Cubs beat Padres, remain tied with Brewers for 2nd wild card
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yu Darvish struck out a season-high 14 and allowed only two hits in six innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 4-1 on Thursday to remain tied with Milwaukee for the NL's second wild card.
The Padres scored in the ninth when Manny Machado was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs, but Rowan Wick struck out Luis Urias to end it.
Chicago split the four-game series and won for just the second time in seven games.
Darvish (6-6) retired his first eight batters before allowing his first hit, an infield single by starter Dinelson Lamet (2-5). Darvish kicked the ball with his right foot and it caromed to third baseman Kris Bryant. Darvish struck out Greg Garcia to end the inning.
The big right-hander had at least one strikeout in every inning. After Greg Garcia tripled leading off the sixth, Darvish finished strong by striking out the side, including Eric Hosmer for the third straight time.
Darvish was one shy of his career high, set Aug. 12, 2013, at Houston while he was with the Texas Rangers. He led the big leagues that year with 277 strikeouts.
BREWERS 3, MARLINS 2
MIAMI (AP) — Ryan Braun broke a tie with a two-run homer in the third inning and Milwaukee beat Miami to complete a four-game sweep that extended its winning streak to seven.
Milwaukee matched its longest winning streak of the season to remain tied with the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card. Before the game, the Brewers said star Christian Yelich won't need surgery on his broken right kneecap but likely will not return this season.
Braun, bothered by a bad back for much of the season, broke a 1-1 tie against Caleb Smith (8-10) with an opposite-field drive to right, his 19th home run this season.
Gio González and four relievers retired Miami's final 18 batters after Lewis Brinson's run-scoring single in the fourth. Freddy Peralta (6-3) struck out three in two innings, and Josh Hader fanned two batters for his 31st save in 37 chances.
METS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Lagares hit a grand slam and a two-run shot and New York set a team record with six home runs in a home game, routing Arizona for a four-game sweep.
Michael Conforto hit his 30th homer, Todd Frazier connected for the third time in the series and Robinson Canó and Tomas Nido also went deep. The Mets outscored Arizona 26-4 this week.
Boosted by Marcus Stroman's longest start since being acquired, the Mets won for the ninth time in 13 games. New York remained two games back of Milwaukee and Chicago for the second NL wild card.
The Diamondbacks lost their fifth straight since winning 11 of 12 to get back into the playoff race. Arizona dropped 3 1/2 games out of the second wild card.
Lagares hit a slam in the third inning and connected again in the fifth, setting a career high with six RBIs in his first multihomer game.
Stroman (8-14) allowed one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six, walked four and took a shutout into the seventh before allowing a double to pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas on his last pitch.
Frazier hit his 21st homer in the second and the Mets took advantage of a throwing error by shortstop Nick Ahmed to score five more in the third off Alex Young (7-4). The Mets hit three homers in the fifth and Lagares' second homer made it 9-0.
YANKEES 10, TIGERS 4, 1ST GAME
YANKEES 6, TIGERS 4, 2ND GAME
DETROIT (AP) — All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez became the Yankees' latest injury concern when he left the second game of a doubleheader with left groin tightness as New York beat Detroit to complete a sweep.
Sánchez exited in the fourth, an inning after he was thrown out in his first stolen base try this year. He has been on the injured list three times in the past two seasons because of groin strain.
Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnación left the first game with an oblique issue.
CC Sabathia pitched into the fourth inning of the second game in his return from the injured list. Sabathia, who has dealt with right knee problems, allowed only one hit through the first three innings but gave up a two-run double to Brandon Dixon in the fourth. He threw 56 pitches in 3 1/3 innings before being relieved by Domingo Germán (18-4). Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela each hit two-run homers for New York in the second game. Spencer Turnbull (3-15) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings.
Aroldis Chapman came on with one out in the ninth, a runner third and the score 6-3. He allowed an RBI infield single to John Hicks but was then able to close the game out for his 37th save in 42 chances.
Encarnación homered in the first game, then left in the fifth inning with a strained left oblique muscle.
In Game 1, Luke Voit put the Yankees ahead in the first with his first home run since July 22, a two-run drive off Matt Boyd (8-11). Chad Green (4-4) was the winner.
TORONTO (AP) — Xander Bogaerts became the latest Boston slugger to reach 50 doubles, Marco Hernandez drove in two runs and the Red Sox beat Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.
J.D. Martinez reached base three times to help the Red Sox win for the first time in six games.
One night after their 159-game streak with at least one extra-base hit was snapped in an 8-0, two-hit loss, the Red Sox racked up four doubles and 12 total hits.
Josh Taylor (2-2), one of nine Red Sox pitchers, worked one inning for the win. Brandon Workman got the final four outs for his 12th save in 18 opportunities. Clay Buchholz (1-5) took the loss in his first career outing against his former team.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Rich Hill struggled with his control during his first start since June 19, and Los Angeles broke a sixth-inning tie by scoring two runs on a passed ball in the victory over Baltimore.
After spending 12 weeks on the injured list with a strained left forearm, Hill was supposed to go two innings in his first step toward becoming a postseason contributor for the NL West champions. Instead, the 39-year-old failed to make it out of the first.
The Dodgers trailed 2-1 in the sixth before Cody Bellinger knotted the score with a single for his 107th RBI. Los Angeles subsequently used a walk and an error to load the bases with two outs for No. 9 hitter Russell Martin. With the count full, Dylan Bundy (6-14) fired a high fastball that Martin swung at and missed. The ball glanced off the mitt of catcher Pedro Severino and traveled to the backstop.
Instead of having an inning-ending strikeout, Bundy watched in disgust from in front of the mound — neglecting to cover the plate — while Bellinger scored from the third base and Corey Seager followed for a 4-2 lead. Tony Gonsolin (3-2) was the winner, and Kenley Jansen got three straight outs for his 29th save.
Severino homered for Baltimore.
HOUSTON (AP) — Matt Olson hit a two-run homer to back a solid start by Homer Bailey and Oakland beat Houston to take over the AL wild-card lead.
Oakland shook off a 15-0 loss in the opener of this four-game series to win three in a row, beating Cy Young Award front-runner Justin Verlander (18-6) in the finale. The A's moved a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay atop the AL wild-card standings. Cleveland is one game behind Oakland.
The Athletics got Verlander for three runs in the first three innings before he settled in to pitch three scoreless frames. Bailey (13-8) yielded three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings to win his fourth straight decision. He matched his career high in wins set in 2012 with Cincinnati.
Jose Altuve's solo home run off Yusmeiro Petit got Houston within a run with one out in the eighth inning. Houston had runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth, but Liam Hendriks struck out Michael Brantley for his 21st save.
RANGERS 6, RAYS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nick Solak homered off the pitcher he was traded for two months ago, and Texas beat Tampa Bay to help drop the Rays out of the AL wild-card lead.
The rookie's two-run shot off hard-throwing reliever Peter Fairbanks put the Rangers up 5-1 in the fourth inning. The Rays dropped their second straight game following a six-game winning streak that matched a season high. Oakland moved a half-game ahead in the AL wild-card race with a 3-2 win at Houston.
Rougned Odor hit his 26th homer for Texas.
Luke Farrell (1-0) was the winner. José Leclerc worked the ninth for his 13th save. Brendan McKay (2-4) lost his third straight decision.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cesar Hernandez hit one of four Philadelphia home runs and added an RBI single to help the Phillies beat Atlanta.
J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura and Adam Haseley also went deep for the Phillies. They remained two games behind the Cubs and Brewers for the second NL wild-card spot.
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 39th homer and Ozzie Albies doubled, homered and drove in a pair of runs for the NL-East leading Braves. Jared Hughes (5-5) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Drew Smyly. Hector Neris got the final four outs for his 26th save in 32 chances. Julio Teheran (10-9) was the loser.
DENVER (AP) — Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong opened the game with successive home runs and St. Louis connected five times in all to beat Colorado.
Marcell Ozuna, Rangel Ravelo and Harrison Bader also homered for NL Central-leading St. Louis.
Fowler drove the first pitch of the game from Tim Melville (2-2) into the second deck and Wong followed with a drive that soared over the center field wall. Nolan Arenado homered and doubled to drive in a pair of runs for Colorado. Josh Fuentes hit his first big league home run.
Miles Mikolas (9-13) went five innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
CHICAGO (AP) — Hunter Dozier hit a tiebreaking, three-run home run in the sixth, Jorge Soler had his third homer in two days and Kansas City beat Chicago.
Whit Merrifield walked and Soler singled off Lucas Giolito (14-9) in the decisive inning to help Kansas City win for the eighth time in the last 11 games. Then Dozier drove a 1-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers for a 5-2 lead. He doubled two innings later. Soler opened the scoring in the first with his 43rd homer.
Jorge López (4-7) allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. Five Royals relievers combined for 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Ian Kennedy wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 29th save in 33 chances.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched five shutout innings and hit a triple, Jacob Stallings homered and Pittsburgh beat San Francisco.
The Pirates took three of four in the series and have won 14 of their last 20 games in San Francisco dating to 2014. Musgrove (10-12) struck out seven, gave up four hits and walked none. Felipe Vázquez worked around a first-and-third, no-outs situation in the ninth for his 28th save in 31 attempts.
Evan Longoria homered for the Giants. Jeff Samardzija (10-12) was the loser.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto each homered and drove in three runs as Washington cut Minnesota's lead in the AL Central to 3 ½ games ahead of a critical series in Cleveland.
Adam Eaton and Yan Gomes also homered and Asdrúbal Cabrera added two run-scoring hits for the Nationals, who maintained their 3 ½-game lead for the top NL wild-card spot over the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
Nelson Cruz and Jonathan Schoop homered for Minnesota.
Patrick Corbin (12-7) earned the win for Washington. Kyle Gibson (13-7) took the loss.
SEATTLE (AP) — Freddy Galvis connected for a go-ahead grand slam, Eugenio Suarez hit his 45th home run and Cincinnati overcame another drive by Seattle's Kyle Lewis.
Galvis' second slam of the season and third of his career capped a five-run rally in the seventh inning for a 7-5 lead.
Lewis hit a solo shot off the scoreboard in left field in the fifth, becoming just the second player in major league history to homer in each of his first three games. Lewis joined Trevor Story as the only players to accomplish the feat. Story connected in his first four games — totaling six homers in that span — for Colorado in 2016.
Dan Altavilla (1-1) took the loss. Sal Romano (1-0) struck out three in 1 1/3 innings.