American League

Blue Jays 6, Twins 1

Teoscar Hernández, Marcus Semien and George Springer homered, and the Toronto Blue Jays held their position in the playoff chase by beating the Minnesota Twins 6-1 Saturday night.

Robbie Ray (13-6) scattered three hits in six innings as the Blue Jays ended a three-game slide.

Toronto stayed two games behind Boston and New York in the AL wild-card race with seven games remaining.

“We did what we do tonight,” Semien said. “… We knew we have our ace on the mound and put up some more runs and do our thing.”

Semien hit his 43rd home run in the sixth for a 3-1 lead. That ties him with Davey Johnson of Atlanta in 1973 for the most home runs in a season by a second baseman.

Springer snapped an 0-for-16 skid with a two-run shot in the seventh. It was his 18th of the season and first since Sept. 11.

“I never seen the dugout so happy to see George hit that ball because we know he can be that guy to carry us for the next seven games,” manager Charlie Montoyo said.

Ray, who leads the AL with a 2.68 ERA and tops the majors with 244 strikeouts, gave up one run and fanned six.

“It’s kind of been my focus all year is coming in putting up zeroes, giving my team a chance to win and especially tonight knowing that this is pretty much a must-win ball game for us to stay where we are, stay in this thing,” Ray said. “To be able to go out and do that was huge.”

“He can win the Cy Young,” Montoyo said.

Minnesota scored on a sacrifice fly in the first and had runners on in four of the next five innings. Ray escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth, ending his outing by getting Miguel Sanó to foul out and Nick Gordon to line out. The Twins were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

“When you’re facing a guy like this, you definitely have to capitalize every opportunity you can because you’re only going to get so many,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Hernández homered and Santiago Espinal scored on a double by Randal Grichuk, coupled with an error by right fielder Brent Rooker, for a 2-1 lead in the second.

Out since Sept. 14 with a left abdominal strain, Minnesota starter John Gant (5-10) came off the 10-day injured list and allowed two runs — one earned — in three innings.

Former 1B Justin Morneau was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.

The native of New Westminster, British Columbia, hit .278 in 11 years with the club. Morneau ranks second on the Twins all-time list in games played at first base (1,124), third in home runs (221), sixth in RBI (860), and eighth in hits (1,318) and walks (501). The American League MVP in 2006 also was a four-time All-Star. He finished his 14-year career with stints in Pittsburgh, Colorado and with the White Sox, and was inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020. He remains with the Twins as a special assistant to baseball operations and part-time analyst on the team’s television broadcasts.

Athletics 2, Astros 1

Starling Marte hit a game-ending double with one out in the ninth inning to lift Oakland over Houston.

The Athletics are four games behind co-wild card leaders New York and Boston, with Seattle and Toronto in between.

Houston’s magic number to clinch the AL West remained at three over the Mariners.

Elvis Andrus singled off Ryan Pressly (5-3) to begin the Oakland ninth and scored the winning run but injured his left ankle on the play.

Andrew Chafin (2-3) retired three batters to get the win.

Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros.

Indians 6, White Sox 0

Eli Morgan allowed one hit in six innings and José Ramirez drove in three runs, powering Cleveland past the AL Central champion White Sox.

Chicago remained four games behind AL West leader Houston in the race for home-field advantage in the Division Series. Both teams have seven games remaining.

Morgan (4-7) struck out six and walked one, giving up only a double to Yoan Moncada in the fifth.

Ramirez hit a two-run homer and had an RBI single off Lance Lynn (10-6), whose winless streak reached nine starts. The All-Star gave up six runs in six innings, striking out six without a walk, and has not won since July 25.

Andrés Giménez had a solo homer. Sam Hentges and Bryan Shaw wrapped up the three-hitter for Cleveland’s eighth shutout.

Angels 14, Mariners 1

Shohei Ohtani tripled in his first two at-bats and Los Angeles damaged Seattle's playoff chances by ending its six-game winning streak.

Jhonathan Diaz (1-0) pitched seven strong innings in relief for his first major league win and the Angels scored eight runs in the third as the Mariners dropped three games out in the AL wild-card chase with seven to play.

Boston and New York are tied atop the wild-card standings, with Toronto two games back in the race for two spots.

Ohtani scored two runs and had three RBIs to raise his season total to 98. He tripled twice off starter Tyler Anderson, then was walked in his next two plate appearances. The two-way star has walked 13 times in the last four games, tying a major league record.

Jared Walsh was 4 for 5 with four RBIs for the Angels, and Brandon Marsh scored four times. Luis Rengifo hit a solo homer.

Anderson (7-10), acquired from Pittsburgh in July, allowed nine earned runs and nine hits in two-plus innings.

Tigers 5, Royals 1

Miguel Cabrera drove in four runs, including a go-ahead double in the sixth inning, and Detroit downed Kansas City.

Jeimer Candelario delivered an RBI double for the Tigers, who have won five of six. Jonathan Schoop had two hits and scored two runs.

Drew Hutchison (3-1) allowed only an unearned run in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Michael Fulmer got four outs for his 12th save.

Tigers left fielder Akil Baddoo robbed Hunter Dozier of a homer with a leaping catch.

Domingo Tapia (4-1) took the loss.

Orioles 3, Rangers 2

Kelvin Gutierrez homered to cap a three-run seventh inning and Baltimore beat Texas.

Jose Trevino and Nathaniel Lowe went deep for the Rangers, who have lost nine of 11 to fall to 56-99. Texas is headed toward its first 100-loss season since 1973.

The game was scoreless in the seventh when the 105-loss Orioles broke through against starter Jordan Lyles (9-13). Trey Mancini walked and scored on Pat Valaika’s double, and Gutierrez followed with his second homer.

Trevino homered in the eighth off winner Brooks Kriske (2-1). Dillon Tate allowed a solo shot to Lowe in the ninth before getting his third save.

Interleague

Rays 7, Marlins 3

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched their second straight AL East title, with Mike Zunino hitting a go-ahead homer and Brandon Lowe later adding a pair of RBI doubles to beat Miami.

Pete Fairbanks retired Lewis Brinson on a foul popup with the bases loaded for the final out, giving the Rays the chance to celebrate on the field. Earlier in the day, Tampa Bay’s magic number was cut to one when the New York Yankees beat Boston 5-3.

There was a standing ovation from the season-high crowd of 23,783 at Tropicana Field when the Yankees’ victory was announced after the top of the sixth inning.

Tampa Bay improved to 96-59 and won its fourth division title since becoming a major league team for the 1998 season. The club debuted as the Devil Rays then and wore jerseys with that name during this clinching victory.

The Rays, who lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games last season, have never won the championship.

Shane McClanahan (10-6) allowed one run and six hits over five innings.

Zunino connected off Sandy Alcantara (9-14) for his 32nd homer.

National League

Giants 7, Rockies 2

Brandon Belt went deep twice as San Francisco set a franchise record for home runs in a season, and the Giants beat Colorado to extend their NL West lead.

Belt hit a solo homer in the first inning and a three-run shot in the fifth off Jon Gray (8-12). His second drive was the team’s 236th homer of the season, surpassing the 235 hit by the 2001 club. That squad featured Barry Bonds’ major league-record 73 homers.

San Francisco stretched its division lead to two games over the Dodgers, who lost in Arizona. Both teams have seven games remaining.

Anthony DeSclafani was lifted for a pinch-hitter after going four innings and allowing two runs. The Giants used six relievers, with Tony Watson (7-4) earning the win.

Diamondbacks 7, Dodgers 2

Ketel Marte and Carson Kelly homered early off Clayton Kershaw, Zac Gallen pitched one-run ball for six innings and Arizona kept Los Angeles from reaching 100 wins.

The Dodgers (99-56) fell two games behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West. The second-place team will host the NL wild-card game on Oct. 6, likely against St. Louis.

Gallen (3-10), who hadn’t won since Aug. 26 against Philadelphia, struck out six in the first two innings.

Marte, who finished with three of the Diamondbacks’ nine hits, homered on the first pitch from Kershaw (10-8). The left-hander gave up four runs, three earned, and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Arizona is tied for the major league lead with 105 losses and was just 2-8 in its previous 10 games.

Trea Turner homered twice for the Dodgers.

Braves 10, Padres 8 (10 innings)

Jorge Soler hit a go-ahead double with one out in the 10th inning for his fourth RBI, and Atlanta maintained its 1 1/2-game lead in the NL East while eliminating San Diego from playoff contention.

The Padres were one out from a win in regulation when Eddie Rosario hit a tying single off major league saves leader Mark Melancon, who was trying for his 39th.

Soler, who hit a three-run homer in the sixth, then helped seal the biggest collapse in Padres history with his hit off Daniel Hudson (5-3). Ozzie Albies added a sacrifice fly.

San Diego, led by superstars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado and with a payroll of more than $170 million, had a one-game lead for the second NL wild card on Sept. 9 but then went into a devastating free-fall that cost the Padres a second consecutive postseason appearance.

Richard Rodriguez (5-4) pitched the ninth and Will Smith worked a perfect 10th for his 34th save.

Machado hit a grand slam in a game that had some big swings, and Adam Frazier and Eric Hosmer also homered for the Padres.

Cardinals 8, Cubs 5

The St. Louis Cardinals set a franchise record with their 15th straight win, boosted when catcher Yadier Molina and center fielder Harrison Bader helped pull off a wild double play against Chicago.

Bader, Tyler O’Neill and Paul DeJong homered as these Cardinals broke the team record of 14 wins in a row set in 1935, a year after Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang won the World Series.

Bader went 4 for 4 and scored three times as the Cardinals held their comfortable lead for the second NL wild card.

Nolan Arenado doubled to spark a three-run rally in the seventh after Codi Heuer (7-3) replaced starter Adrian Sampson.

Ian Happ drove in three runs for the Cubs, who have lost five straight and nine of 10. The loss snapped Chicago’s streak of seven consecutive winning seasons at Wrigley Field.

Kwang Hyun Kim (7-7) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

Phillies 3, Pirates 0

Ranger Suarez pitched a four-hit shutout, Bryce Harper homered and the Philadelphia Phillies kept up their playoff push by beating Pittsburgh for their fifth straight win.

The Phillies began the day 1 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. Philadelphia visits the Braves for a three-game series beginning Tuesday.

Suarez (7-5) allowed just four singles, walked none and struck out seven in his first major league complete game. He didn’t permit a runner past first base and faced only one batter more than the minimum.

Harper hit his 34th home run and Matt Vierling connected for his first in the majors as the Phillies (81-74) moved a season-best seven games over .500.

Vierling and Harper each had a solo homer in the third inning off Will Crowe (4-8).

Reds 7, Nationals 6

Nick Castellanos hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Cincinnati a win over Washington.

The Reds remained six games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card with seven remaining. Cincinnati won back-to-back home games for the first time since sweeping Miami in a four-game series Aug. 19-22.

Castellanos connected off Patrick Murphy (0-3), extending his career-high homer total to 31.

Keibert Ruiz and Lane Thomas homered for the Nationals.

Mychal Givens (4-3) got the win.