MLB RECAPS

MLB Recaps: Astros narrow gap in wild-card race

The Sports Xchange

September 22, 2016 at 12:08 am.

Sep 21, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA;  Houston Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis (11) celebrates his two-run home run with Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) during the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Photo Credit: Kenny Karst-USA TODAY Sports

Sep 21, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis (11) celebrates his two-run home run with Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) during the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Photo Credit: Kenny Karst-USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND, Calif. — Evan Gattis stayed red-hot and the Houston Astros kept pushing hard for a wild-card playoff berth in the American League on Wednesday at the Oakland Coliseum.

Gattis hit his 29th and 30th home runs of the season, powering the Astros to a 6-5 victory over the Oakland A’s. Gattis set career highs with each home run and now has 100 in his career. He has hit eight home runs against the A’s this season and six home runs overall in Houston’s past 10 games.

The Astros, who are trailing Baltimore by one game for the American League’s second wild-card spot, beat the A’s for the seventh straight time and completed their second straight three-game series sweep of Oakland. They went 5-1 on their six-game road trip.

McHugh (12-10) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking two. He won his 11th straight September game in 13 starts since 2014 with the Astros and improved to 6-1 in his career against Oakland.

Yankees 11, Rays 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Red-hot Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez hit two more home runs, giving him five in his last four games and leading New York to a win over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Sanchez started the scoring with a first-inning RBI single, added a three-run home run in the second and a solo home run in the sixth, continuing a ridiculous tear he’s been on at the plate, now with 19 home runs in his first 45 games. With the win and Baltimore’s loss to Boston, the Yankees pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the second wild card in the American League with 11 games remaining in the season. The Yankees finish the season with a three-game series at home against Baltimore.

New York jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings, then held off the Rays, who inched back with five solo home runs.

Cubs 9, Reds 2

CHICAGO — John Lackey picked up his first victory since Aug. 9 and joined four fellow starters with double-digit wins as Chicago beat Cincinnati.

Lackey (10-8) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings as the Cubs won their third straight game and completed a series sweep.

The Cubs matched the win total from their 2015 wild-card season and reduced their magic number to two to secure National League postseason home-field advantage.

Pirates 4, Brewers 1

MILWAUKEE — Home runs from Andrew McCutchen and Sean Rodriguez paced the Pittsburgh offense and Chad Kuhl struck out six in a victory over Milwaukee at Miller Park.

McCutchen and Rodriguez finished with two hits each while Rodriguez drove in three runs.

Kuhl (5-3) held Milwaukee to a run on five hits and a walk over six innings of work and earned his second consecutive victory. He’s allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his last nine starts.

Angels 5, Rangers 4

ARLINGTON, Texas — Los Angeles held on to the lead this time and beat Texas at Globe Life Park.

After watching Texas rally to win the first two games of the series, the Angels’ bullpen pitched three shutout innings to back starter Jered Weaver. Mike Trout’s three-run home run gave Los Angeles a lead it wouldn’t surrender.

The Rangers had their magic number to clinch the American League West remain at two after finishing out a 3-3 homestand. Texas also holds a one-game lead on Cleveland for the best record in the AL.

Indians 4, Royals 3

CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez had three of Cleveland’s six doubles, and Corey Kluber struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings in winning his 18th game as the Indians beat Kansas City at Progressive Field.

The loss officially eliminates the Royals from the American League Central Division race, and the win for Cleveland reduces the Indians’ magic number for clinching the division to five.

Kluber (18-9) gave up four consecutive singles and two runs in the third inning, but no runs and two hits in the other 5 1/3 innings he pitched. In his last 14 starts Kluber is 10-1 with a 2.32 ERA. The 18 wins matches Kluber’s career high set in 2014, when he was 18-9 and won the American League Cy Young Award.

Nationals 8, Marlins 3

MIAMI — Max Scherzer earned his 18th win, and Ryan Zimmerman slugged a three-run homer to lead Washington to a victory over Miami at Marlins Park.

Scherzer (18-7) struck out eight and was working on a shutout until the seventh, when he gave up a solo homer to the upper deck in right field by Christian Yelich and a two-run, pinch-hit blast by Derek Dietrich. That was it for Scherzer, who allowed four hits, two walks and three runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Washington used four relievers, including closer Mark Melancon, to secure the win. Melancon got the last three outs in a non-save situation.

Red Sox 5, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE — Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer after Boston scored two runs on the throwing error during a five-run sixth inning as the Red Sox defeated Baltimore.

Boston now has won seven consecutive games, including the first three in this crucial four-game series.

Baltimore slipped to six games behind the Red Sox in the American League East, missing a chance to tie Toronto for second place as the Blue Jays lost in Seattle earlier.

Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1 (12 innings)

SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez (11-6) gutted through seven scoreless innings in a win in 12 innings over Toronto, but the real stars were Seattle’s relievers, who combined for six shutout innings and allowed four hits while striking out six to keep Seattle’s playoff hopes alive.

The Blue Jays were forced to use starter R.A. Dickey in the 12th inning after exhausting their bullpen. That’s when things began to unravel for Toronto.

Phillies 8, White Sox 3
PHILADELPHIA — Rookie Tommy Joseph homered and drove in three runs as Philadelphia pulled off a two-game sweep of Chicago with a win at Citizens Bank Park.

Joseph, who slowly has been taking over the primary duties at first base from longtime Phillie Ryan Howard during the course of the season, went 2-for-4 to improve his average to .260 with 21 home runs and 45 RBIs.

Braves 4, Mets 3

NEW YORK — Ender Inciarte drove home the winning run with an RBI groundout in the top of the ninth inning and made a game-saving catch to end the bottom of the inning as Atlanta continued to play wild-card spoiler by beating New York to cap a three-game series sweep at Citi Field.

The Braves trailed 3-0 entering the seventh before storming back to stun the Mets, who entered the game in a three-way tie for the National League’s two wild-card spots with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

The Mets are assured of no worse than being tied for the second wild card by virtue of the Cardinals’ loss to the Colorado Rockies earlier Wednesday.

Rockies 11, Cardinals 1

DENVER — German Marquez was impressive in his first major league start and Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam as Colorado piled on rookie starter Luke Weaver early and beat St. Louis.

The victory enabled the Rockies to avoid being swept in the three-game series and ended the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak. St. Louis slipped a half-game behind the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants in the National League wild-card race, pending their games on Wednesday night.

Arenado’s grand slam came with two outs in the second and was his first since Sept. 26, 2015, against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the fourth of his career. It was his National League-leading 39th homer and gave the Rockies a 6-1 lead. Arenado drove Weaver’s first pitch an estimated 424 feet to left-center.

Padres 3, Diamondbacks 2

SAN DIEGO — Paul Goldschmidt smacked two home runs and Zack Greinke continued his dominance over San Diego as Arizona prevailed.

Goldschmidt had a solo blast in the first inning and a two-run shot in the sixth as the Diamondbacks avoided the three-game sweep in winning for just the second time in six outings.

Greinke (13-7) beat the Padres for the eighth occasion in nine decisions. He worked six innings, charged with two runs, two hits and four walks (one intentional). The right-hander snapped a three-start losing streak in besting the Padres for the second time this year. Greinke ran his record to 4-1 at Petco Park as he limited the Padres to two runs or fewer for the 15th outing in his 16 career starts.

Tigers-Twins (postponed)

MINNEAPOLIS — The Detroit-Minnesota game was postponed by rain at Target Field.

The game was scoreless in the third inning.

The teams are expected to make up the game on Thursday as part of a doubleheader to wrap up the series.