Gray, Yankees flop in loss to Orioles

NEW YORK — Sonny Gray was chased in the third inning by the team with worst record in the majors, big leagueloss leader Alex Cobb ended a nine-start winless streak and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 7-5 on Wednesday.

Despite what appeared to be a midgame lecture in the dugout by third base coach Phil Nevin during a rain delay, New York (68-38) dropped 5½ games behind Boston (75-34) heading into a fourgame series at Fenway Park starting Thursday. This is the first time since the leagues split into divisions in 1969 that two teams in the same division began August with a winning percentage of .640 or higher, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Gleyber Torres homered twice for the Yankees, a solo drive in the second and a three-run shot in the ninth.

ATHLETICS 8, BLUE JAYS 3: Sean Manaea pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Jonathan Lucroy drove in four runs and the Oakland Athletics completed a season sweep of Toronto, beating the Blue Jays. The A’s won all seven games between the two teams this year for their first season sweep of the Blue Jays. ASTROS 8, MARINERS 3: Marwin Gonzalez hit two of Houston’s four home runs, and the Astros knocked the Seattle Mariners from the lead for the second wild card in the American League. After a five-game losing streak, the Astros rebounded to win the final two games of the series. Houston has a five-game cushion over Seattle in the AL West and dropped the Mariners into a tie with surging Oakland for the second AL wild-card spot. NATIONALS 5, METS 3: Tommy Milone worked seven strong innings to get his first win in more than a year, Anthony Rendon homered and the Washington Nationals moved back above .500 with a victory over the New York Mets. The Nationals followed their 25-4 blowout of the Mets on Tuesday night by jumping on Noah Syndergaard (6-2) early.