Alfonso Rivas went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a nine-run deficit to beat host Cincinnati 13-12 on Saturday and deal the Reds’ postseason hopes a crippling blow.
Rivas got the Pirates on the board with an RBI single in the fourth inning. After the Pirates scored five runs in the sixth to trim their deficit to 9-6, Rivas’ bases-clearing double tied the score at 9-9 in the seventh. He then singled home another run in Pittsburgh’s four-run eighth inning.
The Pirates also got a three-run home run from Bryan Reynolds — his 23rd homer of the season — and three RBIs from Ji Hwan Bae with a run-scoring single in the sixth and a two-run double in the eighth.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand contributed to the Reds’ 9-0 start with a two-run homer in the first off Pirates starter Bailey Falter — Encarnacion-Strand’s 10th homer of the season — and an RBI single in the second. Encarnacion-Strand finished the night 3-for-5 with four RBIs. The Reds dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the chase for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
Rangers 2, Mariners 0
Jordan Montgomery struck out six in seven scoreless innings to lead Texas Rangers past Seattle in Arlington, Texas, for its fourth straight win.
Montgomery walked two and scattered five hits, and the Rangers increased their lead atop the American League West to 1 1/2 games over the Houston Astros (85-70) and two games over Seattle (84-70). Texas will go for a three-game sweep of the series on Sunday.
Dylan Moore and Julio Rodriguez had one double apiece, which marked the only extra-base hits for Seattle. Montgomery (10-11), whom the Rangers acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline, earned his second victory in his past three starts. The southpaw has allowed one earned run in his past 21 innings.
Rays 7, Blue Jays 6
Josh Lowe sliced a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth inning as Tampa Bay scored twice to rally past visiting Toronto in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Winner Chris Devenski (5-4) tossed a scoreless 1 1/3 innings. Rays top prospect Junior Caminero, 20, made his major league debut and went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run while batting fifth as the designated hitter.
Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio had two hits apiece for the Blue Jays.
White Sox 1, Red Sox 0
Luis Robert Jr. homered with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to propel visiting Chicago to a shutout victory over Boston in wet conditions.
The home run, which landed just inside the foul pole in right field, came against reliever Josh Winckowski (4-3). According to Statcast, the ball traveled 311 feet. It was Robert’s 38th home run of the season. The loss ended Chicago’s three-game losing streak. Chicago received a strong start from Dylan Cease, who struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings. He allowed six hits, and didn’t issue any walks.
Boston’s Nick Pivetta also tossed seven scoreless innings. Pivetta limited the White Sox to three hits — all singles — walked one and struck out seven.
Angels 1, Twins 0
Jo Adell homered and five Los Angeles pitchers combined for a five-hitter to lead the Angels over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Brandon Drury went 2-for-4 with a double for Los Angeles, which won for just the second time in 10 games while evening the three-game series at a game apiece.
Kyle Farmer and Christian Vazquez each had two hits for Minnesota, which clinched the American League Central Division title with an 8-6 victory in Friday night’s series opener.
Athletics 4, Tigers 1
Trevor May pitched out of bases-loaded jams in the eighth and ninth innings, preserving Joe Boyle’s first major league win, as Oakland defeated visiting Detroit.
Esteury Ruiz’s two-run home run in the third was Oakland’s only scoring until the eighth in its second straight win over the Tigers. Boyle, who threw three shutout innings in his A’s debut last Sunday, was equally effective in six innings this time, allowing only an unearned run on a fielding error by third baseman Jordan Diaz in the third.
Joey Wentz (3-12) came on in relief of Tigers opener Miguel Diaz and threw 5 2/3 innings. He was charged with two runs on three hits. He struck out five and did not walk anyone.
Marlins 5, Brewers 4
Jake Burger slammed a three-run homer and Miami held on against visiting Milwaukee in the second game of their three-game series.
Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz each had two hits and a run scored for Miami, which remains a game behind the Chicago Cubs for the final wild card from the NL.
Carlos Santana hit a game-tying three-run homer in the sixth for the Brewers, who had won four in a row, including a 16-1 win in the series opener on Friday.
Cubs 6, Rockies 3
Nico Hoerner had two hits, two walks and two RBIs to help Chicago defeat visiting Colorado in the second game of their three-game series.
Christopher Morel homered and Miles Mastrobuoni had two hits and scored two runs for the Cubs, who maintained their one-game lead over the Miami Marlins for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman returned to the starting rotation for the first time since July 31 and allowed three runs and five hits in three innings. He struck out two and walked one. Stroman was relieved by Javier Assad (5-3), who threw four scoreless innings, allowing two hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Phillies 7, Mets 5
Bryce Harper homered and finished with three RBIs for host Philadelphia, which inched closer to clinching a National League wild-card spot by beating New York.
Alec Bohm hit the go-ahead solo homer in the third for the Phillies, who have won four straight. Zack Wheeler (13-6) worked in and out of trouble but earned the win after allowing five runs, three earned, in seven innings.
Jose Quintana (3-6) gave up six runs, five earned, in five innings as the Mets took their third loss in a row.
Royals 3, Astros 2
Taylor Clarke muted a late rally attempt and Kansas City turned small-ball offense into a victory over host Houston to win the first two of a three-game road series.
The Royals (53-102) earned their fourth win in five games over the slumping Astros (85-70), whose postseason hopes took a blow with their eighth loss in 11 games. Houston fell 1 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers, who beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0, in the American League West.
Houston is in possession of the AL’s third wild-card spot by a half-game over Seattle.
Cardinals 5, Padres 2 (11 innings)
Richie Palacios hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and visiting St. Louis went on to end San Diego’s eight-game winning streak. The Padres fell to 0-12 this season in extra-inning games.
After Palacios’ fly to right, Luken Baker then singled home a run, and Andrew Knizner later hit another sacrifice fly.
The Padres tied the game in the bottom of the ninth after Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley walked the bases loaded with no outs. Pinch runner Eguy Rosario scored the tying run on Xander Bogaerts’ grounder to third. Helsley then struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto to force the game into the 10th.
Orioles 2, Guardians 1
John Means took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Anthony Santander had three hits and two RBIs, and visiting Baltimore beat Cleveland.
Andres Gimenez belted a solo homer with two outs in the seventh inning for Cleveland’s only hit. The 406-foot blast came against Means (1-1), who was making his third start of the season after returning from Tommy John surgery.
Means, who tossed a no-hitter on May 5, 2021, against the Seattle Mariners, walked one and struck out four while throwing 96 pitches. It was his first win since Sept. 20, 2021.
Dodgers 7, Giants 0
Clayton Kershaw pitched five scoreless innings in what could have been the final regular-season home start of his career as Los Angeles blanked San Francisco and clinched a bye into the division series.
Kershaw, who said he has not decided whether he will return for a 17th major league season, gave up two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He has one more regular-season start remaining, next weekend at San Francisco, before the playoffs begin.
Mookie Betts drove in two runs for a major league record 105 RBIs from the leadoff spot. J.D. Martinez hit a home run and drove in three runs for Los Angeles. The Giants were held to two hits while striking out 11 times as they fell four games out of the final wild-card spot in the NL with seven games remaining.
–Field Level Media