Rays fall behind A’s in wild-card standings

Nick Solak homered off the pitcher he was traded for two months ago, and Texas beat Tampa Bay 6- 4 on Thursday in Arlington, Texas, giving the Rangers consecutive series victories for the first time since June.

The Rays (87- 61) dropped their second straight game following a six- game winning streak that matched a season high. They fell a half-game behind the A’s for the AL wildcard lead.

The rookie’s two-run shot off hard-throwing reliever Peter Fairbanks put the Rangers up 5-1 in the fourth inning as Texas (74-74) reached .500 for the first time since Aug. 14. CUBS 4, PADRES 1 » Yu Darvish (6- 6) struck out a season-high 14 and allowed only two hits in six innings and visiting Chicago beat San Diego to remain tied with Milwaukee for the NL’s second wild card. The Padres scored in the ninth when Manny Machado was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs, but Rowan Wick struck out Luis Urias to end it. OHTANI TO HAVE SURGERY » Shohei Ohtani is ending his second major league season early to make sure he’s prepared to resume his two-way career in 2020. The Angels slugger and pitcher will miss the rest of the season to have surgery on his left kneecap — the bipartite patella, or a two-part kneecap that didn’t fuse together at birth. The condition is rare, congenital and usually harmless. YANKEES’ ENCARNACION INJURED » Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnación homered for the fourth time in eight games since returning from the injured list, then left with a strained left oblique muscle in the fifth inning of a doubleheader opener against the Tigers. YELICH WON’T NEED SURGERY » Reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich won’t need surgery on his broken right kneecap, but the Brewers said it’s unlikely he’ll return this season.