UNDATED (AP) — It was a pretty good night for the New York Yankees in Toronto. They expanded their lead for the first AL wild card, dropped Boston into a tie for the second wild-card spot and pushed the Blue Jays one game behind the Red Sox and Mariners.
Anthony Rizzo, Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres homered in a four-run sixth that put the Yankees ahead in a 6-2 downing of the Jays. Toronto led 2-1 until Rizzo and Judge hit consecutive home runs.
Judge provided a pair of solo shots, giving him 39 home runs.
The Yankees received 4 1/3 shutout innings for their bullpen after Corey Kluber was reached for two runs and seven hits.
In Baltimore, Ryan Mountcastle smacked a three-run homer as the Orioles took the rubber match of their three-game set with the Red Sox, 6-2. The Birds scored three times in the third inning and three in the sixth to back Alexander Wells, who entered the game with a 7.61 ERA.
Beginning Friday, the Yankees close their season with three games against visiting Tampa Bay, the Red Sox have three in Washington, the Blue Jays host Baltimore for three and the Mariners entertain the Angels through Sunday.
Meanwhile, it’s champagne time for the Astros and Braves. Houston captured the AL West for the fourth time in five years, and the Braves came away with their fourth consecutive NL East title.
Carlos Correa’s 25th home run was a three-run blast in the fourth inning of the Astros’ 3-2 victory over the Rays. Lance McCullers Jr. limited the AL East champs to three hits over six innings, including Brandon Lowe’s two-run homer in the sixth.
Ryan Pressly worked the ninth to close out the combined four-hitter.
In Atlanta, Jorge Soler and Austin Riley hit solo homers while the Braves built a 5-0 lead in a 5-3 decision over the Phillies. Ian Anderson carried a shutout into the seventh and held Philadelphia to two runs and three hits over six-plus frames.
Kyle Gibson was lifted in the fifth inning as the Phils absorbed a three-game sweep that eliminates them from playoff consideration.
Checking out the rest of Thursday’s major league action:
— The Giants have maintained their two-game lead over the Dodgers atop the NL West after defeating the Diamondbacks, 5-4 on LaMonte Wade’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Buster Posey collected two RBIs and Brandon Crawford homered after Arizona took a 3-0 lead. Johnny Cueto worked 2 1/3 innings of relief after coming off the injured list earlier in the day.
— The Dodgers belted consecutive homers in the first and fourth innings of an 8-3 assault on the Padres. Mookie Betts and Corey Seager did the honors in the opening frame before Justin Turner and AJ Pollock helped Los Angeles complete a three-game sweep. The Dodgers won their 12th in a row at home and are set to close out the regular season with three home games against NL Central-champion Milwaukee while the Giants will host San Diego.
— Dylan Carlson homered from both sides of the plate in the Cardinals’ 4-3 win over the Brewers. Carlson’s homers made a winner out of J.A. Happ, who entered the game 0-3 in his last five starts against the Brewers. Happ gave up three runs and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings of the Redbirds’ 18th win in 19 games.
— Pete Alonso homered twice and Francisco Lindor launched a grand slam as the Mets beat the Marlins for the third time in their four-game set, 12-3. James McCann poked a two-run double and Michael Conforto had three hits and two RBIs.
— Adolis Garcia set a Rangers rookie record for home runs and RBIs in a 7-6 win over the Angels. Garcia’s two-run blast gives him 31 homers and 90 ribbies, breaking a tie with Pete Incaviglia in both categories.
— Justin Steele tossed four-hit ball over seven innings and Sergio Alcántara delivered a two-run homer to finish with three RBIs in the Cubs’ 9-0 shellacking of the Pirates. Pittsburgh became the fourth major league team with 100 losses this season, matching the all-time mark set on 2002 and matched two years ago.
— The Indians picked up a 6-1 win over the Royals as Shane Bieber pitched three effective innings and Bradley Zimmer drove in three runs. Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez doubled in his first at-bat after coming out of Wednesday’s game with a sprained ankle.
— Niko Goodrum homered twice and drove in four runs as the Tigers outslugged the Twins, 10-7. Detroit’s Jonathan Schoop provided one of the game’s seven home runs.
