Cal Raleigh hit two home runs, giving him a major-league-leading 60 this season, as the Seattle Mariners clinched their first American League West title since 2001 with a 9-2 victory against the visiting Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.
Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez also went deep for the Mariners (89-69), who won their sixth in a row and prevailed for the 16th time in their past 17 games.
Raleigh hit solo shots in the first and eighth innings and added a two-run double in the second, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He is the seventh player — and first catcher — ever to have a 60-homer season, joining Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire (twice), Sammy Sosa (three times), Aaron Judge, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth. Judge set the AL record of 62 in 2022.
Blaine Crim homered for the Rockies (43-115), who dropped their second straight game.
Phillies 11, Marlins 1
Edmundo Sosa hit three of Philadelphia’s franchise-record eight home runs in a resounding victory over visiting Miami.
Kyle Schwarber added two homers — his 55th and 56th of the season — while Bryson Stott, Otto Kemp and Alec Bohm also went deep for the hosts. Sosa enjoyed a career day in his first game back off the 10-day injured list after recovering from a groin strain.
The Phillies, who had lost four of their previous five games, clinched a first-round playoff bye with the win. Eric Wagaman had two of the five hits and the only RBI for the Marlins, who had won their previous seven games.
Yankees 8, White Sox 1
Aaron Judge reached 50 homers for the fourth time in his career to tie a major league record, and host New York moved into a tie for the American League East lead with a victory over Chicago.
Judge homered on the first pitch he saw against Jonathan Cannon (4-10), hammering a sinker into the Yankees bullpen in right-center field to reach the milestone on a go-ahead three-run homer in the second inning.
Six innings later, Judge hit his 51st homer of the season on an eighth-inning solo shot. Judge joined Babe Ruth (1920, 1921, 1927, 1928), Mark McGwire (1996-1999) and Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) as the fourth player with four 50-homer seasons.
Brewers 3, Padres 1
Brice Turang singled home the tiebreaking run in the top of the seventh inning, and visiting Milwaukee avoided a three-game sweep with a win over San Diego.
Aaron Ashby (5-2) got the last out of the sixth inning to earn the win and Abner Uribe, the sixth Milwaukee pitcher of the day, threw the ninth for his sixth save. The Brewers reduced their magic number to clinch MLB’s best record to one.
Neither starter was involved in the decision. Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick fanned six in three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks. Padres starter Dylan Cease gave up six hits and a run over five innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Athletics 6, Astros 0
Shea Langeliers went 4-for-4 with a homer and Luis Severino pitched a dazzling 6 1/3 innings as the Athletics blanked Houston in West Sacramento, Calif.
The Astros lost their seventh straight game against the Athletics, their fifth straight overall, and remained one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the third American League wild card.
Severino (8-11) gave up just three hits en route to his sixth straight winning decision. The A’s earned their ninth win in the past 12 games.
Angels 3, Royals 2
Taylor Ward hit a home run and Yusei Kikuchi allowed one hit over five innings to lead Los Angeles past Kansas City in Anaheim, Calif.
Ward went deep for the third time in his past four games as the Angels won for just the second time in 12 games. Kikuchi (7-11) picked up his first win since Aug. 9, giving up just one run. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 28th save.
Randal Grichuk hit a home run for the Royals, who finished with just two hits. Stephen Kolek (5-7) allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings.
Giants 4, Cardinals 3
Andrew Knizner lashed his first major league triple past a diving Victor Scott II in center field, scoring Christian Koss with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and allowing San Francisco to outlast visiting St. Louis.
The loss in the series finale was a costly one for the Cardinals, who had a chance to gain a game in the race for the final National League wild card. Instead, St. Louis will enter the final four days of the season 3 1/2 games behind the New York Mets. Knizner, a catcher who played his first five seasons for the Cardinals, had come to the plate 971 times in his seven-year career without recording a triple.
The Giants trailed only momentarily in the game, scoring once in each of the second, third and fourth innings. Rafael Devers provided the big hit in the early going, a solo homer in the third, his 34th of the season.
Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4
Tommy Edman hit a go-ahead single in the 11th inning and Los Angeles moved closer to its 12th National League West title in 13 seasons with a victory over Arizona.
The Dodgers own the tiebreaker over the second-place San Diego Padres and can clinch the division title with a victory in the series finale against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. Edman had three singles, Mookie Betts had three hits and an RBI and Andy Pages hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers.
Ketel Marte had three hits and scored twice, Corbin Carroll had two hits and two stolen bases and Gabriel Moreno drove in two runs for the D-backs, who had won three in a row and seven of their past 10. The D-backs remained one game behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild-card spot with four games to play. Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker over both and also would win a three-team tiebreaker.
Nationals 4, Braves 3
James Wood hit a pair of deep solo home runs, and visiting Washington beat Atlanta to end the Braves’ 10-game winning streak.
The Nationals salvaged a game from the three-game series and won their final road game of the season. The Braves took the season series 9-4.
Mitchell Parker (9-16) got the final two outs of the fifth and picked up the win. Atlanta starter Bryce Elder (8-11) took the loss after pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits — two of them homers — with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 1
Garrett Crochet pitched eight scoreless innings, Carlos Narvaez hit a three-run home run and visiting Boston defeated Toronto.
Crochet allowed three hits and no walks while striking out six to lower his ERA to 2.59. Masataka Yoshida added a solo homer and an RBI double while Trevor Story contributed three hits to help the Red Sox to their second straight win to open the three-game series.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered for Toronto in the ninth against Payton Tolle. The Blue Jays have lost six of their last seven games and have now fallen into a tie for first with the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Pirates 4, Reds 3 (11 innings)
Spencer Horwitz had three hits and drove in Bryan Reynolds three times as visiting Pittsburgh outlasted Cincinnati in 11 innings, dealing a critical blow to Cincinnati’s postseason hopes.
Tyler Stephenson tied the game with his fourth hit, a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth, but the Reds couldn’t capitalize on several chances in the 10th and 11th, as Noelvi Marte grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game.
Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes tossed six shutout innings, and Horwitz drove in two as the Pirates took a 2-0 lead into the eighth and a 2-1 lead into the ninth. Horwitz later drove in Reynolds in the 11th on a double for the game-winner.
Guardians 5, Tigers 1
George Valera hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Jose Ramirez doubled home a pair in the seventh as Cleveland beat visiting Detroit, seizing sole possession of first place in the American League Central.
Steven Kwan added an RBI single and Brayan Rocchio scored twice for the Guardians, who lead the free-falling Tigers by one game in the division with four to play. Detroit has dropped eight straight — five against Cleveland — and 11 of its last 12.
Tanner Bibee (12-11) worked six innings, allowing one run on five hits, in beating the Tigers for the second time in seven days. The right-hander struck out five with two walks and is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in four starts in September.
Rays 6, Orioles 2
Shane Baz threw four no-hit innings of Tampa Bay’s pitching gem and Brandon Lowe had two early run-producing hits as the visiting Rays beat Baltimore.
Lowe and Jake Mangum homered and the Rays evened the series at one game apiece. Richie Palacios rapped a double among his three hits, and Chandler Simpson joined Lowe with two hits.
The Orioles, who were held to three singles, got on the board with Jordan Westburg’s two-run single in the eighth. Starting pitcher Tyler Wells (2-1) took the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits in four innings.
Rangers 4, Twins 2
Billy McKinney drove in the go-ahead run hours after his return to the major leagues, helping host Texas earn a victory over Minnesota.
McKinney, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Wednesday, drove home Ezequiel Duran with a single in the seventh. Jake deGrom made his 30th and final start of the season, his most since 2019. The two-time Cy Young Award winner went five innings and allowed a run on two hits and a walk while striking out eight for the Rangers.
Minnesota saw Byron Buxton lead off the game with a solo home run to dead center field. deGrom then retired 12 of the next 13 Minnesota batters, eight of them by strikeout.
Cubs 10, Mets 3
Michael Busch belted a two-run homer and Matt Shaw also went deep to highlight his three-hit performance, lifting host Chicago to a victory over New York.
Ian Happ ripped a two-run double as part of a five-run third and Matthew Boyd tossed 5 1/3 strong innings to help the Cubs snap a season-high five-game skid.
The Mets lost for the 12th time in 17 games to see their lead for the third National League wild-card spot reduced to a half-game over Arizona. Boyd (14-8) did not allow a hit until Vientos singled to lead off the fifth inning.
–Field Level Media
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