ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ian Happ drove a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning to sour what could be Jon Lester’s final career start, lifting the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5. Lester, 37, hasn’t declared whether he intends to come back for a 17th season. The left-hander pitched for the Cubs for six seasons, including the 2016 World Series team. Happ drove a 2-0 pitch from Luís Garcia over the center-field wall for his career-high 25th home run of the season. The blast made a winner out of Jason Adam, who pitched a perfect eighth.
— The New York Yankees were stopped cold in their bid to clinch a playoff berth on Saturday. The Rays are a 100-win team for the first time in franchise history following a 12-2 dismantling of the Yankees. Brandon Lowe belted three home runs and had seven RBIs as Tampa Bay prevented the Yankees from capturing a wild-card berth. Austin Meadows capped the assault with a three-run homer. The Rays hit four home runs, while the Yankees had just four hits. The outcome leaves the Yankees and Red Sox tied for the first two AL wild cards, with Toronto and Seattle one game back heading into the final day of the season.
— In Washington, Christian Vázquez tripled home the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning before Kiké Hernández added a two-run blast to put the Red Sox ahead on the way to a 5-3 win over the Nationals. Tanner Houck struck out eight over five perfect innings, but the Nationals tied it in the eighth on Juan Soto’s sacrifice fly.
— The Blue Jays have set a franchise record with 258 home runs after slamming five more in a 10-1 pounding of the Orioles. Vladimir Guerrero smacked his 47th homer of the season for Toronto, which also received longballs from George Springer, Teoscar (tay-AHS’-kur) Hernández, Bo Bichette (bih-SHEHT’) and Danny Jansen. Alek Manoah limited Baltimore to a run over seven innings, helping the Jays stay alive in the wild-card race.
— The Mariners also will be playing meaningful baseball on Sunday following their 6-4 win over the Angels. Mitch Haniger had four hits and five RBIs, including a two-run single that broke a 4-4 deadlock in the eighth inning. Haniger also crushed a two-run homer in the fifth.
— Yordan (yohr-DAHN’) Alvarez and Kyle Tucker hit two of Houston’s four homers as the Astros rolled past the Athletics, 10-4 to wrap up home-field advantage for their AL Division Series against the White Sox. Alvarez connected on a three-run homer to right in the first, and Tucker hit a two-run homer in the sixth.
— Yoán (yoh-AHN’) Moncada hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning of the White Sox’s sixth straight victory, 5-4 versus the Tigers. Lucas Giolito (jee-oh-LEE’-toh) allowed one run and two hits in a playoff tuneup.
— The NL West title remains up for grabs following the Giants’ 3-2 loss to the Padres. Jake Cronenworth hit an RBI double in the 10th to end San Francisco’s seven-game winning streak and prevent the Giants from clinching. Austin Slater had a pinch-hit homer for the Giants, who are stuck on a team record-tying 106 victories.
— The Dodgers kept the NL West race alive as Julio Urias (oo-REE’-uhs) picked up his major league-leading 20th victory in their 8-3 rout of the Brewers. The Dodgers got a three-run homer from Justin Turner in the first inning, a two-run blast by AJ Pollock in the fourth, and a solo shot by Corey Seager in the fifth. That was more than enough offense for Urias, who allowed just one hit over seven innings in becoming the team’s first 20-game winner since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
— Joc Pederson and William Contreras homered off Carlos Carrasco while the Braves built a 6-1 lead in a 6-5 win against the Mets. New York scored twice in the ninth and had the bases loaded before Atlanta won for the seventh time in eight games.
— Jesús Luzardo struck out a career-high 11 and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a three-run homer in leading the Marlins’ 3-1 win versus the Phillies. Luzardo gave up one run and six hits through 5 1/3 innings.
— Jordan Lyles closed his season by allowing only two hits in seven innings of the Rangers’ 7-2 decision over the Indians. Jonah Heim broke a fourth-inning tie with a three-run home run as Texas avoided its 102nd loss.
— Griffin Jax and a trio of relievers combined on a three-hitter in the Twins’ 4-0 shutout of the Royals. Salvador Perez was hitless in four at-bats for the second straight night as he tries to break the Kansas City record for home runs.
— Bryan Reynolds is batting .302 after collecting four hits, including the tiebreaking, RBI triple in the Pirates′8-6 comeback over the Reds. Ben Gamel had three hits for Pittsburgh which trailed by five before winning its second straight since suffering its 100th loss.
— Pavin Smith reached base five times and Arizona chased Antonio Senzatela with a six-run first in an 11-2 pounding of the Rockies. Christian Walker finished with three doubles and pitcher Zac Gallen (GAL’-ehn) contributed a two-run double in the big first inning.
