Cole's homer powers Astros past Rangers 6-3
HOUSTON (AP) — Zach Cole homered and drove in three runs after replacing injured slugger Yordan Alvarez in the lineup, and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Monday night in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.
Houston pulled within a half-game of the streaking Seattle Mariners atop the AL West and moved three games ahead of Cleveland and Texas for the final American League wild card.
Cole homered on the first pitch he saw in the majors Friday at Atlanta. This time, he entered after Alvarez sprained his left ankle in the first inning and launched a two-run shot off starter Jack Leiter that gave the Astros a 4-3 lead in the fifth.
Texas threatened in the seventh, but Astros left fielder Jesús Sánchez threw out Jonah Heim at the plate on Wyatt Langford’s single to end the inning.
Houston increased its lead to 6-3 in the bottom half when Sánchez and Jeremy Peña hit consecutive doubles with two outs, followed by Cole’s run-scoring single.
Texas took a 3-2 lead with a three-run fifth that included Josh Jung’s two-run homer and an RBI single by Josh Smith.
Houston starter Jason Alexander permitted three runs, one earned, over 4 2/3 innings. Steven Okert (3-2) got four outs and combined with Jayden Murray, Bryan King and Bryan Abreu to throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Abreu worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Leiter (9-9) allowed six runs — three earned — and five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jameson Taillon allowed two hits in six innings, and Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong homered as Chicago beat Pittsburgh and got closer to clinching a postseason berth.
Chicago (86-64) opened a four-game lead over San Diego for the top NL wild card and trails NL Central-leading Milwaukee by five games with 12 games remaining. The Cubs won for the fifth time in six games and sent the Pirates to their ninth loss in 10 games.
Taillon (10-6) struck out out three and walked two, retiring 15 of 16 batters during a stretch from the first until the sixth. He is 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA since returning Aug. 18 from a strained left groin.
Michael Soroka, Porter Hodge, and Brad Keller finished a three=hitter, the Cubs’ 14th shutout, with Keller getting one out for his second save this season.
Busch homered in the second, his 28th this season, and Nico Hoerner scored on a wild pitch later in the inning by Braxton Ashcraft (4-3), who gave up three runs and six hits in four innings.
Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson hit consecutive doubles in the fourth, and Crow-Armstrong connected for his 29th homer in the sixth against Cam Sanders.
BRAVES 11, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Olson went 4 for 5 with a three-run homer, Spencer Strider allowed only one run in a seven-inning start and Atlanta beat Washington.
Olson homered in his third straight game, had three extra-base hits and four RBIs in his second four-hit game of the season. Drake Baldwin added three hits and four RBIs.
Olson sent a home run over the right-field wall in the fifth inning to extend Atlanta’s lead to 5-1. Olson doubled down the left-field line and Nacho Alvarez Jr. scored for a 7-1 lead in the seventh.
Strider (6-13) had taken the loss in five of his last six starts, dating to Aug. 6. He allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two.
Atlanta has won back-to-back games following four-straight losses.
Daylen Lile hit the sixth home run of his rookie season to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Lile has reached safely in 15 straight games.
Washington scored two runs in the eighth after entering the inning without a hit since Paul DeJong’s single in the fourth.
Mitchell Parker (8-16) allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings.
TWINS 7, YANKEES 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Simeon Woods Richardson struck out a career-high 11 over six innings and Austin Martin drove in four runs to lead Minnesota over New York.
New York dropped five games back of AL East-leading Toronto with its second straight loss. The Yankees’ lead for the top AL wild card was cut to one game over Boston.
Woods Richardson (7-4) walked three and gave up two hits against the AL’s highest-scoring team. Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl each threw a scoreless inning in relief.
Brooks Lee doubled and homered and Edouard Julien had two hits for the Twins, who scored five runs off Luke Weaver in the seventh inning.
Weaver has a 6.21 ERA in 34 games since returning June 20 from a strained left hamstring. He had a 1.05 ERA in 24 games before he got hurt.
Yankees relievers have a 5.45 ERA since the All-Star break, 28th among the 30 teams.
Carlos Rodón (16-9) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings, losing consecutive starts since June.
ORIOLES 4, WHTE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Colton Cowser hit a three-run home run, Kyle Bradish pitched five strong innings and Baltimore beat Chicago to extend its skid to four games.
Bradish (1-1) made his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery and allowed a run on four hits with nine strikeouts to pick up his first win since June 8, 2024.
Dietrich Enns pitched three perfect innings with four strikeouts to earn his second save of the season.
Jackson Holliday had two hits and a walk. Holliday has hit safely in 11 straight road games, the longest such streak by an Orioles player age 21 or younger in club history, per Stats Perform, and extended his career-best on-base streak to 16 games.
Samuel Basallo walked to lead off the third and scored on a two-out single by Jeremiah Jackson.
BLUE JAYS 2, RAYS 1, 11 INNINGS
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Trey Yesavage struck out nine to set a Toronto record for a major league debut, and George Springer hit a tiebreaking single in the 11th inning as the Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay to open a five-game AL East lead behind their fifth straight win.
Yesavage, a 22-year-old right-hander taken 20th overall in last year’s amateur draft, allowed one run, three hits and two walks in five innings, throwing 49 of 69 pitches for strikes. He averaged 94.6 mph with 32 fastballs and also threw 19 splitters and 18 sliders. Six of his strikeouts were on splitters.
Springer hit a two-out, two-strike single in the 11th off Kevin Kelly (2-4), helping Toronto improve to 10-4 in extra-inning games.
Rookie Braydon Fisher (7-0) got six outs. He allowed Yandy Díaz’s leadoff single in the 11th, which put runners at the corners, then struck out Brandon Lowe, Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe. The Rays struck out 18 times, their most since 23 against Arizona on Aug. 28, 2019.
REDS 11, CARDINALS 6
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler Stephenson hit a bases-clearing double in the ninth inning and Cincinnati beat St. Louis to close within two games of the New York Mets for the last NL wild card.
Cincinnati scored eight runs in the final three innings and ended a three-game losing streak, getting back to .500 at 75-75.
St. Louis has lost six of seven, falling to 73-78 and 4 1/2 games behind the Mets.
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, recovered from a strained right shoulder that had sidelined him since July 30, singled on the first pitch he saw and added his first double at home since April 14. First baseman Willson Contreras was removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning because of tightness in his right biceps.
Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who entered hitting .163 in September (8 for 49), was dropped from third to seventh in the batting order and went 1 for 3 with a pair of walks.
St. Louis led 4-3 in the seventh before Matt McLain hit a two-run double and scored on TJ Friedl’s single. The Cardinals tied the score 6-6 in the bottom half on RBI singles by Brendan Donovan and Iván Herrera.
Sal Stewart singled and Stephenson walked in the eighth against Ryan Fernandez (0-4), and Will Benson hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Kyle Leahy for a 7-6 lead.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, GIANTS 1
PHOENIX (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo went 3 for 3 with a double, a triple and two RBIs, Zac Gallen pitched six smooth innings and surging Arizona beat San Francisco.
Arizona, which has won three straight and 12 of 18, moved a half-game ahead of San Francisco for third place in the NL West, just 1 1/2 games behind the idle New York Mets for the last National League wild card.
Gallen (12-14) allowed one run and two hits with six strikeouts.
Ildemaro Vargas’ two-run single gave the Diamondbacks a 3-1 lead in a six-run sixth. Jordan Lawlar doubled in a run, James McCann hit a two-run homer and Perdomo added an RBI triple to make it 7-1.
Perdomo also walked twice on a perfect night at the plate in the leadoff spot.
The Giants mustered only two hits, matching their season low in a July 29 loss to Pittsburgh, and lost for the fourth time in five games.
PHILLIES 6, DODGERS 5, 10 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — J.T. Realmuto drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, capping a wild 6-5 comeback victory by Philadelphia over Los Angeles that clinched the NL East title in the series opener between division leaders.
With Harrison Bader at second base to start the 10th, Kyle Schwarber lined out to second before Blake Treinen intentionally walked Bryce Harper. Bader and Harper pulled off a double steal to set up Realmuto’s sac fly to right.
The Dodgers had the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, when Mookie Betts started at second. David Robertson intentionally walked Freddie Freeman and walked Alex Call before Max Muncy grounded out to first to end it.
Andy Pages homered off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran in the ninth to tie it 5-5.
Harper’s go-ahead home run off reliever Alex Vesia leading off the eighth put the Phillies ahead 5-4.
With the New York Mets off, the Phillies clinched their second straight division title after blowing leads of 1-0, 4-3 and 5-4. They had earned their fourth straight postseason berth on Sunday in a 10-3 loss to Kansas City.
Schwarber hit his 53rd homer against opener Anthony Banda in the first and No. 9 hitter Weston Wilson added a two-run shot off reliever Jack Dreyer in the seventh for the Phillies.