ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler O’Neill hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to beat the Padres 3-2 after San Diego stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. had a dugout dustup. The Cardinals pulled 2 1/2 games ahead of the Padres for the second and final NL wild card, with Cincinnati two games back and Philadelphia also in the picture. San Diego starter Yu Darvish dominated the Cardinals over seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine. He handed a 2-0 lead over to the bullpen, but reliever Emilio Pagán couldn’t get through the eighth.
Elsewhere around the majors:
— The Toronto Blue Jays have leapfrogged ahead of the New York Yankees for the second AL wild card, while the Boston Red Sox took a one-game lead for the first wild card. The Blue Jays posted a 6-2 victory over the Twins as Marcus Semien became the fifth second baseman to hit 40 home runs in a season. Teoscar (tay-AHS’-kur) Hernández hit a three-run homer and Bo Bichette went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Steven Matz won his fourth straight decision, allowing two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Jays moved a half-game ahead of the Yankees. Another defensive miscue by catcher Gary Sanchez contributed to a seven-run fifth in the Indians’ 11-3 thrashing of the Yankees. Sanchez failed to catch a foul popup during the rally, which was capped by a three-run homer by Andres Gimenez. Franmil Reyes doubled home a run in the fifth, one inning before belting a two-run homer. The Red Sox picked up their fourth straight win as Xander Bogaerts (BOH’-gahrts) hit a three-run homer and collected four RBIs in a 9-3 rout of the Orioles. Bobby Dalbec added a two-run double. Hunter Renfroe and Rafael Devers (DEH’-vurz) each drove in a run for Boston. Tanner Houck worked 2 2/3s innings of shutout relief to get the win.
— Homers by Jeimer (JAY’-mur) Candelario and Dustin Garneau led the Tigers past the AL East-leading Rays, 4-3. Jordan Luplow homered for the Rays, who trailed 4-0 in the second. Michael Fulmer got his 10th save in 15 chances by striking out Brett Phillips and getting Yandy Díaz to ground into a game-ending double play.
— Five Rangers combined on a three-hitter in a 2-1 decision over the AL Central-leading White Sox. DJ Peters hit a tiebreaking single in the bottom of the sixth, a half-inning after Yasmani Grandal (yahs-MAH’-nee grahn-DAHL’) homered for Chicago. Joe Barlow struck out two in the ninth en route to his seventh save.
— The Diamondbacks scored three runs in the 10th inning for a 6-4 win over the Astros. Kole Calhoun knocked in the go-ahead run with an RBI single and scored on Daulton Varsho’s two-run homer. Yordan (yohr-DAHN’) Álvarez smacked a two-run homer to center to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the first.
— James Kaprielian (kah-PREE’-lee-an) pitched two-hit ball over six innings and Matt Olson crushed his 36th home run in the Athletics’ 3-1 downing of the Angels. Kaprielian earned his eighth win and retired 18 of his 20 batters. The A’s have won four straight and seven of 10, putting them two games behind Toronto for the second AL wild card.
— The Royals ripped the Mariners, 8-1 as Kris Bubic (BOO’-bihk) allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings in his best start this season. Seattle lost for the fifth time in seven games and dropped four games behind Toronto for the AL’s second wild-card berth with 14 games remaining. Royals catcher Salvador Perez collected his major league-leading 113th RBI with an eighth-inning single.
— Max Scherzer tossed seven scoreless innings as the Dodgers won for the seventh time in eight games, 5-1 over the Reds. Scherzer is 7-0 in nine starts for the Dodgers after limiting Cincinnati to two hits while striking out seven. Gavin Lux hit a two-run triple while the Dodgers took advantage of two errors to score three times in the fifth.
— Curt Casali’s two-run single in the fourth held up in the Giants’ 2-0 shutout of the Braves. Dominic Leone finished the 2-hour, 40-minute game for his second save as the NL West-leading Giants maintained their two-game lead on the Dodgers. Alex Wood struck out four and didn’t allow a walk or hit over three scoreless innings, his first appearance since contracting COVID-19.
— The Phillies are within one game of the NL East-leading Braves after Jean Segura had his first multi-homer game in almost five years, leading a 5-3 win over the Mets. Segura homered in the first inning and again in the third off Carlos Carrasco. Aaron Nola won for the first time in ten starts and Bryce Harper drove in two for Philadelphia.
— Manny Piña homered twice and the Brewers clinched their fourth straight postseason berth with a 6-4 victory over the Cubs. Eduardo Escobar and Jace (jays) Peterson also connected in Milwaukee’s seventh win in nine games. Milwaukee’s magic number to lock up the NL Central title is three over St. Louis.
— The Rockies are 7-1 on their nine-game road trip after Kyle Freeland worked six innings and Trevor Story hit a three-run homer in a 6-0 thumping of the Nationals.
— Cole Tucker had three hits and Bryse (brys) Wilson allowed two runs and four hits over five innings of the Pirates’ 6-3 victory against the Marlins.
