TORONTO (AP) — Francisco Lindor broke up Bowden Francis’ no-hit bid with a tying homer leading off the ninth inning, Francisco Alvarez added a three-run shot and the New York Mets scored six times in their last at-bat to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Wednesday.
New York entered tied with Atlanta for the final National League wild card. The Braves were set to play at Washington on Wednesday night.
With the crowd of 29,399 on their feet to start the ninth, Francis got ahead of Lindor 0-2 before the four-time All-Star drilled a 92 mph fastball 398 feet to right field for his 31st home run.
It was the second time in four starts Francis lost a no-hitter on a leadoff homer in the ninth — Taylor Ward connected off the right-hander for the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 24.
Francis became the first pitcher to lose two no-hit bids in the ninth inning during one season since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan with Texas in 1989.
Dave Stieb threw the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990.
PIRATES 3, MARLINS 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh left-hander Bailey Falter carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Pirates beat Miami for a sweep of the season series.
Falter (8-7) allowed three walks before Jonah Bride dropped a single into left field with one out in the seventh.
The 27-year-old Falter gave up a leadoff single to Cristian Pache in the eighth before being pulled on 93 pitches (57 strikes) after getting the first out with Kyle Stowers flying to center. Four of Falter’s five strikeouts came in the first five batters, striking out the side in the first inning on 10 pitches.
David Bednar pitched the ninth but could not pick up his first save since Aug. 23. Otto Lopez led off with a double before Jake Burger reached on an error by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Bednar struck out Bride and Jesús Sánchez before Pache hit an RBI single up the middle.
Jalen Beeks came in for Bednar, allowing an infield single to Stowers that loaded the bases and getting Xavier Edwards to fly out to right for his 10th save.
GUARDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 4
CHICAGO (AP) — Lane Thomas had four RBIs and Cleveland held on behind their bullpen to beat Chicago for a three-game series sweep.
Austin Hedges added a solo home run for the AL-Central leading Guardians, who moved four games ahead of second-place Kansas City in the division and a half game ahead of New York for the best record in the American League. The Royals play the Yankees in the Bronx on Wednesday night.
Chicago dropped a franchise-record 15th straight at home, lost its 17th in 19 overall and was swept for the 24th time. At 33-114, the White Sox are closing in on the post-1900 record for losses — 120 by the 1962 New York Mets in their inaugural season.
Thomas drove in his four runs on a pair of infield singles with two outs when Cleveland runners on second and third were in motion and able to race home. He beat out a tapper to third, then a hard bouncer that second baseman Lenyn Sosa ranged to corral at the edge of the outfield grass. He had three hits overall.
Thomas is batting .405 (15 for 37) with three homers and nine RBIs in September.
DIAMONDBACKS 14, RANGERS 4
PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte homered and had four RBIs, Eugenio Suárez hit two homers and Arizona routed Texas.
The Diamondbacks won the series opener between last year’s World Series’ teams 6-0 and jumped on Cody Bradford (5-3) early in the series finale.
Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer off the right-hander in a three-run first inning, Suárez added a solo shot in the second and Marte hit his three-run shot in the fourth. Adrian Del Castillo added a three-run shot in the fifth inning and Suárez closed out a 4-for-4 day with a solo shot in the seventh.
Arizona (82-64) had a season-high 13 extra-base hits — 16 total — to tie San Diego for the top NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks also moved within 4 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Dylan Floro (6-4) walked a batter in the sixth inning after starter Merrill Kelly left in the fifth.
Marcus Semien hit a solo homer and had two RBIs for the reigning champion Rangers, now 7 1/2 games out of the AL wild card with 16 games left.
TIGERS 7, ROCKIES 4
DETROIT (AP) — Kerry Carpenter matched a career-high with four hits and Detroit kept their improbable wild-card hopes alive with a win over Colorado.
Carpenter came up in the seventh needing a homer for the cycle — the first for a Tiger since Carlos Guillen in 2006 — but hit an infield single.
Tigers starter Casey Mize allowed four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven without walking a batter. Tyler Holton (6-1) got the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Jason Foley got his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth.
Tanner Gordon (0-6) took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. In his last two starts, the rookie has allowed 12 runs on 18 hits in four innings.
PHILLIES 3, RAYS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Weston Wilson drove in the tiebreaking run with an infield single down the third-base line, and Philadelphia beat Tampa Rays to complete a three-game sweep.
Nick Castellanos homered and Zack Wheeler struck out nine batters over six innings as the Phillies reduced their magic number to clinch their first National League East title since 2011 to nine.
Wilson’s hit came with two outs in the sixth and went all of 70 feet down the line, but it was perfectly placed and allowed Castellanos to score from third. It marked the third-straight game a Philadelphia bench player came up with the go-ahead hit.
Wilson was a late addition to the lineup for Philadelphia, replacing Kyle Schwarber, who was scratched after feeling discomfort in his left elbow during batting practice. Schwarber was removed from the game on Tuesday after hyperextending the elbow while diving into first base on a pickoff attempt, but was still expecting to play until a little more than two hours before the game.
NATIONALS 5, BRAVES 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — CJ Abrams hit a home run, Jake Irvin gave up one run and two hits in six innings, and Washington beat Atlanta.
Atlanta starter Max Fried kept his team close, but the Braves only had six hits and fell one game behind the Mets — 6-2 winners over the Blue Jays on Wednesday — in the race for the third NL wild card.
Fried (9-9) allowed four runs on 11 hits over six innings, striking out six and walking none with one hit batter on 94 pitches. The left-hander has gone at least six innings in four of his last five starts, but this was the first time allowing four earned runs since Aug. 10.
Irvin (10-12) held the Braves hitless for 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
TWINS 6, ANGELS 4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Matt Wallner homered for the second straight game, Brooks Lee snapped an 0-for-19 stretch with a go-ahead, two-run double and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.
Royce Lewis nearly had his sixth career grand slam for Minnesota in the seventh inning, as his drive to left field was initially called a home run but a review showed that the ball hit off the top of the wall and back into play for a two-run double.
Wallner’s 13th homer of the season into the bullpens in left-center field tied the game after Los Angeles’ Taylor Ward led off the game with his 23rd homer. Willi Castro had an RBI single to snap an 0-for-16 skid during a three-run fourth inning for Minnesota.
The Twins have back-to-back wins after losing six of their previous seven games. They remain six games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. Minnesota is two games behind Kansas City and three ahead of Detroit for the final AL wild-card spot.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 3, 10 INNINGS
BOSTON (AP ) — Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer to left with one out in the 10th inning to give Boston a victory over Baltimore.
O’Neill connected off Keegan Akin (3-1) after Rafael Devers struck out and Romy Gonzalez reached on second baseman Jackson Holliday’s fielding error.
O’Neill has 30 homers this season He had his second walk-off homer of the season and fifth overall.
Greg Weissert (4-2) got the victory after giving up Emmanuel Rivera’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
Playing Boston for the final time in the regular season, the Orioles tied it at 2 with two outs in the eighth on Anthony Santander’s 41st homer, a shot to right off Justin Slaten.
CARDINALS 2, REDS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt’s double in the eighth inning scored Michael Siani with the tiebreaking run, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Siani led off the eighth with a single and stole second. With out one, pinch-hitter Alec Burleson was hit by a pitch. Goldschmidt, who had singled in the first inning, doubled to center off pitcher Buck Farmer (3-1), scoring Siani.
JoJo Romero (7-2) got the final two outs in the eighth inning and earned the win. Ryan Helsley needed just eight pitches for a 1-2-3 ninth inning and earned his MLB-leading 44th save in 48 opportunities.
St. Louis starter Lance Lynn tied his career high with seven strikeouts in five innings. The 37-year-old right-hander allowed one run on five hits and one walk.
YANKKES 4, ROYALS 3, 11 INNINGS
NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a game-ending infield single with one out in the 11th inning and New York outlasted Kansas City for a victory.
Juan Soto launched a go-ahead homer in the sixth for the Yankees, who increased their AL East lead to 1 1/2 games over Baltimore.
Shortly before Chisholm came through, the Orioles lost 5-3 in 10 innings at Fenway Park when Tyler O’Neill hit a walk-off homer for Boston.
Chisholm came up with runners on first and third after Kris Bubic (0-1) intentionally walked Aaron Judge following a groundout by Soto that sent automatic runner Jon Berti from second base to third.
ATHLETICS 5, ASTROS 4
HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle McCann hit a two-run homer, Brent Rooker had two hits and two RBIs and Oakland beat Houston.
The Astros have lost three straight games and their lead in the AL West has narrowed to four games over Seattle with 17 to play.
Houston also lost All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, who exited after the fifth inning with right side discomfort . He called manager Joe Espada and the trainer out after a swing on strike two of his at bat in the fifth. He completed the at bat, striking out on a bunt attempt, but did not take the field in the sixth.
McCann hit a two-run homer off Hunter Brown (11-8), and Rooker hit an RBI single off Caleb Ferguson as the A’s plated three to take a 5-3 lead in the sixth. Rooker also had an RBI single as part of two-run third that tied the game at 2-2.
The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly by Jake Meyers and an RBI single by Mauricio Dubón. Yordan Alvarez scored on a Max Schuemann error in the third to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
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