Indians set AL record win streak

Angels crush Astros 9-1, with eight extra base hits

India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan.

(AP) CLEVELAND, Sept 14, (AP): Making history almost every time they take the field, the Cleveland Indians won their 21st straight game on Wednesday, 5-3 over the Detroit Tigers, to set an American League record and join only two other teams in the past 101 years to win that many in a row.

Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer off Buck Farmer (4-3), and Mike Clevinger (10-5) won his consecutive straight start as the Indians matched the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the second-longest winning streak since 1900. The run has put Cleveland within five wins of catching the 1916 New York Giants, who won 26 straight without a loss but whose century-old mark includes a tie.

Roberto Perez added a homer in the seventh and four Cleveland relievers finished. Cody Allen got his 27th save, giving the Indians the league’s longest streak since the AL was founded in 1901.

Yankees 3, Rays 2 In New York, a disappointed Jaime Garcia didn’t even look at manager Joe Girardi when the pitcher was removed one out shy of qualifying for his first win with the Yankees, and New York edged Tampa Bay to take two of three games in a series moved from Florida to Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma.

Making his first appearance since Aug 30, Garcia allowed only Kevin Kiermaier’s solo homer in 4-2/3 innings. Chad Green (5-0) struck out three of his four batters and Aroldis Chapman got four outs for his 18th save in 22 chances. Chapman fanned four and earned his first save of more than three outs since Game 5 of last year’s World Series for the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees won their fourth straight series.

A pro-Yankees crowd of 13,159 raised the total for the series to 49,510. Tickets were $25 each day.

White Sox 5, Royals 3 In Kansas City, Mo, Jose Abreu hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, and Chicago won a series in Kansas City for the first time since 2015.

Tim Anderson singled, went to second on a wild pitch by Scott Alexander (4-4) and stole third before scoring on Abreu’s fly ball. Avisail Garcia added an RBI single to make it 5-3.

Juan Minaya (3-2) pitched 1-1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Last-place Chicago took two of three at Kauffman Stadium, winning its first road series since June 16-18 and damaging the Royals’ wild-card hopes.

Adam Engel hit a two-run double for Chicago, which has won four of five. White Sox starter Lucas Giolito gave up only Salvador Perez’s solo homer in 6-1/3 innings.

Dodgers 4, Giants 1 In San Francisco, Yu Darvish and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, Cody Bellinger hit his 37th home run and Los Angeles won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly three weeks, beating San Francisco.

The win lowered the Dodgers’ magic number to seven for clinching the NL West crown. Los Angeles secured at least a wild-card berth in the playoffs Tuesday night with a victory that ended its 11-game losing streak, the club’s longest since moving to the West Coast in 1958.

Darvish (9-12), acquired from Texas at the July 31 trade deadline, was 2-3 with a 5.34 ERA in six previous starts with Los Angeles but was crisp in his first career outing against San Francisco. The All-Star right-hander pitched threehit ball over seven scoreless innings. He struck out five and walked none.

Angels 9, Astros 1 In Anaheim, Calif, Los Angeles scored five runs in the first inning and rode Tyler Skaggs’ finest start of the season to beat Houston.

The victory kept the Angels two games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card, while the Astros’ magic number to clinch the AL West title remained at five.

Skaggs (2-5) threw seven shutout innings, holding Houston to three hits. He struck out five and walked one in his first victory since April 22. Spot starter Mike Fiers (8-10) was charged with eight runs and 10 hits over 3-2/3 innings for the Astros, who have lost five of six.

Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 2 In Phoenix, A.J. Pollock homered and drove

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Mike Clevinger delivers against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning in a baseball game, on Sept

13, in Cleveland. (AP)

in four runs to back another strong outing by Patrick Corbin, and Arizona defeated Colorado to expand its lead in the wild-card race.

Paul Goldschmidt had two hits for Arizona, including the 1,000th of his career. Pollock launched a three-run homer in the seventh inning and finished with three hits. The win gave the Diamondbacks a four-game edge over the Rockies for the top National League wild card. Arizona lost four of its previous five, including the first two games of this series.

Reds 6, Cardinals 0 In St Louis, Reds rookie Tyler Mahle threw five innings for his first major league win, Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam and Cincinnati blanked St Louis.

Jesse Winker added a home run and Joey Votto had two hits and an RBI for the Reds, who had lost four of five.

The Cardinals had won four straight and eight of nine.

Mahle (1-2) allowed four hits and struck out four in his fourth career start. He threw 100 pitches and stranded eight runners.

Twins 3, Padres 1, 10 Innings In Minneapolis, Eddie Rosario hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning, lifting Minnesota over San Diego to maintain its twogame cushion for the second AL wild-card spot.

Joe Mauer hit a one-out single off Phil Maton (3-1) before Rosario connected for his 23rd homer.

Matt Belisle (2-2) retired all five batters he faced for the Twins, who improved to 15-5 against the Padres. Ervin Santana gave Minnesota six scoreless innings. Rosario also doubled and scored.

Brewers 8, Pirates 2 In Milwaukee, Eric Thames hit his team-high 30th homer, Chase Anderson pitched effectively on three days’ rest and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh.

Center fielder Brett Phillips added three RBIs and threw out a runner at the plate for the Brewers. They have won five of six as they try to keep pace with the NL Central-leading Cubs.

Milwaukee got to Tyler Glasnow (2-7) for five runs, four hits and six walks over 2-2/3 innings in his first start since returning from the minors Sunday.

The Brewers also learned they will host a three-game series this weekend against the Marlins instead of traveling to Miami, as South Florida recovers from Hurricane Irma. Milwaukee will be the visiting team in its own stadium, Miller Park.

Cubs 17, Mets 5 In Chicago, Javier Baez homered and had four hits, Albert Almora Jr also went deep and drove in six runs after coming off the bench in the seventh inning, and Chicago routed New York.

Jon Lester (11-7) threw six solid innings to win his third straight start. The left-hander gave up two runs and six hits.

The first-place Cubs matched a season high for runs after pouring on 12 over their final three at-bats. Chicago remained 2-1/2 games ahead of the Brewers and moved three up on St Louis in the NL Central.

Kris Bryant had three hits and scored four runs. Ben Zobrist also scored four times, and Willson Contreras had three RBIs.

Mariners 8, Rangers 1 In Arlington, Texas, Mike Zunino homered twice, Jean Segura also went deep and Seattle jumped over Texas in the AL wild-card chase while handing Martin Perez his first loss in eight starts. Zunino broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a rare shot into the second-level club deck in left field. His second solo homer, to right-center in the seventh for his third multihomer game this season, capped a five-run outburst by the Mariners.

Mike Leake (10-12) allowed one run in 5-2/3

Los Angeles Angels’ Justin Upton hits a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros,

on Sept 13, in Anaheim, California. (AP)

innings to win his third consecutive start for the Mariners since they acquired him from St Louis on Aug 30. The right-hander was 7-12 in 26 starts for the Cardinals this season.

Athletics 7, Red Sox 3 In Boston, Matt Olson hit a two-run homer, Jed Lowrie had two RBIs and Oakland topped Boston to win for the sixth time in seven games.

The loss sliced Boston’s lead in the AL East to three games over the Yankees.

Oakland, which owns the majors’ worst road record (22-48), snapped an eight-game losing streak away from home. The last-place A’s had dropped their past seven at Fenway Park.

Dustin Pedroia had three singles for Boston to extend his hitting streak against the A’s to 26 games. The Red Sox had won five of six.

Jharel Cotton (8-10) picked up the win, allowing three runs in five innings. He entered 1-7 with an 8.00 ERA in night games.

Orioles 2, Blue Jays 1 In Toronto, Kevin Gausman pitched seven strong innings and Baltimore beat Toronto to stop a six-game skid.

Gausman (11-10) allowed one run and six hits, improving to 3-0 with a 1.51 ERA in six starts against the Blue Jays this season. Adam Jones had two hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who have scored two runs or fewer in six of their past seven. Trey Mancini hit an RBI triple.

Darren O’Day worked the eighth and Zach Britton finished for his 14th save in 16 chances.

Braves 8, Nationals 2 In Washington, Dansby Swanson smacked a two-run single off Washington ace Max Scherzer in the seventh inning, Matt Kemp hit a grand slam off Brandon Kintzler two batters later and Atlanta pulled away from the Nationals.

The Braves scored six runs in the seventh. Five were charged to Scherzer (14-6), who walked the bases loaded and was allowed to remain in the game despite having thrown 114 pitches. Swanson then hit a 1-0 pitch to left to make it 4-2. Kemp connected for his seventh career slam and first since 2011.

Washington has dropped back-to-back games since clinching the NL East on Sunday. Scherzer had won six decisions in a row since his previous defeat June 21.

Phillies 8, Marlins 1 In Philadelphia, Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins kept up his record home run pace, connecting for his 17th in 33 major league games as Philadelphia beat Miami behind Aaron Nola.

Hoskins, called up from the minors Aug 10, is the fastest player in big league history to get to 17 career homers. The record was 42 games by Wally Berger, an outfielder for the Boston Braves in 1930.