CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and Emmanuel Clase recorded his 46th save as the Cleveland Guardians rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Monday night to tighten their grip on the AL Central.
With Josh Naylor on second after a leadoff double, Manzardo connected on the first pitch from Griffin Jax (4-5), sending it deep into the right-field seats for his third homer to trigger an eruption of joy in Cleveland’s dugout.
Their 40th come-from-behind win moved the Guardians 7 1/2 games ahead of the defending division champion Twins. It also reduced Cleveland’s magic number for clinching a playoff berth to two.
Clase, who has built a strong argument for Cy Young consideration, worked the ninth for his 33rd consecutive save and No. 46 this season, tying him with José Mesa (1995) for the club’s single-season record.
Rookie Andrew Walters (1-0) picked up his first career win as Cleveland’s top-ranked bullpen bailed out starter Matthew Boyd, who didn’t get out of the third.
METS 2, NATIONALS 1, 10 INNINGS
NEW YORK (AP) — Starling Marte lined a game-ending single in the 10th inning that lifted New York to a critical win over Washington.
New York moved a game ahead of rival Atlanta for the final National League wild card when the Braves were blown out 9-0 at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Playing again without Francisco Lindor, who will be sidelined for a few days due to a sore back, the Mets got just two runners beyond first base in the first seven innings. But then Jose Iglesias, replacing Lindor at shortstop and atop the lineup, hit an RBI infield single off the glove of reliever Derek Law with two outs in the eighth.
In the 10th, automatic runner Harrison Bader advanced from second base to third on a flyout to deep right field by Francisco Alvarez.
DODGERS 9, BRAVES 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer against his former team and Los Angeles beat Atlanta, dropping them out of a playoff position.
Shohei Ohtani was 0 for 4 with a walk and a pair of run-scoring grounders that increased his RBIs total to 108. He did not hit a home run or steal a base during the series, remaining at 47 home runs and 48 steals as he tries to become the first 50-50 player.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed four hits and two walks in four innings, throwing 72 pitches in his second start since returning from a right arm injury — up from 59 on Sept. 10. The Dodgers extended their scoreless streak to 15 innings and pitched their 13th shutout.
NL West-leading Los Angeles (89-61) began the night 3 1/2 games behind second place San Diego. The Dodgers scored nine runs on just four hits for the second time since 1906: The other was on June 4, 2021, also at Atlanta. After losing the first two games of the series by a combined 16-3, the Dodgers outscored the Braves 18-2 over the last two.
CUBS 9, ATHLETICS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Shota Imanaga struck out a career-high 11 in winning his fifth straight start, Dansby Swanson homered while tying his season high with four RBIs and Chicago defeated Oakland.
Chicago remained five games behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild card with 12 games remaining.
Imanaga (14-3) allowed five hits over six innings, including Brent Rooker’s 38th homer, a two run-drive in the third. The 31-year-old left-hander walked three.
Rooker went deep for the second straight game and added a single as Oakland lost its third straight. The previous two were at the White Sox, who had not won back-to-back games in nearly three months.
Isaac Paredes and Miguel Amaya each had three hits and drove in two runs in an 18-hit attack. Paredes is 14 for his last 29 (.483) with seven RBIs in his last eight games,
Seiya Suzuki had three hits, among seven Cubs starters with multi-hit game.
BREWERS 6, PHILLIES 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Ortiz and William Contreras each drove in two runs, and Milwaukee moved a step closer to clinching the NL Central title by beating NL East-leading Philadelphia.
The Brewers’ magic number is down to two as they seek their third division championship in the last four years. Milwaukee can wrap it up Tuesday night with a win and a Chicago Cubs loss.
Brewers starter Aaron Civale (9-8) scattered seven hits and struck out six while allowing one run and one walk in five innings. Colin Rea, normally a starter, made his fourth relief appearance of the season and worked 2 2/3 shutout innings for the 34-year-old’s first career save.
Blake Perkins scored twice for the Brewers. Brandon Marsh homered for the Phillies.
Contreras opened the scoring with a two-run double that had a 115.6 mph exit velocity, the third-highest of his career. Contreras hit a sharp grounder off Ranger Suárez that rolled all the way to the wall in left-center to bring home Jackson Chourio and Perkins.
CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 0
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andre Pallante outdueled rookie Paul Skenes, striking out a career-high nine over seven innings to lead St. Louis over Pittsburgh.
Pallante (7-8) allowed four hits and one walk. Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Fernandez each pitched a perfect inning, finishing a four-hitter and the ninth shutout for the Cardinals this season.
Skenes (10-3) gave up one run and four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk, falling to 0-2 in three starts against St. Louis.
Skenes’ 2.07 ERA is the second-lowest through a pitcher’s first 21 starts since ERA became an official statistic in both leagues in 1913, trailing only Steve Rogers’ 1.95 for Montreal in 1973 and 74.
Skenes threw his 94th pitch of 100 mph or more, retiring Paul Goldschmidt on a grounder that ended a nine-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning. No other starting pitcher has thrown more than 40 pitches of at least 100 mph this season.
TIGERS 7, ROYALS 6
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Colt Keith hit a two-run homer, Matt Vierling had three hits while driving in the go-ahead run, and Detroit rallied from an early four-run deficit to beat Kansas City.
Pinch-hitter Wenceel Pérez also drove in two runs for Detroit, which began its final road trip of the regular season by moving within 1 1/2 games of Minnesota for the final AL wild-card spot. The Twins lost to Cleveland earlier in the night.
Bobby Witt Jr. hit a grand slam to stake Kansas City to a 4-0 lead, and he added a bunt single for a five-RBI game. But the Royals otherwise kept squandering chances to score, just as they did in their loss to the Pirates on Sunday.
Brenan Hanifee (1-1) earned the win in relief for Detroit, allowing one run and three hits over 2 1/3 innings. Jason Foley finished off a solid bullpen performance, working a perfect ninth to earn his 24th save and second in two days.
Sam Long (3-2) took the loss for Kansas City, allowing three runs while retiring just two batters in relief of Seth Lugo.
ROCKIES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
DENVER (AP) — Brenton Doyle scored the winning run on a ninth-inning throwing error, and Colorado dealt a blow to Arizona's playoff chances with a win in a game that marked the return of Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela from Tommy John surgery .
Ezequel Tovar and Hunter Goodman homered for the Rockies, who beat the Diamondbacks for only the third time in 11 meetings this season.
Ketel Marte hit a two-run homer for the defending NL champion Diamondbacks (83-67), who are in the second NL wild card position, one game ahead of the New York Mets and two in front of Atlanta.
Doyle singled off Ryan Thompson (7-5) leading off the ninth and stole second. Ryan McMahon was intentionally walked, Brendan Rodgers hit a grounder to Marte, and the second baseman flipped the ball to shortstop Geraldo Perdomo a forceout. But Perdomo’s throw to first trying for a double play was wide of Christian Walker as Doyle scored.
Seth Halvorsen (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings.
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