Austin Riley homered and drove in three runs as the Atlanta Braves defeated the host Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Wednesday to clinch their sixth straight National League East crown.
Ronald Acuna Jr. added three hits and Ozzie Albies had two for the Braves, the first team to win a division in the majors this year. Kevin Pillar had an RBI double and a single as Atlanta won three of four games in the series.
Braves starter Spencer Strider (17-5) went seven innings and allowed four hits and one run with nine strikeouts and two walks. Kirby Yates threw a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save in eight chances.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez (2-4) gave up eight hits and four runs with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. He walked one.
Astros 6, Athletics 2
Hunter Brown and four relievers came within two outs of a combined no-hitter as host Houston avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Oakland.
Brown (11-11) walked two and struck out seven before Rafael Montero, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu each worked a scoreless inning. Ryan Pressly came on for the ninth and got Tony Kemp to ground out to open the inning. He then walked Zack Gelof before Ryan Noda singled up the middle to break up the no-hit bid.
Yordan Alvarez socked a three-run homer to ignite a four-run third inning for the Astros, which completed a six-game homestand with a 3-3 mark.
Rays 5, Twins 4
Randy Arozarena crushed a home run in the ninth inning to lift Tampa Bay to a win over Minnesota.
The Rays took two of three in the series and rebounded after Minnesota rallied to a 3-2 win on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay prevailed after allowing a four-run lead to disappear.
Kevin Kelly (5-2) threw two scoreless innings for the victory, and Robert Stephenson got the last out for his first save. Griffin Jax (6-10) served up Arozarena’s homer. The Twins got back-to-back homers from Matt Wallner and Kyle Farmer in the third inning.
Cardinals 1, Orioles 0
Richie Palacios hit his third homer in two games, five St. Louis pitchers held Baltimore to three hits and the visiting Cardinals defeated the Orioles to take the final two games of a three-game series.
Drew Rom (1-2), an Oriole minor-leaguer when he was sent to the Cardinals as part of the Jack Flaherty trade last month, emerged with his first major league win. He went 5 1/3 innings and allowed two hits and three walks while striking out seven.
Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson (14-9) allowed one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Giants 6, Guardians 5 (10 innings)
J.D. Davis hit a game-tying, three-run home run in the eighth inning, LaMonte Wade Jr. delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th and San Francisco Giants once again won in extra innings, rallying past visiting Cleveland.
In recording their second extra-inning victory of the three-game series, the Giants now sit one-half game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds for the third and final National League wild-card spot.
Camilo Doval (6-4) pitched a scoreless top of the 10th for the win while Xzavion Curry (3-4) took the loss. The Giants improved to 11-3 in extra innings.
Marlins 2, Brewers 0
Braxton Garrett and three relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout as Miami won at Milwaukee.
Garrett (9-6) tossed six innings, allowing four hits, striking out seven and walking two. David Robertson followed with a scoreless inning, Andrew Nardi worked out of an eighth-inning jam, and Tanner Scott finished for his eighth save.
Milwaukee’s Colin Rea (5-6), who came on in the second, allowed one run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Brewers nonetheless retained their four-game lead in the National League Central over the Chicago Cubs.
Padres 6, Dodgers 1
Juan Soto and Luis Campusano hit home runs, Blake Snell threw six scoreless innings and San Diego pulled off a series win at Los Angeles.
Snell (14-9) struck out eight and walked one. It was the 21st consecutive start in which he gave up three runs or fewer.
Dodgers starter Ryan Pepiot (2-1) gave up four runs on six hits over six innings. Los Angeles’ lone run came on a ninth-inning homer from Kolten Wong.
Rockies 7, Cubs 3
Ryan McMahon homered among his three hits, Nolan Jones, Elehuris Montero and Kris Bryant also went deep, and Colorado beat Chicago in Denver.
The Cubs twice had the bases loaded with one out — in the second and eighth innings — but failed to score.
Rockies starter Ty Blach (3-1) allowed three runs on nine hits in five innings, and Tyler Kinley got five outs for his third save. Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (7-10) gave up five runs (three earned) in five innings.
Rangers 10, Blue Jays 0
Nathaniel Lowe and Mitch Garver hit three-run homers, Jordan Montgomery pitched seven scoreless innings and visiting Texas defeated Toronto.
Robbie Grossman added a two-run homer for the Rangers, who have won the first three games of the four-game series. Jonah Heim had an RBI single for the Rangers and has seven RBIs in the series. Montgomery (9-11) yielded four hits and did not allow a runner as far as second base.
Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi (9-6) gave up six runs on five hits in five innings.
Reds 4, Tigers 3
TJ Friedl hit a two-run triple and Cincinnati used eight pitchers to win at Detroit.
Harrison Bader scored two runs for the Reds, who have won the first two games of the three-game series. Daniel Duarte (2-0) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Alexis Diaz pitched a hitless ninth for his 36th save.
Detroit starter Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8) allowed four runs, four hits and a season-high five walks in 5 1/3 innings. He fanned five. The Tigers left 13 on base and went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Mariners 3, Angels 2
Luis Castillo pitched six quality innings as Seattle remained in playoff position with a victory against visiting Los Angeles.
The Mariners won their second in a row to at least stay in the American’s League’s third and final wild-card spot. Castillo (13-7) won his seventh consecutive decision. He allowed two runs on just three hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Brett Phillips homered for the Angels, who dropped the final two games of the series after claiming the opener in extra innings.
Mets 7, Diamondbacks 1
Pete Alonso drove in three runs against Arizona ace Zac Gallen as host New York beat the Diamondbacks.
Mark Vientos contributed a two-run homer for the Mets, who totaled 11 hits. Joey Lucchesi (3-0), recalled from the minors for the start, allowed an unearned run and five hits in seven-plus innings.
The Diamondbacks went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Gallen (15-8) was tagged for seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in five-plus innings.
Pirates 7, Nationals 6
Bryan Reynolds went 3-for-4 with a homer to help Pittsburgh down visiting Washington.
Quinn Priester (3-2) yielded four runs and four hits in four-plus relief innings for the win. David Bednar gave up an unearned run in the ninth but got his 34th save.
Dominic Smith and Drew Millas homered for the Nationals. Washington starter Jackson Rutledge (0-1), making his major league debut, allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Royals 7, White Sox 1
Salvador Perez had three hits and two RBIs and Michael Massey hit a two-run home run to lift visiting Kansas City past Chicago,
Rookie Alec Marsh (1-8) earned his first career victory as Kansas City took two of three to claim the season series from the White Sox 7-6. Chicago reached the 90-loss mark for the first time since the 2018 club lost 100.
Massey, who grew up a White Sox fan and attended Brother Rice, a Chicago parochial high school, continued to torment his former favorite club. Massey has hit six of his 13 home runs this season against the White Sox.
–Field Level Media