SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle’s season record for most home runs by a switch hitter with his 54th, and the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to nine by routing the Los Angeles Angels 11-2 Sunday to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time since June.
George Kirby matched his career high with 14 strikeouts as the Mariners completed a four-game sweep and won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.
Jorge Polanco had three doubles and has doubles in seven straight games, tying the Mariners record.
Seattle (82-68) moved one game ahead of Houston (81-69) at the top of the division, winning nine in a row for the first time since a 14-game streak from July 2-17, 2022, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Mariners had not been alone in first place since before play on June 3.
RED SOX 6, YANKEES 4
BOSTON — Carlos Narváez’s solo homer capped a six-run first inning against Will Warren, Garrett Crochet matched his season high with 12 strikeouts and the Boston Red Sox held off the New York Yankees for a 6-4 victory on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep.
Boston stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within 1 1/2 games behind New York for the AL’s top wild card. The second-place Yankees dropped four games behind AL East-leading Toronto.
Romy Gonzalez hit an RBI double, and Alex Bregman and Nathaniel Lowe each had a run-scoring single in the big inning when the initial five Boston batters had hits.
Aaron Judge hit his 48th homer for the Yankees, who had won 14 of their previous 19 games. Amed Rosario had a two-run homer and José Caballero added a solo shot.
METS 5, RANGERS 2 (10)
NEW YORK — Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off Luis Curvelo, and the New York Mets stopped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
New York, which reopened a 1 1/2-game lead over San Francisco for the last NL wild card, backed rookie Nolan McLean with a 2-0 lead only for Joc Pederson to tie the score with a two-run single in the seventh off Reed Garrett.
Alonso hit an opposite-field homer to right off Curvelo (1-1), then saluted the Mets’ dugout and tossed his helmet before reaching first base. As he rounded third, Alonso began untucking his shirt before he sprinted across the plate and was doused with popcorn by jubilant teammates. He ended the Mets' longest losing streak since 2018, raising his season totals to 34 homers and 117 RBIs.
BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 2
TORONTO — George Springer homered and drove in two runs, Shane Bieber pitched six innings for his third win in five starts and the American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Springer went 3 for 4 with three extra base hits and Alejandro Kirk had three hits and an RBI in Toronto’s tenth series sweep. The Blue Jays are an AL-best 50-25 at home. They started the day with a three-game AL East lead.
Bieber (3-1) allowed one run and four hits. He walked one and struck out five.
BRAVES 8, ASTROS 3
ATLANTA — Ozzie Albies drove in three runs with two hits, including a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth, Sandy León homered in his first start in more than two years and the Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 8-3 on Sunday.
Matt Olson had two hits, including a homer, as the Braves avoided a three-game sweep and ended Houston's streak of six consecutive wins at Truist Park. León added a two-run shot off former Braves closer Craig Kimbrel in the seventh after driving in a run with a fielder's choice grounder in the second.
Cam Smith homered for Houston, which began the day tied with Seattle for first place in the AL West. The Mariners overtook the Astros with a win later on Sunday.
DODGERS 10, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Teoscar Hernández had his second four-hit game this season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Francisco 10-2 Sunday to drop the Giants 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the last NL wild card.
Tyler Glasnow (3-3) allowed one run, three hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings as the NL West-leading Dodgers maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over second place San Diego. He has allowed nine hits in his last four starts.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto had three hits each for the Dodgers, who finished with 18, and Conforto had three RBIs. The Dodgers are 6-3 against the Giants this year.
TIGERS 2, MARLINS 0
MIAMI — José Urquidy got four outs in his return from Tommy John surgery, combining with three other pitchers to lead Detroit over the Miami Marlins 2-0 Sunday as the Tigers tied Pittsburgh for the major league lead with their 17th shutout this season.
Detroit took advantage of three errors by Miami on a single ball in the second inning, scoring both runs and going on to stop a three-game losing streak.
Urquidy, a 30-year-old right-hander, had Tommy John surgery for the second time in June 2024 and signed a $1 million, one-year contract with the Tigers in March following five seasons with Houston.
He relieved Keider Montero (5-3) started the sixth and worked around Agustín Ramírez's two-out single. Eric Wagaman singled leading off the seventh and Tommy Kahnle followed with one out. Urquidy threw 25 pitches, averaging 93 mph with his fastball.
ROYALS 10, PHILLIES 3
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies clinched their fourth straight postseason berth despite wasting a two-run lead Sunday in a 10-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, who got a three-run homer and five RBIs from Salvador Perez.
Philadelphia became the second team assured of a playoffs spot when San Francisco lost later Sunday to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies would have clinched their second consecutive NL East title with a victory but had to wait at least one more day for the division crown.
Philadelphia, which entered with a six-game winning streak, leads the NL East by 12 games over the second-place New York Mets.
Milwaukee clinched a playoff berth on Saturday.
Kyle Schwarber hit his NL-high 52nd homer for Philadelphia, which will in the postseason in four straight years for just the second time. The Phillies won five straight NL East titles from 2007-11.
CARDINALS 3, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE — José Fermín and Nathan Church hit RBI singles as the St. Louis Cardinals scored all their runs in the second inning of a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
The victory kept the Cardinals from going winless during a six-game road trip.
Milwaukee lost a day after becoming the first major league team to clinch a playoff berth.
Riley O’Brien allowed a two-out walk to Andruw Monasterio in the ninth before striking out Sal Frelick to earn his fourth save in seven opportunities. It was a measure of redemption for O’Brien, who allowed three runs without retiring a batter in a 9-8, 10-inning loss to Milwaukee on Saturday.
PADRES 9, ROCKIES 6
SAN DIEGO — Jackson Merrill hit a three-run home run and the San Diego Padres withstood a career-high, five-RBIs performance by Mickey Moniak to beat the lowly Colorado Rockies 9-6 on Sunday and take three of four.
San Diego came in trailing the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in the NL West. The Padres hold the second of three National League wild cards. The Rockies have the worst record in the majors at 41-109.
Moniak went 4 for 4 with two homers and an RBI single, and stole two bases. He starred at La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad before being taken by Philadelphia with the No. 1 pick overall in the 2016 amateur draft.
ATHLETICS 7, REDS 4
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rookie Nick Kurtz hit one of the Athletics' four home runs, a go-ahead, two-run drive in the fifth inning that led the Athletics over Cincinnati 7-4 on Sunday for a three-game sweep that dropped the Reds 2 1/2 games back for the last NL wild card.
Jacob Wilson, Colby Thomas and Brent Rooker also homered for the Athletics (70-80), who overcame a 3-0, fourth-inning deficit and surpassed their 2024 wins total with 12 games remaining.
Noelvi Marte homered in the first off rookie Luis Morales and Will Benson added a two-run drive in the second.
CUBS 4, RAYS 3
CHICAGO — Nico Hoerner had three RBIs, including a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning that sparked the Chicago Cubs over the fading Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Sunday.
Ian Happ homered and Michael Busch doubled for the Cubs, who have won four of five and lead for the top NL wild card.
Tampa Bay has lost seven of nine, dropping to 73-76.
Junior Caminero, the Rays' 22-year-old emerging star, hit his 44th homer.
Javier Assad (3-1) scattered two hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings for Chicago and Andrew Kittredge struck out Junior Caminero with a runner on first for his fifth save in six chances.
Ian Happ cut Chicago's deficit to 3-2 in the sixth with his 22nd homer.
GUARDIANS 3, WHITE SOX 2
CLEVELAND — Bo Naylor drove in all three Guardians runs, including a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 Sunday for a series sweep.
The Guardians have won four straight and nine of 10. They are 2 1/2 games behind Houston for the AL's final wild card spot.
WIth the game tied at 2-2, Naylor drove an elevated sinker from Brandon Eisert (3-6) over the wall in right-center for his 12th homer this season.
Naylor also had two-run double in center in the fourth inning to put the Guardians up 2-1.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, TWINS 4
MINNEAPOLIS — James McCann homered and drove in four runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4 on Sunday to remain two games back in the chase for the NL’s third wild-card spot.
The New York Mets hold the final wild-card spot, with San Francisco 1 1/2 games back.
Alek Thomas had two hits, stole a base and scored two runs for the Diamondbacks.
NATIONALS 4, PIRATES 3
WASHINGTON — James Wood scored the go-ahead run from first base when center fielder Oneil Cruz misplayed Dayton Lile's eighth-inning double, and the Washington Nationals overcame a three-run, first-inning deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday.
Pittsburgh (65-85) finished a 1-5 trip that assured the Pirates their seventh straight losing season and 29th in 33 years. The Pirates had runners at the corners in the ninth before rookie Clayton Beeter, pitching on a third straight day for the first time in his major league career, struck out Bryan Reynolds for his first big league save.
Washington (62-87) took two of three from the Pirates and has won nine of its last 13 games.
