Rookie right-hander Emmet Sheehan struck out nine over 4 2/3 no-hit innings, J.D. Martinez drove in three runs and the host Los Angeles Dodgers opened a four-game series against the rival San Francisco Giants with a 7-2 victory on Thursday.
Martinez hit his 30th home run as the Dodgers won for the sixth time in their last seven games. They have a magic number of two for clinching a bye into the National League Division Series. Shelby Miller (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning to earn the win.
Joc Pederson hit a home run against his former team for the Giants, whose playoff chances took a major blow with a sixth loss in seven games. San Francisco is three games out of the final NL wild-card spot.
Giants rookie left-hander Kyle Harrison gave up two runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. John Brebbia (3-1) gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3
Gerrit Cole retired the first 16 hitters he faced and pitched eight dominant innings as host New York beat Toronto.
Cole (14-4) yielded a run and two hits in his longest outing since pitching a two-hitter in a 2-0 win against the Minnesota Twins on April 16. He struck out nine, walked none and permitted two baserunners while lowering his AL-best ERA to 2.75. Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer four batters in against Toronto’s Jose Berrios (11-11). Aaron Judge and Estevan Florial contributed RBI doubles and the Yankees avoided a three-game sweep.
Toronto (85-68) had its five-game winning streak stopped and is a half-game ahead of Texas and Seattle for the second of the American League’s three wild-card spots.
Tigers 7, Athletics 3
Tarik Skubal continued his brilliant month of September with seven shutout innings, Andy Ibanez drove in two runs with a triple and a single and visiting Detroit rolled past Oakland in the opener of a four-game series.
Skubal (7-3) ran his record to 4-0 in September and lowered his ERA to 1.04 in those games with the second scoreless outing in his last three starts. He limited the A’s to a pair of singles while striking out 10 and walking one. Matt Vierling and Spencer Torkelson each scored twice for the Tigers.
Making his major league debut, Brenan Hanifee allowed Oakland’s three runs in the ninth, the last two coming on Brent Rooker’s 28th homer of the season with two outs.
Rays 5, Angels 4
Manuel Margot delivered a game-ending two-out RBI single to right field in the ninth inning as Tampa Bay rallied to defeat Los Angeles at St. Petersburg, Fla.
Trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Tampa Bay tied the score off Los Angeles closer Carlos Estevez (5-5) when Isaac Paredes hit an RBI single with one out.
The Angels’ Jo Adell went 2-for-3 with a homer. Jared Walsh had a single, reached on a hit by pitch and scored twice. Randal Grichuk (double) and Michael Stefanic each had two hits.
Brewers 6, Cardinals 0
Wade Miley, J.B. Bukauskas and Julio Teheran combined on a six-hitter as visiting Milwaukee blanked St. Louis to inch closer to the National League Central title.
Miley (9-4) allowed three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in six innings. Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer and Blake Perkins hit a solo shot for the Brewers, who reduced their magic number to win the division to three games.
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (7-13) allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Phillies 5, Mets 4
Nick Castellanos hit a home run, single, sacrifice fly and drove in four runs to lift host Philadelphia past New York.
Alec Bohm also homered and Bryce Harper added two hits for the Phillies.
Mark Vientos hit a home run while Jeff McNeil singled, doubled, tripled and knocked in one run for the Mets.
Guardians 5, Orioles 2
Ramon Laureano scored the go-ahead run by drawing a walk with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to fuel host Cleveland to a victory over Baltimore.
Jose Ramirez and Bo Naylor each had an RBI single and Josh Naylor and Gabriel Arias also drove in a run for the Guardians, who snapped a three-game skid.
Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman collected a pair of doubles among his three hits and scored on an RBI double by Ryan O’Hearn. Anthony Santander had an RBI groundout for the Orioles, who have dropped two in a row following a four-game winning streak.
Braves 10, Nationals 3
Major league home run leader Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies homered as part of Atlanta’s 18-hit attack and Braves starter Max Fried was splendid for six innings in a victory against host Washington.
Albies, who drove in four runs to eclipse the 100-RBI mark this season, went 4-for-6, and Orlando Arcia, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II each had three hits as the NL East champion Braves won for just the second time in their last seven games. Fried (8-1), who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 12, limited the Nationals to one run on three hits and one walk. He struck out seven.
Alex Call’s one-out home run in the third inning accounted for Washington’s first run. It was his eighth homer of the season, but Washington didn’t score again until the ninth inning.
Pirates 8, Cubs 6
Joshua Palacios clubbed a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth after Johan Oviedo grinded through six scoreless innings as visiting Pittsburgh beat reeling Chicago.
Oviedo (9-14) allowed five walks and four hits but evaded danger as Chicago stranded 10 runners with him on the mound. Oviedo loaded the bases in the third but struck out Dansby Swanson to end the inning.
The Cubs suffered their 10th loss in 13 games. Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (6-8) allowed three runs (one earned) and seven hits in six innings.
–Field Level Media