Sonny Gray earns his 18th win as Red Sox beat Guardians 1-0
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched six innings to tie Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the major league lead with his 18th victory, Andruw Monasterio drove in the only run with a sixth-inning single, and the Boston Red Sox edged Cleveland 1-0 on Wednesday night to snap the Guardians’ six-game winning streak.
It was just the fifth win in 13 games for the Red Sox, who clinched a playoff spot on Sunday.
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The 36-year-old Gray (18-5) is in line to become the fourth Red Sox pitcher since 2000 to lead the AL in victories, joining Rick Porcello (2016), Josh Beckett (’07) and Curt Schilling (’04).
Gray allowed four singles, struck out three, walked one and lowered his ERA to 2.72.
Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for his 35th save of the season.
Cleveland starter Foster Griffin (15-6) gave up a run on 10 hits with seven strikeouts.
The Guardians entered with a one-game lead over the White Sox atop the AL Central after winning the series opener Tuesday, but needed a win Wednesday combined with a loss by either the Rangers or Astros to clinch a postseason berth.
The victory came with a price for the Red Sox when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela left with right hamstring tightness after running out a single the same day he was activated from the injured list. He had been sidelined with a right a quad strain since Sept. 3 and made a diving headlong grab on Steven Kwan, the game’s first batter.
NATIONALS 4, TIGERS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Yohandy Morales homered for the second time in three games and Washington beat Detroit.
Washington has won eight of its last 11 games. Detroit has lost six of eight.
Will Dion (2-2) picked up the win despite giving up three hits and one run in two innings of relief. Yovanny Cruz got the final four outs for his first save.
Framber Valdez (10-12) took the loss, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Nationals ended the scoreless tie with three straight singles to start the sixth. Base hits by Andres Chaparro and Brady House put runners on first and second, and CJ Abrams made it 1-0 with a line drive to right.
Tyler Kinley relieved Valdez, who gave up a two-run home run to Morales to put the Nationals ahead 3-0. Morales also had a two-run homer on Monday night.
ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2, 1ST GAME
ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2, 2ND GAME
BALTIMORE (AP) — Trey Gibson pitched brilliantly into the seventh inning and Baltimore beat Toronto to sweep a doubleheader and at least temporarily stay alive in the American League playoff race.
One more loss by the Orioles — or a win by the Chicago White Sox, who played at Kansas City on Wednesday night — would eliminate Baltimore. The Orioles also won the opener 4-2 against Toronto, then the 24-year-old Gibson (2-3) was outstanding in the nightcap.
He would have completed at least seven innings if not for a rare defensive positioning violation that kept the top of the seventh going. Sean Keys grounded out to second for the third out, players left the field, and the Orioles were already playing “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” — which comes after “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch — when an umpire interrupted the song to say the Blue Jays were challenging.
A replay appeared to show second baseman Jeremiah Jackson’s heel on the outfield grass before the grounder, so Keys was awarded first. The play was scored an error on Jackson, but no at-bat was charged to Keys. Gibson walked the next hitter and was pulled. Yennier Cano then issued a walk before striking out Myles Straw with the bases loaded to end the inning for real.
In his eighth career start, Gibson allowed three hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered and drove in three runs.
Davis Schneider hit a two-run homer for Toronto in the ninth. The Blue Jays, eliminated from the playoff chase with their loss in the first game, are assured a losing season one year after winning the AL pennant.
Toronto starter CJ Van Eyk (0-2) allowed four runs and four hits in five innings.
TWINS 4, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Walker Jenkins hit an RBI single in the seventh inning that put Minnesota ahead for good and win its second straight over San Francisco.
The score was 2-all with Kody Clemens at second and one out in the seventh. Jenkins delivered a base hit to right off Dylan Smith (0-6) that scored Clemens for a 3-2 Minnesota lead. With two outs, Josh Bell added an RBI single off Sam Hentges to increase the Twins’ edge to 4-2.
Yoendrys Gomez (3-4) retired all five hitters he faced to earn the win. Andrew Morris worked a scoreless ninth for his fifth save. He struck out Shay Whitcomb with runners at first and second to end the game.
Minnesota got on the board first when Luke Keaschall took Cesar Perdomo deep to left for a solo homer in the third inning. It was Keaschall’s 10th homer of the season.
The Giants scored both of their runs with two outs in the fourth on Whitcomb’s pop-fly single that fell just fair near the right-field line. It gave San Francisco a 2-1 advantage.
BREWERS 4, PHILLIES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Christian Yelich and Brice Turang hit solo home runs, and Milwaukee delayed Philadelphia’s potential postseason clinch with a win.
The Phillies needed both a win over the Brewers and a loss later Wednesday night by either Arizona or San Diego to secure their fifth straight trip to the National League playoffs. The Phillies started their run with a trip to the World Series in 2022, reached the NL Championship Series the next season and are coming off consecutive NL East titles.
The Phillies have to settle for a wild-card berth this season and are likely to open the playoffs next week on the road. The Phillies, Chicago and San Diego hold the three NL wild cards headed into the final games of the season.
The Phillies went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position against the Brewers and left 10 runners on base.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said ahead of the game the team was willing to wait at Citizens Bank Park until after the Padres game ended, if necessary, to celebrate. No need to hang around.
Aaron Nola (7-11) had turned around a miserable season and posted a 1.86 ERA over his last eight starts as the longest-tenured Phillie got the chance to clinch. With a playoff party looming, he instead surrendered Turang’s 20th homer of the season in the first inning and Yelich’s 12th of the year in the second.
CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matthew Liberatore ended an 11-start winless stretch and Alec Burleson got his major league-best 112th RBI as St. Louis defeated Pittsburgh.
Liberatore (6-14) gave up one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and no walks. His previous win came on July 11 against Atlanta in the left-hander’s last start before the All-Star break. Liberatore had lost eight straight decisions.
Burleson singled in the first run in a three-run third that put the Cardinals ahead 3-1. Iván Herrera scored on a wild pitch and Leo Bernal hit an RBI single.
Masyn Winn doubled home a run and scored on JJ Wetherholt’s single in the fourth to stretch the lead to 5-1. Wetherholt had three hits and José Fermín added two.
The Pirates’ five-game winning streak ended. It matched their longest of the season.
Brandon Lowe accounted for the Pirates’ lone run when he led off the second inning with his team-leading 34th homer, his first of two hits. Ryan O’Hearn had two doubles.
YANKEES 9, RAYS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Rice hit his 40th and 41st home runs, Ryan McMahon added a grand slam while matching his career high with five RBIs and New York beat Tampa Bay.
Gerrit Cole (10-9) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and three walks. The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner had a 3.61 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 22 starts and 127 innings following his return in May from Tommy John surgery.
A day after Tampa Bay clinched the AL East title, Rice hit the first pitch of the first inning from Mason Englert (0-4) into the right-field second deck for his fourth career leadoff homer and second this season.
Rice added a solo drive in the fourth for his fifth career multihomer game and finished with three hits. He is tied for the AL home run lead with Baltimore’s Pete Alonso, the Rays’ Junior Caminero and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez.
George Lombard Jr. also homered for the Yankees and Cedric Mullins went deep for the Rays.
New York is assured of hosting a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday, likely against Boston. The winner will face the Rays in a best-of-five Division Series.
BRAVES 3, REDS 2, 10 INNINGS
ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale struck out 10 and reached 200 Ks for the season, Mauricio Dubón delivered a winning RBI single in the 10th inning, and Atlanta defeated Cincinnati.
Matt Olson and Austin Riley hit solo homers for the Braves. Brent Suter (3-2) worked a scoreless 10th inning and earned the win.
Sale went 5 2/3 innings and was removed after recording his third strikeout of the game of Reds rookie Sal Stewart. The 37-year-old left-hander has reached 200 strikeouts nine times, which is the most of any pitcher since 2013. In his final start before the postseason, he allowed one run on four hits. Sale hit at least 99 mph on the radar gun on 12 of his 97 pitches.
Olson’s home run was his 41st of the season and tied the game at 1 in the sixth. Riley’s homer tied the game at 2 in the seventh. Dubón was 2 for 4 with a walk and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Reds right fielder Juan Brito led off the game with a home run to center field off Sale. He went 2 for 4, including his third homer of the season.
Braves reliever Robert Suarez pitched for the first time since June 19 after being sidelined due to elbow inflammation. He pitched the seventh inning and gave up a leadoff triple to Matt McLain and a sacrifice fly to Will Banfield that gave the Reds a 2-1 lead. He threw 13 pitches.
ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Maikel Garcia had three hits and three RBIs, including a tiebreaking, run-scoring double in the seventh inning, as Kansas City beat the White Sox and delayed Chicago’s bid for a postseason berth.
Chicago could have secured its first playoff berth since 2021 with a win over the Royals and a Texas loss to the New York Mets.
Instead, Garcia and the Royals played the role of spoiler.
Connor Thomas (2-1) struck out one and allowed one hit in two scoreless innings for the win. Steven Cruz struck out two in the ninth and earned his eighth save.
Kansas City had three straight singles to open the bottom of the first and Garcia drove in two runs with a single to right. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a double that scored Garcia. Pasquantino made it 4-0, scoring on shortstop Colson Montgomery’s throwing error.
Chicago opener Bryan Hudson recorded just one out while facing five batters and allowing four runs, three earned.
The White Sox responded with five hits in the third inning — including Kyle Teel’s two-run single and RBI hits by Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami — sending 10 batters to the plate and tying the score at 4.
In his final start of the season, Kansas City’s Seth Lugo allowed four runs on seven hits, striking out three in 3 1/3 innings. His 200 hits allowed lead the American League and his 99 earned runs allowed rank second.
Carter Jensen had three singles for the Royals (68-90), who snapped a five-game skid.
MARLINS 3, CUBS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Stowers homered and Miami denied the Chicago Cubs a chance to clinch a playoff berth for the second straight night with a victory.
Dansby Swanson drove in both runs for the Cubs, who needed a win or an Arizona loss to Colorado to secure an NL wild-card berth.
Joe Mack’s groundout brought home Augustin Ramirez with the go-ahead run in the seventh and the Marlins retired the next nine Chicago batters to win their second straight game after dropping three in San Diego.
Stowers hit his 21st homer, a two-run shot, off Kevin Gausman in the top of the sixth to break a scoreless tie. The Cubs evened things in the bottom of the inning when Swanson laced a broken-bat single into left field to bring home a pair of runs.
Cade Gibson (6-2), the second of four Miami relievers, struck out two in the seventh and Sandy Alcantara worked the ninth for his second save.
Reliever Ryan Rolison (9-2) took the loss.
METS 7, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Marcus Semien hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning against his former team and Brett Baty added a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth as New York beat Texas.
Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean (12-10) allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings for the last-place Mets (73-85), who have won both games in Texas since ex-interim manager Andy Green was given the full-time position Tuesday.
The Rangers (78-80) have lost three consecutive games and trail first-place Houston by a half-game in the AL West, with the Astros playing later in Seattle. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Texas if the teams finish with the same record.
Semien, traded by the Rangers to the Mets last November for Brandon Nimmo, launched his 15th homer this season off All-Star closer Jacob Latz (3-4) to give New York a 3-2 lead. Semien’s first homer since Aug. 7 snapped an 0-for-13 slump.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ROCKIES 3
DENVER (AP) — Corbin Carroll had a two-run triple to cap a four-run first inning and Arizona kept its playoff hopes alive with a victory over Colorado.
Gabriel Moreno drove in the first run and finished with three hits to help Arizona (84-74) close within three games of the Phillies and Cubs for an NL wild card.
Moreno, with a .310 batting average, trails the Phillies’ Luis Arraez at .312 for the NL batting title with four games remaining.
Merrill Kelly (10-14) allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings to improve to 6-0 in nine starts at Coors Field since 2022. Jonathan Loáisiga earned his second save when he retired Ezequiel Tovar on a foul pop that first baseman Ildemaro Vargas caught at the railing with runners on second and third.
Ketel Marte reached second when Zac Veen misplayed his one-out liner to left field in the first and Moreno singled off rookie Mason Adams (0-2) two pitches later for the lead.
Nolan Arenado added an RBI single before Carroll hit his 17th triple — the most in the majors this season. The Rockies have allowed an MLB-high 131 first-inning runs.