in baseball.
Since 2018, Nola has thrown 1,065 1/3 innings, the second most in the majors over that span. Wheeler is fourth on that list with 1,007 innings pitched.
Nola is one of five pitchers with at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last three seasons.
Nola was the priority in a vital offseason for the Phillies after making it to the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS last season but falling short of a title.
In 235 career starts, Nola has a 3.72 ERA and has 1,582 strikeouts in 1,422 innings pitched.
NHL: Rangers beat Devils to extend point streak to 11
Artemi Panarin and Jimmy Vesey each scored twice and the New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Saturday to extend their point streak to 11 games.
Panarin scored a first-period power-play goal and his second goal midway through the third forged a 3-3 tie.
He set a franchise record by running his season-opening point streak to a career-high 15 games, breaking the mark he shared with Rod Gilbert.
The 15-game point streak is the longest by a Ranger since Wayne Gretzky in 1996-97.
Igor Shesterkin returned after missing four games with an undisclosed injury and stopped 30 shots as the Rangers improved to 10-0-1 in their last 11 contests.
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist in his return after missing five games with an upper-body injury, but New Jersey lost for the fourth time in five games.
Avalanche score 6 straight to beat Stars
Valeri Nichushkin ignited a four-goal third period and the Colorado Avalanche scored six unanswered goals in a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
Colorado’s Cale Makar became the fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 200 career assists with three in his 254th game.
Tyler Seguin’s second goal of the game early in the second period gave Dallas a 3-0 lead, but Colorado responded with goals by Miles Wood and Ryan Johansen to make it a one-goal game.
Nichushkin’s unassisted goal tied it at 4:19 of the third, Mikko Rantanan put the Avs on top with 5:28 remaining and Andrew Cogliano’s goal just 21 seconds later extended the advantage.
The Stars had a four-game winning streak snapped, while Colorado won its third in a row.
Ovechkin scores 827th as Capitals stay hot
Alex Ovechkin scored the 827th goal of his career to lead the surging Washington Capitals to a 4-3 win over the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets.
Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and two assists and Sonny Milano added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won four straight and eight of 10.
Johnny Gaudreau, Justin Danforth and Ivan Provorov scored as Columbus dropped its eighth in a row (0-6-2).
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