Austin Wells snapped a tie game with a three-run homer in the seventh inning as the New York Yankees rallied for a 10-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday that extended their lead atop the American League East.
The Yankees scored seven times over the seventh and eighth innings to erase a 4-3 deficit and take the opener of this three-game series between AL post-season contenders.
New York also received some assistance from its biggest rival, as the Boston Red Sox rolled to a 12-3 win over Baltimore that increased the Yankees' advantage over the second-place Orioles to 1 1/2 games in the division race.
Wells added a run-scoring double and Alex Verdugo had a two-run homer among his two hits for New York. Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge also knocked in runs in the win, with Torres ending 3 for 5 and Judge collecting two hits.
Salvador Perez went 4 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for Kansas City, which currently holds the AL's second wild card. The Royals also received a solo homer from Hunter Renfroe, but had a four-game winning streak snapped after failing to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning.
James McArthur (5-7) entered with one out in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a single to Torres before walking Juan Soto in front of Judge, who ripped a single to left to bring in Torres and tie the game at 4-4.
Wells followed with a blast deep into the seats in right center field to put New York ahead.
The Yankees tacked on three more runs in the eighth. Oswaldo Cabrera doubled and later scored on a Torres single, and New York loaded the bases with none out before Judge hit into a double play to bring in another run. Wells then delivered a double that plated Anthony Volpe for a 10-4 advantage.
Verdugo's two-run homer off Brady Singer in the fourth inning gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead, though the Royals pulled even in the fifth when Bobby Witt Jr. reached on a single and scored all the way from first on Perez's blooper to right that fell in for a hit.
Kansas City went ahead an inning later on Renfroe's homer off Carlos Rodon, who struck out nine in six innings but permitted four runs - three earned.
Perez singled in a run in the first inning and homered in the third to put Kansas City up 2-0, but the Yankees later countered with three runs in the fourth.
Jasson Dominguez, called up from the minors before the game, singled in the fourth and eventually scored on Perez's throwing error as the young Yankee outfielder stole third base. Verdugo followed with his 12th homer of the season for a 3-2 New York edge.
Mets rally late to down Blue Jays, boost play-off hopes
New York's other team also improved its play-off standing, as the red-hot Mets scored twice in the eighth inning to pull out a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mets got their late runs on a wild pitch and a passed ball to win for the 10th time in 11 games and move one game clear of Atlanta in the race for the National League's third and final wild card spot. The Braves were handed a 1-0 loss by the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
Tyrone Taylor scored the tying run after pinch-running for Jesse Winker, who drew a lead-off walk against Tommy Nance in the eighth with the Blue Jays ahead 2-1. Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement's throwing error on an infield single hit by Francisco Alvarez allowed Taylor to reach third, and Taylor scored when Nance uncorked an errant pitch.
Alvarez moved to third on the play, then crossed the plate when Blue Jays catcher Brian Serven couldn't handle Nance's pitch for a passed ball.
Relievers Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz held Toronto scoreless over the final two innings, with Stanek recording the win and Diaz working the ninth for his 17th save.
Mets starter Tylor Megill left with a no-decision despite yielding just one hit and striking out nine over six scoreless innings, as the Blue Jays scored twice off New York's bullpen in the seventh to erase a 1-0 deficit.
Toronto loaded the bases with one out on a hit batter and singles by Clement and Alejandro Kirk. Jose Butto then hit Leo Jimenez with a pitch to force in the tying run, and Nathan Lukes followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Jays ahead.
The Mets had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth. After Pete Alonso walked and Jose Iglesias was hit by a pitch, J.D. Martinez delivered a single to right to score Alonso from second.
Cantillo's gem lifts AL Central-leading Guardians over White Sox
Joey Cantillo took a perfect game into the seventh inning en route to his first major league win as the Cleveland Guardians held on for a 5-3 victory over the lowly Chicago White Sox.
Cantillo (1-3) retired the first 20 Chicago hitters before Andrew Benintendi singled with two outs in the seventh. The rookie left-hander surrendered a run-scoring single to Andrew Vaughn after that before completing his superb seven-inning stint with 10 strikeouts.
David Fry and Bo Naylor supported Cantillo with solo homers as Cleveland increased its lead in the AL Central to 3 1/2 games over second-place Kansas City. The Guardians also remained a game back of the New York Yankees for the AL's best record.
Chicago, meanwhile, set a franchise record with its 13th straight home loss. The White Sox fell to 33-112 overall and remained on pace for the most losses in a season in modern MLB history, set by the 1962 New York Mets (120).
The Guardians quickly jumped out to an early lead when Steven Kwan opened the game with a single, stole second, and scored on a base hit from Josh Naylor, who was then brought in by Lane Thomas' double for a 2-0 advantage.
Fry's homer in the third and Bo Naylor's blast in the fourth extended the margin to 4-0. The Guardians then tacked on another run in the fifth despite not recording a hit during the inning.
After Cleveland loaded the bases on two walks and an error, Chicago's Jairo Iriarte forced in a run by issuing a free pass to Jhonkensy Noel.
Benintendi stole second after breaking up Cantillo's perfect game bid before Vaughn drove him in with a single to get the White Sox on the board in the seventh.
Chicago got closer in the eighth on Bryan Ramos' first major league homer, a two-run shot off Nick Sandlin that followed Lenyn Sosa's single.
The White Sox did not get a hit the rest of the way, however, as Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out two during a scoreless ninth to record his AL-leading 43rd save.
MLB: Tigers lose combined no-hitter with two outs in 9th of 1-0 win over Orioles
Gunnar Henderson tripled with two outs in the ninth inning to break up the Tigers’ combined no-hit bid and Detroit held on for a 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.
Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter combined to retire Baltimore’s first 21 batters before Adley Rutschman’s eight-pitch walk leading off the eighth.
Brenan Hanifee retired the next three batters and Tyler Holton relieved to start the ninth.
Emmanuel Rivera flied out and pinch-hitter Coby Mayo took a called third strike before Henderson pulled a first-pitch sweeper into the right-field corner for the Orioles’ second baserunner.
Henderson became just the second batter to end a no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the ninth, joining the St. Louis Cardinals' Bernard Gilkey against the Chicago Cubs' Frank Castillo on Sept. 25, 1995.
Holton then struck out Anthony Santander to remain perfect in eight save chances.
Kerry Carpenter homered on the third pitch of the game from Zach Eflin, who allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The Tigers have won five of six to pull within 2 ½ games of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.
Brieske was planned to start as an opener and retired four batters while throwing 11 of 16 pitches for strikes.
Hurter struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings while throwing 53 of 71 pitches for strikes. He started 17 of 18 batters with strikes, including his first 14.
Hanifee relieved after Rutschman’s walk and got a pair of strikeouts around a forceout.
Judge ends homer drought with slam
Aaron Judge ended the longest home run drought of his career with a go-ahead grand slam to lift the New York Yankees to a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox.
The star slugger had gone 16 games and 75 plate appearances without a longball before launching a clutch drive into the lower left-field seats off reliever Cam Booser in the seventh inning to give the AL East leaders a 5-4 advantage.
Judge's eighth career slam and second this season sent the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,292 into a frenzy, and he came out of the dugout for a curtain call.
It was the 52nd homer of the season for Judge, who also leads the majors with 130 RBIs. He hadn't gone deep since Aug. 25, when he homered twice against Colorado.
New York moved three games ahead of Baltimore for the AL East lead, its largest cushion since it led by 3 ½ games before a June 15 defeat at Boston that started a 4-14 slide.
Mark Leiter Jr. got four outs in relief of starter Clarke Schmidt for the win. Luke Weaver struck out five in two scoreless innings for his second career save.
Mets use homers to rout Phillies
Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader hit three-run homers, Jose Quintana allowed three hits in seven shutout innings and the New York Mets routed the Philadelphia Phillies 11-3 for their 12th win in 14 games.
Alvarez and Nimmo homered in a three-run fifth inning off Aaron Nola, Alvarez's second three-run homer in a span of three at-bats.
Bader homered in the eighth against Tyler Gilbert and Pete Alonso went deep in the ninth off infielder Kody Clemens. It was the first big league homer allowed in 12 career pitching appearances by Clemens. His father, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, gave up 363 in 24 seasons.
New York All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor had an RBI double and left in the middle of the seventh because of lower back soreness. Manager Carlos Mendoza said it was precautionary and Lindor likely would've stayed in the game had the score been closer.
Philadelphia leads the NL East by seven games over New York, which remained one game ahead of Atlanta for the last wild card. The series opener began a stretch of seven games in 10 days between the rivals.
MLB: Soto's walk-off hit in 10th lifts Yankees over Red Sox
Juan Soto hit a game-ending single leading off the 10th inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Boston Red Sox 2-1 Thursday night as Aaron Judge’s homerless streak stretched to a career-high 16 games.
With pinch-runner Jon Berti on second as the automatic runner, Soto grounded a single against Josh Winckowski just past the glove of diving shortstop Trevor Story, and Berti slid home ahead of center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw to give the Yankees back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time in three years.
Judge, who leads the major leagues with 51 homers and 126 RBIs, went 1 for 4 with a single and is batting .207 (12 for 58) with 21 strikeouts since Aug. 26.
Gleyber Torres homered off Cooper Criswell leading off the first and Danny Jansen went deep against Nestor Cortes starting the fifth.
New York (85-62) won for the fifth time in seven games and opened a two-game AL East lead over Baltimore (83-64), the Yankees’ largest since before play on Aug. 27. The Yankees have won seven straight series openers.
Boston (74-73) dropped 4 1/2 games back of Minnesota (78-68) for the final AL wild card.
Rangers rally past Mariners in Rocker’s debut
Nathaniel Lowe drove in the go-ahead run for Texas with an infield single during a three-run eighth inning, hit a solo homer in the seventh, and the Rangers erased a three-run deficit for a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on in top prospect Kumar Rocker’s major league debut.
After Lowe made it a 4-2 game with his seventh-inning homer, Marcus Semien brought Texas within one with a solo homer off Collin Snider in the eighth.
Josh Smith reached on an error, Wyatt Langford doubled, and Adolis García drove in Smith on a groundout to shortstop to tie the game at 4-4. Lowe then hit an infield single to second base to score Langford from third.
Rocker struck out seven while allowing one run on three hits over four innings. The only run he allowed came on a solo homer from Justin Turner in the fourth.
Rocker allowed back to back singles to lead off the first inning, but retired the next six batters.
Kirby Yates pitched the ninth for his 30th save.
Heyward, Singleton lead Astros over Athletics
Jason Heyward hit a two-run homer early and Jon Singleton had three hits, capped by a tiebreaking RBI single in Houston’s four-run eighth inning, and the Astros got a 6-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
After Brent Rooker homered off Ryan Pressly with one out in the eighth to tie it at 2, Yainer Diaz and Kyle Tucker hit consecutive singles with one out in the bottom of the inning to chase T.J. McFarland and bring on Grant Holman. There were two outs in the inning when Singleton’s single to center field scored Diaz to put the Astros on top.
Jake Meyers followed with a run-scoring double before the Athletics intentionally walked Heyward to load the bases. Mauricio Dubón singled on a ground ball to left field to score two more, pushing the lead to 6-2.
Houston’s Framber Valdez allowed five hits and a run with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings to help the Astros avoid a three-game sweep and snap a three-game skid.
MLB: Blue Jays' Francis loses no-hit bid in 9th as Mets rally for win
Francisco Lindor broke up Bowden Francis’ no-hitter with a tying homer leading off the ninth and ignited a six-run inning to lift the New York Mets to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
With the crowd of 29,399 on their feet to start the ninth, Francis got ahead of Lindor 0-2 before the four-time All-Star drilled a 92 mph fastball 398 feet to right field for his 31st home run and a 1-1 tie.
It was the second time in four starts Francis lost a no-hitter on a leadoff homer in the ninth - Taylor Ward connected off the right-hander for the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 24.
Francis became the first pitcher to lose two no-hit bids in the ninth inning during one season since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan with Texas in 1989.
With the crowd of 29,399 on their feet to start the ninth, Francis got ahead of Lindor 0-2 before the four-time All-Star drilled a 92 mph fastball 398 feet to right field for his 31st home run.
Lindor's drive was New York’s first home run in the last four games, and the first by either team in the series.
Chad Green relieved Francis and gave up Jose Iglesias’ infield single and walked Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo before Pete Alonso lifted a sacrifice fly. After J.D. Martinez walked, Starling Marte delivered another sacrifice fly.
Genesis Cabrera replaced Green and was greeted by Francisco Alvarez’s three-run homer that gave New York a 6-1 lead.
Dodgers hit 4 home runs in 1st in win over Cubs
Tommy Edman hit one of the Dodgers’ four home runs in the 1st inning and went deep again in the eighth as Los Angeles avoided a sweep with a 10-8 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Gavin Lux singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh after the Cubs scored four runs in the fifth to erase a 7-3 deficit.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 47th home run and stole his 48th base, while Edman, Will Smith and Max Muncy also went deep in the first for the Dodgers, whose magic number to clinch the division dropped to 11 after San Diego lost at Seattle.
Edman’s two-out, two-run shot off Trey Wingenter in the eighth extended the Dodgers' lead to 10-7. The switch-hitter went deep in the first from the right side and then from the left.
Trailing by three, the Cubs threatened in the ninth. Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki and former Dodger Cody Bellinger.
Kopech was called for a pitch-clock violation, giving an automatic ball to Isaac Paredes, whose sacrifice fly cut Chicago's deficit to 10-8. Suzuki was thrown out trying to steal third and former Dodger Michael Busch struck out swinging to end the game as Kopech eked out his 13th save.
Tigers continue surge
Kerry Carpenter matched a career-high with four hits and the Detroit Tigers kept their improbable wild-card hopes alive with a 7-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Carpenter came up in the seventh needing a homer for the cycle - the first for a Tiger since Carlos Guillen in 2006 - but hit an infield single.
Riley Greene and Trey Sweeney homered for Detroit, which won its fourth straight and improved to 20-8 since Aug. 11. They are three games behind the Minnesota Twins for the last American League wild-card spot after both teams won on Tuesday.
The 2023 Tigers finished second in the AL Central - they are currently fourth - but their 78-84 record left them out of the wildcard race.
One night after beating the Rockies 11-0, the Tigers got off to another flying start with six runs in the first. Greene hit his 21st homer, Carpenter had an RBI triple and scored, and Sweeney hit a three-run homer.
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