MLB Roundup: Mariners and Astros both lose, fail to gain ground on Blue Jays

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jordan Montgomery pitched seven scoreless innings, switch-hitting All-Star catcher Jonah Heim drove in a run and AL West-leading Texas blanked Seattle.

Montgomery (10-11) struck out six and walked two while scattering five hits. He is 4-2 in his 10 starts for the Rangers.

Jose Leclerc and Aroldis Chapman finished off the Rangers’ 12th shutout of the season. Leclerc pitched the eighth and gave up a one-out single in the ninth before the hard-throwing Chapman worked around a walk for his sixth save in 11 chances.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (13-7) allowed two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, with two strikeouts and four walks.

All-Star slugger Adolis García, in his fifth game back after missing 10 games with a patellar tendon strain in his right knee, scored both Rangers runs.

MARLINS 5, BREWERS 4

MIAMI (AP) — Jake Burger hit a three-run homer, the Marlins scored the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning and Miami beat Milwaukee 5-4 on Saturday to stay within a game of the Cubs for the third NL wild card and prevent the Brewers from clinching the NL Central.

Pinch runner Garrett Hampson scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Brewers reliever Joel Payamps (6-5) in the eighth.

Miami’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-5 and his major league-leading batting average dropped to .353, while Carlos Santana hit his career 300th homer for Milwaukee.

Andrew Nardi (8-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and Tanner Scott closed with a perfect ninth for his 10th save.

Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruffwas lifted after five innings. The right-hander gave up four runs, six hits, struck out six and walked two.

ORIOLES 2, GUARDIANS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — John Means carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and Anthony Santander drove in a pair of runs, sending AL East-leading Baltimore over Cleveland.

Means, a 30-year-old left-hander, was making his third start in 17 months following Tommy John surgery. Cleveland’s only hit — and lone hard-hit ball — occurred when Andrés Giménez pulled a change-up to right for a 406-foot homer.

Baltimore maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the division and for the best record in the AL.

Means (1-1) allowed three baserunners in 7 1/3 innings on a walk, hit batter and Giménez’s home run. He threw a season-high 96 pitches and struck out four. Yennier Cano retired both batters he faced in the eighth, and Cionel Pérez worked the ninth for his third save.

Guardians starter Cal Quantrill (3-7) allowed one run, five hits and a season-high four walks in four innings. The right-hander struck out four and has a 1.95 ERA in five September outings.

RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 6

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Josh Lowe hit a three-run homer and a walk-off single that capped a two-run ninth inning, lifting Tampa Bay over Toronto after the Rays wasted a five-run lead.

Rays starter Zack Littell took a shutout in the sixth but was pulled after the Blue Jays put two runners on with two outs due to Curtis Mead’s throwing error at third and a wild pitch on a strikeout.

Shawn Armstrong entered and gave up four straight hits. Chris Devenski (5-4), Tampa Bays' sixth pitcher, was credited with the win.

Jordan Romano (5-6), Toronto's sixth pitcher, blew a save for the fourth time in 40 chances.

PHILLIES 7, METS 5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper sparked Philadelphia’s comeback from a two-run deficit by reaching 20 homers for the ninth time, leading the Phillies to their fourth straight win.

Harper had three RBIs for the defending NL champions (86-69), who are closing in on an NL wild card berth. Alec Bohm also homered as the Phillies, who opened a four-game lead over Arizona for the top wild card.

Philadelphia would clinch a playoff berth Sunday with a win and a loss by either the Chicago Cubs or Miami Marlins. The Phillies have not reached the playoffs in successive seasons since a five-year stretch from 2007-11.

Zack Wheeler (13-6) improved to 4-0 in his last six starts, allowing five runs — three earned — and eight hits in seven innings. José Alvarado pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances.

Mets starter José Quintana (3-6) gave up six runs — five earned runs — and eight hits in six innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts.

ROYALS 3, ASTROS 2

HOUSTON (AP) — Jordan Lyles gave up just two hits in five innings, Bobby Witt Jr. drove in his 93rd run of the season and Kansas City won nine of its last 10 games.

Houston has lost four of its last five games and fell to 39-41 at home this year. Still, the Astros maintained their half-game lead for the final AL wild-card spot over Seattle with seven games remaining.

Lyles (5-17) held the Astros to just one hit through the first four innings, while striking out three and walking two.

Taylor Clarke got the last five outs for his third save of the season.

Astros starter J.P. France (11-6) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings, walking one and striking out five.

Astros reliever Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the eighth inning to extend his scoreless innings streak to a major league-best 24 innings. Abreu has struck out 28 batters in this span.

DODGERS 7, GIANTS 0

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw pitched two-hit ball over five innings, Mookie Betts hit a two-run double that set a record of 105 RBIs for a leadoff hitter, and Los Angeles earned its 95th win of the season and 15th shutout, tied for second in the major leagues.

Kershaw (13-4) struck out five and walked two. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has not gone beyond five innings in any of last seven starts.

Betts' RBIs are the most by a leadoff hitter, two more than Charlie Blackmon's 103 for Colorado in 2017. Betts' double in the eighth extended the lead to 7-0.

Giants opener John Brebbia (3-2) took the loss, pitching 1 1/3 innings.

ANGELS 1, TWINS 0

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jo Adell homered, Kenny Rosenberg outpitched Sonny Gray and Los Angeles beat Minnesota, a day after the Twins clinched the AL Central title.

Rosenberg (2-2), a 28-year-old left-hander making his fourth big league start and ninth appearance, allowed five hits and two walks in five innings with five strikeouts. Carlos Estévez, the Angels’ fourth reliever, hit Kyle Farmer with a pitch starting the ninth, then got three straight outs for his 31st save in 35 chances.

Gray (8-8) allowed a fourth-inning homer to Adell on a first-pitch sinker, just the eighth home run off Gray this season. He gave up four hits in six innings and struck out eight.

Los Angeles (70-85), assured of its eighth straight losing season, won for just the second time in nine games.

CARDINALS 5, PADRES 2, 11 INNINGS

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres matched the expansion 1969 Montreal Expos as the only teams to go 0-12 in extra innings as St. Louis ended San Diego's season-high, eight-game winning streak.

Richie Palacios and Andrew Knizner hit sacrifice flies in the 11th inning around Luken Baker's run-scoring single off Scott Barlow (3-5).

San Diego dropped five games behind the Chicago Cubs for the NL's last wild card with seven games left.

Casey Lawrence (1-0), a 35-year-old right-hander, pitched two hitless innings for his first major league win since Sept. 19, 2018, for Seattle at Houston. Seven pitchers combined on six-hit ball, holding the Padres to 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

St. Louis pitchers walked 12 and Padres pitchers walked seven.

CUBS 6, ROCKIES 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Cody Bellinger hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, and Chicago topped Colorado to improve its position in the NL wild-card standings.

Led by a solid performance from its bullpen, Chicago earned its second straight win after a stretch of seven losses in eight games. It moved within a half-game of Arizona for the second NL wild card and ensured it would hold onto sole possession of the third spot for at least another day.

Colorado wasted a solid performance by Chris Flexen, who pitched five innings of two-run ball. After Nick Mears (0-1) began the seventh with three straight walks on 13 pitches, Bellinger put Chicago in front when he greeted Justin Lawrence with a fly ball to the warning track in left.

Marcus Stroman pitched three innings of three-run ball for the Cubs in his first start since July 31. After Stroman departed, Javier Assad (5-3) struck out six in four scoreless innings. Julian Merryweather escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and José Cuas worked the ninth for his second big league save.

WHITE SOX 1, RED SOX 0

BOSTON (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. hit a 311-foot home run just beyond the Pesky Pole to break a scoreless, ninth-inning tie, and Dylan Cease struck out 11 in seven shutout innings to lead Chicago over Boston.

Playing in a steady rain, with the wind blowing in at 10 mph, Cease and Boston starter Nick Pivetta matched scoreless innings before both departed after seven.

Aaron Bummer (5-5) pitched the eighth, walking the first two batters before escaping. Bryan Shaw got the last three outs for his third save.

Josh Winckowski (4-3) struck out three after relieving Pivetta, allowing two hits, including the curling line drive that found the first row of seats — just beyond the foul pole that is 302 feet from home plate.

PIRATES 13, REDS 12

CINCINNATI (AP) — Pittsburgh overcame a nine-run deficit for the first time in its 137-season history as Luis Rivas tied a career-high with five RBIs, dealing a staggering blow to Cincinnati’s playoff hopes.

Cincinnati, which dropped 2 1/2 games back for the NL’s last wild card berth, opened a 9-0 lead with three runs in the first, five in the second and one in the third, then allowed 13 unanswered runs.

Reds rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl all homered off Bailey Fatter, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in two innings.

On a night each team had 16 hits, José Hernández (1-1) got the final out of the seventh in his first major league win.

Reds closer Alexis Díaz (9-6) took the loss.

ATHLETICS 4, TIGERS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Joe Boyle had five strikeouts in six innings for his first career win, Esteury Ruiz hit a two-run home run, and Oakland beat Detroit.

Boyle (1-0) was mostly crisp in his second start in the majors. The rookie allowed five hits, pitched around traffic in each of the first six innings and gave up an unearned run in the third, the only runner Boyle allowed past second base.

Trevor May got the final four outs, pitching out of a bases-loaded jams in the eighth, for his 20th save.

Miguel Díaz, working as the Tigers opener for the third time in five days, retired four of the five batters he faced and walked one. Reliever Joey Wentz (3-12) pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and striking out five.