Athletics squander chance to gain ground
Ex-met Familia allows go-ahead 3-run homer in 8th to Rays’ Bauers
St. Petersburg, Fla. Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer off Jeurys Familia in the eighth inning to help the Tampa Bay Rays set back the play off chasing Oakland Athletics with a 7-5 win Saturday night.
Oakland remains 11/2 games behind the Yankees for the top AL wild card after New York lost to Toronto earlier in the day. The A’s have dropped two of three since winning six straight.
Bauers’ homer was just the second allowed by Familia (4-2) since he was acquired by Oakland on July 21 from the Mets. Bauers busted a 4-for-65 slump with three hits and four RBIS.
Nationals 7, Braves 1: Washington 19-year-old rookie Juan Soto became the youngest player to steal three bases in a game, had an RBI single and scored the tiebreaking run, helping the Nationals stop Atlanta’s season-best, six-game winning streak. Soto surpassed the mark set by Oakland’s Rickey Henderson at 20 years, 241 days on Aug. 23, 1979, against Cleveland, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Dodgers 17, cardinals 4: Yasiel Puig homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIS, giving him five homers in two games, and Los Angeles moved ahead of St. Louis into sole possession of the second NL wild card. Puig hit a solo homer in the fourth off John Gant (7-6) and three-run drives in the fifth against Mike Mayers and in the seventh versus Luke Weaver. Puig now has 21 homers after the first three-homer game of his major league career.
indians 15, tigers 0: Cleveland clinched its third straight AL Central title with a blowout of Detroit, which made four errors and managed only two hits.
cubs 1, reds 0: Jon Lester allowed two hits over seven innings with a season-high nine strikeouts, Willson Contreras hit a run-scoring single in the sixth and Chicago extended its NL Central lead to 21⁄2 games over secondplace Milwaukee. Seeking its third straight division title, Chicago has won three straight and four of five.
White sox 2, orioles 0: Reynaldo Lopez was sharp over seven innings to continue his late-season surge and lift Chicago over Baltimore.
Phillies 5, Marlins 4: Cesar Hernandez hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth, seven relievers combined on seven shutout innings and Philadelphia won its second straight following a five-game losing streak. Philadelphia overcame a 4-0 deficit and closed within 61⁄2 games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East with 15 games left.
astros 10, D’backs 4: George Springer had four hits and scored three runs to help Houston extend its lead in the AL West to 31⁄2 games over Oakland with 14 games remaining. The Astros managed 12 hits — including 10 singles — and drew seven walks in the bounce-back win. Charlie Morton (153) allowed two runs over seveninnings.
Pirates 3, Brewers 1: Zach Davies failed to hold an early lead and gave up a go-ahead double to Francisco Cervelli in the fourth that lifted Pittsburgh. Milwaukee lost for just the fourth time in 15 games and dropped 21⁄2 games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs. The Brewers’ lead for the NL’S top wild card was cut to three over the Dodgers.
royals 10, twins 3: Ian Kennedy pitched six innings to earn his first win since the first week of April and Alex Gordon drove in five for Kansas City.
rangers 6, Padres 3: Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double during a five-run sixth inning for Texas. San Diego led 3-1 prior to the big inning. The Padres fell to 59-90, losing 90 games for the third straight season.
giants 3, rockies 0: Madison Bumgarner pitched six strong innings, and Austin Slater and Hunter Pence drove in runs as San Francisco knocked Colorado out of first place in the National League West.
Note: Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer threw 40 pitches off a mound at Progressive Field as he recovers from a broken leg suffered Aug. 11 when hit by a line drive.