AL wild-card roundup: Blue Jays can’t gain ground despite beating Rangers

Despite a win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday, the Toronto Blue Jays will end the day in the same position that they began in.

The Blue Jays improved to 77-79 with their victory in Arlington, but remain three games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League wild-card picture after the Southsiders’ win over the Detroit Tigers.

In addition to Chicago’s triumph at home to close its series against Detroit, the Cleveland Guardians held serve in its position atop the AL Central with a their fifth straight win.

Texas, meanwhile, stayed in the AL West lead, thanks to the Houston Astros’ loss to the NL East-champion Atlanta Braves.

With six games to go before the end of the regular season, Toronto’s playoff hopes have firmly entered long shot territory.

Here’s a look at the standings after Sunday’s action:

Toronto: at Baltimore, 6:35 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+
Cleveland: Off
Texas: Off
Chicago White Sox: Off
Houston: Off
Baltimore: vs. Blue Jays, 6:35 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+

ARLINGTON, Texas — Toronto leadoff hitter Brett Bateman reached base and scored three times, twice knocked in by Nathan Lukes, and the Blue Jays beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 7-2 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep in the matchup of playoff hopefuls. 

Bateman walked twice against Texas starter Jacob deGrom (11-10), scoring on a sacrifice fly by Lukes in the first and a go-ahead RBI single by Kazuma Okamota in the fifth. Bateman had a leadoff double to ignite a four-run seventh, scoring on a single by Lukes. 

With six games remaining, the Rangers (78-78) kept a one-game lead in the AL West after Houston (77-79) lost 4-2 at home to NL East champion Atlanta. The Astros own the division tiebreaker. 

Spencer Arrighetti (9-9), the second of seven Blue Jays pitchers, got the win despite giving up the only Texas runs over his two innings.

CLEVELAND — Gavin Williams threw seven shutout innings, Jo Adell had an RBI infield single and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Athletics 1-0 Sunday to remain atop the AL Central.

Steven Kwan added three hits for Cleveland, which posted its seventh series sweep of the season and third at home.

The Guardians (81-75) are 1 1/2 games in front of the Chicago White Sox. They finish the season on the road with series against Boston and Kansas City.

Williams (14-8) gave up three hits and struck out nine to move into the major-league lead with 244 strikeouts. He has one more than Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski. Toronto’s Dylan Cease is in third with 239. It is the 13th time in 31 starts this season that the right-hander has had at least nine strikeouts.

Cade Smith worked 1 1/3 innings for his 39th save in 44 opportunities.

CHICAGO — Sam Antonacci had a two-run double in a three-run fourth inning and the Chicago White Sox kept pace in the AL Central and eliminated the Detroit Tigers from playoff contention with a rain-soaked 8-1 victory Sunday.

The White Sox remained a game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the division and hold a three-game lead over the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays for the third wild card.

The start was delayed 3 hours, 50 minutes by rain and most of the game was played in a swirling mist.

Davis Martin threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the White Sox, striking out six, allowing three hits and walking three. He failed to record a win for his 15th straight appearance dating to June 10.

Huascar Brazoban (6-2), activated from the injured list earlier Sunday, pitched a scoreless sixth for the victory.

Trevor Richards pitched two innings for the 205th White Sox relief outing of 1 1/3 innings or more, a major league record.

BALTIMORE — William Contreras homered, and the Milwaukee Brewers earned their franchise-record 98th victory by beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Sunday night to complete a three-game sweep.

Cooper Pratt drove in two for Milwaukee (98-58), which owns the best record in the majors and surpassed the 97 victories it had last season. The Brewers have already clinched their fourth consecutive NL Central title.

The Orioles managed four hits and were shut out for the second consecutive game. Baltimore fell five games behind the Chicago White Sox for the AL’s third wild card and has six games remaining.

Milwaukee starter Jacob Misiorowski yielded a hit and struck out four in three innings in a planned abbreviated outing. The right-hander, who leads the majors in ERA (1.86) and strikeouts (247), moved into second place on the Brewers’ single-season strikeouts list. Ben Sheets had 264 in 2004.

HOUSTON — Mike Yastrzemski hit a three-run homer during a four-run sixth inning and the Atlanta Braves clinched the NL East title for the seventh time in nine years with a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Ozzie Albies tied it at one with an RBI single before Yastrzemski’s homer to right off Bryan King (3-6).

After finishing 76-86 and missing the playoffs last season, Atlanta bounced back this year under first-year manager Walt Weiss. The Braves are 92-64 and have won at least 90 games for the fifth time in the last eight seasons.

The Astros’ playoff hopes took a hit after being swept by the Braves. Houston, which has lost seven of its last nine games, trails the Rangers by a game in the AL West, but the Astros own the tiebreaker. The Rangers lost 7-2 to Toronto on Sunday.

DIAMONDBACKS 8, YANKEES 4

PHOENIX (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit his third grand slam of the season top help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees 8-4 on Sunday.

Arenado connected off reliever Brent Headrick (7-4) in the fifth inning. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases against Yankee starter Will Warren when Headrick entered. He struck out Geraldo Perdomo for the second out but walked Corbin Carroll to force in a run before Arenado homered on a 2-1 pitch. He tied Houston’s Yordan Alvarez for the major league lead this season, and it was Arenado’s ninth career slam.

The Diamondbacks had their MLB-best 47th comeback win of the season and kept pace with Philadelphia in the chase for the National League’s final wild-card berth, but trail the Phillies by four games with six to play.

New York still has a slim chance to win the American League East, but must win out and get help. The Yankees open a four-game series Tuesday against the division-leading Rays in New York.

Perdomo had a run-scoring single in the first and an RBI triple in the seventh.

LOS ANGELES — Kiké Hernández hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, Emmet Sheehan did not give up a run in 5 1/3 innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Hernández jumped on the first pitch he saw from Sam Hentges (1-7), driving in Max Muncy to put the Dodgers ahead 2-1. Muncy pushed an insurance run across with a single in the eighth.

Kris Bubic (4-2) pitched 2/3 of an inning for the win, and Tanner Scott handled the ninth inning for his 23rd save.

Sheehan made the most of a bullpen game to strengthen his credentials for making the Dodgers’ postseason roster as a long reliever. He had nine strikeouts against one hit and one walk after taking over from Jack Dreyer in the second inning.

Matt Wilkinson allowed three hits and no walks while striking out six in five scoreless innings, but the Giants’ bullpen buckled. The 23-year-old left-hander was acquired as part of the trade that sent catcher Patrick Bailey to Cleveland in May.

DENVER — Rookie Kade Anderson tossed seven shutout innings, Dominic Canzone drove in two runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1 on Sunday to stave off elimination from playoff contention.

Anderson (2-2), in the longest of his six starts since making his major league debut Aug. 22 at the Chicago Cubs, followed his worst outing with his best. He gave up three hits, struck out a career-high seven and didn’t walk a batter.

His performance kept Seattle’s slim postseason hopes alive. The Mariners (73-83) gained a game on Texas in the AL West and avoided, temporarily, being eliminated from the AL wild-card race.

Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz left the game after walking TJ Rumfield with one out in the ninth. Muñoz bent over flexing his right arm after missing on a 98 m.p.h. fastball, bringing out the trainer. Manager Dan Wilson said Munoz’s issue was with his right knee He was replaced by Eduard Bazardo, who got the final two outs around a walk for his first save.

SAN DIEGO — Jake Cronenworth hit a pair of two-run homers and drove in five runs for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Sunday to move closer to clinching their third straight post-season berth.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 25th homer for the Padres, who won for the 13th time in 14 games and swept the Marlins for the second time this season.

San Diego reduced its magic number to two for earning a wild-card spot.

The Padres and Cubs remain tied at 87-69 for the top wild-card spot with six games to go, although Chicago holds the tiebreaker. Philadelphia stayed one game back.

NEW YORK — Cristopher Sánchez earned his major league-leading 18th win Sunday, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets.

The Phillies (86-70), who salvaged a split of the four-game series, entered Sunday in the third National League wild-card spot, one game behind the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres and four games clear of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sánchez surrendered six hits — including Bo Bichette’s sixth-inning homer — and struck out six over 6 1/3 innings as he snapped a tie with the Boston Red Sox’s Sonny Gray for the big league lead in wins.

The last Phillies pitcher to lead the majors in wins was Steve Carlton with 23 in 1982.

Justin Crawford had a three-run triple and Luis Arraez finished with two RBIs. Alec Bohm and Trea Turner each had run-scoring hits. Kyle Schwarber tied a career high with four walks.

Rookie Jonah Tong (2-2) gave up four runs and struck out five in 4 2/3 innings for the last-place Mets, who finished 36-45 at home — their worst record at Citi Field since the 2013 team went 33-48.

PITTSBURGH — Rafael Flores Jr. hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning to help Pittsburgh to a win over Kansas City and complete a series sweep.

After Ryan O’Hearn led off with a single to center, Flores sent a slider from Nate Pearson (2-3) into the left-field bleachers for his 10th homer this season.

Pittsburgh rallied with a two-run homer in the eighth for a second straight day. Brandon Lowe had his 33rd of the season in a 6-5 win Saturday.

Carmen Mlodzinki (8-7) got the win. He allowed two runs and three hits in three innings. The reliever gave up a pinch-hit, two-run home run to Vinnie Pasquantino that gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead with two outs in the seventh.

Mason Montgomery earned his 16th save. He retired the first two batters in the ninth before Luke Maile hit a double and took third on a fielding error by Jake Mangum. Montgomery got Isaac Collins to fly out to right to strand Maile.

The Royals went ahead 1-0 in the first inning with three straight singles off Lake Bachar. Bobby Witt Jr. beat out a groundball to second baseman Lowe. He moved to third on a single to right from Jac Caglianone and scored when Perez shot one through the middle of the infield.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Griffin Jax tossed five shutout innings and the Tampa Bay crept closer to the AL East title with a victory over Boston.

The Rays will have an opportunity to clinch the franchise’s fifth division title during Tuesday’s doubleheader at the New York Yankees.

Boston would have clinched a playoff spot with a victory. The Red Sox, who were 32-46 and 15 1/2 games back in the AL East on June 24, have since gone 52-25. They could still wrap up a spot Sunday with a Houston loss.

Jax (8-10) allowed three singles and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning by striking out Roman Anthony. Cole Sulser, Brody Hopkins and Steven Matz each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.

Boston’s Trevor Story spoiled the shutout in the ninth with a one-out home run off right-hander Ty Johnson.

The Rays scored four first-inning runs off left-hander Patrick Sandoval (1-7). Jonny DeLuca smashed a two-run, bases-loaded double down the left-field line and Chandler Simpson followed with a two-run single. Sandoval began the inning by walking Yandy Diaz and Ryan Vilade, then surrendering a single to Junior Caminero.

CINCINNATI — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 45th home run as Chicago moved closer to clinching a post-season berth with a victory over Cincinnati.

Chicago (87-69) reduced its magic number to one and could wrap up a berth if the Diamondbacks lose to the Yankees later Sunday.

The Cubs began the day tied with the Padres and one game ahead of the Phillies for the top NL wild-card spot which would earn them home-field advantage in the wild-card round. The Cubs own the tiebreakers over the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Phillies.

Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman left Sunday’s game in the fourth inning after being struck in the face by a foul ball off the bat of Michael Busch while standing near the on-deck circle.

Cubs left-hander David Peterson (9-8) allowed a run on three hits in seven innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the third. Ian Happ singled in a run and Nico Hoerner walked to force in another to extend Chicago’s lead to 3-0. Pedro Ramirez’s two-run single made the score 5-0.

Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder (6-12) allowed five earned runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

ST. LOUIS — Iván Herrera hit a pair of home runs, and Leo Bernal also homered as St. Louis scored three runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and beat Washington.

Bernal hit his fifth homer of the season off Yovanny Cruz (0-2) after Erik Tolman walked Jordan Walker with two outs in the eighth inning.

Herrera hit his second homer of the game and 18th of the season to tie the game at 3-all after hitting a solo shot in the first inning.

It was Herrera’s third career multi-homer game and second this season after going deep twice on June 13 at Minnesota.

Luis Gastelum (5-3) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for St. Louis, and Riley O’Brien pitched a perfect ninth to earn his National League-leading 38th save.

Cardinals starter Quinn Mathews allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in a career-high seven innings.

Jake Irvin allowed two runs on three hits and had eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings for the Nationals.