The Toronto Blue Jays missed a chance to pull even with the Cleveland Guardians with a loss on Monday night.
The Blue Jays lost 6-5 to the Athletics in Sacramento to stay one game back of the Guardians, who also lost earlier in the day to the Orioles.
Here is how the standings look after Monday's slate of games.
Guardians: At Orioles, 6:35 p.m., Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+
Twins: At Tigers, 6:40 p.m.
Astros: At Phillies, 6:40 p.m.
Rangers: At Mariners, 9:40 p.m.
Blue Jays: At Athletics, 9:40 p.m., Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
MONDAY'S GAMES
ATHLETICS 6, BLUE JAYS 5
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jeff McNeil legged out an infield single to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday night after blowing a four-run lead.
Henry Bolte homered and scored three times from the leadoff spot for the A's, who have won five of six following a five-game losing streak. The rookie drew three walks and stole three bases.
Andrés Giménez hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Blue Jays (72-73), who remained a game behind Cleveland for the last American League wild card. Alejandro Kirk also went deep but Toronto ace Dylan Cease gave up five runs — four earned — in five innings.
ORIOLES 6, GUARDIANS 4
BALTIMORE — Trevor Rogers pitched into the eighth inning, Coby Mayo homered twice and the Baltimore Orioles took advantage of Cleveland's wildness on the mound, beating the Guardians 6-4 on Monday to snap a six-game losing streak.
Rogers (10-9) allowed a run on six hits. The Orioles pulled within three games of Cleveland for the final AL wild card. The Guardians fell to a half-game ahead of Toronto, which played later Monday out west against the Athletics.
The Orioles scored only one run over their previous three games against Boston, but Joey Cantillo (9-9) did plenty to help them out of their slump, allowing three hits and five walks and hitting two batters in 2 1/3 innings. Baltimore left eight runners on base in the first three innings but still led 4-0.
Pinch-hitter Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run homer in the ninth for Cleveland off Andrew Kittredge. Josh Walker got the final out for his first career save.
RED SOX 5, ANGELS 2
BOSTON — Adley Rutschman hit a three-run homer off the Pesky Pole in right field, Brayan Bello pitched five scoreless innings in his first start since early June and the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Monday for their fifth straight victory.
Jarren Duran hit his 20th homer, a solo shot, to spark a four-run second inning for Boston, which improved to an MLB-best 34-17 since the All-Star break and closed to two games behind the Yankees for the AL’s top-wild card spot. New York owns the tiebreaker by winning the season series.
Moisés Ballesteros hit a solo homer for the AL West’s last-place Angels, who have lost 12 of 14 games.
Making his first start since giving up a career high-tying eight runs on June 4 before he was sent to Triple-A for nearly a month, Bello (6-7) worked around a high pitch count to keep the Angels to four hits with seven strikeouts.
The 27-year-old Bello, who had a solid run out of the bullpen the past two months, started because interim manager Chad Tracy decided to move back every starter.
TIGERS 5, TWINS 4
DETROIT — Riley Greene had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Kevin McGonigle added a solo shot Monday to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Tigers starter Troy Melton (8-4) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, and four relievers held the Twins to one hit the rest of the way. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 494th career save and 18th this season.
Joe Ryan (6-9) lasted four innings for Minnesota in his return from the injured list. Trevor Larnach homered and scored twice for the Twins, who are 4 1/2 games out of a playoff spot with 18 to play.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the first when Luke Keaschall scored on an RBI grounder by Ryan Jeffers.
McGonigle’s 15th homer tied it in the bottom half before Detroit scored twice in the second, aided by Ryan’s command issues and a throwing error by first baseman Royce Lewis. Colt Keith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
PHILLIES 1, BRAVES 0
PHILADELPHIA — Jesús Luzardo struck out 12 and tossed two-hit ball in his first career shutout in 150 starts and Kyle Schwarber hit a solo homer in the eighth inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.
The Phillies split a four-game series with the NL East-leading Braves and cut the division lead to four games.
The NL pitcher of the month for August, Luzardo (14-5) didn't walk a batter until the ninth inning and retired the final two batters to complete the 109-pitch gem in 1 hour, 51 minutes. He threw 78 strikes.
Luzardo had another sensational outing that continues to make the Phillies look smart for not allowing the lefty to test free agency at the end of the season. He signed a $135 million, five-year contract in March and has gone out and pitched every bit like a Game 1 playoff starter.
Schwarber got him the win when he hit his MLB-leading 43rd homer into the second deck against reliever Didier Fuentes (5-2).
BREWERS 4, CUBS 3
MILWAUKEE — Jackson Chourio singled home two runs to spark a three-run rally in the eighth inning and made a diving catch for the final out in the ninth as the Milwaukee Brewers came from behind to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Monday.
The Cubs fell eight games back of the MLB-leading Brewers in the NL Central after losing the opener of this three-game series.
Chicago attempted a comeback of its own in the ninth inning against Trevor Megill.
The Cubs trailed 4-2 when Pedro Ramírez, who already had homered in the fifth inning, delivered a one-out shot that could have cleared the wall if right fielder Luis Lara hadn't made a leaping catch. Pete Crow-Armstrong then sent a 400-foot shot over the wall in right-center for the first homer Megill had allowed all season.
The game ended on Chourio's diving catch of Seiya Suzuki's fly to left, as Megill earned his 27th save in 29 opportunities.
PADRES 3, NATIONALS 2
SAN DIEGO — Nick Pivetta pitched five shutout innings in his return from a long stay on the injured list and the San Diego Padres beat the skidding Washington Nationals 3-2 on Monday to keep pace in the National League playoff race.
Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. both finished with three hits for the Padres, who remained a half-game behind Arizona for the final NL wild card. The Diamondbacks won 5-4 in 10 innings at Kansas City.
Merrill had two RBI singles that drove in Manny Machado. Tatis scored on Machado's single in the third.
Pivetta (2-2) allowed two hits in his fifth start this season and first win since April 1. He was placed on the 15-day injured list April 14 with right elbow inflammation and transferred to the 60-day IL on June 2. The right-hander struck out two and walked none while throwing 63 pitches, 39 for strikes.
METS 9, MARLINS 4
MIAMI — Rookie A.J. Ewing had three hits and drove in three runs as the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 9-4 on Monday.
With the score tied 4-4 in the fourth, Bo Bichette hit a go-ahead RBI single and Ewing doubled in two more to put the Mets ahead 7-4.
Marcus Semien doubled twice and had an RBI and Bichette singled twice and drove in a run for the Mets, who finished with 16 hits.
Jonah Tong (2-1) struck out the first four batters he faced and finished with seven strikeouts in five innings. Recalled from Triple-A Monday, Tong allowed four runs and four hits, with all four runs coming in the second inning.
Four relievers followed Tong and each threw an inning to complete the six-hitter.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ROYALS 4 (10 INNINGS)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Arizona's Lars Nootbaar had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning then the Diamondbacks followed with four more runs and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals Monday.
The Diamondbacks plated four two-out runs in the 10th, including two on a single by Geraldo Perdomo, one on a single by Gabriel Moreno and one on a single by Nolan Arenado.
The Royals had the tying run at the plate with no outs in the bottom of the inning. Salvador Perez hit a bases-clearing double to draw the Royals to within 5-4, but the tying run was stranded at third.
The win gave the Diamondbacks a one-game lead over San Diego for the third National League wild card spot, pending the outcome of the Padres' game against the Washington Nationals later Monday.
Justin Martinez (2-0) earned the win for the Diamondbacks while Dennis Santana earned his third save. Craig Kimbrell (1-4) took the loss.
GIANTS 5, CARDINALS 4, 11 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO — Shay Whitcomb chopped a single with one out in the 11th inning for his first career game-ending RBI, and San Francisco beat St. Louis.
Drew Cavanaugh’s sacrifice bunt against George Soriano (6-4) advanced automatic runner Nate Furman and put him in position to score the deciding run.
Jason Foley (3-1) pitched two innings for the win.
Bryce Eldridge tied the game at 4 on a single in the bottom of the 10th after St. Louis went ahead in the top of the inning when Leo Bernal’s fly ball dropped in front of diving center fielder Jung Hoo Lee for a base hit.
Pinch-hitter José Fermín hit a tying sacrifice fly in the ninth for St. Louis against Giants closer Dylan Smith, who allowed a leadoff single to Joshua Báez and another base hit to Thomas Saggese before a one-out walk by Bryan Torres loaded the bases for Fermín.
Logan Webb struck out eight and shut down St. Louis over six superb innings to bounce back from surrendering a career-high nine runs his last time out at Pittsburgh, but had nothing to show for it as his winless stretch reached four starts since he beat Colorado on Aug. 15.
Rafael Devers hit an RBI double in the first for San Francisco, making him the first Giants player with 35 home runs and 35 doubles in a season since Jeff Kent in 2002.
DODGERS 6, REDS 3
LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer, Emmet Sheehan tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in his first major league outing since Aug. 2 and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-3 on Monday night.
Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk in his return to the lineup after a four-day break to heal multiple lingering injuries.
The NL West leaders won their fifth in a row despite being outhit 7-3. They cooled off the Reds, who were coming off series wins over the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
It was the first of seven games over the next 11 days between the teams.
Sheehan (5-8) allowed one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He was recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he'd been sent due to his struggles on the mound.
Evan Phillips pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first save since May 2, 2025.
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