Mullins’ 11th-inning sacrifice fly lifts Orioles over Rays after both teams clinch postseason spots

BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles edged the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Sunday after both teams clinched spots in the postseason.

The winner of this game would have wrapped up a playoff spot regardless, but when Texas lost 9-2 to Cleveland, both the Rays and Orioles were in. Moments later, Adam Frazier doubled home the tying run in the bottom of the ninth off Pete Fairbanks to send the game to extra innings.

DL Hall (2-0) threw a scoreless 11th, retiring the Rays on a popup and two grounders.

Mullins flyball to center off Jake Diekman (0-2) was easily deep enough to end it, touching off an on-field celebration in which the players wore orange shirts saying “TAKE OCTOBER” on them.

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The Orioles salvaged a split in this key four-game series at Camden Yards and took a two-game lead over Tampa Bay atop the AL East. Baltimore also holds the tiebreaker over the Rays.

MARLINS 16, BRAVES 2

MIAMI (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a grand slam for the second consecutive game and Miami routed Atlanta to complete a three-game sweep of the NL East champions.

Jorge Soler, Jake Burger and Nick Fortes also went deep, and Luis Arraez had three hits for the Marlins, who began the day a half-game out of the third NL wild-card spot. It was Miami’s first three-game sweep over Atlanta since 2015.

Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo struck out eight in six scoreless innings. Luzardo (10-9) allowed four hits and walked two.

Four consecutive two-out walks by Braves starter Charlie Morton in the fifth increased Miami’s lead to 6-0 and ended his outing. Morton (14-12) gave up six runs and six hits. He walked five and struck out five.

DODGERS 6, MARINERS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Jason Heyward, Austin Barnes and James Outman homered to lead Los Angeles to a three-game sweep one day after clinching the NL West title.

Heyward also had a double, single and two RBIs, and Amed Rosario was a homer shy of the cycle.

J.P. Crawford had two hits and drove in the only run for the Mariners, who have lost seven of nine in the midst of a playoff race.

The Dodgers got a strong pitching performance from left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (8-6), who held the Mariners to one run in 4 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Yarbrough came on in the second following opener Shelby Miller, and Gavin Stone entered with two outs in the sixth and closed out the game for a save, giving up one hit.

Seattle starter Logan Gilbert (13-6) struggled, giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings.

NATIONALS 2, BREWERS 1, 11 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Meneses hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and Washington defeated NL Central-leading Milwaukee to prevent a three-game sweep.

Luis García homered early for the Nationals, who are last in the NL East.

With right-hander Thyago Vieira (0-1) on for his second inning of relief in the 11th, automatic runner CJ Abrams advanced to third base on Lane Thomas’ flyout and scored on Meneses’ third sacrifice fly of the season.

With runners at the corners in the bottom half, Robert Garcia (1-2) got pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez to ground into a game-ending double play to secure his first major league win.

Garcia also pitched out of trouble in the 10th, holding the Brewers scoreless after they loaded the bases with one out.

ASTROS 7, ROYALS 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yordan Alvarez and Jake Meyers homered and Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings as Houston beat Kansas City.

The Astros salvaged the final game of the series, expanding their American League West lead to 1 1/2 games.

Valdez (12-10) pitched around three Astros errors for his fifth consecutive quality start, allowing one unearned run on five hits and a walk, striking out five.

Meyers led off the fourth with his 10th homer and Alvarez hit his 28th leading off the fifth, the 38th allowed by Jordan Lyles (4-17), tying a Royals record. Lyles completed six innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

BLUE JAYS 3, RED SOX 2

TORONTO (AP) — Matt Chapman hit a game-ending double off the center-field wall in the ninth inning, lifting Toronto over Boston for a three-game sweep.

The sweep of Boston put the Blue Jays back in the postseason picture after they were swept by Texas in a four-game series last week.

With All-Star closer Jordan Romano unavailable after pitching the previous two days, Erik Swanson (4-2) blew a save for the second time in six chances.

Cavan Biggio singled with one against Garrett Whitlock (5-5), and Chapman followed with his second double of the game. Chapman’s 37 doubles are tied for third-most in the AL.

Red Sox rookie Wilyer Abreu, who took over in center in the eighth, jumped for the ball but couldn’t make the play.

GUARDIANS 9, RANGERS 2

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez homered on his 31st birthday to touch off Cleveland’s nine-run outburst in the fourth inning, leading the Guardians to a three-game sweep of playoff-chasing Texas.

With the loss by Texas, Baltimore and Tampa Bay clinched playoff berths.

Ramírez connected off rookie Cody Bradford (4-2) leading off the fourth and the Guardians kept swinging away. They scored a season-high nine runs on a season-best nine hits — the homer, two doubles and six singles.

The big inning — Cleveland got just one hit the rest of the way — took any stress away for Guardians rookie Gavin Williams (3-5), who limited Texas to one run and four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts.

CARDINALS 6, PHILLIES 5

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Walker hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Paul Goldschmidt drove in three runs to lead St. Louis over Philadelphia.

St. Louis avoided a season sweep after losing its first five meetings with the Phillies this year.

Alec Bohm homered for Philadelphia, which leads the NL wild-card race.

Walker homered off Seranthony Domínguez (4-5) with two outs to snap a 5-all tie.

John King (2-1) allowed one run in one inning for the win, and Ryan Helsley earned his 11th save in 15 opportunities.

TWINS 4, WHITE SOX 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Sonny Gray closed on Gerrit Cole for the AL ERA lead, Edouard Julien and Jorge Polanco homered and AL Central-leading Minnesota earned its 11th shutout this season.

Gray (8-7) lowered his ERA from 2.96 to 2.84, just behind Cole, who leads the AL at 2.81 for the New York Yankees. Gray gave up five hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked none, ending a three-start winless streak.

Griffin Jax and Emilio Pagán finished a six-hitter for Minnesota.

Dylan Cease (7-8) allowed three runs, four hits and three walks in six innings.

METS 8, REDS 4

NEW YORK (AP) — Pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach had a three-run double in the seventh inning, and New York hurt Cincinnati’s wild card chances.

A trio of rookies — third baseman Noelvi Marte, first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand and relief pitcher Carson Spiers — made errors for the Reds, who had four errors in their previous eight games combined.

José Quintana (3-5) allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Quintana, who didn’t debut for the Mets until July 20 after a broken left rib, has a 3.02 ERA in 11 starts.

Reds starter Brandon Williamson (4-5) gave up three runs in four innings.

PIRATES 3, YANKEES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jason Delay hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning that benefited from a fortunate bounce off third base, and Pittsburgh edged New York to avoid a three-game sweep.

Delay turned on a curveball from Carlos Rodón (3-6) and hit a bouncer that nicked the outside of the bag and rolled away from New York third baseman Oswald Peraza and into foul territory in left field, allowing Jared Triolo to score from second.

David Bednar worked around a one-out double by Austin Wells for his 36th save.

Rodón pitched relatively well across 6 2/3 innings in his 12th start since returning from forearm and back injuries that sidelined him until early July. The left-hander allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out a season-high 10, reaching the 1,000-strikeout mark for his career when he fanned Ke’Bryan Hayes leading off the fourth.

The Yankees managed just four hits against five pitchers. Pittsburgh reliever Ryan Borucki (3-0) got two outs in the seventh to earn the win.

GIANTS 11, ROCKIES 10

DENVER (AP) — Thairo Estrada and Joc Pederson had two hits each in a 10-hit sixth inning as San Francisco opened a nine-run lead, and the Giants hung on to beat Colorado and stop a three-game skid that hurt their wild card chances.

San Francisco led 9-0 in the sixth inning before Colorado closed. The Giants stopped their longest road losing streak since 1996 at nine games.

Rockies starter Chris Flexen (1-8) gave up four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Colorado had won a season-high five straight games but stopped to 12-33 against the NL West, their worst winning percentage against the division.

Sean Manaea (6-6), making his second start since May 10, gave up three runs — two earned — and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. Taylor Rogers earned his second save.

PADRES 10, ATHLETICS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Juan Soto homered twice, including his first career grand slam, and San Diego won its fourth straight game for the first time this season.

The Padres had been the only team in baseball this season to not have a win streak of more than three games. Their success resulted in another dubious mark for the A’s, whose 103 losses this season are the most in franchise history since 1979.

Both starting pitchers threw three scoreless innings before being replaced — Joe Boyle for the A’s and Nick Martinez for the Padres. Pedro Avila (2-2) recorded the win for the Padres after making his first relief appearance in nearly a month.

Ken Waldichuk (3-8), who replaced Boyle in the fourth inning, immediately gave up three straight hits.

TIGERS 5, ANGELS 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles was assured its eighth consecutive losing season, falling to Detroit as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep behind two home runs from Jake Rogers in the first three innings.

The Angels (68-82), playing without injured stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, have lost five straight games and dropped to 4-12 in September.

Joey Wentz (3-11) won for the second time in 16 appearances since May 14, giving up three runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Alex Lange pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 29 chances.

Scheduled starter Reid Detmers was scratched by the Angels because of illness. Jimmy Herget opened with a scoreless inning and Kenny Rosenberg (1-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings.

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