Trumbo gives big lift to O’s
Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 47th home run, Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones also went deep in a six-run fifth inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees, 8-1, in steady rain last night to maintain a lead in the AL wild card race at New York.
Baltimore is a game ahead of Toronto for the top AL wild card, while Detroit is a half-game back of the Jays.
Trumbo and Jones homered off Michael Pineda (6-12), who started with 32⁄ 3 hitless innings and suddenly became ineffective. Rangers 3, Rays 1 — Yu Darvish looked playoff-ready with a season-high 12 strikeouts in six innings as Texas beat Tampa Bay in Arlington, Texas, and clinched home field throughout the postseason.
Darvish (7-5) allowed one run, three hits and one walk. His 28th career game of double-digit strikeouts is the second-most in a pitcher’s first 100 major league starts, topped only by Dwight Gooden (31).
Mariners 5, Athletics 1 — Robinson Cano hit two home runs, Taijuan Walker (8-11) pitched six effective innings and Seattle — winners of 7-of-9 — moved within one game of the second AL wild-card spot by beating visiting Oakland.
Indians 7, Royals 2 — Ryan Merritt retired the final 13 batters he faced in five strong innings in his first big league start, Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer as host Cleveland defeated Kansas City.
Tigers 6, Braves 2— Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs, Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton also connected and visiting Detroit moved up in the playoff race, beating Atlanta.
The Tigers won their third straight and pulled within a half-game of Toronto for the second AL wild card spot. The Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox 5-3.
Angels 7, Astros 1 — In Anaheim, Calif., Jefry Marte homered and scored twice and Daniel Wright (1-5) earned his first major league victory to help Los Angeles defeat Houston. White Sox 7, Twins 3 — Carlos Rodon (9-10) tied an AL record by striking out the first seven batters and Tim Anderson finished a double shy of the cycle to lead host Chicago and hand Minnesota their 103rd loss — the most since the franchise moved from Texas.
Cubs 7, Reds 3 — Ben Zobrist homered twice and drove in three runs, helping Chicago beat host Cincinnati. Jake Buchanan (1-0) pitched five shutout innings as Chicago improved to 14-3 against Cincinnati with two games to play.
Mets 5, Phillies 1 — Jay Bruce homered for the third straight game and drove in three runs, Robert Gsellman threw six sharp innings and visiting New York moved closer to securing a wild card berth with a win over Philadelphia. Cardinals 7, Pirates 0 — Carlos Martinez pitched seven sharp innings, Matt Holliday homered in his first game since Aug. 12, and St. Louis stayed in the middle of the NL wild-card race, assuring visiting Pittsburgh a losing season. Marlins 7, Nationals 4 — Christian Yelich homered and Dee Gordon’s infield single in the sixth scored the go-ahead run as visiting Miami beat NL East champ Washington.
Bryce Harper went 0-for4 with four strikeouts in his return to the Nationals lineup after sitting out the previous four days with a left thumb injury. Diamondbacks 5, Padres 3— In Phoenix, Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Owings each hit a two-run home run and Arizona opened its final series by beating San Diego.
Rockies 4, Brewers 1 — In Denver, Nolan Arenado hit his NL-leading 41st homer, Chad Bettis pitched effectively into the seventh and Colorado beat Milwaukee.
Chris Carter connected in the fourth inning, becoming the sixth player in Brewers history to reach 40 home runs in a season.