UNDATED (AP) — The Detroit Tigers have stalled the Chicago White Sox’s drive for the AL Central title with a 5-3 victory. Akil Baddoo and Victor Reyes drove in two runs apiece.
The magic number for the White Sox to clinch the division remained at two games. Reyes had four of Detroit’s 16 hits. Daz Cameron reached base four times and scored two runs for the Tigers, who have won the first two games of the three-game series. The White Sox have lost five of their last seven games.
In other Tuesday action:
— Shohei Ohtani hit his 45th homer in the eighth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 10-5 loss to the Houston Astros. Ohtani connected for his first homer since Sept. 10, driving a solo shot off Houston’s Cristian Javier 445 feet into the elevated right field stands at the Big A. The two-way superstar has only three homers in September, but he is just one behind Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kansas City’s Salvador Perez for the major league lead. Aledmys Díaz and Kyle Tucker hit back-to-back homers and drove in three runs apiece in Houston’s sixth win in seven games.
— Marco Gonzales pitched six uneven innings and won his eighth straight decision, and the Seattle Mariners beat Oakland 5-2 to move into a tie with the Athletics in a matchup of wild-card contenders. J.P. Crawford homered in the ninth inning and had three hits. Kyle Seager doubled twice, and Dylan Moore added a two-run triple as Seattle won its second straight against the A’s. Both teams are three games behind the Blue Jays in the race for the second AL wild card.
— Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies both launched two-run homers for the Atlanta Braves, who held their NL East lead by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1. Jorge Soler added a solo homer for the Braves, who won their third in a row and stayed three games ahead of second-place Philadelphia. Riley hit his 30th home run in the first inning, a drive deep into the left-center field stands. The 24-year-old third baseman continues to evolve into a cornerstone for the Braves lineup, batting .300 with 94 RBIs. Albies hit a shot far into the right-field seats in the third. He’s up to 29 homers this season and has 97 RBIs.
— LaMonte Wade Jr. singled over leaping All-Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. in the ninth inning to bring in the go-ahead run and the San Francisco Giants beat the staggering San Diego Padres 6-5 to keep a one-game lead in the NL West. Wade’s hit was the third straight one-out single off Mark Melancon and brought in Brandon Belt. Melancon, who leads baseball with 37 saves, started the ninth with the score tied at 5. The Giants stayed ahead of the Dodgers in the division race after Los Angeles beat Colorado 5-4. The Padres blew a 4-1 lead and wasted a two-homer performance by Manny Machado.
— Josh Rogers pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 7-1. Rogers (2-0) scattered five hits, struck out four and walked two in his longest outing since joining the club Sept. 4. Juan Soto and rookie Keibert Ruiz had two hits and an RBI each for the Nationals, who closed within two games of Miami for fourth in the NL East. Ruiz, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner on July 30, is 12 for 26 with nine RBIs in his last nine games.
— Yu Chang hit a bases-loaded triple off left fielder Andrew Benintendi’s glove in the first inning, leading Cal Quantrill and Cleveland Indians over the Kansas City Royals 4-1. Ernie Clement homered as the second-place Indians kept Chicago’s magic number for clinching the AL Central at two. Cleveland hosts the White Sox in a five-game series beginning Thursday.
— Cardinals closer Giovanny Gallegos fanned pinch-hitter Pablo Reyes for the final out and St. Louis won its 10th straight game, increasing its playoff lead by holding off the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers 2-1. The Cardinals increased their edge for the second NL wild-card spot to four games over Cincinnati. San Diego began the day four games behind St. Louis. Milwaukee, which has secured a playoff spot, lost its third straight. The Brewers, whose magic number to clinch the NL Central stayed at three, lead the Cardinals by 9 ½ games.
— Ben Gamel homered, Ke’Bryan Hayes had three hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates dampened the Cincinnati Reds’ fading postseason hopes with a 6-2 win. Gamel hit his eighth home run in the fourth inning to erase the Reds’ early lead in the fourth. Hayes singled to score Hoy Park, and Cole Tucker sent Hayes home with a single. Mitch Keller pitched out of trouble with the aid of two double plays to hold off the Reds, who are chasing the streaking St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild card. They trail St. Louis by four games with 10 remaining.
— J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run triple with two outs in the 10th inning to rally the Philadelphia Phillies past the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 for a boost to their longshot playoff odds. Realmuto lined a shot to right field past the outstretched glove of Anthony Santander, and NL MVP candidate Bryce Harper, who was intentionally walked, scored the winner and set off a wild celebration in the infield. The Phillies entered three games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
— Rookie Alek Manoah rebounded from early control issues to last six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 to improve to a major league-best 16-4 in September. Toronto maintained a half-game lead lover the New York Yankees for the second AL wild card. Tampa Bay, closing in on its second straight division title, began the day seven games ahead of second-place Boston. The Rays, just 9-11 this month, have 10 games remaining.
— Giancarlo Stanton lined a laser beam of a home run, Aaron Judge added a three-run shot and the New York Yankees powered past the Texas Rangers 7-1 to keep pace in the crowded AL wild-card chase. Joey Gallo also went deep — against his former team — and a finally healthy Luis Severino closed with two shutout innings in his first major league appearance since the 2019 AL Championship Series. New York, which remained a half-game behind Toronto for the final American League playoff spot, has taken two straight from last-place Texas following a 7-15 stretch.
