Mariners need extra innings to avoid sweep
Dodgers rough up Moore to extend NL West lead
SEATTLE — Robinson Cano drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners avoided a series sweep with 2-1 victory over Toronto on Wednesday, preventing the Blue Jays from extending their wild-card lead.
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (10-15), who pitched five scoreless innings in his last start Friday, came on in the 12th for his first relief appearance after 29 starts.
Guillermo Heredia reached on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Josh Donaldson to open the 12th. Ben Gamel followed with an attempted sacrifice bunt, and first baseman Ryan Goins appeared to have Heredia at third, but the ball popped out of Donaldson’s glove on the tag.
Cano then followed with a run-scoring fly to left, quieting the decidedly pro-Blue Jays crowd. For the third straight game thousands of fans from western Canada attended.
BRAVES 4, METS 3: In New York, center fielder Ender Inciarte robbed Yoenis Cespedes of a winning homer for the final out, and New York was handed another costly loss by lastplace Atlanta when the Braves rallied for a victory.
With two runners on in the ninth, Cespedes launched a drive to deep right-center. Inciarte raced to the wall and timed his jump perfectly, catching the ball just above the orange line atop the fence.
New York remained tied with St. Louis and San Francisco in the NL wild-card race.
DODGERS 9, GIANTS 3: In Los Angeles, Yasiel Puig hit a three-run home run off of Matt Moore during a five-run first inning and Los Angeles beat San Francisco to extend its lead in the NL West to six games.
Moriarty’s Moore allowed six runs on seven hits before being pulled with no outs in the second inning.
CUBS 9, REDS 2: In Chicago, John Lackey pitched seven solid innings for his first win in six weeks, Miguel Montero drove in three runs, and Chicago swept Cincinnati.
Major league-leading Chicago moved a season-high 42 games over .500. The Cubs (97-55) also matched their win total from a year ago and lowered their magic number for clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs to two over Washington.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 1: In Baltimore, Boston scored five unearned runs in the sixth inning after first baseman Chris Davis’ throwing error and beat Baltimore to pad its AL East lead.
Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox. Boston pulled five games ahead of Toronto and six in front of Baltimore.
Baltimore is a game behind the Blue Jays for the top AL wild card.
YANKEES 11, RAYS 5: In St. Petersburg, Fla., rookie Gary Sanchez hit two homers and drove in five runs, Masahiro Tanaka won despite allowing four home runs in the third inning and New York beat Tampa Bay.
The Yankees moved within 2½ games of Baltimore for the second AL wild-card spot. New York also would have to jump over Seattle, Houston and Detroit to earn a postseason berth.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 3: In Miami, Max Scherzer pitched 6⅔ innings to tie for the National League victory lead with 18, helping Washington beat Miami.
The Nationals lowered their magic number to three to win the NL East over the New York Mets.
INDIANS 4, ROYALS 3: In Cleveland, Corey Kluber allowed two runs and struck out nine in 6⅓ innings, and Cleveland beat Kansas City to eliminate the reigning World Series champions from the AL Central race.
ANGELS 5, RANGERS 4: In Arlington, Texas, Mike Trout hit his 28th homer and Jered Weaver went six innings for his 150th victory in an Angels uniform, helping Los Angeles beat the AL West-leading Texas.
The magic number for Texas to win the AL West title remained at two.
ROCKIES 11, CARDINALS 1: In Denver, Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam, German Marquez pitched five solid innings for his first major league win and Colorado slowed St. Louis’ playoff chase.
ASTROS 6, ATHLETICS 5: In Oakland, Calif., Evan Gattis homered twice, catcher Jason Castro threw out a runner to end the game and Houston beat Oakland to complete a series sweep.
PIRATES 4, BREWERS 1: In Milwaukee, Sean Rodriguez hit a home run and a two-run single, Andrew McCutchen went deep, rookie Chad Kuhl pitched six strong innings and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.
PHILLIES 8, WHITE SOX 3: In Philadelphia, Tommy Joseph homered, doubled and drove in three runs and Jerad Eickhoff outpitched Chris Sale in Philadelphia’s victory over Chicago.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 2: In San Diego, Paul Goldschmidt homered twice, including a go-ahead, two-run shot in the sixth inning, and Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to lead Arizona past San Diego.
TWINS-TIGERS PPD.: In Minneapolis, Detroit gained ground in the American League wild card race, even though its game was rained out in Minnesota.
Today’s doubleheader gives Detroit another big opportunity to climb in the wild-card standings.
Despite the rainout, the Tigers moved within a game of the Orioles for the final AL wild card.