CHICAGO (AP) — Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes combined on a four-hitter, and the New York Yankees clinched their 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Saturday.
Schmidt pitched 4 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his first big league game since May 26. Cortes (9-10) closed it out in his first relief appearance since 2021.
Coupled with Baltimore’s 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay, New York moved back into first in the AL East. The Yankees (82-60) lead the Orioles by a half-game.
Schmidt had been sidelined by a right lat strain. He threw 75 pitches, 44 for strikes.
New York posted its second straight shutout to secure its first series win since it took two of three against Colorado from Aug. 23-25. The 32 straight seasons with a winning record is the second-longest such period in major league history, trailing a run of 39 consecutive seasons for the Yankees from 1926-64.
RAYS 7, ORIOLES 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — Yandy Diaz homered among his three hits and drove in two runs, Jose Siri denied Gunnar Henderson a potential go-ahead home run with a leaping grab and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore, knocking the Orioles from the AL East lead.
Taylor Walls also homered and had two RBIs as the Rays evened the series and dropped the Orioles a half-game behind the New York Yankees, who beat the Chicago Cubs earlier in the day.
Jonny DeLuca also had three hits and Logan Driscoll had an RBI single in the seventh inning.
Ryan Pepiot (8-6) allowed only one run over 5 1/3 innings despite allowing nine baserunners.
TIGERS 2, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brant Hurter pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and Detroit beat Oakland.
Detroit moved back over .500 after losing three of its previous four games. The Tigers (72-71) haven’t had a winning season since they went 86-75 in 2016.
Hurter (4-1) entered after Brenan Hanifee got the first two outs as an opener. Hurter allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one.
Oakland (62-81) lost for the third time in four games. The A’s wasted a sharp performance by Brady Basso, who struck out six while pitching six innings of three-hit ball.
ASTROS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 5
HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered as Houston improved to 7-0 in games started by Yusei Kikuchi by beating scuffling Arizona.
Altuve had three hits and scored three times. Peña’s 15th homer was a three-run shot, capping a five-run sixth inning that started with the Astros clinging to a one-run lead.
Houston entered with a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL West over Seattle.
Arizona, which has dropped three straight and seven of 10, began the day leading the Braves and Mets by 1 1/2 games for the second National League wild card.
METS 4, REDS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Quintana earned his 100th career win with 6 2/3 sharp innings as the surging New York Mets extended their longest winning streak in more than six years with a victory over Cincinnati.
A slumping Harrison Bader homered to spark a four-run sixth for the Mets, who have won nine straight games for the first time since April 2018. New York, which began the day tied with rival Atlanta for the final NL wild card, hasn’t trailed in its last 72 innings since Aug. 30 — the longest streak in the majors this season.
Bader was mired in skids of 0 for 15 and 2 for 43 before connecting off Sam Moll (3-2) in the sixth. It was Bader’s 11th home run of the year, and first to the opposite field.
MARLINS 9, PHILLIES 5
MIAMI (AP) — Otto López was a triple shy of the cycle, Connor Norby homered and drove in three runs, and Miami snapped NL East-leading Philadelphia’s six-game winning streak with a victory over the Phillies.
Jonah Bride also homered, while Xavier Edwards and Nick Fortes had two hits each for the Marlins, who had 14 hits a day after losing 16-2 to the Phillies.
John McMillon (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (12-7) was lifted after he allowed five runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out five. It was his shortest start since allowing eight runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings against Boston on June 13.
RANGERS 6, ANGELS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Smith put Texas ahead for the first time with a two-run single in the seventh inning and the Rangers overcame a pair of two-run deficits to beat the Los Angeles Angels.
Smith’s sharp liner to right field capped a three-run outburst that made it 5-4, immediately following Marcus Semien’s RBI single that came after a 5-for-39 stretch for the Texas leadoff hitter. Victor Mederos (0-1) had just walked the Nos. 8 and 9 batters with two outs — with ball four on the first free pass coming on a pitch-clock violation.
Jose Leclerc (6-4) retired the only two batters he faced in the seventh. All-Star closer Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his 28th save in 29 chances.
BREWERS 5, ROCKIES 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Willy Adames and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, William Contreras later added a two-run shot and Milwaukee defeated Colorado.
Rookie right-hander Tobias Myers (7-5) recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings to help Milwaukee avoid a fourth consecutive loss. The NL Central-leading Brewers are the only major league team without a losing streak of at least four games this season.
Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard homered for the Rockies.
Adames put Milwaukee ahead for good with his two-out homer off Ty Blach (3-8) in the first inning. The homer was the 30th of the season for Adames, who also has 101 RBIs. Adames entered Saturday tied with Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani for the NL lead in RBIs.
CARDINALS 2, MARINERS 0
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pedro Pagés hit a two-run homer off Logan Gilbert in the eighth inning, helping St. Louis top Seattle .
Jordan Walker was hit by a pitch before Pagés connected for his sixth homer, a drive to left-center on a 1-1 slider.
Gilbert (7-11) struck out 10 while throwing a two-hitter for his second career complete game. He threw 101 pitches, 65 for strikes.
ROYALS 4, TWINS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a tiebreaking single in a four-run eighth inning, and Kansas City beat Minnesota to open a 1 1/2-game lead over the Twins for the second AL wild card.
Held to one hit over seven innings by Bailey Ober, the Royals rallied against Jhoan Durán (6-9) and Griffin Jax, winning their third straight following a season-high, seven-game losing streak.
Kansas City (78-65) is second behind Cleveland in the AL Central and Minnesota (76-66) is third after losing four of five.
Duran, who topped 100 mph with five of 17 pitches, entered with a 2-0 lead and gave up a one-out single to Freddy Fermin, then hit Robbie Grossman with a pitch. Kyle Isbel hit an RBI single and Jax relieved, trying for a five-out save.
RED SOX 7, WHITE SOX 5
BOSTON (AP) — Tyler O’Neill homered twice for Boston in a win Saturday night that sent the Chicago White Sox to their 111th loss.
Chicago wasted a Andrew Vaughn’s two-run homer in the first, trailed 7-2 by the fifth and lost its 19th consecutive series.
The White Sox (32-111) are nine defeats shy of tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses since 1900 and are on pace to finish 36-126. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the loss record at 20-134. Chicago has lost 14 of its last 15 games and 44 of 49.
Rob Refsnyder hit an RBI grounder and O’Neill put Boston ahead with a two-run homer in the four-run first off Garrett Crochet (6-11), who dropped to 0-6 in 15 starts since beating Boston on June 7.
BLUE JAYS 9, BRAVES 5
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Horwitz homered twice among his four hits, José Berríos pitched six effective innings and Toronto beat Atlanta to knock the Braves out of the final NL wild-card spot.
With just 20 games left to play, the Braves fell one game behind the Mets with New York’s 4-0 win over Cincinnati.
Berríos (15-9) allowed one earned run and five hits to set a career high for wins. He struck out five and walked one.
Horwitz had his second career multi-homer game, opening the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning and then hitting another in the fourth to make it 2-0. He finished 4 for 5 with three RBIs.
NATIONALS 5, PIRATES 3, 1ST GAME
NATIONALS 8, PIRATES 6, 2ND GAME
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-run double off Aroldis Chapman in Washington’s four-run ninth inning, and the Nationals beat Pittsburgh Pirates for a doubleheader sweep.
The Nationals won 5-3 in the first game. DJ Herz pitched five hitless innings and fellow rookie Dylan Crews homered.
Washington put together a two-out rally against Chapman (5-5) in the second game. James Wood singled in Drew Millas to get the Nationals within one.
With runners on second and third, Vargas was sent up to hit for Luis García Jr. With the Nationals down to their last strike, Vargas hit a sinking liner into right field that bounced off the glove of a diving Connor Joe.
Vargas scored on Keibert Ruiz’s double as Chapman blew his fifth save in 11 chances this season.
GIANTS 6, PADRES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Francisco rookie Grant McCray homered twice and drove in five runs as the Giants beat San Diego.
McCray, who made his major league debut Aug. 14, put the Giants ahead 3-2 on his drive deep into the seats in right field off Dylan Cease (12-11) with two outs in the second inning. Patrick Bailey and Brett Wisely were aboard on singles.
Bailey was on again with a leadoff walk in the eighth when McCray again went deep to right, off Yuki Matsui, for his fifth homer.
The Padres opened a quick 2-0 lead against Logan Webb (12-9). They loaded the bases with no outs and Manny Machado hit an RBI single. They seemed poised for a big inning but Xander Bogaerts grounded into a double play, with another run scoring, before David Peralta flied out.
DODGERS 7, GUARDIANS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andy Pages hit a two-run homer to cap a six-run first inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Cleveland in an interleague matchup of division leaders.
Mookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who extended their lead in the NL West to five games over San Diego, which lost 6-3 to San Francisco.
Lane Thomas launched a two-run homer for the Guardians in the second. The AL Central leaders fell to 3-2 on their nine-game trip and have a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Kansas City, which beat Minnesota 4-2.
Tommy Edman had two hits, including a two-run double in the first as Los Angeles sent 10 batters to the plate. Gavin Williams (3-8) became the first Cleveland starter who wasn’t an opener to fail to get out of the first inning since 2021.
Shohei Ohtani grounded out in both his first-inning at-bats and went 0 for 4 to remain at 45 home runs and 46 stolen bases.
The Associated Press
