Rays closing in on AL East title
Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 over five innings to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat Alex Cobb and the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Friday night.
Glasnow (4-1) allowed one run, four hits and a pair of walks. The right-hander has won four straight decisions, a streak that began with a 13strikeout performance against the Orioles on Aug. 25.
The Rays clinched a postseason berth on Thursday night, and now the AL East leaders are looking to charge into the playoffs as division champions. Tampa Bay started the day with a 3 1/2-game lead over the Yankees.
Cobb (1-5) gave up two runs and four hits over six innings. Despite those solid numbers, the right-hander fell to 0-4 against the team he pitched for six seasons through 2017 before signing a four-year, $57 million contract with Baltimore.
Austin Hays led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run, but Glasnow and the Rays bullpen allowed nothing more. Ryan Sherriff, the fourth Tampa Bay reliever, worked the ninth to earn his first big league save.
Indians 1, Tigers 0 — Zach Plesac pitched impressively into the eighth inning, and Brad Hand worked out of a jam in the ninth to send the Cleveland Indians to a victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Francisco Lindor drove in the game’s only run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, and Plesac (4-2) rebounded after allowing a season-high five runs at Minnesota in his previous outing. The righthander yielded five hits in 7 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.85. He struck out 11 with one walk.
National League
Nationals 5, Marlins 0 — Last year’s champions must be content this year with spoiler’s role, and Erick Fedde filled it for the Washington Nationals.
Fedde allowed one hit in six innings, and Washington beat rookie Sixto Sanchez and the Miami Marlins in the first game of a doubleheader.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 5 — Kolten Wong hit the second leadoff home run of his career, Tyler O’Neill added a two-run shot and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Ryan Helsley recorded the final two outs for his first career save, and it didn’t come easily.
Newman walked and Erik Gonzalez reached on shortstop Paul DeJong’s second throwing error. Helsley walked pinch-hitter Josh Bell to load the bases but retired John Ryan Murphy on a flyball to end it following a brief pep talk from catcher Yadier Molina.
Braves 15, Mets 2 — Freddie Freeman added three more hits to his burgeoning MVP campaign, Ozzie Albies hit two of Atlanta’s six homers and the Braves battered New
York Mets pitching Friday night in a blowout that thrust them closer to a third consecutive NL East title.
Max Fried (7-0) returned from a brief stay on the injured list due to a back spasm and breezed through five innings that only help his credentials for the NL Cy Young Award. The lefthander hasn’t allowed a home run since Sept. 10 last year.
Interleague
Cubs 1, Twins 0 — Kyle Hendricks tossed eight innings of three-hit, shutout ball to outduel Rich Hill, and the Chicago Cubs edged the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Friday night for their fifth straight win.
Hendricks stuck out 10 and walked one before Jeremy Jeffress worked around two walks in the ninth for his eighth save.
Willson Contreras’ sharp RBI single in the first accounted for the only run off the 40-year-old Hill.
Phillies 7, Blue Jays 0 (1st); Phillies 8, Blue Jays 7 (2nd) — Bryce Harper hit a tying, two-run double and scored the go-ahead run on an error following Alec Bohm’s infield single, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rally to beat the Toronto Blue Jays and earn their first doubleheader sweep in eight years.
Zach Eflin struck out nine in a four-hitter and Harper went deep in Philadelphia’s win in the opener.
The Phillies came back twice in the nightcap.
Rafael Marchan hit his first career homer as a professional, a three-run drive in the fourth that tied it at 5. That came after Mickey
Moniak, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft, lined a single to right for his first hit in the majors.
Randal Grichuk’s sacrifice fly gave the Jays a 6-5 lead in the fifth and Connor Brogdon walked No. 9 batter Danny Jansen on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs, forcing in another run.
Rafael Dolis (2-2) struck out Andrew McCutchen looking with runners on second and third for the second out in the sixth. With a base open, the Blue Jays went after hot-hitting Harper and he delivered.
Harper hit a drive high off the wall in left-center, slid into the second and got up pumping his fist. Bohm followed with a grounder to second baseman Joe Panik. He beat the throw to Dolis covering first and the ball got away for an error, allowing Harper to score.
Reds 7, White Sox 1 — The Reds hitter in the deepest slump kept their winning streak going.
Jesse Winker hit a threerun homer — one of four off White Sox starter Jonathan Stiever — and Cincinnati extended its surge into playoff contention with a win for its season-high sixth victory in a row.