Yankees’ freefall continues
Bo Bichette thumped a leadoff homer in the first inning and singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 42nd homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays held off the skidding New York Yankees 6-4 Thursday night for their eighth straight win.
The Blue Jays completed their first four-game sweep in the Bronx since 2003 and pulled within a half-game of New York for the final AL wild card. Toronto has its longest winning streak since an 11-game spurt in 2015.
The Yankees have lost six straight and 10 of 12, a jarring collapse immediately following a 13-game winning streak that propelled them to the top of the wild-card race. They fell a game behind idle Boston for the lead spot.
It’s the first time since 1908 the Yankees were swept in a four-game home series while never leading, according to STATS.
José Berríos (11-7) dominated the Yankees until Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer in the sixth tied it at 2. The right-hander got two outs in the seventh before being pulled after 109 pitches. He was charged with two runs and struck out eight.
Bichette got the first of his three hits with his 22nd homer to begin the game. Randal Grichuk added a solo shot against New York starter Nestor Cortes Jr., and Teoscar Hernández also had three hits for Toronto.
Guerrero’s solo shot off Andrew Heaney in the ninth made it 5-2. The 22-year-old Guerrero matched Kansas City’s Salvador Perez for second in the majors behind Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who has 43 homers.
Gary Sánchez and Luke Voit homered for New York with two outs in the ninth off Nate Pearson. Sánchez’s homer was his 21st and Voit’s was his ninth.
Athletics 3, White Sox 1 — Sean Manaea struck out nine in seven dominant innings for Oakland.
Manaea (9-9) allowed one run and five hits in his first win since July 28. The lefthander went 0-3 with an 8.00 ERA in his previous six starts.
Tony Kemp and Matt Chapman each drove in a run for Oakland, which took two of three games in the series.
José Abreu had two hits and drove in a run for the AL Central-leading White Sox, who have lost 10 of their last 11 regular-season games at the Oakland Coliseum.
Kemp put the A’s ahead with a run-scoring triple against Reynaldo López (3-2) in the second. The White Sox tied it when Abreu singled home César Hernández in the third, giving him 104 RBIs on the year.
National League
Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1 — Tyler O’Neill hit a tiebreaking homer, Cardinals relievers combined for five scoreless innings, and St. Louis salvaged a split of its fourgame series against Los Angeles.
The Cardinals climbed within three games of the San Diego Padres for the final NL wild-card spot, while the Dodgers fell 2 1/2 games behind the NL Westleading San Francisco Giants.
O’Neill’s fifth-inning drive off Phil Bickford (3-2), his 25th homer this season, barely cleared the left field wall, inching past the outstretched glove of Steven Souza Jr.