MLB capsules: Houston Astros clinch postseason berth

Yuli Gurriel hit a grand slam and a two-run homer on his way to a career-high seven RBIs, and the Houston Astros clinched a postseason berth by routing the Los Angeles Angels 11-3 on Friday night in Houston.

George Springer added a three-run shot in the eighth for the Astros, who are still looking to secure the A.L. West title.

Houston starter Gerrit Cole allowed three hits and three runs in seven innings in his fifth straight win. He also struck out 12, giving him 1,006 for his career and moving him in front of teammate Justin Verlander (269) for most in the A.L. this season with 272.

Gurriel hit his third career grand slam in the first inning. He connected for his 12th homer against Andrew Heaney in the third and singled in Tyler White in the fifth.

Athletics 7, Twins 6 (10): Khris Davis hit his second homer of the night leading off the bottom of the 10th inning for career-high No. 45, sending the Athletics past Minnesota in Oakland, California.

Davis hit a 1-1 pitch from Matt Magill over the fence in right-center for his fourth career walkoff homer. It marked the slugger’s 22nd multihomer game and seventh this season.

He hit a two-run homer in the first, then connected again to end it, lowering the A’s magic number of three to clinch a wild card.

Rangers 8, Mariners 3: Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer in the first inning and finished with a season-high five RBIs, and Texas prevailed in a game halted by rain with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak and won their first game under interim manager Don Wakamatsu. Texas fired Jeff Banister on Friday morning. The Rangers are 65-88 and have been in last place since April 9.

The loss moved the Mariners closer to elimination in the American League wild-card race.

Beltre’s RBIs all came with two outs. His 476th career home run moved him into sole possession of 30th place all time, moving past Stan Musial and Willie Stargell.

Right-hander Ariel Jurado (4-5) followed an “opener” for the fourth consecutive time, allowing two runs in five innings on the way to the win.

Red Sox 7, Indians 5: Sam Travis and Tzu-Wei Lin hit their first major league home runs and the Boston Red Sox tied a team record more than a century old with their 105th win, defeating the Indians in Cleveland.

The A.L. East champion Red Sox (105-49), playing without several of their regulars, matched the club mark set in 1912.

Trevor Bauer took a step toward being in Cleveland’s postseason rotation, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance since breaking his right leg on Aug. 11. He was 12-6 with a 2.22 ERA when was struck on the lower leg by a line drive hit by Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox.

Boston ace Chris Sale, being eased back into the rotation after recent shoulder trouble, struck out seven in 3 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs in his third start back from the disabled list.

Josh Donaldson homered off Sale in the fourth, ending the lefty’s 35-inning consecutive scoreless streak. It was the first homer off Sale in 75 innings.

Yankees 10, Orioles 8: CC Sabathia won for just the second time since the All-Star break, Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks hit two-run homers and the Yankees built a six-run lead to beat Baltimore in New York and close in on their second straight A.L. wild card.

Luke Voit added a two-run single to give him 24 RBIs in 31 games with the Yankees, and Hicks scored four runs. After Baltimore closed to 9-8 in the eighth, Aaron Judge doubled in a run for his first RBI since returning from the disabled list on Sept. 14.

Baltimore dropped to a major league-worst 44-109, overtaking the 1937 St. Louis Browns for second-most losses in franchise history behind the 111 of the 1939 Browns.

Braves 6, Phillies 5: Atlanta moved to the brink of its first N.L. East title since 2013, bouncing back from Ronald Acuna Jr.’s defensive blunder with a five-run seventh inning to defeat Philadelphia in Atlanta.

Ozzie Albies sparked the comeback with a two-run homer and Johan Camargo finished it off with a two-out, two-run single, giving the Baby Braves a chance to celebrate as soon as Saturday afternoon with one more victory over the second-place Phillies.

Acuna misjudged Wilson Ramos’ liner to left in the top half of the seventh, turning what should have been an out into a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jose Bautista tacked on a run-scoring single, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead.

Rays 11, Blue Jays 3: Austin Meadows drove in three runs, Tommy Pham reached base three times and had two RBIs and Tampa Bay beat the Blue Jays in Toronto to keep its postseason hopes alive.

Pham walked twice, tripled and added a sacrifice fly as the Rays bounced back from a tough, 9-8 loss Thursday, when the Blue Jays scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the victory. Tampa Bay has not lost consecutive games since Aug. 17-18 at Boston.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit two home runs for the Blue Jays, and Randal Grichuk added a solo shot. Toronto has lost 10 of 14 games against Tampa Bay this season.

Gurriel’s older brother, Yuli, hit two home runs for Houston on Friday night. They are the first brothers in major league history to have multihomer games on the same day.

Royals 4, Tigers 3: Ian Kennedy pitched three-run ball into the eighth inning, and Kansas City stopped a five-game slide by defeating the Tigers in Detroit. Alex Gordon had three hits for the Royals, who led 4-0 after four innings.

Marlins 1, Reds 0 (10): Pinch-hitter Isaac Galloway smacked an opposite-field double in the 10th inning to score Brian Anderson and lead the Marlins past the Reds in Miami.

Wei-Yin Chen pitched seven innings of three-hit ball for the Marlins, striking out eight in his final home start of the season. Chen finished with a 1.62 ERA in 13 starts at Marlins Park.

White Sox 10, Cubs 4: The Cubs played without shortstop Addison Russell after he was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife, and they were unable to overcome a shaky performance by Jose Quintana in a loss to the White Sox in a crosstown matchup hosted by the White Sox.

Quintana was charged with five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings against his former team. The left-hander had been pitching well, going 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA over his previous six starts.

The Cubs’ lead in the N.L. Central was trimmed to 1 1/2-games over Milwaukee, which rallied for a 7-3 victory at Pittsburgh.

Mets 4, Nationals 2: Jacob deGrom turned in a record 23rd consecutive quality start, lowered his ERA to 1.77 and boosted his record to .500 in his bid to win the N.L. Cy Young Award. deGrom allowed one run in seven innings and New York beat the Nationals in Washington.

Throwing fastballs in the 97-99 mph range, deGrom (9-9) struck out eight and walked one while allowing just one run and three hits, all singles. Bob Gibson (in 1968) and Chris Carpenter (2005) each had single-season runs of 22 quality starts, the previous major league mark.

The right-handed deGrom has given up as many as four earned runs in only one of his 31 starts in 2018, on April 10 against Miami. He’s now up to 28 in a row allowing three runs or fewer, the longest single-season streak in major league history.

Cardinals 5, Giants 3: Pinch-hitter Matt Adams had a clutch two-run double in the eighth inning to lead the Cardinals past San Francisco in St. Louis.

St. Louis moved within 4 1/2 games of the N.L. Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who lost 10-4 to the White Sox. The Cardinals stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado for the second N.L. wild card.

Brewers 8, Pirates 3: Travis Shaw, Mike Moustakas and Erik Kratz homered during a six-run sixth inning as Milwaukee rallied for the win in Pittsburgh and gained ground in the N.L. Central race.

The Brewers drew within 1 1/2 games of the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee leads the N.L. wild-card standings by three games over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Padres 5, Dodgers 3: Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer, Freddy Galvis added a solo shot and last-place San Diego beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers’ N.L. West lead was trimmed to 1 1/2 games over Colorado, which won 6-2 at Arizona.

Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 2: German Marquez struck out 11 in seven innings and Ian Desmond had three RBIs, lifting Colorado to a much-needed win over Arizona in Phoenix.

The Rockies bounced back nicely after a three-game sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Marquez (13-10) gave them a shot, shaking off David Peralta’s two-run homer in the first inning with six scoreless frames. He allowed six hits and tied Pedro Astacio (1999) for second on Colorado’s single-season strikeout list with 210.