Blue Jays edge Mariners
Marco Estrada took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 41st home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Mariners, 3-2, last night in Seattle in the opener of a critical three-game series.
Estrada (9-9) had allowed only two walks before Robinson Cano led off the seventh with a line drive up the middle on a 2-1 pitch. Cano and Nelson Cruz walked in the fourth inning, but Estrada otherwise kept the Mariners off the bases.
The Blue Jays pulled even with Baltimore for the first wild-card spot, both four games behind the Red Sox in the American League East. Both teams are 2 1⁄2 games clear of Detroit and three ahead of Seattle and Houston.
Taijuan Walker (6-11) allowed three runs in 5 1⁄3 innings.
Roberto Osuna got his 34th save. Leonys Martin hit a two-out, tworun homer in the ninth off Osuna, but Ben Gamel struck out looking to cap Osuna’s 34th save. Rangers 3, Angels 2 — In Arlington, Texas, Ian Desmond had an RBI single with no outs in the ninth inning and Texas moved closer to the AL West title with a win against lastplace Los Angeles.
Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a sharp single to left off Jose Alvarez (1-3) before Carlos Gomez turned an attempted sacrifice into a bunt single. Desmond, an All-Star center fielder, followed with his hit to right that scored Andrus.
Andrus and Nomar Mazara homered for the Rangers, who cut their magic number to four in pursuit of their second consecutive division title. Second-place Seattle was playing at home against Toronto.
It was the Rangers’ MLB-best 46th comeback win and their 20th in their last at-bat. They are 35-10 in one-run games.
Closer Sam Dyson (3-2) worked a scoreless ninth for the victory after starter Martin Perez went seven innings and Matt Bush worked a perfect eighth.
Royals 8, White Sox 3 — Yordano Ventura (11-11) picked up his first complete-game victory, Kendrys Morales hit a three-run homer and host Kansas City defeated Chicago.
The Royals have won three straight, keeping their faint playoff hopes flickering with 12 games remaining. The Royals went 14-5 against the White Sox this year.
Astros 4, Athletics 2 — Marwin Gonzalez hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Ryan Madson in the ninth inning and visiting Houston came from behind to beat Oakland.
The Astros trailed 2-1 going into the eighth inning but tied it on Jason Castro’s RBI-double then scored twice in the ninth to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
National League
Dodgers 2, Giants 1 — Adrian Gonzalez doubled home the winning run after Justin Turner delivered a gametying single and host Los Angeles rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to stun San Francisco.
With the win, the Dodgers pulled six games ahead of the Giants in the NL West race. Meanwhile, the Giants dropped into a tie for the second NL wild card spot with the Cardinals.
Braves 7, Mets 3 — Aaron Blair (16) won for the first time in 13 major league starts, Freddie Freeman drove in three runs off a misfiring Noah Syndergaard (13-9) and visiting Atlanta slowed New York’s wild card chase with the win.
New York had won 11 of its previous 14 games and leads the NL wildcard race by one game over San Francisco and St. Louis..
Cardinals 5, Rockies 3 — In Denver, Carlos Martinez threw five effective innings and added a two-run double, helping St. Louis gain ground in the NL playoff race with a win against Colorado.
The Cardinals moved into a tie for the second wild card with the Giants, one game behind the Mets.
Marlins 4, Nationals 3 — Giancarlo Stanton homered and host Miami edged Washington.
Christian Yelich, Ichiro Suzuki, and Derek Dietrich also drove in a run for the Marlins and A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 38th save in 41 chances.
Danny Espinosa hit a three-run homer and A.J. Cole allowed two runs and four hits in four innings for the Nationals.
Brian Ellington (3-2) picked up the win with an inning of relief while Mat Latos (7-3) took the loss.
Cubs 5, Reds 2 — Dexter Fowler hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the seventh inning, and host Chicago beat Cincinnati.
Fowler’s line drive into center field capped a three-run rally for the Cubs after they were shut down by Tim Adleman most of the night. It also made a winner of Jason Hammel (159), who pitched seven solid innings.
Jason Heyward added a two-run homer in the eighth as the Cubs moved seven games ahead of Washington for the best record in the NL.
Padres 3, Diamondbacks 2 — Clayton Richard (3-3) was sharp for sixplus innings and Wil Myers homered as host San Diego defeated Arizona.
The win elevated the Padres into a fourth-place tie with Arizona after the matchup between the NL West’s worst teams.