AL Wild-Card Race: Toro's two-run HR carries Mariners past Tigers

Here's a look at how the teams in the hunt for the AL wild-card spots fared Wednesday night plus all the action around the majors.

DETROIT (AP) — Abraham Toro hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 on Wednesday night for their fifth win in six games.

Toro, recalled from triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, had two hits. Eugenio Suarez also hit a two-run homer for the Mariners.

Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (10-12) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. Paul Sewald worked around two walks in the ninth to get his 17th save.

Jeimer Candelario drove in two runs for Detroit. Starting pitcher Tyler Alexander allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings, while Alex Lange (4-4) took the loss.

RAYS 2, MARLINS 1, 10 INNINGS

MIAMI (AP) — Manuel Margot singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning and prevented a run by tracking down a flyball to deep center in the bottom half to lead Tampa Bay.

Tommy Nance (0-2) intentionally walked Yandy Diaz with two outs before Margot's line-drive single to right field drove in automatic runner Yu Chang from second.

Jason Adam (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth and Jalen Beeks got the last three outs for his second save. Margot, who had just switched from right to center field, tracked down Charles Leblanc's drive to the warning track and made a leaping catch. Beeks then struck out Peyton Burdick and retired Joey Wendle on a groundout.

Diaz reached base five times, logging three hits and two walks. Harold Ramirez had three hits for the Rays, who lead the AL wild-card race.

ORIOLES 4, GUARDIANS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gunnar Henderson homered in his major league debut, and Baltimore beat Cleveland.

Henderson, called up from triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, homered to lead off the fourth inning against Triston McKenzie (9-11). The game's No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America drove a 2-2 pitch to right-center field for his first big league hit. He singled in the ninth and went 2-for-4.

Ramon Urias hit a two-run homer in the eighth and had three RBIs while Jordan Lyles (10-9) held the Guardians to four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings. Lyles and two Orioles relievers combined on a five-hitter.

Cleveland began the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central. McKenzie allowed two runs in five innings.

CUBS 7, BLUE JAYS 5

TORONTO (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered, Nico Hoerner drove in two runs Chicago avoided a three-game sweep.

Ian Happ and Zach McKinstry each had two hits as the Cubs snapped a five-game losing streak north of the border. Chicago went 15-15 in August, its first non-losing month this season.

Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run homer and Cavan Biggio connected for a two-run shot for the Blue Jays, who are in position for an AL wild card but had their first losing month, going 13-14 in August.

Reyes homered off Blue Jays right-hander Mitch White in the fifth inning, his 13th.

White (1-5) allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, his third loss in five starts with Toronto. Rowan Wick, the seventh Chicago pitcher, worked the ninth for his ninth save.

ANGELS 3, YANKEES 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani became the first player in major league history to hit 30 home runs and record 10 pitching wins in the same season as Los Angeles rallied to beat New York.

Ohtani’s three-run shot to center off a 97.9 mph fastball by Gerrit Cole (10-7) in the sixth put the Angels on top after they had been held to two hits the first five innings. It was the third time in the past four games the reigning AL MVP went deep.

The Japanese two-way phenom went 5 for 11 with two homers and five RBIs in the three game series against the Yankees and AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge. The New York slugger was hitless in two at-bats but drew two walks after going 4 for 7 with a pair of homers and four RBIs the first two games.

Patrick Sandoval (5-9) struck out seven and allowed two runs in seven innings to win for the second time in his last three starts.

Jimmy Herget, who got his fifth save, walked Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to lead off the ninth, but struck out Josh Donaldson and Gleyber Torres before Oswaldo Cabrera grounded out to shortstop Andrew Velazquez to end the game and give the Angels their fifth win in the last six games.

RED SOX 6, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, J.D. Martinez also homered to back Michael Wacha’s strong start for Boston.

Bogaerts and Martinez went deep during a five-run third inning against Minnesota starter Joe Ryan. Bogaerts added an RBI double in the sixth as Boston snapped a three-game losing streak.

Wacha (10-1) won his seventh straight decision, yielding two runs on four hits in six innings and striking out seven. Garrett Whitlock surrendered three runs in two relief innings. Matt Barnes allowed the first two batters in the ninth to reach but finished out his fourth save.

Ryan (10-7) gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings. He had allowed just four runs over his previous three starts, spanning 17 2/3 innings.

The Twins lost for the first time in six games but didn’t lose any ground in the AL Central. Cleveland, which lost 4-0 to Baltimore, leads the division by 1 1/2 games.

CARDINALS 5, REDS 3, 13 INNINGS

CINCINNATI (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 13th inning, Lars Nootbaar added a two-run homer and St. Louis twice used five-man infields to stop Cincinnati.

Pujols delivered against Chase Anderson (0-2), driving in automatic runner Paul Goldschmidt with one out to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Nootbaar went deep two batters later.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals first used an extra infielder in the 11th with Colin Moran on third and nobody out. Moran held up on Jose Barrero’s groundout and Jake Fraley grounded to shortstop Tommy Edman, who threw Moran out at the plate.

The Cardinals went to five infielders again with one out in the 12th and Edman threw out Austin Romine trying to score on Alejo Lopez’s grounder. Andre Pallante (6-4) worked the final three innings, allowing Fraley’s RBI single in the 13th.

The Reds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third on back-to-back RBI singles by Jonathan India and Nick Senzel. Nolan Arenado tied it for St. Louis with a two-run homer in the fourth.

ASTROS 5, RANGERS 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jose Altuve drove in two runs and scored two more for AL-best Houston in a 5-3 win over Texas and their All-Star starter Martin Perez on Wednesday.

The reigning AL champion Astros will enter September at 84-47, matching their best record through 131 games.

Altuve drew a leadoff walk to start the game and scored on Trey Mancini's single. After Texas went ahead 2-1 on Corey Seager's 29th homer, the Astros regained the lead for good on Altuve's two-run double in the second inning. Seager extended his career high for homers with his drive into the Rangers bullpen in right-center after

The Rangers' Marcus Semien had a steal for his first career 20-20 season.

Cristian Javier (8-9) gave up three runs and three hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked three. Rafael Montero worked the ninth for his 10th save.

Perez (10-5) allowed up five runs and nine hits in five innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked four.

METS 2, DODGERS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Nimmo saved Jacob deGrom and New York with a breathtaking catch at the centrE-field fence, and Edwin Diaz entered to Timmy Trumpet's live horns at Citi Field before closing out Los Angeles for a scintillating victory.

Starling Marte hit a two-run homer off All-Star lefty Tyler Anderson (13-3) as the Mets evened the three-game showdown between the top two teams in the National League.

Mookie Betts connected off deGrom (4-1) for his 32nd home run, but it wasn't enough for the Dodgers in a tight pitching duel with a playoff feel.

Making his sixth start of the season after returning from injury, deGrom hit 102 mph on the radar gun and struck out nine in seven innings. He allowed three hits and walked one.

PADRES 5, GIANTS 4

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joe Musgrove had a season-high 11 strikeouts, Manny Machado drove in three runs and San Diego completed a three-game sweep.

Luis Campusano and Jake Cronenworth added RBIs for San Diego, which has won five of its last six games and five straight against San Francisco.

Musgrove (9-6) allowed three runs and three hits with two walks in 6 2/3 innings. All-Star closer Josh Hader overcame his recent struggles to secure his 30th save in 33 opportunities and his first with the Padres.

Austin Wynns, Thairo Estrada, Luis Gonzalez and Joc Pederson drove in runs for the Giants, who lost their seventh straight game, matching a season high. Alex Wood (8-12) lost his third consecutive start, giving up four runs and five hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 4 2/3 innings.

WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Lance Lynn pitched four-hit ball through seven innings, Elvis Andrus hit a tiebreaking home run in the fifth and Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak.

Lynn (4-5) didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight for the fifth time this season. The Royals had scored 24 runs in their previous two games.

Chicago (64-66) won for the first time under bench coach Miguel Cairo, who served his second game as acting manager while Tony La Russa is on indefinite leave to undergo tests to address an unspecified health issue.

Kris Bubic (2-10) gave up two runs and five hits — solo homers to AJ Pollock in the fourth and Andrus in the fifth — in six innings. The White Sox made it 4-1 in the seventh on Andrus’ RBI grounder with the bases loaded, and José Abreu’s RBI single.

The Royals (53-78) lost for the third time in five games. Rookie Bobby Witt hit his 19th home run off Lynn in the fourth and Michael Massey had an RBI single in the ninth.

Chicago’s Liam Hendriks struck out Hunter Dozier for the last out to earn his 29th save.

BREWERS 6, PIRATES 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Keston Hiura and Luis Urias each hit an RBI single during Milwaukee's four-run seventh inning, and the Brewers beat Pittsburgh.

Willy Adames had a run-scoring double as Milwaukee won for the fourth time in five games. Freddy Peralta pitched five effective innings, and Taylor Rogers (3-6) got four outs for the win.

Ben Gamel homered for last-place Pittsburgh, which had won two of three. Kevin Newman had two of the Pirates' five hits.

Milwaukee went ahead to stay on Omar Narvaez's run-scoring groundout against Miguel Yajure (1-1) to make it 2-1 in the sixth.

After Hiura and Urias had RBI singles in the seventh, pinch-hitter Garrett Mitchell and Christian Yelich drew bases-loaded walks.

NATIONALS 6, ATHLETICS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anibal Sanchez earned his first victory in nearly two years, Luke Voit hit a two-run home run and Washington beat Oakland.

Dermis Garcia homered for the second straight game for the Athletics, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Oakland is an AL-worst 49-82 and assured of its first losing season since 2017.

Sanchez (1-5) worked a season-high seven innings, allowing three hits and one run in earning his first victory since Sept. 26, 2020. The 38-year-old did not pitch last year and did not debut this season until July 14 because of a cervical nerve impingement.

Working in a non-save situation, Washington closer Kyle Finnegan loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before striking out pinch hitter Stephen Vogt to end it.

Oakland starter James Kaprielian (3-9) allowed five runs — two earned — and struck out three in 5 2/3 innings.

PHILLIES 18, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX (AP) — Bailey Falter threw a career-high 6 1/3 innings before leaving with an injury, Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins both had three hits and Philadelphia pummeled Arizona.

All nine starters in Philadelphia’s lineup had at least two hits, including Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura, Matt Vierling, Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa. Marsh also had three hits, including a two-run triple and finished with three RBIs.

The Phillies sent 15 batters to the plate in a seven-run eighth inning. They finished with 22 hits.

Falter (3-3) was outstanding, giving up just one run on five hits before abruptly leaving the game with an athletic trainer because of right groin tightness.

Diamondbacks rookie left-hander Tommy Henry (3-3) lasted just four innings, giving up seven runs and seven hits. He walked four and struck out four. Arizona had its season high five-game winning streak snapped. Catcher Carson Kelly pitched the final 1 1/3 innings.