Tampa Bay routs Orioles in critical game

BALTIMORE — Yandy Diaz homered among his three hits and drove in two runs, Jose Siri denied Gunnar Henderson a potential go-ahead home run with a leaping grab and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore, 7-1, knocking the Orioles from the AL East lead.

Taylor Walls also homered and had two RBIs as the Rays evened the series and dropped the Orioles a half-game behind the New York Yankees, who beat the Chicago Cubs earlier in the day.

Jonny DeLuca also had three hits and Logan Driscoll had an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Ryan Pepiot (8-6) allowed only one run over 5 1/3 innings despite allowing nine baserunners.

TIGERS 2, ATHLETICS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Brant Hurter pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and Detroit beat Oakland.

Detroit moved back over .500 after losing three of its previous four games. The Tigers (72-71) haven’t had a winning season since they went 86-75 in 2016.

Hurter (4-1) entered after Brenan Hanifee got the first two outs as an opener. Hurter allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one.

Oakland (62-81) lost for the third time in four games. The A’s wasted a sharp performance by Brady Basso, who struck out six while pitching six innings of three-hit ball.

ASTROS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 5

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered as Houston improved to 7-0 in games started by Yusei Kikuchi by beating scuffling Arizona.

Altuve had three hits and scored three times. Peña’s 15th homer was a three-run shot, capping a five-run sixth inning that started with the Astros clinging to a one-run lead.

Houston entered with a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL West over Seattle.

Arizona, which has dropped three straight and seven of 10, began the day leading the Braves and Mets by 1 1/2 games for the second National League wild card.

METS 4, REDS 0

NEW YORK — Jose Quintana earned his 100th career win with 6 2/3 sharp innings as the surging New York Mets extended their longest winning streak in more than six years with a victory over Cincinnati.

A slumping Harrison Bader homered to spark a four-run sixth for the Mets, who have won nine straight games for the first time since April 2018. New York, which began the day tied with rival Atlanta for the final NL wild card, hasn’t trailed in its last 72 innings since Aug. 30 — the longest streak in the majors this season.

MARLINS 9, PHILLIES 5

MIAMI — Otto López was a triple shy of the cycle, Connor Norby homered and drove in three runs, and Miami snapped NL East-leading Philadelphia’s six-game winning streak with a victory over the Phillies.

Jonah Bride also homered, while Xavier Edwards and Nick Fortes had two hits each for the Marlins, who had 14 hits a day after losing 16-2 to the Phillies.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola (12-7) was lifted after he allowed five runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out five. It was his shortest start since allowing eight runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings against Boston on June 13.

RANGERS 6, ANGELS 4

ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Smith put Texas ahead for the first time with a two-run single in the seventh inning and the Rangers overcame a pair of two-run deficits to beat the Los Angeles Angels.

Smith’s sharp liner to right field capped a three-run outburst that made it 5-4, immediately following Marcus Semien’s RBI single that came after a 5-for-39 stretch for the Texas leadoff hitter. Victor Mederos (0-1) had just walked the Nos. 8 and 9 batters with two outs — with ball four on the first free pass coming on a pitch-clock violation.

Jose Leclerc (6-4) retired the only two batters he faced in the seventh. All-Star closer Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his 28th save in 29 chances.

BREWERS 5, ROCKIES 2

MILWAUKEE — Willy Adames and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, William Contreras later added a two-run shot and Milwaukee defeated Colorado.

Rookie right-hander Tobias Myers (7-5) recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings to help Milwaukee avoid a fourth consecutive loss. The NL Central-leading Brewers are the only major league team without a losing streak of at least four games this season.

Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard homered for the Rockies.

Adames put Milwaukee ahead for good with his two-out homer off Ty Blach (3-8) in the first inning. The homer was the 30th of the season for Adames, who also has 101 RBIs. Adames entered Saturday tied with Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani for the NL lead in RBIs.

CARDINALS 2, MARINERS 0

ST. LOUIS — Pedro Pagés hit a two-run homer off Logan Gilbert in the eighth inning, helping St. Louis top Seattle .

Jordan Walker was hit by a pitch before Pagés connected for his sixth homer, a drive to left-center on a 1-1 slider.

Gilbert (7-11) struck out 10 while throwing a two-hitter for his second career complete game. He threw 101 pitches, 65 for strikes.

ROYALS 4, TWINS 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a tiebreaking single in a four-run eighth inning, and Kansas City beat Minnesota to open a 1 1/2-game lead over the Twins for the second AL wild card.

Held to one hit over seven innings by Bailey Ober, the Royals rallied against Jhoan Durán (6-9) and Griffin Jax, winning their third straight following a season-high, seven-game losing streak.

Kansas City (78-65) is second behind Cleveland in the AL Central and Minnesota (76-66) is third after losing four of five.

Duran, who topped 100 mph with five of 17 pitches, entered with a 2-0 lead and gave up a one-out single to Freddy Fermin, then hit Robbie Grossman with a pitch. Kyle Isbel hit an RBI single and Jax relieved, trying for a five-out save.

RED SOX 7, WHITE SOX 5

BOSTON — Tyler O’Neill homered twice for Boston in a win Saturday night that sent the Chicago White Sox to their 111th loss.

Chicago wasted a Andrew Vaughn’s two-run homer in the first, trailed 7-2 by the fifth and lost its 19th consecutive series.