UNDATED (AP) — The San Francisco Giants’ lead in the National League West is down to one game over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 39th home run and the San Diego Padres improved their playoff position with a 7-4 win over the Giants. Tommy Pham and Manny Machado each drove in two runs, and Adam Frazier and Austin Nola had three hits apiece.
Giants starter Kevin Gausman lost for the first time since July 30, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in five innings.
The outcome puts the Padres a half-game behind the Cardinals for the second NL wild card.
In Thursday’s other major league action:
— The Reds avoided a three-game sweep and gave their wild-card hopes a boost with a 1-0 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Tyler Mahle improved to 12-5 by holding the Pirates to five hits, all singles, over six innings. Asdrubel Cabrera lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to help the Reds get within one game of St. Louis for the second NL wild card.
— Bryce Harper had a productive night in the Phillies’ 17-8 win over the Cubs. Harper doubled to start a seven-run, game-tying rally in the fourth inning, drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth and sealed the win with a three-run home run in the seventh. Odubel Herrera and Jean Segura drove in three runs apiece as the Phils pulled within three games of the NL East-leading Braves.
— Carlos Correa triggered a seven-run fourth inning with a three-run homer as the Astros clobbered the Rangers, 12-1. Alex Bregman had the first of his pair of two-run singles during Houston’s big fourth. Replacement starter Luis Garcia took a shutout into the sixth to help Houston keep its seven-game lead over Oakland in the AL West.
— The Yankees lost their hold on the two AL wild-card berths by losing to the Orioles, 3-2 on Austin Hays’ RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. New York led 2-1 until Yankees reliever Clay Holmes threw a wild pitch with two out in the ninth, allowing Kelvin Gutierrez to score. Joey Gallo hit his 35th homer of the season, but the Yanks fell a half-game behind Toronto and Boston in the wild-card battle.
— Yandy Díaz hit a leadoff home run and Mike Zunino later connected for the Rays in a 5-2 downing of the Tigers. Dietrich Enns pitched four solid innings, allowing one run and three hits as Tampa Bay combined on a six-hitter. The AL East leaders top Boston and Toronto by 8 1/2 games.
— Chad Pinder furnished a two-run single while the Athletics scored four in the third inning of a 7-2 win at Kansas City. Josh Harrison was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored as the A’s pulled within three games of an AL wild-card berth. Royals catcher Salvador Perez slammed his 45th home run of the year, tying Johnny Bench for the most by anyone playing at least 75 percent of his games behind the plate.
— The Angels continued their recent mastery of the White Sox with a 9-3 win at Chicago. Alex Cobb allowed two hits over five shutout innings, his first start since July 23. Luis Rengifo and Jose Rojas homered and Jack Mayfield delivered a three-run double as the Angels beat the AL Central leaders for the 15th time in their last 19 meetings.
— The Rockies and Braves were rained out in Atlanta. The bad weather could force the two teams to make up the game after the regular season ends if the contest has any bearing on the NL East race. The two clubs don’t have any matching days off.
