Rays clinch AL East and home-field advantage with 6-1 win over Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) — Drew Rasmussen allowed his only hit in the seventh inning and struck out 11 as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 6-1 on Tuesday in the second game of a day-night doubleheader to clinch their fifth AL East title.

The Rays (96-61) secured home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs and took their first division crown since 2021, when they won 100 games. Tampa Bay also earned AL East championships in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season along with 2010 and 2008, when the team had its first winning season after entering the league as an expansion franchise in 1998.

Yandy Díaz hit two-run single off reliever John Schreiber in the seventh and had another two-run single in the ninth for his AL-leading 175th hit. Tampa Bay opened a six-game lead over the second-place Yankees (90-67) with five to play.

In the opener, Carlos Rodón allowed three hits in eight sharp innings as New York delayed Tampa Bay’s division celebration with a 2-0 victory.

Taylor Walls started the three-run seventh with a bunt single against Max Fried (5-5) when first base was left uncovered. Ryan Vilade hit an RBI groundout in the third after Díaz’s flyball moved runners to second and third.

Rasmussen (16-5) was nine outs from joining Matt Garza as Tampa Bay pitchers with a no-hitter when he gave up a leadoff double to Heliot Ramos on his 97th pitch. Garza held the Detroit Tigers hitless at Tropicana Field on July 26, 2010.

After allowing Ramos’ hit to left field, Rasmussen got the next two outs before walking Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a full count. Kevin Kelly entered and permitted rookie George Lombard Jr.’s RBI single before retiring Austin Wells on a groundout.

Rasmussen threw a career-high 114 pitches, 72 for strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 24 hitters and notched his fourth career double-digit strikeout game.

PHILLIES 6, BREWERS 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler struck 11, including a franchise-record seven in a row to start the game, Bryson Stott hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two out in the eighth inning and Philadelphia inched closer to clinching a playoff spot with a victory over Milwaukee.

Brandon Marsh homered, doubled and drove in three runs for Philadelphia, which began play holding the final NL wild-card spot with a four-game cushion over Arizona.

William Contreras had three RBIs for NL Central-leading Milwaukee. The Brewers, by virtue of Cincinnati’s 4-0 win over Atlanta, clinched a bye in the wild-card round and earned home-field advantage for the NLDS.

After the Brewers scored twice in the sixth off Wheeler to tie the game at 3, Stott singled to center off Colton Gordon (0-1). Garrett Mitchell’s throw went to third base to try to get Alec Bohm running from first. But the ball ricocheted off Bohm’s foot, and both he and Luis Arraez scored to make it 5-3.

Jhoan Duran earned his 33rd save after José Alvarado (5-3) got the final out of the eighth.

Wheeler was unhittable at the outset and had sights on Pablo López’s MLB record of nine K’s in a row to open a contest before Cooper Pratt grounded out to third base for the second out of the third inning. Watching Wheeler from the dugout was teammate Aaron Nola, who has a share of the MLB record with 10 consecutive strikeouts of the Mets in 2021.

The Phillies are tied with the Padres and Cubs for the top spot in the NL wild card. Philadelphia holds the tiebreaker over San Diego but not Chicago.

PIRATES 2, CARDINALS 0

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jared Jones allowed one hit over seven dominant innings and Pittsburgh inched closer to the franchise’s first winning season in eight years with a win over St. Louis.

The hard-throwing Jones (5-6) retired the first 16 batters he faced before Nathan Church’s bloop landed just beyond the outstretched glove of Pirates third baseman Jacob Gonzalez with one out in the sixth. Church sprinted to second for a double but remained there after Masyn Wynn lined out and J.J. Wetherholt struck out to end the inning.

Jones, who returned from Tommy John surgery in late May, tied a season high with nine strikeouts in seven innings and improved to 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA in four starts in September. Gregory Soto worked around a leadoff walk to record his 16th save.

Ryan O’Hearn delivered an RBI-single for the Pirates and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin had two hits for Pittsburgh, and Bryan Reynolds added his major league-leading 40th double. The Pirates have won five straight to improve to 80-77 with five games remaining. Pittsburgh is seeking its first winning campaign since going 82-79 in 2018.

NATIONALS 3, TIGERS 1

DETROIT (AP) — CJ Abrams hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and added a solo shot to give Washington a victory over Detroit.

The Nationals won for the seventh time in 10 games, while Detroit dropped to 2-5 in its last seven. The Tigers have scored exactly one run in all five losses, while scoring nine and 11 runs in the two wins.

Both teams are 74-84 with four games left in the season.

Jackson Kent (2-4) picked up the win in relief of Nationals opener Riley Cornelio. Kent pitched four innings, allowing one unearned run on six hits and two walks. Erik Tolman pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

Tigers starter Drew Anderson (5-7) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out five without walking a batter.

Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second on a long homer to right-center field by Abrams. That gave him 100 RBIs to go along with his 30 homer/30 stolen base season.

The Tigers tied the game in the sixth when Ben Malgeri scored on Kent’s second wild pitch of the inning. Washington also missed two opportunities to turn double plays in the inning.

Abrams then hit a two-run homer in the seventh, his 33rd of the season, to end Anderson’s night.

REDS 4, BRAVES 0

ATLANTA (AP) — Elly De La Cruz closed in on a 30-30 season, Brandon Williamson threw six sharp innings and Cincinnati blanked NL East champion Atlanta.

De La Cruz got his 29th stolen base in the first inning and opened the scoring with his 29th homer in the third. He tacked on a run-scoring single in the seventh.

Dane Myers and Eugenio Suárez also homered for Cincinnati. It was Suárez’s 350th career homer.

Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. left the game in the third after fouling a ball off his left leg. He went down with a big grimace, hobbled out of the batting circle and dropped to his knees again while attended to by manager Walt Weiss and an athletic trainer for several minutes.

X-rays were negative and Acuña was listed as day-to-day, a big relief for the Braves with the playoffs just a week away.

Williamson (5-4) permitted just three hits, with no walks and two strikeouts over his 68-pitch outing. He didn’t allow a runner past first base — an unlikely performance from a pitcher who has largely struggled during an injury-plagued season and worked out of the bullpen in his last three appearances for the last-place Reds.

Brock Burke, Tejay Antone and Emilio Pagán worked a scoreless inning apiece to finish the seven-hitter.

GUARDIANS 3, RED SOX 2

BOSTON (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly off reliever Erik Miller in the ninth inning, and Cleveland maintained its slim first-place lead in the AL Central with a victory over Boston.

Angel Martínez had three hits for the Guardians, who entered the day with a one-game lead over the White Sox atop the Central. Chicago owns the tiebreaker by winning the season series. Cleveland stranded 15 baserunners.

The loss was Boston’s eighth in 12 games, spoiling Chad Tracy’s first game as manager after the club named him its 49th in team history.

Adley Rutschman added three hits for Boston, which clinched one of the AL’s wild-card spots Sunday.

Boston pinch hitter Mickey Gasper hit Hunter Gaddis’ first pitch, tying it at 2-2 leading off the eighth.

Gaddis (5-3) got the win and Cade Smith the final three outs for his 40th save.

Miller (4-2) hit a batter and gave up two hits in an inning.

A strong candidate for the AL Rookie of the Year, Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick gave up a run over five innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.55 and is on pace to become the fourth rookie starting pitcher in MLB history with an ERA under 2.60 and averaging 9.0 or more strikeouts per nine innings.

WHITE SOX 14, ROYALS 11

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer and had a career-high five RBIs, Randal Grichuk added a three-run shot among his four hits, and Chicago beat Kansas City to stay a game behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

The Guardians, who end the regular season with three games in Kansas City, beat the Red Sox 3-2 earlier Tuesday.

Brenton Doyle and Munetaka Murakami added home runs for the White Sox, who also helped their wild-card cause should they fail to catch Cleveland. They have two more games against the Royals before finishing with three against last-place Colorado.

Anthony Kay had a two-run lead before he even took the mound Tuesday night, and the Chicago left-hander ended up allowing four runs while pitching into the fifth. Noah Schultz (4-9) and the bullpen finished the game, though it wasn’t pretty — White Sox relievers coughed up three runs in the eighth and allowed Vinnie Pasquantino’s first career grand slam in the ninth.

Daniel Lynch IV wasn’t exactly pretty, either. He allowed a career-worst nine earned runs in just four innings for Kansas City.

METS 6, RANGERS 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Sean Manaea struck out nine in six innings, Francisco Alvarez doubled and scored twice while driving in two runs, and New York beat AL West-leading Texas in its first game with Andy Green as their full-time manager.

Earlier in the day, the Mets (71-86) gave Green a three-year contract. He had been their interim manager since Carlos Mendoza was fired on June 26.

Texas (78-79) is now tied with Houston for the division lead after the Astros, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker, won 7-0 at Seattle Tuesday night. Both have five games left in the season.

Manaea (6-7) allowed three runs — two earned — and three hits. Kodai Senga worked the ninth for his eighth save.

Carson Benge, who has a Mets rookie record 159 hits, also had two doubles, scored twice and drove in a run.

Alvarez put New York up 4-3 with a two-run double in the sixth off Nathan Eovaldi (11-10), making his fourth relief appearance since coming off the injured list. Luis Torrens then added a sacrifice fly that was caught in foul territory by first baseman Jake Burger.

Benge doubled and scored in the fourth when right fielder Brandon Nimmo was charged with an error on a ball Alvarez hit into the gap. The ball ricocheted off the heel of Nimmo’s glove when it appeared center fielder Ezequiel Duran might crash into him.

It was Nimmo’s first game against the Mets, who drafted him 13th overall in 2011. He played 10 big league seasons in New York until getting traded to Texas last November for second baseman Marcus Semien.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, ROCKIES 2

DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado had his team-leading 28th homer of the season among his three hits, Michael Soroka struck out nine in seven innings of one-run ball and Arizona beat Colorado, sending the Rockies to their 100th loss of the season.

The victory kept the Diamondbacks four games behind Philadelphia in the race for the third and final NL wild-card spot with five regular-season games remaining for both teams.

The Rockies’ loss made Colorado the first franchise to lose at least 100 games in four consecutive seasons since the New York Mets from 1962-65.

Arenado, a four-time All-Star in his time with Colorado, extended his on-base streak to 16 games. During that stretch, he is batting .379 with seven homers and 14 RBIs.

Gabriel Moreno drove in two runs, giving him 10 RBIs in Arizona’s past 16 games. Geraldo Perdomo added three hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks.

In four starts against the Rockies this season, Soroka (9-5) has allowed just four earned runs in 23 innings, with 23 strikeouts and six walks.

Kyle Freeland (4-11) took the loss for Colorado, allowing five earned runs in three innings. The Denver native made his final home start of the season for Colorado, where he has played his entire 10-year MLB career.

MARLINS 8, CUBS 2, 12 INNINGS

CHICAGO (AP) — Griffin Conine drove in Esteury Ruiz with a tiebreaking single in Miami’s six-run 12th inning, and the Marlins stymied Chicago’s push for an NL wild card with a victory over the Cubs.

Conine put Miami ahead to stay with his well-placed blooper to left field. Jakob Marsee added a run-scoring single, and Joe Mack capped the outburst with a two-run single.

Kyle Stowers hit a solo homer for the Marlins (77-80), who had lost three in a row. Josh Ekness (3-4) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

The Cubs (87-70) could have clinched a playoff berth with a win or an Arizona loss, but the Diamondbacks won 7-2 at Colorado.

Chicago, San Diego and Philadelphia are tied atop the wild-card standings for all three NL spots. The Phillies posted a 6-4 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night, and the Padres lost 7-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cubs had a chance to win the game in the 10th, loading the bases with two down. But Miami second baseman Javier Sanoja robbed Pedro Ramírez of a game-ending single with a terrific sliding stop.

TWINS 3, GIANTS 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Minnesota’s Taj Bradley held the Giants to a run on three hits in six innings and the Twins knocked off San Francisco.

Bradley (12-6) struck out Drew Gilbert leading off the first for his 200th strikeout of the season. He became the ninth pitcher in the majors to reach the 200-strikeout plateau in 2026 and finished Tuesday’s game with six K’s, giving him 205 for the year.

His previous career high was 154, set with Tampa Bay in 2024.

San Francisco scored a run in the ninth and had men at first and second with two outs before Jeff Hoffman struck out Victor Bericoto swinging on a 3-2 slider to earn his sixth save.

Giants starter Anthony Molina (3-2) retired the first 10 Minnesota hitters before Brooks Lee singled with one out in the fourth inning. Molina carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth.

Then with one out, Ryan Kreidler singled, and Luke Keaschall hit a triple to the left-center gap that made it a 1-1 game. Lee followed with a single to right to drive in Keaschall and put the Twins on top.

Molina allowed those two runs on four hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.

ASTROS 7, MARINERS 0

SEATTLE (AP) — Yordan Alvarez resumed his Triple Crown push with a home run and three RBIs as Houston beat Seattle to pull even with Texas atop the AL West.

Houston snapped a three-game skid and tied the Rangers at 78-79 following their 6-3 loss to the New York Mets at home. Both teams have five games remaining, and the Astros hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Seattle (73-84) is on the brink of playoff elimination, one season after winning the AL West for the first time in 24 years and coming within one victory of the franchise’s first World Series appearance.

Alvarez hit a two-run shot to right field in the eighth inning to tie Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League lead with 41 homers. Alvarez is first in batting average at .314 and he has 102 RBIs, six behind Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso for most in the AL.

DODGERS 7, PADRES 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tommy Edman and Will Smith homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers scored five runs with two outs to beat San Diego in a series opener between rivals with the two best records in the majors this month.

The Dodgers (97-60) moved within one game of NL Central champion Milwaukee (98-59) for the top mark in the big leagues and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. However, the Brewers own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Los Angeles needs one win or an Atlanta loss to clinch a first-round bye into a National League Division Series.

The NL West champion Dodgers improved to 15-5 in September with their fifth straight victory; the Padres fell to 14-5 and had their five-game winning streak snapped.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado were a combined 1 for 7 with five strikeouts.

The Dodgers chased Michael King (12-10) after four innings in his career-high 32nd start of the season. The right-hander gave up five runs and six hits and struck out five as his four-game winning streak ended.

ATHLETICS 9, ANGELS 7

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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Carlos Cortes and Zack Gelof each hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Athletics rallied past the Los Angeles Angelst.

Cortes launched a drive to right-center off Sam Bachman (1-3) to give the A’s a 7-6 lead, and Gelof cemented the comeback from a 6-0 deficit they faced just two innings before.

Cortes came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the seventh and finished 2 for 2 with a triple and three RBIs. He also scored twice.

Hogan Harris allowed a run in the ninth but earned his 16th save by striking out pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza with two runners aboard.

Luis Medina (6-3) pitched a scoreless inning for the win as the Athletics clinched the season series with one game remaining between the bottom two teams in the AL West.