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MLB roundup: Orioles eliminate Yanks, Astros from playoff contention

[September 30, 2016] The Sports Xchange

TORONTO -- Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one hit in 6 2/3 scoreless innings and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Blue Jays 4-0 on Thursday night to tie Toronto for the first American League wild-card spot.

The Orioles took the rubber match of the three-game series after the Blue Jays took the opener. Baltimore's victory eliminated the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees from wild-card contention.

Yankees 5, Red Sox 1

NEW YORK -- CC Sabathia pitched 7 1/3 effective innings, but despite victory over Boston, New York was eliminated from postseason contention.

Sabathia finished his eighth season with the Yankees by allowing one run and four hits. He struck out the first four hitters, eight overall and threw 105 pitches.

Starlin Castro, Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Hicks had RBI doubles for the Yankees. Rookie Tyler Austin had a bases-loaded walk and Chase Headley scored on a wild pitch. Xander Bogaerts homered for the Red Sox, who dropped their third straight following an 11-game winning streak.

Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 3

WASHINGTON -- Wilmer Difo hit the first homer of his career, Pedro Severino clubbed his second and Michael A. Taylor had three hits and two RBIs as Washington used a patchwork lineup to beat Arizona.

The Nationals, who clinched the National League East title Saturday, are 48-30 at home while last-place Arizona (66-93) ended the year 36-45 in road games as the teams split the four-game series.

Cubs 1, Pirates 1 (tie)

PITTSBURGH -- Chicago won 101 games during its best season since 1910, but this was a first -- a tie.

The Cubs and Pittsburgh were tied 1-1 after 4 1/2 innings when a hard rain washed out the rest of the Pirates' final home game of the season. Since the season ends Sunday, the suspended game will not be finished, although player stats will count and the game will go down as a tie.

The tie was the first in Major League Baseball since the Houston Astros and Reds played to a 2-2 tie in Cincinnati on June 30, 2005.

Indians-Tigers (ppd.)

DETROIT -- Heavy rain with the prospect of more on the way prompted postponement between wild card-hunting Detroit and the American League Central Division champion Cleveland.

The game will be made up Monday afternoon in Detroit if necessary.

The game will be played if it has a bearing on whether the Tigers can make the playoffs as a wild-card team or if Cleveland could take the top spot in the AL standings and gain homefield advantage throughout the AL playoffs.

Cardinals 4, Reds 3

ST. LOUIS -- In controversial fashion, St. Louis rallied to beat Cincinnati on Yadier Molina's two-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Matt Carpenter started the winning rally with a one-out walk off Blake Wood (6-5). Molina rammed a 2-0 pitch to left and the ball appeared to hit off signage behind the wall, but the ball was ruled in play and Carpenter scored from first.

Closer Seung Hwan Oh (6-3) gave up the tying run in the ninth and still picked up the win as the Cardinals pulled within two games of the idle New York Mets for the NL's first wild-card spot. They also crawled within a half-game of San Francisco for the second wild-card slot, pending the outcome of the Giants' home game with Colorado.

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Braves 5, Phillies 2

ATLANTA -- Atlanta is 35-34 since the All-Star Game and one of the reasons is the addition of Matt Kemp to start August. Kemp, acquired in a trade with San Diego, doubled in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning and the Braves defeated Philadelphia for their 10th victory in the past 11 games.

Rookie Dansby Swanson hit his third homer to tie the game in the sixth and walked to start the four-run eighth as the Phillies bullpen faltered again in losing to the Braves for the seventh straight time.

Jeanmar Gomez (3-5) got just one out and gave up the four runs on three hits, two walks (one intentional) and a hit batter.

Twins 7, Royals 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Byron Buxton tripled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice as Minnesota defeated Kansas City.

Buxton delivered a one-out double in the ninth inning and after Jorge Polanco reached on an infield hit, Robbie Grossman and Miguel Sano delivered consecutive RBI singles to give Minnesota a 6-4 lead. Max Kepler's two-out single made it 7-4.

After Salvador Perez's pinch RBI single with two out in the ninth pulled the Royals within a run, Terrance Gore ran for him. With Paulo Orlando, who had four hits to match his career high, at the plate, Brandon Kintzler picked Gore off first base.

Rays 5, White Sox 3

CHICAGO -- Right-hander Chris Archer survived seventh-inning struggles and avoided a 20-loss season as Tampa Bay beat Chicago.

The Rays ended a six-game losing streak in the finale of the four-game series after the White Sox won the first three.

Archer (9-19) snapped a two-game losing streak while allowing three runs on six hits for the win. He walked two and struck out five over 6 2/3 innings.

Dodgers 9, Padres 4

SAN DIEGO -- Joc Pederson had three RBIs to lift Los Angeles past San Diego to avoid a three-game sweep.

Pederson had a pair of doubles to pace the Dodgers as they remain two games behind the Washington Nationals for homefield advantage in next week's National League Division Series. Washington beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3.

Los Angeles scored four times in the sixth to seize control of the game as they roughed up starter Christian Friedrich (5-12) and reliever Jose Torres.

Mariners 3, Athletics 2

SEATTLE -- Mike Zunino broke a tie with a leadoff homer in the seventh inning, and Seattle held off a ninth-inning Oakland rally to keep its slim postseason chances alive with a win over the A's.

Zunino took Oakland reliever Liam Hendriks (0-4) deep in the seventh, and Ketel Marte added an RBI single in the eighth to help Seattle earn its fourth win in five games.

The Mariners stayed within two games of co-leaders Toronto and Baltimore in the American League wild-card standings. The Orioles beat the Blue Jays earlier Thursday.

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