Nacho Alvarez Jr. slugged the first two homers of his career and drove in three runs as the visiting Atlanta Braves rallied past Detroit 6-5 on Saturday afternoon, sending the Tigers to their fifth straight loss and reducing their lead in the American League Central to one game over Cleveland.
The second-place Guardians swept a doubleheader over host Minnesota on Saturday to run their winning streak to 10 games and stay well within striking distance of the Tigers with a week to go in the regular season.
Cleveland has won 15 of its past 16 games and Detroit has lost eight of nine.
For Atlanta on Saturday, Jurickson Profar completed a two-run rally in the ninth with a tiebreaking RBI single as the Braves extended their winning streak to seven games. Drake Baldwin hit a two-run homer for Atlanta, which got a scoreless inning of relief from Dylan Dodd (1-0) and the 27th save of the season by Raisel Iglesias.
Guardians 6, Twins 0 (Game 1)
Bo Naylor hit a pair of solo home runs as red-hot Cleveland pulled away for a shutout 6-0 win over Minnesota in the first game of a day-night doubleheader in Minneapolis, Minn.
Guardians All-Star Jose Ramirez secured his third 30-30 season, clubbing his 30th homer to go along with 40 stolen bases in 150 games. He also has two consecutive 30-40 campaigns.
Cleveland right-hander Slade Cecconi (7-6) struck out eight batters in seven scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and walked one. Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (13-9) gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Guardians 8, Twins 0 (Game 2)
Steven Kwan went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and Cleveland pulled away to beat host Minnesota and finish off a sweep of the day-night doubleheader.
Gabriel Arias doubled and drove in two runs for the Guardians, who won their 10th game in a row. Left-hander Logan Allen (8-11) shined in eight scoreless innings in the nightcap, limiting the Twins to four hits and one walk, striking out seven.
Royce Lewis went 1-for-3 with a double for Minnesota, which tallied just four hits. Right-hander Bailey Ober (5-9) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings.
Mariners 6, Astros 4
Cal Raleigh set the franchise single-season record with his 57th home run, and right-hander George Kirby twirled six scoreless innings as visiting Seattle clinched a crucial three-game series with a victory over Houston.
The Mariners secured both a two-game lead over the Astros in the American League West and the tiebreaker by claiming the season series. Houston fell into a tie with Cleveland for the final wild-card spot with the loss and does not hold the tiebreaker.
Seattle tagged Astros starter Framber Valdes (12-11) for five runs over 4 2/3 innings, plating runs in each of the first three innings. The Astros got on the board with Jeremy Pena’s first career grand slam in the seventh but stranded the tying run on second in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts.
Nationals 5, Mets 3
Daylen Lile hit a tiebreaking, two-run, inside-the-park home run in the 11th inning for visiting Washington, which squandered a three-run lead before handing New York a loss in the middle game of a three-game series.
Automatic runner CJ Abrams opened the 11th by getting tagged out as he tried advancing to third on Andres Chaparro’s grounder against Tyler Rogers (4-6) before Lile hit a ball well over the head of Mets center fielder Cedric Mullins.
The ball bounced off the fence and caromed past Mullins, and the fleet-footed Lile, who has 11 triples in just 85 games this season, never broke stride sprinting around the bases and slid home well ahead of the throw.
Pirates 2, Athletics 0
Bubba Chandler and two relievers combined on a one-hitter and Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the visiting Athletics.
Nick Yorke and Bryan Reynolds homered for the Pirates, who recorded their MLB-best 18th shutout of the season and won for just the second time in their last 14 games.
Jacob Wilson doubled in the second inning for the Athletics’ lone hit. The Atheltics’ only other baserunner came with one out in the third inning, when Brett Harris was hit by a pitch.
Reds 6, Cubs 3
Spencer Steer, TJ Friedl and Tyler Stephenson each homered, propelling Cincinnati to a crucial victory over visiting Chicago.
Zack Littell (10-8) allowed two runs on three hits across five innings for the Reds, who won their fourth straight, cutting their deficit to one game behind the New York Mets for the National League’s final wild-card spot.
Cubs starter Javier Assad surrendered two runs on three hits in four innings, while striking out two and walking two. Drew Pomeranz (2-2) allowed Steer’s go-ahead homer in the fifth for Chicago, which dropped its third straight.
Yankees 6, Orioles 1
Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge homered, and Carlos Rodon set a career-high mark with a sterling outing on the mound as New York defeated host Baltimore.
The Yankees won for the seventh time in their last 10 games, keeping hopes alive in the American League East race. Stanton’s three-run homer in the first inning was the 450th of his career while Judge’s was his 49th of the season. Rodon (17-9) set a new career high for victories in a season.
The Orioles didn’t score until Coby Mayo’s two-out double in the seventh inning. He had two of the team’s four hits. Baltimore starter Tomoyuki Sugano (10-9), who hasn’t won in more than a month, took the loss. He lasted three innings, allowing four runs on six hits and one walk.
Red Sox 6, Rays 3
Trevor Story knocked in the go-ahead run in a three-run ninth inning as Boston crafted its eighth straight win over Tampa Bay.
Tied 3-all, Story put the Red Sox ahead by singling in Ceddanne Rafaela, who reached on third baseman Junior Caminero’s second fielding error, for a 4-3 lead off reliever Jesse Scholtens (0-1). Masataka Yoshida (single) and Romy Gonzalez (sacrifice fly) drove in runs for the three-run lead as Boston moved to 10-2 against the Rays this season.
Garrett Whitlock (7-3) was credited with the win. Aroldis Chapman notched his 31st save. Tampa Bay’s Jake Mangum was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Yandy Diaz was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Padres 7, White Sox 3
Jackson Merrill homered and Ryan O’Hearn’s three-run double gave San Diego the lead for good in a come-from-behind win over host Chicago.
Reliever Adrian Morejon (13-5) got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the Padres, who had lost three of their last four. Starter Yu Darvish allowed two runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
The White Sox have lost seven of their last eight. Chicago got a home run from Lenyn Sosa and three spectacular catches from right fielder Mike Tauchman. Starter Yoendrys Gomez (3-3) was the loser as he gave up three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He did not walk a batter and had four strikeouts.
Royals 2, Blue Jays 1
Kansas City rookie Noah Cameron allowed one run over 6 2/3 strong innings, and Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino hit back-to-back homers in the fourth, as host Kansas City handed AL East-leading Toronto a fourth straight defeat.
Cameron (9-7) pitched into the seventh inning for a third consecutive outing and recorded the 10th quality start off the left-hander’s first year in the majors. Cameron owns a 2.90 ERA over his 23 major league starts.
Though the Blue Jays are on the verge of reaching the postseason, they have totaled three runs during this four-game skid. George Springer doubled Saturday for Toronto, which had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
Marlins 4, Rangers 3
Troy Johnston and Connor Norby hit back-to-back solo home runs in the sixth inning and Miami held on to beat host Texas.
The victory was the fifth straight and the ninth in 10 games for the surging Marlins, who have assured themselves of winning their third consecutive series.
The Rangers’ loss was their sixth in a row and all but doomed their chances for an AL wild-card spot. Texas is five games behind the Houston Astros and Cleveland Guardians for the final AL berth in the postseason with seven games to play.
Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 3
Zac Gallen pitched seven strong innings, Ildemaro Vargas hit a tie-breaking single in a two-run sixth, and Arizona gained a game in the NL wild-card race with a victory over visiting Philadelphia.
Gallen gave up three runs on four hits, striking out nine and walking two in what could be his final home start for Arizona. He is a free agent this winter.
Alec Bohm had two hits including a homer, and Kyle Schwarber had two hits and an RBI double for the Phillies, who had won three of four and 16 of 21.
Brewers 3, Cardinals 2 (10 innings)
Brice Turang’s go-ahead 10th-inning RBI single lifted visiting Milwaukee past St. Louis, putting the Brewers at the brink of another National League Central title. Their magic number is down to one.
Milwaukee starter Chad Patrick allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, then reliever Jared Koenig (6-1) pitched two innings to earn the victory. Catcher William Contreras exited the game in the eighth inning. He had injured his glove hand earlier in the seventh inning on a catcher’s interference incident.
Reliever JoJo Romero (4-6) took the loss for the Cardinals, who lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Starter Miles Mikolas allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings.
Angels 3, Rockies 0
Mike Trout hit his 400th career home run to help Los Angeles break their eight-game losing streak with a win over host Colorado in Denver.
The eighth-inning blast was Trout’s 22nd of the season. He became the 59th player in major league history to hit 400 home runs. Trout, who has played his whole career with the Angels, has 200 home runs at home and 200 on the road.
Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel also hit solo home runs for Los Angeles. German Marquez, making possibly his last start at Coors Field after 10 years with the Rockies, took the loss.
Dodgers 7, Giants 5
Shohei Ohtani hit his NL-leading 53rd home run, Max Muncy, Michael Conforto and Tommy Edman added homers of their own and Los Angeles made it three straight over visiting San Francisco.
After rallying from a four-run deficit to win for the fourth straight time, the Dodgers retained a four-game lead over the Padres atop the NL West with seven games remaining.
The loss prevented the Giants from gaining a game in the wild-card race on the New York Mets, who lost to the Washington Nationals earlier Saturday. San Francisco stayed four games back with seven to go.
