Martinez hits 41st HR
Red Sox 4 Blue Jays 3
Boston inches closer to winning the AL East title with Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.
BOSTON — J.D. Martinez hit his 41st home run and the Boston Red Sox moved closer to winning the AL East title, completing a threegame sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.
Xander Bogaerts scored the go-ahead run on an eighthinning error after the Blue Jays rallied in the top half with two runs to tie it 3-all.
Rafael Devers also homered for the major league-leading Red Sox (101-46). They pulled 10½ games ahead of the idle New York Yankees and decreased their magic number to six for clinching a third straight division crown. Boston is the only team in the majors that’s already locked up a playoff berth.
ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3
In Denver, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story homered, Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh, and Colorado beat Arizona to extend its NL West lead.
David Dahl had three hits and two RBIs to help Colorado take a two-game lead over Los Angeles and a 4½-game advantage over the third-place Diamondbacks. Los Angeles played Thursday night at St. Louis.
Diamondbacks right-hander Clay Buchholz was scratched from the start because of tightness in his right elbow. Matt Koch (5-5) started in his place and allowed four runs on eight hits in three innings.
DODGERS 9, CARDINALS 7
In St. Louis, Manny Machado homered and drove in three runs to back Clayton Kershaw, and Los Angeles beat the Cardinals in the opener of a four-game series between playoff contenders.
The Dodgers snapped a fivegame losing streak against the Cardinals and moved within one game of St. Louis for the final NL wild-card spot. The Cardinals, who went 22-6 in August, lost their second straight game and fell to 5-7 in September.
Kershaw (8-5), pitching at Busch Stadium for the first time since taking the loss in Game 4 of the 2014 NL division series, struck out eight in six innings, allowing four runs — three earned — on eight hits and two walks. Austin Gomber (5-1) was the loser.
CUBS 4, NATIONALS 3 (10 INNINGS)
In Washington, Javier Baez drove in the go ahead run with a bunt single in the 10th inning, and Chicago beat the Nationals in a makeup of a game postponed earlier in the week.
Kris Bryant doubled with one out in the 10th against Sean Doolittle (3-3) and moved to third on ex-National Daniel Murphy’s infield single. Baez, who homered in the sixth and drove in three on the day, bunted just to the right of first baseman Ryan Zimmerman to score Bryant.
Baez has 31 homers and leads the NL with 103 RBIs.
METS 4, MARLINS 3, 1ST GAME; METS 5, MARLINS 2, 2ND GAME
In New York, Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Mets stunned Miami in the first game of a doubleheader sweep.
Conforto drove in three more runs in the second game, and Jason Vargas pitched six effective innings to help the Mets win again.
In the opener, Kyle Barraclough entered with one out in the ninth and retired pinch-hitter Dominic Smith before Conforto lined a 1-0 changeup into the second deck in right to tie it. Frazier then hit a 1-1 pitch to left center field for his first walk-off homer since June 2015 for Cincinnati.
In the second game, rookie Tomas Nido got New York on the board in the fifth with his first big league homer, a solo shot off Jeff Brigham (0-2). Vargas (6-9) allowed two runs on three hits, and Robert Gsellman worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his 11th save.
ROYALS 6, TWINS 4
In Kansas City, Mo., Salvador Perez and Jorge Bonifacio hit backto-back homers during a four-run sixth inning, Heath Fillmyer pitched into the eighth and the Royals beat Minnesota.
The Royals were hitless until Hunter Dozier greeted Alan Busenitz, the Twins’ third pitcher in the game, with a leadoff double to left field in the sixth.
ORIOLES 5, ATHLETICS 3
In Baltimore, Dylan Bundy had eight strikeouts in six solid innings, and the Orioles ended Oakland’s six-game winning streak.
Stephen Piscotty homered for the A’s. They fell 3½ games behind first-place Houston in the AL West and 1½ back of the Yankees for the top wild-card slot.
Oakland activated lefty Brett Anderson from the 10-day disabled list to make his 14th start of the season.