Wins were back on the menu Sunday in the American League wild-card race.
After two straight days that sent a number of wild-card hopefuls to losses, the Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins all emerged victorious to close out their respective series.
With Cleveland currently sitting in the third wild-card spot, its win meant that no ground could be made up for the first time since Thursday.
The Guardians, Rangers and Twins all avoided sweeps on Sunday, battling off the brooms of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox.
Toronto and Baltimore, meanwhile, completed weekend sweeps of the Seattle Mariners and the Athletics.
The Mariners and Detroit Tigers were the lone clubs in the race to lose on Sunday, fading further back in the post-season picture.
Here's how the standings look after Sunday's results:
Houston: vs. Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.
New York Yankees: at Angels, 9:38 p.m. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+)
Boston: vs. Seattle 6:45 p.m. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+)
Baltimore: at Rockies, 8:40 p.m.
Texas: vs. Athletics, 8:05 p.m. (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+)
Minnesota: vs. Detroit, 7:40 p.m.
Seattle: at Boston, 6:45 p.m. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+)
Detroit: at Minnesota, 7:40 p.m.
SUNDAY'S GAMES
BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 0
TORONTO — Max Scherzer and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, Alejandro Kirk and Kazuma Okamoto homered and the Toronto Blue Jays thumped the Seattle Mariners 7-0 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mariners have lost four straight.
Scherzer (2-7) struck out a season-high 10, moving him past Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry and into ninth place on the career strikeouts list.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer reached the mark by striking out Cal Raleigh for the second out of the seventh inning. It was the 3,535th strikeout of Scherzer’s career.
Scherzer walked one and allowed one hit in a season-high seven innings to earn his first win since his season-opening start on March 31 against Colorado. He threw 97 pitches, 67 strikes.
GUARDIANS 11, ROYALS 1
CLEVELAND — José Ramírez homered, hit his 1,000th career single and drove in four while Parker Messick struck out five and gave up one run in six innings to lead Cleveland past Kansas City.
Cleveland (69-68) holds the third American League wild card.
Ramírez’s RBI single in the sixth inning plated Jac Caglianone, helping him become the 11th player in Cleveland history to achieve the feat. His two-run home run in the fourth inning extended the Guardians’ lead to 9-1 and was his first at Progressive Field since May 17.
After a 30-minute weather delay, Ramírez opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 1 before Nathaniel Lowe sent his 15th homer of the season over the left-centre field wall for a 3-1 Cleveland lead.
Jo Adell hit a two-run double in the third, and Lowe added an RBI sacrifice fly.
TWINS 5, WHITE SOX 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Zebby Matthews took a perfect game into the sixth inning and pitched a career-high 8 1/3 innings as Minnesota beat Chicago to avoid being swept by the American League Central leaders.
Josh Bell had a pair of RBI singles and Luke Keaschall homered for the Twins, who had lost four games in a row and sunk to 8 1/2 games behind Chicago and four games behind Cleveland in the Central and for the third wild card spot entering Sunday. The team also placed star centre-fielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day injured list before the game as he deals with a lingering hip impingement.
Trevor Larnach’s two-run double in the first inning supplied Matthews (9-8) with a 3-0 lead, and the 26-year-old took over from there.
He faced the minimum until Drew Romo broke up the perfect game and no-hitter with a soft single to right with two outs in the sixth. Matthews was trying for his first career shutout and complete game, but Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas singled in the ninth, prompting Twins manager Derek Shelton to go to Jeff Hoffman, who allowed one of the inherited runners to score.
DODGERS 6, TIGERS 1
DETROIT — Tyler Glasnow gave up two hits and one run in seven innings and Freddie Freeman scored three runs as Los Angeles beat Detroit.
Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run homer and scored twice for the Dodgers.
Detroit, which has scored nine runs in its last six games, has lost 12 of 15.
Glasnow (4-0) allowed one walk while striking out six.
Detroit starter Framber Valdez (8-10) gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five.
The Dodgers, who left 21 batters on base in the first two games of the series, struggled again early on Sunday. They had runners on second and third with one out in the second, but Valdez struck out Kyle Tucker and Kiké Hernández to end the inning.
RANGERS 7, BREWERS 4
MILWAUKEE — Ezequiel Durán homered, doubled and drove in three runs to help Texas avoid a sweep by beating Milwaukee.
Joc Pederson added a solo shot as the Rangers snapped their own four-game skid and the Brewers’ four-game winning streak. Milwaukee’s Gary Sánchez hit his 200th career homer.
Durán tied the game with a two-out solo homer in the third and put the Rangers ahead for good by driving in two runs with a ground-rule double in the fifth.
Both his hits came off Brewers starter Dustin May (6-9).
May (6-9) was pitching four days after he got hit in the upper back by a 106-m.p.h. line drive off the bat of the New York Mets’ A.J. Ewing. The comebacker caused May to leave that game with a bruised right scapula after throwing just one pitch.
ASTROS 6, METS 3
NEW YORK — Pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr.'s go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning helped power Houston to a win over New York.
With Houston trailing 3-2, Wade launched a pitch from Jonathan Pintaro (0-1) for the third pinch-hit homer of his career and his first since April 2, 2025, while with San Francisco.
Jeremy Peña hit a leadoff homer and had two RBIs for the Astros, who remained two games ahead of Texas in the AL West and overcame consecutive homers by Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, the Mets’ first two batters, in the first inning.
Houston scored twice in the seventh to make it a three-run game. Isaac Paredes scored on Daulton Varsho’s bases-loaded groundout to first and Jose Altuve raced home when Jared Young threw wide of the plate.
Ethan Pecko overcame a laborious first inning to earn his first big league win. Pecko (1-0) gave up three hits — including homers on consecutive pitches to the Mets’ first two batters, Lindor and Soto — and struck out four over five innings.
Josh Hader, the Astros’ fifth pitcher, notched his 21st save with a one-hit ninth.
ORIOLES 8, ATHLETICS 5
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gunnar Henderson hit two homers and drove in five runs, Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer, and Baltimore scored seven unanswered runs to rally past the Athletics.
Baltimore (68-69) improves to one game under .500 for the first time since April 30 and sits one game back of the third and final AL wild-card spot.
Henderson hit a line drive over the centre-field wall for a 1-0 first-inning lead. The Athletics then scored five straight runs before Mayo pulled Baltimore back in the game with his 15th home run off a left-handed pitcher this season — breaking a tie with Atlanta’s Matt Olson for most in the majors.
Henderson hit his second home run 413 feet to drive in the go-ahead runs in the fifth before capping the scoring with an RBI triple in the eighth as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep.
He is the third player in the MLB this season with a triple in a multihomer game and the first to do so for Baltimore since Nelson Cruz on Sept. 7, 2014.
Chris Bassitt (6-4) gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for Baltimore while striking out four. Yennier Cano worked a hitless ninth for his third save of the year.
Lawrence Butler extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-run double in the first to give the Athletics a 2-1 lead. Jeff McNeil tacked on an RBI double in the third, and Brian Serven extended the lead to 5-1 in the fourth.
MARLINS 6, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON — Otto Lopez’s two-run homer capped a six-run ninth inning and Miami rallied past Washington.
Esteury Ruiz bunted for a hit leading off the ninth against Max Kranick (0-1), Griffin Conine and Leo Jiménez each walked, and Tom Cosgrove replaced Max Kranick and hit Jakob Marsee to force in a run.
Joe Mack hit a sac-fly to centre, bringing Conine across to tie the game. As Andrew Pinckney threw wildly to third trying to get Jiménez, the ball went into the dugout and Jiménez advanced to make it 3-2.
Heriberto Hernández walked, Marsee stole home on a double steal and Lopez hit a 400-foot homer into the Marlins bullpen to push the lead to 6-2.
BRAVES 3, ROCKIES 2, 10 INNINGS
ATLANTA — Matt Olson’s single past first base drove in Brewer Hicklen with the winning run in the 10th inning and Atlanta recovered after losing an early lead to beat Colorado for its seventh straight win.
Sean Murphy homered for Atlanta.
Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the 10th with a single to left field off Ryan Feltner (5-9) that moved designated runner Brewer Hicklen to third base. Olson followed with a single down the right-field line for his seventh career walk-off hit.
Braves players stormed out of the dugout to surround Olson near second base.
Victor Mederos (4-1) pitched a perfect 10th inning.
YANKEES 16, RED SOX 1
NEW YORK — Austin Wells homered twice in a nine-run eighth inning, Heliot Ramos hit a three-run homer in the fifth and New York widened its lead in the AL wild-card race and clinched the season series against Boston with a victory.
Wells opened the eighth with a homer off Jovani Moran and then connected against infielder Andruw Monasterio’s 49.8 mph slider for a three-run shot.
Paul Goldschmidt also homered after starting New York’s five-run fifth with a two-run single off Ranger Suarez (5-4). Jose Caballero started at shortstop for rookie George Lombard Jr. (right knee discomfort) and launched a three-run drive off Monasterio’s 49 mph slider.
Ramos hit his first homer since being acquired from San Francisco at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. It was the outfielder’s first homer overall since July 20 and he also had his first multi-hit game with the Yankees.
Ramos entered Sunday 7 for 59 in his first 20 games for the Yankees. His biggest hit since being acquired helped the Yankees (78-59) move four games ahead of the Red Sox (74-63) and win seven of 13 meetings to clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.
PIRATES 5, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS — Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo homered, Brandon Lowe added an RBI single and Pittsburgh beat St. Louis.
Braxton Ashcraft (14-5) held St. Louis without an extra-base hit over five innings to become the first Pirates pitcher since 2018 (Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams) to reach 14 wins. He allowed two runs on six hits, struck out three and walked one.
In the second inning, Valdez hit a two-run home run off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (5-13) that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole. Triolo drilled a 412-foot blast into the left-field stands in the fifth inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-0.
Thomas Saggese singled three times and scored twice. He moved into the St. Louis lineup after infielder JJ Wetherholt was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right wrist tendinitis.
Alec Burleson achieved his first 100 RBI season when he and Iván Herrera had back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs in the fifth inning.
RAYS 5, PADRES 4, 11 INNINGS
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jonny DeLuca hit a two-out, two-run homer off Mason Miller to tie it in the ninth inning and Jorge Mateo singled in the winning run in the 11th as Tampa Bay beat San Diego to finish a three-game sweep.
Miller appeared to close it out when Samad Taylor chased down DeLuca’s shot to left field, but the ball fell out of Taylor’s glove when he hit the wall and landed on the other side to tie it 3-3.
Miller has allowed homers in back-to-back games after not allowing any in his first 53 appearances. It was only his second blown save in 34 opportunities.
Automatic runner Manny Machado took third on a wild pitch from Rays reliever Tyler Wells (3-2) to start the 11th and Ty France followed with a sacrifice fly for a 4-3 lead.
PHILLIES 5, ANGELS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Zack Wheeler allowed one run in six strong innings, Edmundo Sosa hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh and Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep with a win over Los Angeles.
Sosa, whose pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth gave Philadelphia a 5-3 win Friday night, led off the seventh with a solo shot off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (0-5) to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
The Phillies added two insurance runs in the eighth on Luis Arraez’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly and Brandon Marsh’s pinch-hit RBI single for a 4-1 lead. Bryce Harper added an RBI double in the ninth for a 5-1 lead.
Alex McFarlane threw a scoreless seventh and Orion Kerkering gave up a run on Mike Trout’s ninth-inning RBI double while recording the final four outs for his second save.
The Phillies won for the 13th time in 15 games. The Angels have lost seven straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season.
Wheeler (11-5) allowed four hits, struck out six and walked three to outduel Kikuchi, who gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one.
REDS 7, CUBS 5
CHICAGO — Rookie Sal Stewart homered for the third straight game to help offset two more home runs by Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Cincinnati beat Chicago after rain delayed the start 25 minutes.
Dane Myers hit a go-ahead homer off Shoto Imanaga (8-10) leading off the fifth inning and Tyler Stephenson followed with a two-run shot after a single by Elly De La Cruz for a 6-3 lead. De La Cruz left after that with left quad tightness.
Stewart homered for the 31st time — off Trent Thornton — for the Reds’ final run in the seventh.
Crow-Armstrong homered leading off the first against Chase Burns (15-3) to give the Cubs the lead. It his fourth in seven at-bats after hitting three Saturday in a 17-5 victory over the Reds. The NL’s MVP front-runner hit his 38th homer — a solo shot off Reds closer Emilio Pagán in the ninth before the right-hander finished off his 19th save.
Burns allowed three runs — two earned — on six hits in 5 2/3 innings as Cincinnati beat the Cubs in the rubber game of the series after losing six of seven matchups previously.
Michael Conforto had an RBI single in the second to put Chicago up 2-0.
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