Rays still hold out hope of a playoff berth

Blake Snell is locked in on the Tampa Bay Rays’ long-shot post-season hopes, not thinking about winning the AL Cy Young Award.

Snell took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his majorleague-leading 19th win, leading the Rays over Cleveland 3-1 on Wednesday.

Snell (19-5) won his team-record seventh straight start, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 consecutive home starts.

Tampa Bay temporarily closed within eight games of Oakland for the second AL wild card with 17 games left. But that was before the Athletics blasted the Baltimore Orioles 10-0 for their sixth straight win.

Cleveland’s magic number to clinch a third consecutive AL Central title remained at three.

Oakland, meanwhile, trails firstplace Houston by three games in the AL West and owns a comfortable lead for the second AL wild card.

At Detroit, the Astros swept a series at Comerica Park for the first time, wrapping up a three-game set with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers. The Astros have won 10 of their last 11 games.

At San Francisco, pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers drove in the goahead run in the ninth inning and the Atlanta Braves moved closer to clinching the NL East with a 2-1 victory over the Giants. The Braves reduced their magic number for winning the division to 11 with their fifth straight win.

At St. Louis, the Cardinals lost 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cardinals begin a key fourgame series against the Dodgers on Thursday. St. Louis leads Los Angeles by two games for the second NL wild card. The Dodgers beat the Reds 8-1 as Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner drove in three runs each.

At Chicago, the Brewers closed to within a game of the NL Centralleading Cubs with a 5-1 win.