ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jeffrey Springs pitched neatly into the sixth inning, Christian Bethancourt hit a seventh-inning two-run homer, and the Tampa Bay Rays moved within five games of the AL East-leading New York Yankees with a 9-0 victory on Friday night.
Springs (7-4) gave up four hits and three walks, along with seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. JT Chargois, Colin Poche, Jason Adam and Calvin Faucher completed the five-hitter.
Tampa Bay has limited the Yankees to 42 runs (32 earned) in 14 games.
Bethancourt made it 3-0 on his homer off Domingo Germán (2-3), who allowed three runs — two earned — and six hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Yu Chang had a two-run infield single and Manuel Margot drove in two with a single during a six-run eighth against Greg Weissert and Anthony Banda.
New York has lost five of six, while the Rays have won four in a row to move a season-high 16 games over .500.
REDS 3, ROCKIES 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jonathan India drove in Spencer Steer from third base with a game-ending chopper against Colorado’s five-man infield to lead Cincinnati to the win.
Steer, who hit his first career home run in the fifth in his major league debut, led off the ninth with a double against Alex Colomé (2-7) and went to third on a one-out wild pitch. Jake Fraley was intentionally walked and took second on defensive indifference.
The Rockies moved into the stacked infield with three fielders on the left side. India hit a bouncer up the middle that shifted center fielder Garrett Hampson caught on the grass in front of second base, but he had no play on Steer. India was credited with a single.
Fraley tied it at 2 when he greeted Dinelson Lamet with a leadoff homer in the seventh. It was Fraley’s first career pinch-hit homer.
Sean Bouchard had a two-run homer for Colorado in the third for the first of his career.
Alexis Díaz (5-2) gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth to get the win.
BLUE JAYS 4, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH ((AP) — Alek Manoah pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning and Bo Bichette homered to lead Toronto.
Manoah (13-7) allowed five hits and struck out six in 7 1/3 innings, retiring 15 of the final 18 batters he faced. The right-hander went at least seven innings without allowing a run for the first time since last Sept. 13, when he made it through eight innings.
The Blue Jays have won 10 of 15 and maintained their 1 1/2-game edge over the Baltimore Orioles in the race for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League.
Toronto scored a pair of runs with three straight hits off of Tyler Beede (1-5) to start the fourth inning. Matt Chapman led off with a double down the left-field line, Cavan Biggio followed with an infield single and Santiago Espinal drove both in with a double to left.
Bichette added to the Blue Jays’ lead in the ninth with a two-run homer to left, his 18th of the season.
TIGERS 5, ROYALS 4
DETROIT (AP) — Ryan Kreidler scored twice in his major league debut, including the go-ahead run on pinch-hitter Harold Castro’s seventh-inning single, and Detroit edged Kansas City.
Kreidler, promoted from Triple-A Toledo on Thursday, drew two walks. Javier Baez hit a two-run homer and Willi Castro had three hits, including a solo homer. Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak.
Andrew Chafin (1-2) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Gregory Soto struck out the side in the ninth for his 24th save.
Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run homer for the Royals, who have dropped three straight. Carlos Hernandez (0-4) took the loss.
ORIOLES 5, ATHLETICS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gunnar Henderson doubled twice in his home debut, Jorge Mateo had a two-run single in a three-run eighth inning, and Baltimore beat Oakland.
Another highly touted rookie, Adley Rutschman, put the Orioles in front with a bases-loaded walk as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
Dean Kremer pitched six solid innings for Baltimore, which improved to 70-61, reaching nine games over .500 for the first time since May 20, 2017. The Orioles entered the day 1 1/2 games out of an AL wild-card spot.
Anthony Santander walked leading off the eighth and Ryan Mountcastle beat out a ground ball off Domingo Acevedo (3-3). Ramón Urías moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter Cedric Mullins was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Rutschman earned a six-pitch walk. Mateo followed with a single that drove in two more runs.
Dillon Tate (3-3) earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
METS 7, NATIONALS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the sixth inning to lead New York.
Alonso’s high drive to left field off Josiah Gray made it 4-3 and kicked off a four-run inning. He has 32 homers and his 106 RBIs are 18 short of the team record shared by Mike Piazza in 1999 and David Wright in 2006. The NL East-leading Mets have 30 games left for Alonso to make a run at the mark.
Eduardo Escobar hit his first homer since July 26 and drove in three runs for New York.
Mychal Givens (7-3), who entered with an 8.03 ERA in his first 13 appearances for the Mets, recorded five outs in relief of starter David Peterson. Givens stranded a runner at third in the sixth and worked around a two-out walk in the seventh.
Gray (7-9), pitching for the first time since Aug. 20, allowed six runs in five-plus innings for last-place Washington.
MARINERS 6, GUARDIANS 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cal Raleigh homered twice, Luis Castillo pitched six solid innings and Seattle won its fifth straight.
Raleigh hit a solo homer in the second inning off rookie Cody Morris (0-1) and connected for a three-run shot in the sixth as the Mariners kept pace in the crowded AL wild-card chase. Seattle has won seven of eight and 12 of 16.
Castillo (6-5) didn’t allow a run on five hits in six innings. The right-hander extended Cleveland’s scoreless streak to 27 innings — the club’s longest since a 28-inning scoring dry spell in 1991 — before the Guardians pushed across a run in the seventh off reliever Diego Castillo.
Cleveland, which has dropped four of five, came in clinging to a one-game lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
BRAVES 8, MARLINS 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud and Vaughn Grissom homered off Sandy Alcantara in a four-run fourth inning, Michael Harris II homered in the sixth and Atlanta won its third straight.
Austin Riley hit his 34th homer in the seventh and d’Arnaud followed with his second of the night and 16th of the season. The Braves tied a tying a season-high with five long balls and have an NL-best 201 for the year.
Atlanta, three games behind the New York Mets in the NL East, matched its season high at 31 games over .500 (82-51).
Alcantara (12-7) was charged with six runs and seven hits in five-plus innings as the Marlins lost their fifth straight.
Charlie Morton (7-5) gave up one run and four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings for the Braves.
RED SOX 9, RANGERS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Connor Wong hit his first major league homer, Kiké Hernández doubled twice and Boston overcame an early injury to starting pitcher Nick Pivetta to hand Texas its season-worst sixth straight loss.
Pivetta exited with a bruised left calf after getting hit by Leody Taveras’ comebacker in the third. Pivetta threw out Taveras at first base to end the inning, but hobbled off the field. Tyler Danish (3-1) came on and pitched a scoreless inning.
Texas starter Dallas Keuchel took the loss, going 4 2/3 innings and matching a season high by allowing seven earned runs. In two starts since joining the Rangers as a free agent on July 26, Keuchel has given up a combined 14 earned runs over 10 innings on 18 hits.
Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner, is a combined 2-9 with a 9.20 ERA with Texas, the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks this season.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
