SEATTLE (AP) — Logan Gilbert tied his career-high with nine strikeouts, Cal Raleigh homered and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Tuesday night to keep the AL wild-card race tight.
Raleigh hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Mariners won for the eighth time in nine games. Seattle and Tampa Bay are 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto, which is 3 1/2 games on front of Baltimore for the final AL wild card. Raleigh has 23 homers, tops among catchers.
Chicago has lost two of three and dropped three games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central, also trailing Minnesota by 1 1/2 games.
Gilbert (12-5) allowed five hits in six innings, striking out two each in the third, fifth and sixth.
He allowed runners in scoring position twice. José Abreu had a out-one double in the sixth, his third hit of the game, and took third on Eloy Jiménez’s single. But Gilbert struck out Gavin Sheets and fanned A.J. Pollock on a shoulder-high 98 mph fastball, Gilbert’s 101st and last pitch.
Pollock also struck out with two runners aboard in the eighth against Andrés Muñoz. Paul Sewald struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 22 chances.
Seattle has allowed three runs or fewer in nine consecutive games, tying June 1-11, 2009, for the second-longest streak in team history behind 13 straight in 2014.
Johnny Cueto (7-7) allowed one run, five hits and three walks in six-plus innings.
Ty France doubled in the fourth on ball that hit the wall in the right-field corner and skipped past Sheets. France tagged up on on Mitch Haniger’s fly to right field, and Sheets’ throw was wide and bounced to the camera well for an error that let France cross the plate.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: Already ailing CF Luis Robert was replaced in the fifth inning after bruising his left hand during an earlier at-bat. Trainers visited with Robert during his second-inning at-bat after the ball hit the knob of the bat, causing him pain. He returned to the batter’s box and struck out. After a second strikeout in the fifth he was replaced by Adam Engel. Robert, who also strained his left wrist on Aug. 12, is day to day. … Acting manager Miguel Cairo said SS Tim Anderson (hand) is not yet ready to start swinging a bat.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Michael Kopech (4-9, 3.58) is 0-3 in his last five starts. He has been sidelined since Aug. 23 by a strained left knee.
Mariners: RHP Luis Castillo (6-5, 2.71) is 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA in six starts since he was acquired from Cincinnati. He pitched six shutout innings against Cleveland on Sept. 2.
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