Vlad hits 45th HR as Jays stay hot
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major-league-leading 45th home run, Alek Manoah set a career high by pitching eight scoreless innings and the Blue Jays beat the Rays 8-1 on Monday night in Toronto.
Teoscar Hernández had his first career five-hit game, and Bo Bichette added a solo home run, his 24th, as the surging Blue Jays improved to 12-1 in September.
The American League Eastleading Rays lost for the fourth time in five games and are 5-7 this month after going 21-6 in August.
Guerrero moved ahead of Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani for most home runs in the majors. In doing so, he also eclipsed the single-season high set by his Hall of Fame father with Montreal in 2000. His 45 home runs are one shy of Joe DiMaggio’s record for home runs by a player age 22 or younger in the AL.
Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (8-5) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2„ innings.
Cardinals 7, Mets 0
Adam Wainwright won his fifth consecutive start in a rare matchup of 40-year-old pitchers.
Wainwright (16-7) allowed four hits in six scoreless innings and outdueled 41-year-old Rich Hill (6-7), who allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.
Paul Goldschmidt homered and had two RBI for the surging Cardinals, who began the day one game behind Cincinnati and San Diego for the second National League wild card. The Mets entered three games behind the Reds and Padres.
Yankees 6, Twins 5 (10)
Aaron Judge hit a tying three-run homer off Alex Colomé with two outs in the eighth inning, Gary Sánchez lined a winning single in the 10th and host New York overcame a five-run deficit to beat Minnesota.
New York won for just the fourth time in 16 games and closed within a half-game of AL wild-card leaders Toronto and Boston.
Marlins 3, Nationals 0
Sandy Alcantara (9-13) allowed one hit in eight innings and Miami beat host Washington. With two outs in the seventh, Josh Bell lined a single off the base of the rightfield fence to end Alcantara’s nohit bid.
Sale might return vs. Orioles
Red Sox manager Alex Cora is holding out hope that left-handed starter Chris Sale could return this weekend against Baltimore. Sale is on the COVID-19 injured list after testing positive late last week, but Cora said he has shown no symptoms.