Minnesota ends three-game skid

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Eduardo Escobar had three hits and three RBIs, Brian Dozier and Ehire Adrianza both homered, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-6 on Wednesday.

Minnesota ended a threegame skid streak and moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Angels for the second AL wildcard spot.

The Twins scored three runs in the seventh to take the lead for good. Dozier, who hit his 29th homer leading off the game, was walked by reliever Steve Cishek (2-1) to open the inning. Jorge Polanco then bunted and Cishek threw wildly past first base, allowing Dozier to come all the way around to score for a 7-6 lead with Polanco advancing to third.

One out later, Escobar singled to right-center to drive in Polanco. Robbie Grossman doubled off Austin Pruitt and pinch-hitter Joe Mauer was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Max Kepler followed with a run-scoring grounder.

Escobar tripled with one out in the ninth and scored on Grossman’s sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.

Taylor Rogers (6-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.

Evan Longoria, Lucas Duda and Kevin Kiermaier homered for the Rays.

Athletics 3, Angels 1

OAKLAND, Calif.—Sean Manaea pitched six-plus innings of shutout ball and Khris Davis homered as the Oakland Athletics snapped a season-high eight-game losing

streak with a 3-1 victory over the Los

Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

The Angels, locked in a tight wild card race, were trying for their seventh series sweep and second against the A’s this year. Los Angeles is among five teams competing for two wild card berths who going into Wednesday were separated by four games.

Manaea (10-9) struck out six and allowed five hits and three walks.

A’s manager Bob Melvin summoned reliever Ryan Dull after Manaea gave up a hit and a walk to start the seventh inning. Dull stranded both runners, retiring the next three batters in order.

Davis hit an opposite field shot to right off Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (1-5) leading off the bottom of the fourth. His 39th home run broke a scoreless tie.

Skaggs struck out nine and gave up three runs (two earned), five hits and a walk.

Reds 7, Brewers 1

CINCINNATI—Rookie Luis Castillo struck out 10 in his final start of a fine season, Zack Cozart and Jose Peraza homered and the last-place Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 7-1 win on Wednesday.

The playoff-contending Brewers have lost four of five. Neil Walker’s homer in the first inning was all Milwaukee could muster.

Castillo (3-7) retired 11 straight batters in one stretch and 22 of the last 24 while pitching eight innings. He allowed four hits, didn’t walk anybody and wound up with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts.

The Reds are shutting down Castillo to limit his innings. The 24-year-old righty threw 111 pitches, matching his second-highest pitch count of the season, in this start.

Matt Garza (6-9) gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings. He is 0-3 in his last four starts.

The Reds chased Garza with a fiverun third that included Walker’s error at first base on a potential inning-ending double-play grounder. Adam Duvall and Jose Peraza each drove in a run during the inning.

Cozart led off the seventh with his 18th homer of the season. Peraza added his fifth in the eighth.

Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 1

BOSTON—Doug Fister gave up one run over seven innings, Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Wednesday night, a day after the teams played a 19-inning marathon.

It was the second straight win for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who moved four games ahead of the second-place Yankees. New York’s game at Baltimore was rained out.

Playing just 18 hours after completing a victory that lasted six hours and ended on Hanley Ramirez’s bloop single, the Red Sox took charge with a fourrun fourth that was capped by Bradley’s homer.

Fister (5-7) allowed four hits, struck out nine and walked three, improving to 3-1 in his last four starts with a 1.50 ERA.

Joe Biagini (3-10) was tagged for five runs in 3 1/3 innings.

With rain starting to fall when the Red Sox came to the plate in the fourth, Xander Bogaerts halted a 3-for-33 stretch by lining an opposite field RBI triple and scored on Rafael Devers’ single. Bradley then belted his homer into Boston’s bullpen, making it 5-1.

Both teams scored a run in the first.

Nationals 8, Marlins 1

MIAMI—Gio Gonzalez and four relievers combined on a six-hitter, and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins for the eighth consecutive time, winning 8-1 Wednesday night.

Gonzalez (14-6) pitched five scoreless innings but needed 101 pitches. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 31st homer, and Michael A. Taylor added his 14th.

The Nationals, who completed a threegame sweep, have outscored Miami 53-12 in their past eight meetings. Washington increased its lead in the NL East to 18 games over second-place Miami.

Major league home run leader Giancarlo Stanton went 0 for 3 and is 3 for 35 in the past 10 games. All three hits were homers, leaving him at 53 for the season.

The Marlins have lost nine of their past 10 games to fade from the NL wild-card race. They’ve scored five runs in the past four games.

Announced attendance was 14,390, smallest of the year for the second night in a row at Marlins Park. With South Florida bracing for Hurricane Irma, a head count at first pitch put the actual crowd size at 799.

Dillon Peters (0-1), who threw seven scoreless innings in his major league debut five days earlier, gave up three runs in five innings.

Washington scored in the first on an RBI single by Zimmerman and a run-scoring double by Howie Kendrick. Zimmerman led off the fourth with a homer into the upper deck in right center field, and Taylor homered in the eighth.