A’s rally to move closer to Yanks in wild-card chase

In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Piscotty homered and the A’s rallied from an early three-run deficit for their fourth straight win and sixth in seven games. Matt Olson had two hits including a double for the A’s, who are 30 games over .500 (87-57) and now trail the Yankees by 2 ¹/2 games in the race for the first AL wild card.

In Boston, Mitch Moreland singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and the Red Sox beat the Astros 6-5 on Sunday night in Boston to avoid a three-game sweep in a matchup of AL division leaders.

J.D. Martinez hit his 40th homer and drove in four for Boston, which snapped Houston’s seven-game winning streak even after the Astros rallied with a four-run sixth inning to tie the game at 5.

The East-leading Red Sox sliced their magic number to 11 for their third straight division title. Boston leads the second-place Yankees by 8 ½ games after they lost at Seattle. In Milwaukee, Jonathan Schoop hit a grand slam after Ryan

Braun was hit by a pitch in a tense sixth inning, and the Brewers beat the Giants 6-3, preserving the home team’s lead in the NL wild-card race. Milwaukee also moved within two games of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central heading into a three-game series at Chicago.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in a five-run first inning and the Rays tied a team record with their 11th consecutive home win, beating the Orioles 8-3.

In Phoenix, Ender Inciarte hit a three-run homer during a six-run rally in the ninth inning and the visiting Braves increased its NL East lead to 4 ½ games with a 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

In Toronto, Blue Jays right fielder Randal Grichuk was injured in a bizarre collision with a security guard’s chair, and replacement

Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer as the Blue Jays beat the Indians 6-2.