UNDATED (AP) —Mitch Haniger hit two identical three-run homers and the Seattle Mariners gained precious ground in the AL wild-card race with a 13-4 win over the Oakland Athletics.
Seattle’s 10th straight victory against Oakland tied the team record for most consecutive wins against a single opponent. The Mariners have won eight of nine overall and nine of their last 11. They are 1 1/2 games behind Boston for the second wild card, with Toronto a game back of the Red Sox. Both those teams were off Monday. Oakland fell 3 1/2 games behind Boston and two back of the Mariners with two more games to play in Seattle.
In other Monday action:
—Josiah Gray pitched into the sixth inning to earn his second career win, and the Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4. Luis García hit a two-run single and Alcides Escobar had three hits for the Nationals. Gray, who made his major league debut with the Dodgers on July 20, has won consecutive starts. The prized right-hander was acquired July 30 in the blockbuster trade that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles. Colorado has lost 10 of 11 home games, including two three-game sweeps by the San Francisco Giants.
— Joey Votto homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Cincinnati Reds pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-1 to stay alive in the race for the second NL wild card. Nick Castellanos, rookie Jonathan India and Eugenio Suarez also connected as Cincinnati posted its fourth straight victory, clinching a second straight winning season. Castellanos had five RBIs, and India finished with four hits and scored four times. The Reds pulled within 5 1/2 games of idle St. Louis for the second wild card. The Cardinals need just one more win to secure the spot.
— Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run home run, Yasmani Grandal homered to spark a six-run fourth inning and the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox held off the Detroit Tigers in a testy 8-7 win. The benches cleared after Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu and Detroit shortstop Niko Goodrum exchanged words when Abreu was tagged out attempting to steal second base in the ninth.
—The Cleveland Indians have won their last home game before they become the Guardians, beating the Kansas City Royals 8-3. Amed Rosario homered, drove in three runs and had four hits and Cal Quantrill pitched six strong innings to delight a Progressive Field crowd that came to see the Indians play one last time under the name they’ve carried since 1915. The team announced the name change earlier this year in the wake of a nationwide reckoning over racist names and symbols.
Cleveland’s Bradley Zimmer homered off his brother, Kansas City reliever Kyle Zimmer, in the eighth.
