AL wild-card roundup: Guardians pull away from Blue Jays, Rangers

The Cleveland Guardians are surging while their playoff rivals are falling away.

The Guardians defeated the Minnesota Twins for their third win in five games. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox all extended their losing streaks.

With the win, the Guardians moved to within half a game of the White Sox for the AL Central lead, and two games clear of all challengers in the wild-card race.

The Baltimore Orioles, who beat the Blue Jays, were the only other team in the hunt for a spot to win on Friday.

Here is how the American League standings look after Friday’s games:

New York Yankees: vs. NY Mets, 1:35 p.m.
Toronto: vs. Baltimore, 3:07 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+
Cleveland: at Minnesota, 4:10 p.m., Sportsnet+
Boston: vs. Kansas City, 4:10 p.m.
Houston: at Rays, 6:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox: at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.
Texas: vs. Arizona, 8:10 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+

TORONTO — Dylan Beavers hit his first career leadoff home run, Coby Mayo added a solo blast and Baltimore beat Toronto in the opener of a series between AL wild-card contenders.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand had three hits and Beavers had three RBIs as the Orioles won for the third time in four games after losing the previous six. Baltimore is 3-7 in September.

Toronto rookie Brett Bateman had three hits, including his first career home run, a two-run blast off Alex Hoppe in the ninth.

Rico Garcia retired Alejandro Kirk on a fielder’s choice to end it for his eighth save in 14 chances.

The Blue Jays came in one game behind Cleveland for the final wild-card spot. Baltimore entered three games back.

Chris Bassitt (7-5) struck out five in five-plus innings to beat his former team. Bassitt allowed two runs and six hits.

Beavers homered on Max Scherzer’s second pitch of the game, his seventh.

Scherzer (2-8) allowed six runs and a season-high seven hits in five innings.

MINNEAPOLIS — Angel Martínez hit a two-run homer and his double in the ninth inning keyed the game-winning rally as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Friday night.

The Guardians moved two games ahead of Toronto in the race for the AL’s third wild-card spot.

Martínez gave the Guardians a 2-1 lead in the seventh with his 15th homer of the season.

After the Twins tied it on Kalen Culpepper’s RBI single in the seventh, Martínez hit a one-out double off Yoendrys Gómez (2-3) that moved Travis Bazzana to third. Bazzana scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Gómez and Brayan Rocchio brought home two more with a double.

Hunter Gaddis (4-3) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Cade Smith retired the side in the ninth for his 36th save.

Twins starter Taj Bradley gave up one hit and four walks while striking out six in six scoreless innings.

Parker Messick held the Twins to three hits and one run with two walks and five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the second inning off rookie Nolan McLean, and the New York Yankees beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Friday night.

Ben Rice also homered as the Yankees won for the 17th time in 24 games and moved a season-high 23 games over .500 on a night the team remembered the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Rookie Spencer Jones added an RBI single in the first inning and Ryan McMahon hit an RBI single in the eighth as the Yankees remained three games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and moved 5 1/2 ahead of Boston for the first American League wild card.

Carlos Rodón (6-3) allowed two runs and three hits in a season-high 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander notched two of his eight strikeouts on slugger Juan Soto, who heard boos from Yankee fans before each at-bat.

Bellinger homered after catching the ceremonial first pitch from Brielle Saracini, whose father Victor Saracini was the pilot on United Airlines Flight 175, which was flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Bellinger gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead by hitting a full-count curveball off McLean (11-9) into the right field seats. Rice added his 37th homer by sending a sinker the opposite way into the left field seats on the first pitch of the fifth.

After scoring 31 runs in a three-game sweep at Miami, the Mets had their four-game winning streak stopped. Christopher Morel hit a tying RBI groundout in the second, A.J. Ewing had an RBI single in the seventh and homered on the first pitch of the ninth.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, RANGERS 1

PHOENIX — Ketel Marte had two doubles and three RBIs to please the Chase Field crowd, Corbin Carroll added a two-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Texas Rangers 9-1 on Friday night.

Marte’s performance came less than two weeks after he was booed by the home fans Aug. 31 in his return from the injured list. The three-time All-Star missed 13 games after an unexpected no-show before a game in Boston, leading to days of confusion about his health and frame of mind.

The veteran second baseman eventually apologized for how he handled the situation. He received mostly cheers before Friday’s game and the crowd roared in approval after his two doubles.

It was a much-needed breakout from Arizona’s offence, which was averaging less than three runs per game so far in September. The D-backs are locked in a tight battle with the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild card.

The D-backs scored four runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth to take a 9-1 lead. Marte had a two-run double in the fourth while Carroll and Arenado had back-to-back homers in the sixth.

It was Carroll’s 20th home run of the season and the fourth straight season he’s gone deep at least 20 times.

ST. LOUIS — Rookies Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal each had three hits and drove in two runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame a pair of home runs by Chase Meidroth to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-3 on Friday night.

Chicago lost its fourth straight game and had its AL Central lead trimmed to one half game over Cleveland, which beat Minnesota 5-2. The White Sox have lost four in a row and nine of their last 12 games.

The heart of the Cardinals’ lineup combined to go 10 for 16 with six RBIs and six runs scored. Alec Burleson added an RBI single and an RBI double, and Jordan Walker singled, doubled and scored twice.

Anthony Kay (9-9) fell to 0-4 in his last six starts for Chicago. He lasted four innings, yielding three runs on five hits. The Cardinals added three more runs off of Trevor Richards in the fifth. Walker had a one-out double followed by consecutive run-scoring hits by Burleson, Báez and Bernal.

Gordon Graceffo (8-1) got the win for getting the final two outs of the fifth, including striking out pinch-hitter Tristan Peters with the bases loaded to protect a 3-2 lead. The White Sox also came up empty after loading the bases with one out in the sixth as Randal Grichuk struck out and Miguel Vargas flied out.

BOSTON — Carter Jenson had a two-run double, Salvador Perez added an RBI and Kansas City beat Boston.

It was the second straight win for the Royals, who’d lost four of their previous five. Jensen, a rookie catcher, extended his on-base streak to 15 games.

Kansas City’s Seth Lugo (7-8) pitched five innings and allowed two runs off seven hits, striking out seven to earn his first career victory in five starts against Boston. Steven Cruz pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save.

Boston has lost three straight after winning five in a row.

Boston’s Sonny Gray (17-5) was pulled after six innings, yielding three runs off six hits with two walks and five strikeouts

The Royals led 3-0 before Red Sox closed the gap to 3-2 in the fifth via a solo homer by Mickey Gasper and a Wilyer Abreu RBI double off the Green Monster.

That remained the score in the eighth when Trevor Story got doubled off reliever Nate Pearson, and moved to third after Nick Sogard flied out to right. But Caleb Durbin struck out to end the threat.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Junior Caminero hit a game-ending, two-run homer in the ninth inning, and Tampa Bay clinched a playoff berth with a victory over Houston.

Caminero’s 417-foot shot to left-center off Bryan Abreu (6-4) was his 40th of the season and sparked a joyous celebration at the plate. The 23-year-old hit 45 homers in 2025, his first full year in the majors, and he joins Aaron Judge as the only active major leaguers with consecutive 40-homer seasons.

AL-best Tampa Bay became the first team in the majors to secure a playoff spot.

Bryan Baker (2-2) worked a scoreless ninth.

Victor Mesa Jr. homered in the fifth for the Rays, but that was one of only two Tampa Bay hits through eight innings.

In the ninth, Jonathan Aranda doubled off the right-field wall with one out. He was replaced by pinch-runner Jonny DeLuca, and Caminero walked it off on the next pitch.

The Astros scored in the fourth against Drew Rasmussen when Isaac Paredes doubled and came home on a grounder by Yainer Diaz.

Rasmussen worked seven innings, allowing eight hits. He struck out four and walked none.

CHICAGO — Alex Bregman hit his 25th homer and doubled among three hits, Shota Imanaga tossed six effective innings and Chicago pounded Pittsburgh to end a four-game slide.

Seiya Suzuki had three hits, including a wind-blown triple, scored three runs and drove in one as the Cubs finished with 16 hits against three Pittsburgh pitchers and ended the Pirates’ four-game winning streak. Chicago remains well behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee but is in position for a wild card.

Michael Busch doubled and had three RBIs, and Carson Kelly doubled in a pair of runs. All of Chicago’s starters had at least one hit, and five finished with two or more.

Bregman went deep in the fourth inning, a two-run shot off Khristian Curtis that made it 9-1.

Imanaga (10-10) allowed two runs on five hits in a second straight solid start and win. The left-hander struck out four and walked two.

Bryan Reynolds hit a solo shot for Pittsburgh, which came in having won 9 of 11 to climb back above .500. Rookie Konnor Griffin tripled among two hits.

DETROIT — Riley Greene had three hits, Dillon Dingler homered and Detroit beat Colorado.

The Tigers have won three of four after a 5-17 skid that dropped them out of the American League wild-card race.

Colorado has lost eight straight road games, scoring just 17 runs during the streak.

Framber Valdez (10-10) picked up the win, allowing one unearned run on six hits and two walks in six innings. Valdez has won each of his last two starts, allowing zero earned runs in 13 innings. Kenley Jansen got the last out for his 19th save.

Rockies starter Mason Adams allowed one run on two hits and three walks in five innings, but the bullpen gave up four runs in the sixth.

Rookie Max Clark tied it for Detroit in the sixth with his third career homer.

WASHINGTON — Jorbit Vivas hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning to lift Washington to a victory over Los Angeles that snapped its seven-game losing streak.

The Angels led 2-1 before pinch-hitter Andrew Pinckney tied it with a sacrifice fly off Samy Natera Jr. (1-2) in the eighth. Then Vivas hit a fly ball that dropped into the corner in right field to make it 4-2.

Clayton Beeter (6-5) won in relief, and Erik Tolman worked the ninth for his second save. Tolman allowed an RBI double by Christian Moore that very nearly cleared the wall in right-center for a tying homer, but it stayed in the park and the left-hander retired pinch-hitter Kyren Paris on a flyball to end it.

Mike Trout homered for the first time in over a month for Los Angeles.

Trout hadn’t gone deep since Aug. 10 against Texas, but after 27 consecutive homerless games, he connected off Cade Cavalli in the first inning to put the Angels up 1-0.

After a pair of walks in the fourth put men on first and second, James Wood delivered a two-out single that tied the game at 1.

It stayed that way until the seventh, when Cavalli walked the first two hitters and Moore followed with an RBI single to left, chasing the Washington starter. Cavalli allowed two runs, three hits and two walks in six-plus innings, striking out nine.

MIAMI — Kyle Tucker hit his sixth career grand slam and fell a double shy of the cycle as Los Angeles beat Miami to stretch their season-best winning streak to eight games.

Tucker connected on a 1-1 sweeper from reliever Cade Gibson for a 6-1 lead in the seventh. He singled in the first and tripled in the sixth.

Max Muncy had three hits and a walk and Will Smith added a run-scoring single for the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Blake Snell (4-1) allowed one run and struck out eight while scattering four hits over 5 2/3 innings.

MILWAUKEE — Garrett Mitchell hit Milwaukee’s first grand slam of the season, one of four homers in a rout of Cincinnati that clinched a playoff spot for the majors’ best team.

William Contreras, Bryce Turang and Jake Bauers also went deep for the Brewers, who have a commanding lead in the NL Central but for now are assured of at least a wild-card spot. They lead second-place Chicago by 10 games in the division, and their magic number to clinch that title is four.

Dustin May (7-9) and Garrett Stallings combined on a two-hitter while Milwaukee pounded out a season-high 23 hits. May worked six innings, giving up two singles to standout Reds rookie Sal Stewart in his seventh start for the Brewers. He was acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline.

Stallings got the last nine outs for his first save.

BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 5, 11 INNINGS

ATLANTA — Drake Baldwin doubled to center field in the 11th inning to score Ha-Seong Kim from first base and Atlanta beat Philadelphia in the opening game of a key NL East series.

The first-place Braves extended their lead over the Phillies to five games. The teams split a four-game series in Philadelphia that began last Friday.

Luis Arraez’s single to left field off Didier Fuentes (7-2) in the 11th drove in designated runner Garrett Stubbs to give Philadelphia a 5-4 lead. Kim’s single off Brooks Raley (5-6) in the bottom of the inning drove in Ozzie Albies to tie it. Baldwin followed with the winning double.

Phillies right-hander Jonathan Bowlan blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth. Bowlan gave up a one-out single to Mike Yastrzemski. Pinch-runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who was recalled before the game, scored from first on Sean Murphy’s single up the middle and center fielder Derek Hill’s fielding error.

Aaron Nola gave up homers to Matt Olson in the first and Austin Riley in the seventh. Braves left-hander Chris Sale allowed three runs on only three hits in seven innings but struggled with two outs in the second. Edmundo Sosa singled before Sale walked Bryan De La Cruz and hit J.T. Realmuto with a pitch to load the bases. Derek Hill doubled off the center-field wall to drive in three runs.

ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 5, 10 INNINGS

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Donovan Walton hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Athletics a 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Lawrence Butler had three hits, including a two-run home run in the third inning and a double in the ninth for the Athletics. Jeff McNeil reached base three times, had two hits, an RBI, and scored twice.

Julio Rodríguez’s RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Mariners a 5-4 lead before Walton ended the game with his homer off Eduard Bazardo (3-4).

Behind by two runs, Seattle’s Josh Naylor reached first base on a fielding error by reliever Scott Blewett in the sixth inning. On the next at-bat, pinch-hitter Lázaro Montes sent a 430-foot shot over the right-center wall to tie the game 4-all.

Butler, hitless in his last 16 plate appearances, hit a two-run home run on a full count in the third inning to give the A’s a 4-2 lead.

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Giants pitcher Robbie Ray threw five innings for his 100th career victory and the San Diego Padres extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-5 decision over San Francisco on Friday night.

Mason Miller struck out Bryce Eldridge looking with the bases loaded to end the game. Miller earned his 35th save as San Diego maintained a half-game lead over Arizona for the final NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks routed Texas 9-1.

San Francisco dealt the 34-year-old Ray (12-8) to San Diego for two minor leaguers at the trade deadline Aug. 3. On Friday, the left-hander gave up five runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked four and improved to 100-89 in his 13-season career.

The Giants had won their previous three games. They remained the only team in the majors without a four-game winning streak this season.