Rockies, Red Sox reduce magic numbers to two
DENVER Ian Desmond homered during a sixrun second inning and the playoff-chasing Colorado Rockies beat Miami 15-9 Wednesday, hours after Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Marlins to an investment group featuring Derek Jeter.
Charlie Blackmon reached 100 RBIs for the Rockies, who with three games left are in prime position to contend for their first postseason berth since 2009. They entered the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee and 2 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis.
Jon Gray (10-4) lasted six innings and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in 13 straight starts. Adam Conley (7-8) gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
RED SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 7
BOSTON — Rick Porcello struggled in his final playoff tuneup. No matter, he had another AL Cy Young winner to bail him out.
Porcello gave up three runs in the first inning and five in all, but David Price came out of the bullpen with four straight outs to help the Red Sox beat Toronto on Wednesday night and lower their magic number to two.
ASTROS 12, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas — Justin Verlander struck out 11 to win his fifth straight start since getting traded to Houston, major league batting leader Jose Altuve reached 200 hits for the fourth season in a row, and the AL West champion Astros completed a dominating three-game sweep. Carlos Correa hit two home runs and George Springer had a grand slam as Houston outscored Texas 37-7 in the series. The Rangers lost their sixth straight game.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, GIANTS 3
PHOENIX — J.D. Martinez hit his 16th homer in September during a three-run rally in the ninth inning that lifted Arizona over San Francisco.
Martinez tied Ralph Kiner’s 1949 NL record for home runs in September. The major league record is 17, shared by Babe Ruth and Albert Belle.
ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 5
OAKLAND, Calif. — Mark Canha hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning that sent Oakland over Seattle.
Canha’s fifth homer this season came against Shae Simmons (0-1).
REDS 6, BREWERS 0
Milwaukee rookie Brandon Woodruff was chased in a five-run third inning and the Brewers' post-season hopes took another hit when they fell to the lastplace Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers have lost five of seven. They've dropped 2 1/2 games behind Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot with only four games left.
YANKEES 6, RAYS 1
NEW YORK — Luis Severino cruised through his final post-season tuneup and Starlin Castro, Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks all homered during a four-run sixth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays.
New York (89-69) improved to a seasonhigh 20 games over .500 and remained three behind division-leading Boston with four to play. The Red Sox beat Toronto 107 on Wednesday.
PHILLIES 7, NATIONALS 5
PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Altherr went 2-for-4 with a triple, drove in two runs and scored the go-ahead run as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals.
For the Nationals, who clinched the NL East more than two weeks ago, Wednesday's most significant action occurred in St. Louis. That's where the Cubs beat the Cardinals to wrap up the NL Central and ensure they will play Washington in the NL Division Series starting Oct. 6.