Pinder’s HR helps rally Athletics past Astros 9-7
LOS ANGELES — Chad Pinder tied the score with a three-run homer in the seventh inning, Sean Murphy hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth and the Oakland Athletics rallied past the Houston Astros 9-7 on Wednesday to avoid elimination in their AL Division Series.
Houston leads the best-of-five series 2-1 and can advance to its fourth straight AL Championship Series with a victory in Game 4 on Thursday.
The Astros wasted leads of 2-1 and 7-4, and the Athletics bounced back after giving up advantages of 1-0 and 4-2.
Houston’s bullpen had stifled Oakland in the first two games with seven shutout innings of one-hit relief, but Pinder ended that dominance.
BRAVES 2, MIAMI 0
HOUSTON — Rookie Ian Anderson pitched like a poised veteran, right fielder Nick Markakis made a nifty defensive play late and Atlanta threw another playoff shutout, beating Miami for a 2-0 lead in the NL Division Series.
The Braves have pitched three shutouts in four games this postseason. Travis d’Arnaud and Dansby Swanson each homered for the second straight day, putting Atlanta one win away from a sweep in the best-of-five matchup.
RAYS 8, YANKEES 4
SAN DIEGO — Randy Arozarena homered for the third straight game and
Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Perez also went deep for Tampa Bay, who beat New York to move within one victory of reaching the AL Championship Series for the first time in 12 years. New York’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer off rookie Shane McClanahan to center field in the eighth inning to become the first player with a home run in each of his team’s first five games of a single postseason.