Pujols moves past Mays on HR list; A's clinch playoff spot

Updated Sep. 19, 2020 1:04 a.m. ET

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols homered twice to pass Willie Mays for fifth place on the career home run list in a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.

Pujols hit No. 661 in the fifth inning to break the tie with Mays, then connected again in his next at-bat.

The 40-year-old Pujols now trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696).

Pujols had hit just four home runs this season before posting the 60th multi-HR game of his career and first since May 11 last year at Baltimore. He finished with three hits on the night.

After the Rangers rallied to get within 3-2, Pujols led off the seventh with No. 662 off Demarcus Evans into the Angels’ bullpen to extend the lead.

Taylor Ward added two hits and an RBI while Anthony Rendon had a two-run double in the eighth for the Angels, who beat the Rangers for only the second time in seven meetings this season. Jaime Barria (1-0) tied a career high in strikeouts with eight.

Willie Calhoun drove in both runs for the Rangers, who have dropped three of their last four.

ATHLETICS 6, GIANTS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland clinched its third straight playoff berth with Seattle’s loss to San Diego and a win against San Francisco.

Matt Olson’s three-run homer highlighted the victory.

Oakland is in the playoffs for the sixth time in nine seasons and now shifts its attention to an AL West crown, which could be locked up Saturday.

Olson connected in the third inning of a balanced offensive attack for the A’s in the opener of the second round of the 2020 Bay Bridge Series.

Jake Lamb’s RBI single in the first staked Oakland starter Chris Bassitt (4-2) to a quick lead. The right-hander struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings to win his third straight start.

Tommy La Stella and Marcus Semien also singled in runs for the A’s.

Logan Webb (2-4) was done after 3 1/3 innings and saw his winless stretch reach five starts. He is 0-2 since beating Arizona on Aug. 21.

REDS 7, WHITE SOX 1

CINCINNATI (AP) — Slumping Jesse Winker hit a three-run homer — one of four off White Sox starter Jonathan Stiever — and Cincinnati extended its surge into playoff contention with its season-high sixth straight win.

The Reds moved to .500 (26-26) for the first time since Aug. 3. Their winning streak has them in playoff position, in second place in the NL Central behind the Cubs.

The AL Central-leading White Sox clinched their first playoff berth since 2008 with a win over the Twins on Thursday night.

Their momentum hit a snag as Stiever (0-1) got hit hard in his first major league road appearance. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed Winker’s shot and solo homers by Joey Votto, Nick Castellanos and Tucker Barnhart.

Tyler Mahle (2-2) got his first win since Aug. 28, allowing four hits and fanning eight in 5 2/3 innings.

CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 5, 1st game

CARDINALS 7, PIRATES 2, 2nd game

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cardinals rookie Dylan Carlson’s three-run homer capped a six-run outburst in the sixth inning against mistake-prone Pittsburgh, helping St. Louis to a doubleheader sweep.

The Cardinals took the opener behind home runs from Kolten Wong and Tyler O’Neill and just enough pitching to overcome four errors.

St. Louis, playing its third doubleheader in five days, moved to .500 (24-24) with the win to remain in the mix for a playoff spot.

Andrew Miller (1-1) struck out the side in the top of the sixth to earn the win.

Chad Kuhl (1-3) cruised through five innings.

All six runs in the inning were unearned as the Pirates lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Bryan Reynolds hit a long home run off St. Louis starter Daniel Ponce de Leon that ended up in the Allegheny River but otherwise the Pirates mustered little offense.

Wong started Game 1 with his second career leadoff home run. O’Neill added a two-run shot in the third off Trevor Williams (1-8) and St. Louis escaped when the Pirates left the bases loaded in the seventh.

PHILLIES 7, BLUE JAYS 0, 1st game

PHILLIES 8, BLUE JAYS 7, 2nd game

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper hit a tying, two-run double and scored the go-ahead run on an error following Alec Bohm’s infield single, helping Philadelphia rally to beat Toronto and earn their first doubleheader sweep in eight years.

Zach Eflin struck out nine in a four-hitter and Harper went deep in Philadelphia’s win in the opener.

Rafael Marchan hit his first career homer as a professional, a three-run drive in the fourth that tied it at 5. That came after Mickey Moniak, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft, lined a single to right for his first hit in the majors.

Randal Grichuk’s sacrifice fly gave the Jays a 6-5 lead in the fifth and Connor Brogdon walked No. 9 batter Danny Jansen on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs, forcing in another run.

Rafael Dolis (2-2) struck out Andrew McCutchen looking with runners on second and third for the second out in the sixth. Harper hit a drive high off the wall in left-center, driving in two. Bohm followed with a grounder to second baseman Joe Panik. He beat the throw to Dolis covering first and the ball got away for an error, allowing Harper to score.

Brogdon (1-0) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his first career win. Hector Neris finished for his fifth save in eight chances.

Teoscar Hernandez blasted his 15th homer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Santiago Espinal had RBI singles.

In the opener, Eflin (3-2) threw 92 pitches for his third career shutout and fifth complete game, though this one was seven innings.

Harper connected for his third homer in two games to ignite a five-run fifth against Robbie Ray (2-5).

Philadelphia hadn’t won a doubleheader since Sept. 9, 2012. against Colorado, going 0-12-9 before rallying for the sweep.

NATIONALS 5, MARLINS 0, 1st game

MARLINS 14, NATIONALS 3, 2nd game

MIAMI (AP) — Brian Anderson tied a franchise record with three homers and drove in seven runs to help Miami earn a doubleheader split with Washington.

Anderson’s third homer was a three-run shot in the sixth inning against infielder-outfielder Brock Holt, pitching in a mop-up role. Anderson also homered leading off the second and hit a three-run shot in the fifth, increasing his season total to nine homers.

Corey Dickerson hit a solo homer for the Marlins, who remained in second place in the NL East as they chase their first playoff berth since 2003.

The Marlins matched their season-high run total after they were shut out in the opener. Erick Fedde allowed one hit in six innings as Washington beat highly touted rookie Sixto Sanchez (3-2).

Sanchez allowed eight hits and five runs in four innings.

Fedde (2-3) walked two, hit a batter and matched a career high in innings, lowering his ERA from 5.06 to 4.36.

Washington’s Wil Crowe (0-2), making his third career start, allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings.

RAYS 2, ORIOLES 1

BALTIMORE (AP) — Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 over five innings to help Tampa Bay beat Alex Cobb and Baltimore.

Glasnow (4-1) allowed one run, four hits and a pair of walks.

Cobb (1-5) gave up two runs and four hits over six innings. Despite those solid numbers, the right-hander fell to 0-4 against the team he pitched for six seasons through 2017.

Austin Hays led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run, but Glasnow and the Rays bullpen allowed nothing more. Ryan Sherriff worked the ninth to earn his first big league save.

INDIANS 1, TIGERS 0

DETROIT (AP) — Zach Plesac pitched impressively into the eighth inning, and Brad Hand worked out of a jam in the ninth to send Cleveland past Detroit.

Francisco Lindor drove in the game’s only run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, and Plesac (4-2) yielded five hits in 7 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.85. He struck out 11 with one walk.

James Karinchak struck out Miguel Cabrera with two on to end the eighth. Hand allowed a one-out triple by Daz Cameron but struck out Jorge Bonifacio and Niko Goodrum to end it. It was Hand’s 13th save in 13 chances.

Cleveland has won two in a row after an eight-game losing streak.

BRAVES 15, METS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Freddie Freeman added three more hits to his burgeoning MVP campaign, Ozzie Albies hit two of Atlanta’s six homers and the Braves battered Mets pitching in a rout that thrust them closer to a third consecutive NL East title.

Max Fried (7-0) breezed through five innings . The left-hander hasn’t allowed a home run since Sept. 10 last year.

Freeman laced a two-run double and Marcell Ozuna followed with a long two-run homer in the second off Steven Matz (0-5).

Atlanta pounded out 17 hits and opened a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Miami, which split a doubleheader with Washington. The Braves have nine games remaining, the Marlins 10.

The most effective pitcher for the Mets was veteran third baseman Todd Frazier, who tossed a 1-2-3 ninth that included a called strikeout of Adam Duvall.

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley also went deep for Atlanta.

CUBS 1, TWINS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks tossed eight innings of three-hit, shutout ball to outduel Rich Hill, and the Cubs edged Minnesota for their fifth straight win.

Hendricks stuck out 10 and walked one before Jeremy Jeffress worked around two walks in the ninth for his eighth save.

Willson Contreras’ sharp RBI single in the first accounted for the only run off the 40-year-old Hill, who walked the first two Cubs batters and then settled in.

Hendricks (6-4) retired 12 Twins hitters in a row during a stretch from the second until Josh Donaldson’s bloop single with two outs in the sixth.

The first-place Cubs’ lead in the NL Central is five games over St. Louis, which swept a doubleheader from Pittsburgh.

The Twins remained three games behind the first-place White Sox in the AL Central.

Hill (2-2) allowed one run and three hits while walking two and striking out five in seven innings.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, ASTROS 3

HOUSTON (AP) — Kole Calhoun hit two home runs to lead Arizona over former teammate Zack Greinke and Houston.

Calhoun connected on Greinke’s fastball in the fourth inning for an upper-deck shot to right. His second drive narrowly sneaked by the glove of leaping right fielder Josh Reddick. The solo shot off Blake Taylor in the eight made it 6-3. Calhoun has 14 homers following his second multihomer effort of the season.

Greinke matched his season high with nine strikeouts and pitched three-run ball over five innings.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen (2-2) allowed six hits in six innings, striking out six.

Luis Garcia (0-1) took the loss.

BREWERS 9, ROYALS 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jacob Nottingham hit a grand slam and Orlando Arcia added a three-run shot as Milwaukee rallied from an early four-run deficit and beat Kansas City.

Nottingham’s two-out blast to left off Danny Duffy (3-4) capped a six-run rally in the fourth inning that put the Brewers ahead for good. The comeback had begun when Christian Yelich led off the fourth with his 150th career homer.

Kansas City’s Salvador Perez went 4 of 5 with a homer, double, two runs and four RBIs.

Drew Rasmussen (1-0) pitched one inning of scoreless relief to earn the win. Six Brewers relievers held Kansas City to one run over the last six innings.

DODGERS 15, ROCKIES 6

DENVER (AP) — Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux homered and the Dodgers set a season high for runs, romping past Colorado.

Bellinger had three of LA’s season-high 17 hits, including his first homer since Aug. 30 and a double. He also added an RBI single as part of a five-run fifth inning that broke open the game.

Betts delivered a solo homer in the sixth to increase the Dodgers’ major league-leading total to 98, and added a two-run triple in the seventh. Every starter in the lineup had a hit and all but AJ Pollock scored a run.

The Dodgers started the bullpen game with Alex Wood and then used six relievers. Mitch White pitched two scoreless innings to earn his first big league win.

Josh Fuentes had a three-run homer for Colorado as part of his three-hit night. David Dahl added a two-run triple.

Ryan Castellani (1-3) struggled with his command in allowing eight runs, seven earned, over 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and hit a batter.

YANKEES 6, RED SOX 5, 12th inn.

BOSTON (AP) — Gary Sanchez hit a tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning, DJ LeMahieu had a go-ahead double in the 12th and the Yankees rallied past Boston for their ninth straight win.

New York improved to 8-0 over its longtime rival this season. Dating to last year, the Yankees have won 11 in a row over the Red Sox, one short of its best streak ever against them.

The victory moved the Yankees (30-21) percentage points ahead of Minnesota (31-22) for No. 4 seed and home field in the first round of the playoffs.

PADRES 6, MARINERS 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manny Machado homered twice and drove in four runs, Chris Paddack one-hit Seattle for six shutout innings and San Diego reduced its magic number to two for clinching its first playoff berth in 14 seasons.

The Padres are closing in on their first playoff berth since winning the NL West in 2006. They’ve already clinched their first winning season since 2010.

The Padres won the opener of a three-game series that was moved from Seattle because of poor air quality due to wildfires. The Padres batted first but wore their home white pinstripes.

Paddack (4-4) was brilliant in bouncing back from his last start, allowing only a single to Evan White leading off the third while striking out three and walking two.

Machado hit a three-run homer off left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (2-4) to deep left-center with two outs in the fourth.

Seattle’s Evan White homered off Pierce Johnson with one out in the eighth, his sixth.

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