Surging Yankees nip Jays
NEW YORK — Brett Gardner made a leaping catch at the top of the left-field wall on Justin Smoak’s basesloaded drive for the final out, and the New York Yankees held on during a nervy ninth inning to beat the AL Eastleading Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 on a misty Tuesday night.
A scrambly September game with October implications seesawed to the last swing and turned at the end in favor of the Yankees. New York won its third in a row and sent Toronto to its fourth loss in five games.
At a season-high seven games over .500, the Yankees closed within 4½ games of first place, their smallest deficit since April, and remained 3½ back for the AL’s second wild card.
CARDINALS 9, PIRATES 7: Matt Carpenter, Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta all homered off closer Tony Watson with two outs in the ninth inning, helping St. Louis rally past host Pittsburgh.
ORIOLES 11, RAYS 2: Manny Machado capped a six-run fourth inning with a grand slam off Jake Odorizzi, leading Baltimore to a win at Tampa Bay.
METS 5, REDS 3: Yoenis Cespedes hit the most damaging of New York’s four homers, a two-run shot in the seventh inning, as the Mets rallied for their 13th straight victory over host Cincinnati.
BREWERS 12, CUBS 5: Jonathan Villar homered to start a five-run first inning against Jason Hammel, and Milwaukee cooled off visiting Chicago. The NL Central-leading Cubs had won seven of eight.
WHITE SOX 2, TIGERS 0: Jose Abreu hit his fifth homer in seven games, Miguel Gonzalez threw 61⁄3 innings of six-hit ball, and Chicago topped visiting Detroit.
PHILLIES 4, MARLINS 3: Adam Morgan snapped his major league-worst streak of nine consecutive losses, Odubel Herrera scored three runs, and Philadelphia won at Miami.
ROYALS 10, TWINS 3: Kendrys Morales had two homers, including a three-run blast in a seven-run ninth inning that propelled Kansas City to a victory at Minnesota.
GIANTS 3, ROCKIES 2: Kelby Tomlinson hit a one-out tiebreaking single in the ninth, and San Francisco rallied to win at Colorado.
NATIONALS 9, BRAVES 7: Pinch runner Michael A. Taylor scored the go-ahead run on catcher Tyler Flowers’ throwing error as Washington defeated visiting Atlanta.
ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 2: Joey Wendle hit a go-ahead single during a three-run eighth inning, and Oakland rallied to beat visiting Los Angeles.