MLB capsules: Houston blocks Boston from clinching A.L. East title

The Boston Red Sox again failed to clinch the A.L. East, losing 3-2 to Alex Bregman and the visiting Houston Astros on Friday night.

The magic number for the Red Sox remained at one. Boston leads the New York Yankees by two games – both teams have two games left and they are each assured playoff spots.

If Boston and New York wind up even, they will play a one-game tiebreaker Monday at Yankee Stadium for the division crown, with the loser going to the wild-card game.

Bregman homered and drove in three runs for Houston, which reached 100 wins for the second time in team history. Charlie Morton (14-7) pitched into the sixth inning, and Ken Giles got three outs for his 34th save.

Rockies 9, Dodgers 1: Nolan Arenado hit the first of Colorado’s four homers, and Chad Bettis picked up his second win since his return from testicular cancer to stop Los Angeles in Denver.

The Rockies have two games remaining and hold a two-game lead over Milwaukee for the second N.L. wild card.

Mark Reynolds, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story also connected for Colorado. Bettis (2-4) allowed one run over seven innings.

Los Angeles’ Hyun-Jin Ryu (5-9) allowed five runs over two innings. It was his shortest outing this season.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 3: Stephen Vogt homered and drove in three runs, Chase Anderson pitched seven solid innings, and Milwaukee kept its playoff hopes alive by beating host St. Louis.

The Brewers entered two games behind the Rockies for the second N.L. wild card. Milwaukee has won four of its last six games.

Anderson (12-4) allowed one run and three hits in his fourth win in his last five starts.

Cardinals rookie shortstop Paul DeJong hit his 25th homer in the fourth. John Gant (0-1) allowed four runs in five innings in his second start of the season.

Angels 6, Mariners 5: Luis Valbuena hit a two-run, pinch-hit double in the eighth to cap a four-run rally as Los Angeles overcame three home runs by Seattle in a victory in Anaheim, California.

Mike Trout hit two home runs for the Angels, in the process becoming the fifth player in major league history to collect 1,000 hits and 200 home runs by their age 25 season. He joined Alex Rodriguez, Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx.

Trout turned 26 last month.

Trout’s first-inning homer was overcome by back-to-back solo homers by Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager in the fourth off Tyler Skaggs (2-7). It was home run No. 39 for Cruz and No. 26 for Seager.

The Angels tied it in the bottom of the inning when Andrelton Simmons singled and eventually scored on Cliff Pennington’s sacrifice fly.

Twins 6, Tigers 3: Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer in the second inning, leading Minnesota to the victory over Detroit in Minneapolis.

Eduardo Escobar also homered and drove in three runs, helping the Twins bail Kyle Gibson out of a 3-0 deficit after an RBI triple by Alex Presley and a two-run home run by Nicholas Castellanos.

Gibson was removed after 4 2/3 innings, so Jose Berrios (14-8) was credited with the win after recording four outs in a tune-up relief outing. Matt Belisle notched his ninth save with a perfect ninth inning for the Twins, who will visit New York or Boston on Tuesday in the A.L. wild-card game.

Detroit’s Matt Boyd (6-11) allowed five runs in five innings.

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0: Masahiro Tanaka struck out 15 over seven innings, his highest total since coming to the major leagues, and playoff-bound New York won for the fourth time in five games, beating visiting Toronto.

Tanaka (13-12) retired his first 14 batters before Ezequiel Carerra reached on an infield single up the middle. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his 21st save in 25 chances.

Greg Bird had two hits and two RBIs for New York, and Aaron Judge also drove in a run.

Toronto right-hander Joe Biagini (3-13) allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

Marlins 6, Braves 5: Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton had two hits, but remained at 59 home runs as the Marlins defeated visiting Atlanta.

Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs for Miami, which trailed 5-0 heading into the sixth inning. Adam Conley (8-8) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win, and Brad Ziegler got two outs for his 10th save.

The Marlins scored four times in the seventh. Justin Bour’s two-run single gave Miami a 6-5 lead. The Marlins also got run-scoring singles from Ozuna and Stanton off Dan Winkler (0-1).

Ozzie Albies and Lane Adams homered for Atlanta.

Giants 8, Padres 0: Buster Posey hit three RBI doubles, Brandon Crawford drove in three runs and had three hits, and host San Francisco beat San Diego to ensure it won’t finish with a 100-loss season.

Joe Panik added a run-scoring double among his four hits to back Chris Stratton (4-4). The Giants needed one victory in the final series of the season to avoid their first 100-loss year since 1985.

Posey and Pablo Sandoval hit RBI doubles in the first inning and Crawford had a run-scoring single as San Francisco jumped on Jordan Lyles (1-5). He was done after 3 2/3 innings.

Crawford hit a two-run single as the Giants added four more runs in the fourth, all with two outs. Posey’s third double came in the sixth.

Stratton struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings and walked two, allowing seven hits. The Giants have won six of his nine starts since Aug. 5.

The Padres lost their fifth straight game, shut out for the second straight contest after a 10-0 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday. San Diego has been outscored 36-5 over its past four games.

Cubs 5, Reds 4: Ian Happ hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth, and host Chicago beat Cincinnati, winning for the 14th time in 17 games.

With a second straight N.L. Central title in hand and their sights set on another World Series championship, the Cubs held sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant out of the lineup.

Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, Tommy La Stella started the rally with a one-out single against Amir Garrett. Taylor Davis then singled to third off Michael Lorenzen (8-4). After Kyle Schwarber struck out, Happ drove his 24th homer to left.

Brian Duensing (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth. Justin Grimm worked the ninth for his first save in three chances.

Nationals 6, Pirates 1: Stephen Strasburg pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings for Washington, and Ryan Zimmerman homered twice to defeat visiting Pittsburgh.

Strasburg (15-4) gave up two hits, struck out eight and walked two. He is 5-1 with a 0.84 ERA since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 19.

Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth for the N.L. East champions. It was his seventh multihomer game of the season.

Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole (12-12) was charged with three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Indians 10, White Sox 1: Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run double for A.L. Central champion Cleveland, and Jay Bruce and Jose Ramirez drove in two runs apiece to defeat visiting Chicago.

Cleveland maintained its one-game lead over Houston for the best record in the A.L. with two games remaining. The top seed will play the winner of the wild-card game between the Yankees and Twins in the Division Series.

The Indians’ 101 victories are the second-most in franchise history and set a record for wins by an A.L. Central team.

Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer (17-9) allowed one run over six innings.

Cleveland built a 10-0 lead after three innings, aided by six walks from Mike Pelfrey (3-12) and an error by shortstop Tim Anderson.

Royals 2, Diamondbacks 1: Ian Kennedy picked up his first home victory in more than a year as Kansas City defeated Arizona in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kennedy (5-13) snapped a franchise record of 18 winless home starts, holding the postseason-bound Diamondbacks to one run in five innings. It was his first Kauffman Stadium victory since Aug. 20, 2016.

Jake Lamb hit his 30th homer in the second for Arizona. Zack Greinke (17-7) allowed two runs in four-plus innings in his final tuneup before starting the wild-card game Wednesday in Phoenix against Colorado or Milwaukee.

Rangers 5, Athletics 3: Shin-Soo Choo tied a career high with his 22nd home run, helping Texas end a seven-game skid by defeating Oakland in Arlington, Texas.

Rangers left-hander Martin Perez (13-12) allowed three runs in six-plus innings. The 13 wins are a career high for Perez and the loss guaranteed Oakland would finish last in the A.L. West.

A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell took a knee during the national anthem and was booed by a portion of the crowd before and after the song. It was the first time Maxwell has taken a knee on the field in an opposing ballpark.

Oakland’s Raul Alcantara (1-2) was charged with four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Alex Claudio worked a scoreless ninth for his 11th save.

Rays 7, Orioles 0: Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison homered, and Tampa Bay clinched third place in the A.L. East by defeating Baltimore in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Longoria hit a leadoff drive in the fifth against Wade Miley (8-15), marking Longoria’s fifth straight 20-homer season and the ninth of his 10-year career.

Morrison hit his 38th homer off Chris Tillman in the seventh.

Rays starter Jake Odorizzi left his final start of the season after four innings with a sore right knee. Brad Boxberger (4-4) got the win.

Phillies 6, Mets 2: Maikel Franco, Jorge Alfaro and Cesar Hernandez homered, powering Philadelphia to the victory over visiting New York.

Earlier in the day, the Phillies (65-95) announced manager Pete Mackanin would not return to the dugout in 2018. Mackanin was given a role as a senior adviser to general manager Matt Klentak.

Jose Reyes and Dominic Smith connected for New York, which had won three in a row. Matt Harvey (5-7) allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings.

Ben Lively (4-7) pitched six effective innings for Philadelphia.