NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Gausman won for the first time in a month, Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single in a three-run first inning against rookie Cam Schlittler, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 7-1 on Friday night to reopen a four-game AL East lead over New York.
Two-time AL MVP and did not attempt to throw at full strength.
Toronto beat the Yankees for the eight time in 11 meetings this year and dropped New York to 17-23 against the AL East. Seeking its first division title since 2015, the Blue Jays trailed the Yankees by eight games in May but opened a 6 1/2-game lead in August.
Toronto chased Schlittler (2-3) after 1 2/3 innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered in the fifth against Ryan Yarbrough, his 23rd this season and 16th in 46 games at Yankee Stadium. Guerrero had his second four-hit game this year as the Blue Jays (82-59) clinched their fourth winning record in five years.
Bo Bichette put the Blue Jays ahead with a broken-bat RBI double down the left-field line and added a sacrifice fly in the second.
Gausman (9-10) allowed four hits in eight innings, struck out five and walked one.
CUBS 11, NATIONALS 5
CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer and the Chicago Cubs went deep four times in an 11-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Swanson capped a five-run first inning with his three-run shot. Reese McGuire, Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ hit solo home runs and the Cubs never trailed in winning for the fifth time in seven games.
Luis Garcia Jr. hit a two-run home run and Daylen Lile added two RBIs and a pair of triples for the Nationals, who had their three-game winning streak halted.
Chicago’s Javier Assad (2-1) won his second straight start, working the first 5 1/3 innings. He gave up the Nationals’ first four runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Jake Irvin (8-11) dropped his fourth straight start after allowing Chicago’s first seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. He allowed five hits and walked four with two strikeouts.
BREWERS 5, PIRATES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Quinn Priester went seven innings for his franchise-record 11th consecutive decision, Jake Bauers drove in a pair of runs, and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh.
Priester (12-2) gave up two runs and six hits while striking out six and walking one to break the mark set by Chris Bosio and Cal Eldred, who won 10 consecutive decisions in 1992.
Priester, who has not lost since May 13, was acquired from Boston in a trade on April 7. He was the Pirates’ first-round pick in the 2019 amateur draft.
The Brewers, who began a six-game road trip, maintained their 5 1/2-game lead in the NL Central over on Friday. Milwaukee had lost three of its previous four games.
Bauers’ two-run single off Carmen Mlodzinski (3-8) put the Brewers ahead 3-2 in the sixth inning. Brice Turang hit an RBI single in the eighth and Andrew Vaughn drove in a run in the ninth.
Abner Uribe pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Bauers, Turang, and William Contreras had two hits each. The Pirates got two hits apiece from Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz.
WHITE SOX 7, TIGERS 5
DETROIT (AP) — Colson Montgomery homered and drove in four runs as Chicago extended its winning streak to a season-best six games with a win over Detroit.
Montgomery had an RBI single in the first inning, drove in a run with a groundout in the fifth and hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
The Tigers are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Shane Smith (5-7) got the win, allowing four runs in five innings. Tigers starter Jack Flaherty gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead on Montgomery’s RBI in the first and doubled it on Kyle Teel’s run-scoring single in the third.
However, Detroit’s Parker Meadows tied it up with a two-run homer in the third — his first at-bat since coming off the injured list earlier in the day.
Will Roberston made it 3-2 with an RBI single in the top of the fourth before the Tigers regained the lead on a bizarre play in their half.
With two out and runners on second and third, Smith uncorked a wild pitch that hit off Teel’s glove and popped up in front of the plate. Smith and Peel both charged for it and collided at top speed.
Both runners scored as Smith and Teel dropped to the grass. They both remained in the game after being checked by the training staff.
PHILLIES 9, MARLINS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Bryson Stott hit a three-run homer, Brandon Marsh added a two-run shot and NL East-leading Philadelphia beat Miami.
The Phillies went deep four times, including solo shots from Max Kepler and Harrison Bader. Every Phillies starter had at least one hit, and they finished with 16 total.
Trea Turner went 4 for 5, his second time recording four hits against the Marlins this season.
Cristopher Sánchez (12-5) pitched seven effective innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out five and walking one. Tanner Banks relieved Sánchez in the eighth.
Stott broke the game open in the seventh when he lined a shot into the Phillies’ bullpen against reliever George Soriano to make it 9-1.
Brian Navarreto, an eighth-inning defensive replacement, pulled the Marlins within 9-3 with his first career home run, a two-run drive to center against Banks.
BRAVES 4, MARINERS 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, Ozzie Albies went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Atlanta used a three-run eighth inning to beat slumping Seattle.
The Mariners, who hold the final American League wild card spot, lost for the sixth time in seven games during their current nine-game road trip.
The Braves’ outburst made a winner out of Tyler Kinley (5-3), who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Kinley has 12 consecutive scoreless appearances for the Braves and has given up just 1 run in 15 games since being acquired from the Colorado Rockies.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save.
Sale, in his second start since missing 62 games with a broken rib, gave up one run and four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in 92 pitches.
METS 5, REDS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) — Mark Vientos homered and Edwin Díaz escaped a major jam in the ninth inning as New York held off Cincinnati in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.
Cincinnati (70-71) fell six games behind the Mets for the last National League wild card with 21 remaining. New York leads San Francisco by four games for the final playoff spot.
Vientos drove in two runs and scored two more to help the Mets win for the seventh time in 11 games. Francisco Lindor drew three walks in the leadoff spot and also scored twice.
Díaz entered in the ninth and allowed a single to Ke’Bryan Hayes before walking the next two batters to load the bases with nobody out. But the All-Star closer struck out Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz, then got Gavin Lux to ground out to second for his 26th save.
ROYALS 2, TWINS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Maikel Garcia hit a two-run homer and Michael Wacha pitched 5 2/3 strong innings as Kansas City beat Minnesota.
Garcia hit Pablo López’s first pitch high above the left-field bullpen after Vinnie Pasquantino singled with two out in the third inning for a 2-0 lead. Pasquantino and Garcia each had a pair of hits.
Brooks Lee and Jhonny Pereda hit consecutive doubles in the fifth inning for the Twins’ run. Pereda made his Twins debut behind the plate.
The Twins have lost five straight and have baseball’s worst record since the July 31 trade deadline at 11-22.
Wacha (9-11) allowed a run on four hits and two walks, striking out five. He has allowed fewer than three runs in nine of his 10 career starts against the Twins.
Carlos Estévez earned his major league-best 38th save with help from a sliding catch by center fielder Kyle Isbel.
GUARDIANS 7, RAYS 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — José Ramírez had three hits and two RBIs and Cleveland had a five-run second inning in a victory over Tampa Bay, snapping the Rays’ season-best winning streak at seven.
The Guardians won for the fourth time in 14 games to reach .500 at 70-70 and keep their wild-card hopes alive. The Rays dropped to 71-69.
Cleveland broke through after the Rays, credited with beginning the opener trend in baseball, used an opener for the first time this season.
Griffin Jax worked a clean first, but Ian Seymour (3-1) quickly ran into trouble. He bobbled Gabriel Arias’ bunt for an error, then hit a batter and walked another to load the bases. Kwan singled in two runs, Ramírez followed with a two-run double, and David Fry added an RBI single to make it 5-0. Ramirez was 3 for 5 with the two RBIs.
Austin Hedges homered for Cleveland in the fifth.
Gavin Williams (10-6) gave Cleveland seven solid innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three.
Williams’ allowed Junior Caminero’s 41st homer in the sixth, the rookie’s AL-leading 14th since Aug. 1.
ORIOLES 2, DODGERS 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Samuel Basallo hit a solo homer off Tanner Scott with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Baltimore beat Los Angeles for its fourth straight win.
It was his second homer since Saturday, on a 1-2 pitch that travelled 433 feet to right center field, lifting the Orioles to their second walk off win of the season. It was Basallo’s first career homer at Oriole Park. It was the Orioles’ first walk off home run since Anthony Santander last Sept 19 against San Francisco.
Dean Kremer and six relievers held the Dodgers to five hits. Kremer left after three hitless innings with right knee discomfort. He walked one and struck out four.
Yennier Cano (3-6) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
Tanner Scott (1-3), the seventh Dodgers pitcher, took the loss.
Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings and Freddie Freeman hit his 19th homer, but Los Angeles lost its fourth in a row. The Dodgers are 4-13 in their last 17 games against teams with a losing record.
GIANTS 8, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rafael Devers and Willy Adames hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and streaking San Francisco matched its season best with 18 hits during a victory over St. Louis.
San Francisco, which has won five straight and 11 of 12, remained four games behind the New York Mets for the final National League wild card.
Carson Seymour (1-2), making his second career start, earned his first major league win. He didn’t give up a hit through his first four innings as the Giants built a 6-0 lead against Michael McGreevy (6-3).
Seymour ended up yielding one run and two hits in five innings, with one walk and two strikeouts.
Jimmy Crooks led off the fifth with a sharp grounder for a single, then scored on an RBI single by Victor Scott II for St. Louis’ first run. Iván Herrera added a solo homer in the eighth.
Jung Hoo Lee tied his career high with four hits, including an RBI triple, and scored twice for San Francisco. Patrick Bailey had three singles, and every Giants starter got at least one hit.
Tristan Beck pitched the final three innings for his third big league save and first this season.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 0
DENVER (AP) — Kyle Freeland allowed two hits and tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in eight innings and Colorado beat San Diego.
Freeland retired the first 13 batters before Ramón Laureano doubled in the fifth inning. Jose Iglesias had a two-out single in the eighth.
Freeland (4-14) was on the mound eight pitches into his start against the San Francisco Giants. He made up for the truncated start with his longest outing of the season.
Laureano was his 10th strikeout victim leading off the eighth and Freeland got Jake Cronenworth to ground out after Iglesias’ two-out single. He left after 88 pitches.
The first two Padres batters in the ninth reached against Victor Vodnik but he got Manny Machado to ground into a game-ending double play for his seventh save.
Hunter Goodman gave Freeland a 1-0 lead with his 28th home run in the third inning. Jordan Beck’s RBI single in the fifth made it 2-0, and Goodman had an RBI double in the seventh.
Nick Pivetta (13-5) allowed seven hits and two runs in six innings.
