Defending champion Dodgers beat D-backs to clinch playoff spot

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a postseason berth, getting home runs by Max Muncy, Trea Turner and Will Smith to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 on Tuesday.

Their eighth straight victory at home, combined with losses by Cincinnati and San Diego, secured the Dodgers’ ninth consecutive playoff appearance in pursuit of a second straight World Series championship. LA’s home record of 51-23 leads the majors.

Tony Gonsolin (3-1) gave up two hits in five scoreless innings, struck out six and walked two.

Luke Weaver (3-5) gave up four runs and five hits in four innings, struck out four and walked one.

After Arizona closed to 6-4 in the seventh, the Dodgers answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Muncy and Trea Turner drew consecutive walks by Brett de Geus. Seager singled and Justin Turner and Smith had sacrifice flies.

The D-backs closed to 6-4 in the seventh on a three-run shot by Marte, who went 3 for 4 with a strikeout.

RAYS 2, BLUE JAYS 0

TORONTO — Drew Rasmussen combined with four relievers on a three-hitter, Brandon Lowe and Ji-Man Choi homered and the Rays became the first AL team to reach 90 wins by beating the Toronto Blue Jays.

After losing four of their previous five, the East-leading Rays hit the 90-win mark for the eighth time in the past 14 seasons.

Toronto began the day in the AL wild card lead, one game ahead of New York and Boston.

Rasmussen (3-1) allowed two hits in five innings. Andrew Kittredge pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save.

Choi’s leadoff drive in the second, his 10th home run this season, was the only run allowed by José Berríos (11-8), who lost for the first time in four starts.

Lowe hit his 34th home run of the season in the eighth on the first pitch he saw from left-hander Tim Mayza.

YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 2

BALTIMORE — Aaron Judge started a five-homer barrage that backed Gerrit Cole, and New York beat Baltimore.

Cole (15-7) returned from left hamstring tightness that cut short his Sept. 7 start against Toronto. He allowed one run and four hits in five innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Judge hit a two-run homer in the first off Alexander Wells (1-3), his 34th homer of the season. Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the third and Luke Voit followed for back-to-back homers. Joey Gallo added his 34th homer in the eighth and DJ LeMahieu homered in the ninth.

New York won for the third time in 11 games and tied Toronto for the AL-wild card lead. Boston was a half-game back heading into a late game at Seattle.

Ryan Mountcastle had an RBI double in the fifth for the Orioles, who at a major league-worst 46-98 are headed to 100 losses for the third straight full season.

ROCKIES 5, BRAVES 4

ATLANTA — Brendan Rodgers hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, Trevor Story went deep in the second and Colorado held on to beat Atlanta.

Jon Gray pitched five innings as the Rockies moved to 22-51 on the road. Carlos Estévez earned his eighth save in 13 chances.

NL East-leading Atlanta maintained its 4 1/2 game lead over Philadelphia.

Adam Duvall, the NL RBI leader with 101, hit his 35th homer in the eighth.

Gray (8-10) allowed two runs and five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Toussaint (3-3) was charged with four runs and five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in four-plus innings.

WHITE SOX 9, ANGELS 3

CHICAGO — Rookie Gavin Sheets hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs in his first three-hit game, and the White Sox beat the Angels in Joe Maddon’s first game back in Chicago.

Sheets hit a go-ahead single in the second inning off Packy Naughton (0-2) and made it 6-1 with a three-run homer in the third. He narrowly missed a second home run when he doubled to the right-field wall in the fifth.

Maddon managed the Cubs for five years, leading them to the playoffs four times and a World Series title in 2016 that ended the team’s 108-year championship drought.

Luis Robert had a solo homer and a double as the AL Central-leading White Sox expanded their margin over second-place Cleveland to 12 1/2 games.

Leury Garcíaa and César Hernandez each had two hits and an RBI for the White Sox (83-61), who reduced their magic number for clinching the division to seven.

Aaron Bummer (3-5) pitched a scoreless seventh.

Naughton (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings.

PIRATES 6, REDS 5

PITTSBURGH — Wade Miley surrendered six runs on 10 hits and Cincinnati lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Miley (12-6) gave up three runs in the first and three more in the fifth before being pulled with one out. Chris Stratton earned his fifth save.

Pirates starter Dillon Peters (1-2) worked five shutout innings, surrendering five hits with five strikeouts to help Pittsburgh to its fifth win in seven games. Yoshi Tsutsugo and Jacob Stallings drove in two runs apiece.

Tucker Barnhart drove in two runs for the Reds. Nick Castellanos hit his 29th homer of the season in the ninth inning.

The Reds entered the day half a game ahead of the Padres and Cardinals for the second wild card in the NL.

RANGERS 8, ASTROS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — All-Star slugger Adolis García tied the Rangers’ single-season rookie record with his 30th homer, one of three long balls allowed by Zack Greinke.

Rangers starter Jordan Lyles (9-11) struck out seven, walked one and hit one while allowing only three singles over seven scoreless innings.

The Astros’ only run came in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Carlos Correa.

Greinke (11-6) allowed eight runs on five hits and three walks while pitching into the sixth inning.

Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run homer that went 440 feet in the first inning. DJ Peters chased Greinke when he lined a three-run shot 421 feet into the Astros bullpen in left-center in the sixth.

García, who added two doubles, matched Pete Incaviglia, who hit 30 homers during his rookie season in 1986. With 18 games remaining, García also has 81 RBIs, seven off the Rangers’ rookie record also held by Incaviglia.

CARDINALS 7, METS 6, 11 INNINGS

NEW YORK — Edmundo Sosa hit the go-ahead single in a three-run 11th inning and St. Louis climbed all the way back into playoff position with a win over New York.

New York scored twice in the bottom of the 11th and had two runners on when Kwang Hyun Kim retired pinch-hitter Albert Almora Jr. on a grounder for his second career save.

Pinch-hitter Andrew Knizner added a two-run single in the top half to give the Cardinals breathing room as they shook off Javier Báez’s tying homer in the ninth.

Tyler O’Neill homered and drove in three runs for the Cardinals. They’ve won six of seven to vault into the second NL wild-card slot.

Demoted closer Alex Reyes (8-8) got Francisco Lindor to ground into an inning-ending double play with runners at the corners in the 10th.

Rookie Jake Reed (0-1) took the loss.

TIGERS 1, BREWERS 0, 11 INNINGS

DETROIT — Derek Hill hit a leadoff RBI double in the 11th inning as Detroit ended Milwaukee’s five-game win streak.

The Brewers loaded the bases with one out against Bryan Garcia (2-1) in the 11th before Christian Yelich grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Hill fell behind 0-2 while trying to bunt Victor Reyes to third, then lined the next pitch from Hunter Strickland (3-2) into right-center for a game-winning double.

ROYALS 10, ATHLETICS 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Salvador Perez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth, the Kansas City bullpen bailed out starter Jackson Kowar and the Royals rallied from a six-run hole to beat Oakland.

Kyle Isbel hit his first career homer and Hunter Dozier also went deep, helping the Royals continue Oakland’s late-season slide. The A’s have lost seven of 10 to fall farther out of AL wild-card contention.

Perez finished with four RBIs.

Ervin Santana, Joel Payamps, Jake Brentz (5-2), Domingo Tapia, Josh Staumont and Scott Barlow surrendered just one run over the final eight innings. Barlow walked the first two in the ninth before finishing for his 13th save.

INDIANS 3, TWINS 1, 1ST GAME

TWINS 6, INDIANS 3, 2ND GAME

MINNEAPOLIS — Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie cruised through six innings of the first game of a doubleheader to beat Minnesota when a comebacker off the wrist of Twins rookie Joe Ryan shortened the pitching duel.

Ryan Jeffers had four RBIs in the nightcap as the Twins gained a split.

McKenzie (5-6) had seven strikeouts with just three hits, one run and one walk .

Bradley Zimmer homered in the fifth, and Austin Hedges hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh against Danny Coulombe (3-2), before Emmanuel Clase closed it out with a perfect seventh inning.

Kyle Barraclough (1-0) earned the win in the nightcap. Alex Colomé earned his 14th save. Logan Allen (1-7) took the loss.

CUBS 6, PHILLIES 3

PHILADELPHIA — Patrick Wisdom and Alfonso Rivas hit back-to-back homers for Chicago in a win over a Philadelphia team running out of time to make a serious run in the NL playoff race.

The Phillies remained 4½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East and 2½ games behind Cincinnati in the wild-card race.

The Phillies have lost six of seven games.

Odubel Herrera hit a leadoff homer, and Bryce Harper and Didi Gregorius added RBI hits. Kyle Gibson (10-7) struck out seven in allowing five hits and four earned runs in five innings.

Rafael Ortega hit two RBI doubles and Ian Happ drove in another run with a double for Chicago.

Adrian Sampson (1-2) gave up two runs in five innings. Rowan Wick struck out the side in the ninth for his fourth save.

NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 2

WASHINGTON — Ryan Zimmerman homered, Erick Fedde pitched five innings and Washington pounded out 14 hits to win for the second time in three games.

Fedde (7-9) allowed a run on three hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Juan Soto had three hits, an RBI and a walk for Washington, and Keibert Ruiz had three hits.

Lewin Diaz homered twice for the Marlins. Miami starter Jesus Luzardo (5-8) allowed four runs on seven hits and was lifted after 4 1/3 innings.

GIANTS 6, PADRES 1

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey homered in the first and scored the go-ahead run on an error in the third, and San Francisco beat San Diego for its ninth straight victory.

Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf each hit run-scoring doubles and Tommy La Stella added an RBI single to back Anthony DeSclafani (12-6).

With nine straight wins, the Giants have their longest winning streak since a 10-game streak from May 20-31, 2004.

DeSclafani allowed one run on three hits, struck out three and walked one over 6 2/3 innings.

Jake Arrieta (5-13) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for San Diego.

RED SOX 8, MARINERS 4

SEATTLE — Pinch-hitter Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run double in the eighth and Boston beat Seattle to keep pace in the AL wild-card race.

Alex Verdugo had a two-run home run, and J.D. Martinez and Bobby Dalbec added solo shots for Boston, which notched its 42nd come-from-behind win.

The victory kept the Red Sox percentage points behind the Yankees and Blue Jays for the AL’s two wild-card spots. Seattle dropped to three games back.

Adam Ottavino (6-3) recorded the last out of the seventh inning for the win. Starter Nathan Eovaldi struck out nine in five innings.

Joe Smith (2-4) took the loss for Seattle.