Red Sox fail again to clinch AL East, fall to Astros

BOSTON The Boston Red Sox once again failed to clinch the AL East title, losing to the Houston Astros 3-2 Friday night as Alex Bregman homered and drove in three runs.

The Red Sox magic number remained at one to close out the New York Yankees, who beat Toronto 4-0. Boston leads the Yankees by two games both teams have two games left and they're each assured playoff spots.

Indians 10, White Sox 1

Edwin Encarnacion had a three-run double, and Jay Bruce and Jose Ramirez drove in two runs apiece, leading the AL Central champion Indians to a 10-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Cleveland maintained its one-game lead - and owns the tiebreaker - over Houston for the best record in the AL with two games remaining. The top seed will play the winner of the wild-card gam

Cubs 5, Reds 4

Ian Happ connected with a 98-mph fastball. And with one big swing, the Cubs were on their way.

Happ hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and Chicago won for the 14th time in 17 games, beating the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Nationals 6, Pirates 1

Stephen Strasburg pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings and Ryan Zimmerman homered twice to help the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Friday night.

Strasburg gave up two hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Phillies 6, Mets 2

Maikel Franco, Jorge Alfaro and Cesar Hernandez all homered to support six strong innings from starter Ben Lively as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets 6-2 on Friday night.

Earlier in the day, the Phillies (65-95) announced that manager Pete Mackanin would not return to the dugout in 2018. Mackanin was given a role as a senior advisor to general manager Matt Klentak.

Marlins 6, Braves 5

Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 with a single and a double and the Miami slugger remained at 59 home runs as the Atlanta Braves beat the Marlins 6-5 on Friday night.

Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs to lead Miami, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit and took the lead with a four-run seventh.

Rays 7, Orioles 0

Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison homered Friday night and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched third place in the AL East with a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.