Red Sox stay strong, beat NY Yankees 7-4

Orioles rally from 4-run deficit to top Rays

BOSTON, Sept 17, (AP): Hanley Ramirez homered for the second straight game and David Ortiz had a pair of hits on Friday night to send the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox to a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees.

The Red Sox maintained a twogame lead over Baltimore. The Yankees, who on Thursday night were one out from climbing within three games of the division lead, fell six games back and lost ground in the AL wild-card race.

Clay Buchholz (7-10) allowed two runs in six innings. Ramirez homered for the ninth time in 16 games, including a three-run shot to cap a five-run ninth in Boston’s 7-5 victory Thursday.

Luis Cessa (4-2) gave up three runs in five innings. In his second game since signing with the Yankees, Billy Butler hit a two-run homer in the ninth to make it 7-4, but Craig Kimbrel got two outs for his 26th save.

Orioles 5, Rays 4 In Baltimore, J.J. Hardy and Michael Bourn came through with RBIs in the eighth inning as Baltimore rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Tampa Bay.

The final out came when Mike Mahtook was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base on a single into the left-field corner by Alexi Ramirez.

Pedro Alvarez and Chris Davis homered for the Orioles, who remained two games behind first-place Boston in the AL East. Baltimore also moved one-half game ahead of Toronto for the first AL wild card, with the Blue Jays playing later Friday night.

Baltimore closed to 4-3 before completing the comeback in the eighth against wild reliever Brad Boxberger (4-2). Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Hardy, who tied it with an infield single. Bourn followed with a fly ball to left field.

Jays 5, Angels 0 In Anaheim, California, Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run homer and R.A. Dickey pitched scoreless ball into the sixth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays stayed atop the AL wild-card race with a victory over the freefalling Los Angeles Angels.

Edwin Encarnacion added a late tworun homer for the Blue Jays (81-66), who stayed even with Baltimore for the league’s two wild-card playoff spots. Both teams trail Boston by two games for the AL East lead with 15 to play.

Toronto has lost seven of 11 overall, but took the first two games of a weekend series with the Angels, who have lost five straight and nine of 10.

Indians 11, Tigers 4 In Cleveland, Mike Napoli drove in four runs and Cleveland stretched its lead over Detroit in the AL Central to seven games by beating the second-place Tigers.

Napoli hit a gift two-run double in the first inning off rookie Michael Fulmer (10-7) and added a towering two-run homer in the fifth that bounced out of Progressive Field as the Indians lowered the magic number for clinching their first division title since 2007 to nine.

Corey Kluber (17-9) worked seven innings, keeping the top of Detroit’s lineup in check and setting the tone for the Indians’ biggest series this season. The right-hander is 8-1 in 12 starts since the All-Star break and remains the one pitcher in the rotation Cleveland can count on.

Mets 3, Twins 0 In New York, Bartolo Colon limited the Twins to three singles in seven innings while Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera hit consecutive home runs off rookie Jose Berrios in the third as New York beat Minnesota in the opener of the Mets’ final homestand this season.

Matched against a pitcher nearly half his age, the 43-year-old Colon (14-7) won for the fourth time in five decisions. Jeurys Familia completed the three-hitter for his 49th save in 53 chances.

New York began the night with a onegame lead over St. Louis for the second NL wild card, one game behind San Francisco.

The 22-year-old Berrios (2-7) allowed two runs in four innings and has given up 12 homers in 48-2/3 innings. He dropped to 0-6 in seven starts since beating Cleveland on Aug. 1 in his return from the minors. He also singled in his first professional plate appearance.

Giants 8, Cardinals 2 In San Francisco, All that talk about

Cincinnati Reds’ Scott Schebler hits a two-run triple off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Zach Phillips in the fifth inning of a baseball game on Sept 16,

in Cincinnati. (AP) Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer works against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game on Sept 16, in Atlanta. (AP)

Buster Posey’s second-half power drought was answered with one mighty swing in a September game that mattered a two-run homer that helped the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals in this matchup of playoff contenders.

Posey drove in four runs and the Giants stayed four games back of the NL Westleading Los Angeles Dodgers, who won at Arizona. San Francisco maintained its one-game lead over the New York Mets for the league’s top wild card, moving three games up on the Cardinals in the wild-card standings.

Cubs 5, Brewers 4, 10 innings In Chicago, Miguel Montero homered in the 10th inning and Chicago celebrated its NL Central title with a dramatic victory over Milwaukee.

The Cubs became the first major league team to clinch its division when St. Louis lost at San Francisco late Thursday night. A day later, they put together quite a party.

Chicago (94-53) pushed across two runs in the ninth and Montero connected for a leadoff drive in the 10th against Blaine Boyer (2-4). The Cubs poured out of the dugout to mob Montero at home plate, then pulled on postseason hats and shirts as the crowd of 40,823 cheered wildly.

Chris Coghlan had three hits for the Cubs, including an RBI single during the ninth-inning rally. Albert Almora Jr. hit a two-run homer, and Aroldis Chapman (4-1) struck out the side in the 10th for his first win with the Cubs.

Ryan Braun, Orlando Arcia and Scooter Gennett homered for Milwaukee.

Nationals 7, Braves 2 In Atlanta, Trea Turner homered, had four hits and scored four runs while Max Scherzer won his fifth straight decision to help Washington beat Atlanta.

Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon each added two RBIs.

The Nationals, seeking their third NL East title in five years, have won 13 of 17. Their magic number to clinch the division is six with 15 games remaining.

Scherzer (17-7) gave up seven hits, two runs, two walks and struck out eight in seven innings. The Washington ace is 12-3 with a 2.10 ERA in his last 20 starts.

Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 2 In Phoenix, Kenta Maeda limited the Arizona Diamondbacks to a run on three hits over five innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for this win.

Maeda (15-9) struck out six and has seven wins is his last 10 starts. He outdueled former Dodger Zack Greinke, who allowed only one earned run.

Greinke (12-7) gave up three runs on four hits, struck out four and walked four. The Dodgers’ lead in the NL West remained four games over second-place San Francisco.

Rangers 7, Athletics 6 In Arlington, Texas, Jonathan Lucroy hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning as Texas moved closer to clinching the AL West.

Lucroy hit a ground ball inside third base to drive in pinch-runners Delino DeShields and Joey Gallo, who had stolen second base when Rougned Odor struck out. Carlos Beltran’s one-out double began the winning rally.

Ryan Madson (5-6) had his seventh blown save in 37 chances.

Sam Dyson (2-2), the Rangers’ fourth pitcher, got the win.

White Sox 7, Royals 4 In Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Sale pitched his American League-leading sixth complete-game to pick up his 16th win and Carlos Sanchez hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as Chicago beat Kansas City.

Sanchez had struck out in his first three at-bats before hitting a pitch from Kelvin Herrera out to right with J.D. Shuck and Avisail Garcia aboard. It was Sanchez’s first home run since last Sept. 21 at Detroit.

Todd Frazier doubled with one out and scored on Alex Avila’s single for the first run of the inning.

Sale (16-8), 1-6 in his previous 11 starts, limited the Royals to four runs, three earned, while striking out 10 and walking one. Herrera (2-5) blew his third save in 14 chances as Kansas City lost its fifth straight.

Phillies 4, Marlins 3, 13 innings In Philadelphia, Pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes singled home the winning run with one out in the 13th inning to lift Philadelphia over Miami.

Ryan Howard hit his 22nd homer to spark a three-run rally for the Phillies in the sixth. Derek Dietrich tied it for the Marlins with his first career pinch-hit homer in the eighth, connecting off Edubray Ramos.

Frank Herrmann (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. A.J. Ramos (1-3) took the loss.

Pirates 9, Reds 7, 10 Innings In Cincinnati, Jordy Mercer had an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning and David Freese added a two-run single as Pittsburgh overcame some shaky defense to preserve its chances in the NL wild-card race.

The Pirates loaded the bases against Tony Cingrani (2-5) with a walk and two infield hits before Mercer snapped a 6-6 tie with a single to left. Freese singled to center two batters later.

Gregory Polanco and Jung Ho Kang homered to help the Pirates to their third win in four games after a four-game losing streak. Pittsburgh remained 5-1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the NL’s second wild card.

Antonio Bastardo (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth and Tony Watson allowed Steve Selsky’s first career home run before logging his 13th save.

Rockies 8, Padres 7 In Denver, Pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso lined a game-winning single off the center-field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Colorado Rockies past San Diego on Friday night.

DJ LeMahieu had three hits to raise his batting average to .349. He is tied with Washington’s Daniel Murphy for the lead in the NL batting race.

The Rockies trailed 7-5 entering the ninth against closer Brandon Maurer (0-5) after hail and rain in the top of the inning forced a 38-minute delay.

LeMahieu started the comeback with a one-out double and Carlos Gonzalez singled him home one out later. Pinch-hitter David Dahl and Nick Hundley each singled to left to tie it.

Astros 6, Mariners 0 In Seattle, Collin McHugh allowed just two hits in seven stellar innings and Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez both hit solo home runs as the Houston Astros ended the Mariners’ eight-game win streak.

McHugh was outstanding in baffling the surging Mariners all night, not allowing a base runner until Nori Aoki’s leadoff single in the fourth inning. Seattle’s only other hit off McHugh was Kyle Seager’s single with two outs in the seventh.

McHugh (11-10) improved to 9-3 in his career against Seattle and 4-0 this season while allowing just three runs in 25 innings.

Meanwhile, Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (11-6) stumbled in his biggest start of the season.

Mercer