Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson slugged two-run home runs and deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle continued his exceptional pitching for the visiting Atlanta Braves, who secured a postseason berth with a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday.
Atlanta qualified for the postseason for the eighth time in nine seasons. The Braves lowered their magic number to clinch the National League East to three over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Harris provided Mahle a 2-0 lead when he followed a one-out single by Matt Olson with an opposite-field blast to left off Astros starter Peter Lambert (8-10) in the fourth inning. Harris (3-for-5) drove a first-pitch slurve from Lambert 367 feet for his 26th homer of the year.
Mahle (7-10) improved to 4-1 with a 1.28 ERA over eight starts since his acquisition from the Giants. He allowed one run on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings.
Guardians 5, Athletics 3
Jose Ramirez hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for his 1,000th career RBI after rookie Travis Bazzana went deep in the fifth, fueling host Cleveland to a victory over the Athletics.
The Guardians have won three in a row to move a game ahead of the second-place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Joey Cantillo (10-9) threw six scoreless innings in relief, and Cade Smith handled the ninth for his 38th save.
Zack Gelof belted a three-run homer in the first inning for the Athletics, whose losing skid reached four games. Reliever Scott Blewett (2-1) permitted one run on one hit in 1 2/3 innings.
Padres 8, Marlins 2
Ty France clouted a three-run homer to cap a six-run fifth inning as San Diego stopped visiting Miami to forge a three-way tie atop the National League wild-card standings.
Winning for the 11th time in 12 games, the Padres pulled even with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, who both lost. San Diego’s magic number for clinching a playoff spot dropped to four.
San Diego starter Nick Pivetta (3-2) worked five innings, yielding four hits and a run. Marlins reliever Cade Gibson (5-2) was charged with the first two runs in the game-changing fifth. The Padres’ Jackson Merrill and the Marlins’ Agustin Ramirez homered.
Mets 6, Phillies 3
Zac Thornton tossed six solid innings, Juan Soto homered among his three hits and host New York beat Philadelphia.
Soto went 3-for-5 for the Mets, while Francisco Lindor and Carson Benge each collected two hits. Thornton (5-5) gave up two runs on five hits.
Edmundo Sosa finished 3-for-3 with a homer and Derek Hill also went deep for the Phillies, who fell to 7-9 this month. Newly acquired Jose Urquidy threw 4 2/3 shutout innings after opener Tim Mayza (3-4) surrendered three runs while getting just one out.
Reds 6, Cubs 4
Cincinnati scored three times in the sixth inning in a back-and-forth win over visiting Chicago.
Elly De La Cruz had two hits, two walks and two runs for the Reds. Cincinnati starter Chase Burns and reliever Julian Aguiar (1-0) each allowed two runs on four hits in three innings.
Cubs starter Clay Holmes (6-8) surrendered six runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Ian Happ homered for Chicago, and Michael Conforto amassed three hits.
Twins 3, Angels 0
Connor Prielipp allowed two hits over a career-high seven innings and fellow rookie Walker Jenkins went 3-for-4 with a home run as Minnesota topped Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Travis Adams pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to pick up his third save. Jenkins, who began his career going 4-for-45, homered for the second straight game on his sixth consecutive hit in the series.
Jose Siri had two hits for the Angels. Grayson Rodriguez (4-8) gave up three runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Brewers 6, Orioles 5 (10 innings)
Sal Frelick singled home a 10th-inning run and visiting Milwaukee pulled out a victory against Baltimore.
Trevor Megill (3-3) was the winning pitcher despite a blown save. Chad Patrick retired the Orioles in order in the bottom of the 10th for his sixth save.
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio and Baltimore’s Pete Alonso hit three-run homers early in the game. Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo both collected three hits for the Orioles.
Dodgers 8, Giants 2
Mookie Betts homered twice, including his 53rd career leadoff homer, and Josue De Paula hit a tiebreaking double to help Los Angeles produce a victory over visiting San Francisco.
The Dodgers socked five home runs while winning for the 12th time in the last 15 games. Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker hit back-to-back homers in the eighth, and Betts and Will Smith repeated the feat later in the frame. Tyler Glasnow (5-1) gave up two runs and three hits while striking out a season-high 10 in six innings.
Jung Hoo Lee homered and Jonah Cox had an RBI single as the Giants fell for the fifth time in seven games.
Yankees 9, Diamondbacks 2
George Lombard Jr. had two hits and three RBIs, and his two-run single capped a five-run first-inning outburst as New York cruised past Arizona in Phoenix.
Ben Rice and Lombard homered and Rice added a triple as the Yankees won for the fourth time in five games. Gerrit Cole (9-9) gave up two runs on four hits in six innings.
Corbin Carroll homered and doubled for the Diamondbacks, who have lost five of six to see their NL wild-card chances fade. Eduardo Rodriguez (15-7) yielded seven runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Red Sox 4, Rays 2
Roman Anthony homered and had three RBIs, Jahmai Jones went deep and Boston cooled off first-place Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Anthony went 2-for-5 while Caleb Durbin was 2-for-3 for the Red Sox. Boston starter Ranger Suarez (8-4) fought control issues but allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Junior Caminero doubled, walked twice and drove in a run for the Rays, who had only five hits as their six-game winning streak ended. Ian Seymour (9-7) allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings.
Rangers 7, Blue Jays 1
Corey Seager capped a four-run second inning with an RBI double as Texas topped Toronto in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers drew 10 walks and moved into a first-place tie with Houston in the American League West. Jake Burger had two RBIs for Texas, which won for the fifth time in six games. Texas took a 4-0 lead in the second inning against Dylan Cease (11-6), who allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits over 2 2/3 innings.
The Blue Jays fell two games back of the White Sox for the final AL wild-card spot. Myles Straw had two hits with an RBI for Toronto, which committed three errors and lost for the third time in four games.
Tigers 11, White Sox 8
Dillon Dingler delivered the go-ahead single and Riley Greene followed with a two-run homer in a five-run eighth inning as visiting Detroit stormed back from six runs down to beat Chicago.
Hao-Yu Lee went 4-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs for the Tigers. Kevin McGonigle finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Drew Sommers (2-4) threw two shutout innings, fanning five, and Kenley Jansen blanked the White Sox in the ninth for his 21st save.
Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas each had two hits and three RBIs for the White Sox, who have lost three out of four. Sean Newcomb (2-5) got only two outs in relief while allowing three runs.
Pirates 8, Royals 5
Konnor Griffin had four hits and two RBIs and Spencer Horwitz delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh as Pittsburgh rallied to beat visiting Kansas City.
Pittsburgh trailed 4-0 after the top of the third inning and 5-2 entering the bottom of the fourth. The Pirates won their second straight after losing four of their previous five.
Vinnie Pasquantino and Michael Massey each homered as the Royals scored five runs against Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes, who scattered six hits in his six innings. Royals starter Randy Dobnak allowed four runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings.
Nationals 9, Cardinals 1
Cade Cavalli pitched five scoreless innings and recorded the 200th strikeout of his first full major league season, leading Washington to a victory at St. Louis.
Cavalli (13-5), who agreed with the Nationals earlier in the day on a four-year, $47 million contract extension, allowed four hits and struck out six. Dylan Crews hit a two-run homer and Yohandy Morales added a two-run double for Washington.
Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy (10-5) allowed seven runs, six earned, on five hits over three innings. Leo Bernal went 3-for-4.
Mariners 5, Rockies 4
Lazaro Montes homered leading off the top of the ninth, J.P. Crawford went deep to open the game, and Seattle beat Colorado in Denver.
Randy Arozarena finished with three hits as the Mariners logged their second win in a row. Carlos Vargas (2-0) recorded one out in relief, and Andres Munoz earned his 28th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Cole Carrigg, Connor Norby and Jake McCarthy had three hits apiece and Ezequiel Tovar contributed two hits for the Rockies, who have lost three in a row and 11 of 12. Jordan Romano (0-4) served up Montes’ homer.