SATURDAY’S MLB ROUNDUP

AMERICAN LEAGUE YANKEES 13, BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO — James Paxton pitched five innings to win his ninth straight start, Brett Gardner homered twice and drove in five runs and New York hit five homers against Toronto.

Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit also homered for the Yankees, going backto-back off right-hander Brock Stewart in the fifth, as the AL East leaders won for the 14th time in 19 games.

DJ LeMahieu had four hits for New York, his AL-leading 58th multi-hit game of the season. Paxton (14-6) allowed one run on three hits, becoming the first Yankees pitcher since Mike Mussina to win nine consecutive starts. Jacob Waguespack (4-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in 32/3 innings.

TWINS 2, INDIANS 0, GAME 1

CLEVELAND — Five Minnesota pitchers combined to stop Cleveland’s offense and the Twins beat the Indians 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Zack Littell (5-0) relieved starter Devin Smeltzer in the fourth and struck out two in two innings. Taylor Rogers got the final five outs for his 26th save, but had to work out of trouble in the eighth and ninth.

TWINS 9, INDIANS 5, GAME 2

CLEVELAND — Miguel Sanó’s grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning and Minnesota grabbed firm control of the AL Central, sweeping a day-night doubleheader from Cleveland.

The sweep pushed the Twins 5½ games ahead of the Indians going into the final game of the showdown series Sunday. Four pitchers worked for Minnesota, with rookie right-hander Brusdar Graterol (1-0) going two scoreless innings for his first major league win.

Jorge Polanco’s double off Oliver Pérez (2-3) tied the game. Cruz and Eddie Rosario walked to load the bases, bringing Nick Goody in to face Sanó.

TIGERS 8, ORIOLES 4 (12)

DETROIT — Victor Reyes hit a tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning and John Hicks had the game-winning grand slam in the 12th to lift Detroit past Baltimore.

The Orioles lost their 100th game for the second straight season after finishing 47-115 a year ago. Hicks’ blast to the bullpen in left field came off Ryan Eades (0-1) on a 2-2 count, and was his 12th of the season. John Schreiber (2-0) earned the win, finishing the 12th.

NATIONAL LEAGUE METS 3, DODGERS 0

NEW YORK — Rajai Davis hit a threerun double off Julio Urías with two outs in the eighth inning following a brilliant pitchers’ duel between the Mets’ Jacob deGrom and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and New York beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to maintain its slim wild-card hopes.

DeGrom and Ryu both pitched shutout ball for seven innings and neither walked a batter in a game in which each team got just three hits.

New York remained three games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card with 14 games left and also trails Milwaukee.

Davis broke a 0-0 tie after two hit batters and a walk by the Dodgers’ bullpen. The 38-year-old Davis, who had been hitless in 10 at-bats since Aug. 20, pinch hit, reached for a changeup and hooked it down the left-field line. Davis also had a memorable three-run homer for the Mets against Washington on May 22 in his first big league game this season.

DIAMONDBACKS 1, REDS 0

PHOENIX — Merrill Kelly pitched seven scoreless innings, Nick Ahmed’s triple led to the game’s only run and Arizona snapped a six-game losing streak by beating Cincinnati.

It was a much-needed win for the Diamondbacks, who are trying to stay in a crowded NL wild-card race. They’re still 4½ games behind the Chicago Cubs for the final playoff spot with 13 games remaining.

INTERLEAGUE RED SOX 2, PHILLIES 1

PHILADELPHIA — Pinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning lifted Boston over Philadelphia.

The Phillies were mathematically eliminated from the NL East race when the Braves beat Washington earlier in the day to increase their lead in the division to 10½ games over the Nationals. Philadelphia fell 3½ games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second wild card spot and also trails the Brewers and Mets.

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez had a season-high 12 strikeouts for the defending World Series champions.