The Toronto Blue Jays are back in a playoff spot for the first time since late June.
The Blue Jays overtook the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild-card spot in the American League with a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. That, combined with a Guardians loss to the Tigers, put both teams tied at 72-71. Toronto holds the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series earlier this week. Both teams have 19 games remaining.
Elsewhere, the Rangers and Orioles fell further back in the race with losses, while the Twins and Tigers kept slim hopes alive with victories.
Here is a look at the standings after Saturday’s action.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kazuma Okamoto had four hits and two RBIs, including a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning, as the surging Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday night to pull even with Cleveland for the final American League playoff spot.
Toronto (72-71) won for the seventh time in eight games and moved over .500 for the first time since the Blue Jays were 4-3 on April 3. The defending AL champions, who were 10 games under .500 on July 28, are tied with the Guardians for the league’s third wild card.
Okamoto went 4 for 5 with a double and broke a 3-all tie in the seventh with an RBI single. In the third inning, Okamoto hit an RBI double that hit third base over a diving Josh Rojas and rolled into the left-field corner.
Nathan Lukes had three hits for Toronto, including an RBI single that made it 2-0 in the first.
CLEVELAND — Riley Greene hit two solo homers, had a season-high four hits and drove in four runs, and Framber Valdez threw seven innings to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-0 on Saturday night.
The Guardians, who remain in the third American League wild-card position, only pushed two runners past first base and totaled three hits against Valdez, Kyle Finnegan and Beau Brieske.
Greene cleared the wall in left-center field against Parker Messick (11-9) in the first and sixth, staking the Tigers to a 3-0 lead. He also singled in Gleyber Torres in the third and doubled home Torres in the seventh.
They were Greene’s first home runs since Aug. 4 at Seattle and his second multi-homer game of the season. Detroit scored three times in the seventh against Matt Festa, including Ben Malgeri’s single that plated Greene.
RAYS 6, RANGERS 3 (10 INNINGS)
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jonathan Aranda hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Tampa Bay (85-57) has won two straight after losing the opener of the four-game series and has the best record in the American League at 85-57.
The Rangers (70-73) trail Houston by three games in the AL West race and Cleveland and Toronto by two games in the race for the league’s final wild card. They’re the first team since the 2011 New York Yankees — and the fourth in a 162-game season — to reach September never leading and never trailing by more than three games.
Taylor Walls opened the 10th with a sacrifice bunt off Rangers closer Jacob Latz (3-2), working his second inning, that advanced automatic runner Jorge Mateo to third base. Latz then intentionally walked Yandy Díaz before Aranda homered into the home bullpen beyond right field. It was Latz’s first loss since April 10.
Tampa Bay’s Tyler Wells (4-2) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory.
BALTIMORE — Sonny Gray pitched seven three-hit innings for his majors-leading 17th victory to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Saturday night.
Gray (17-4) struck out seven and walked three while moving ahead of Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the wins lead.
He allowed baserunners in five innings, but only encountered real trouble in the third, escaping after Connor Wong tagged out Colton Cowser trying to score on Blaze Alexander’s fielder’s choice.
Eli White singled in two runs off Chris Bassitt (6-5), and Wong also singled to complete a three-run sixth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a two-run double in the seventh as Boston shut out Baltimore in back-to-back games and took a 3-0 series lead.
The Orioles (69-74) went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position in their fifth straight loss after climbing back to .500 for the first time since April 30. They remain three games behind Cleveland for the final AL wild-card place, with Texas and Toronto between them.
The Red Sox (78-65) moved six games ahead of Cleveland and within three of New York while remaining in the second wild-card spot.
CHICAGO — Ryan Jeffers hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth inning and Taj Bradley settled down after a rough start to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Bradley (11-6) gave up two home runs in the first inning but retired the next 10 batters he faced, allowing four runs on four hits in five innings. Four Twins relievers allowed two hits over four scoreless innings, with Yoendrys Gómez picking up his 21st save.
The Twins pulled within six games of the White Sox in the AL Central and 3 1/2 games of the third AL wild card. The White Sox lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Munetaka Murakami hit his 30th home run in the first inning, a two-run shot that gave the White Sox three players with 30 or more home runs, along with Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas, for the first time since 2008.
Murakami became the fourth Japanese-born player to hit at least 30 home runs in a season. Montgomery hit his 31st later in the first, a record for White Sox shortstops.
SAN DIEGO — Spencer Jones hit a two-out RBI double against his hometown team to start a four-run rally in the second inning, and the New York Yankees beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 on Saturday.
Carlos Rodón and four relievers held the Padres to three hits as the Yankees (81-61) pulled within a victory of clinching their 34th straight winning season. They’ve won five of seven games and 13 of 19, and are in control of the American League’s top wild-card spot.
The Padres, who have lost six of eight, came into the day a half-game ahead of Arizona for the third National League wild card.
The Yankees drew seven walks, with three of those players scoring, and loaded the bases in three different innings.
Jones, a rookie who attended La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad, doubled into the right-field corner off left-hander Robbie Ray in the second to bring in Ben Rice, who hit a leadoff single and advanced on George Lombard Jr.’s grounder.
Ray then walked three straight batters to bring in a run before Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single. Lombard added a sacrifice fly in the third to bring in Rice, who had walked and advanced on Heliot Ramos’ single.
SEATTLE — Jeffrey Springs pitched seven scoreless inning, Max Muncy homered for the second straight day and the Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Saturday night.
Lawrence Butler added a two-run homer, Henry Bolte and Donovan Walton each had RBI hits, and Geoff Hartlieb and Elvis Alvarado worked the final two innings.
The A’s (57-86) have won four in a row for the first time since June 13.
The Mariners (66-77) dropped a season-worst 11 games under .500, losing their third straight against the Athletics. Seattle is seven games behind first-place Houston in the AL West and six back of Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot.
HOUSTON — Gabriel Moreno hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 10th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.
Geraldo Perdomo led off the 10th with a sacrifice bunt to move Ildemaro Vargas, who started the inning at second, to third. Moreno followed with his RBI single off Bryan King (2-4) to give Arizona the lead.
Jonathan Loáisiga (7-3) pitched the ninth for the victory, and Brandyn Garcia retired the side in order in the 10th for his fifth save.
Arizona moved back to a half-game lead over the Padres for the third NL wild-card spot. The Astros had their three-game winning streak snapped. They remain three games up on the Rangers in the AL West.
The Diamondbacks cut the lead to 3-2 in the seventh on an RBI double by Lars Nootbaar, and Ketel Marte tied it at three in the eighth with a solo home run to right.
PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler struck out nine in six sharp innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his MLB-leading 41st home run and the Philadelphia Phillies pulled within four games of the first-place Braves in the NL East with a 4-2 victory over Atlanta on Saturday night.
Luis Arraez had two hits and an RBI for the two-time defending division champion Phillies, who have won 16 of their last 20.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley went deep for Atlanta, which lost for just the third time in 12 games.
Wheeler (12-5) escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning and then looked more like the dominant right-hander he has been for much of his career after a shaky August in which he had a 6.26 ERA. Wheeler allowed one run on three hits.
Jhoan Duran tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save.
MIAMI — Michael Conforto homered and singled, Nico Hoerner had three hits and an RBI and the Chicago Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 6-5 on Saturday.
Michael Busch and Miguel Amaya each doubled and singled for the Cubs, who finished with 13 hits. Cubs star outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong singled, walked and drove in a run, while Ian Happ had two hits and two RBIs.
Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine homered for two of the Marlins’ six hits.
Ryan Rolison (8-1) got the final out in the seventh and first in the eighth for the win. Ryan Zeferjahn pitched the last 1 2/3 innings for his fifth save. After a 3-2 called third strike with two out to Conine in the ninth was overturned on the ABS review, Zeferjahn retired Otto Lopez on a flyout to right.
Cubs starter Javier Assad allowed three runs and three hits over 4 2/3 innings. Recalled from Triple-A Saturday, Assad walked five and struck out three.
LOS ANGELES — Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández provided key hits in Shohei Ohtani’s absence as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.
Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a three-run homer in the seventh inning out of Ohtani’s regular leadoff spot, and Hernández had an RBI single in the first while replacing the two-way superstar at designated hitter.
Ohtani remains uncertain to play in Sunday’s series finale, with a move to the injured list possible.
Dylan Crews and Daylen Lile each had an RBI double for the Nationals, and Cade Cavalli pitched six strong innings following a rocky start. Cavalli retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.
Keibert Ruiz had a run-scoring single against his former team but Washington lost its third consecutive game.
PITTSBURGH — Yusei Kikuchi pitched six scoreless innings and earned his first win of the season as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Saturday night.
Kikuchi (1-5) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out six in his third start since returning Aug. 23 from left shoulder inflammation that kept him out since late April. The 35-year-old two-time All-Star last won in his final start last season, giving up one run in five innings as the Angels topped the Royals 3-2 on Sept. 24, 2025.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft (14-6) struck out nine, but allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven while allowing one hit through 3 1/3 innings before Wade Meckler doubled into shallow left field with one out in the fourth. Moisés Ballesteros hit a sharp two-out single under the glove of second baseman Nick Gonzales, scoring Meckler from second.
NEW YORK — Rafael Devers and Christian Koss each homered twice Saturday, powering the San Francisco Giants to a 9-5 win over the New York Mets.
It was the second time this season at least two Giants hit two homers in the same game. Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt went deep twice apiece in an 18-3 rout of the Chicago Cubs on June 5.
This marks the first season in which the Giants have had two games in which at least two players homered twice since 1958, when Willie Mays and Daryl Spencer did it in consecutive games against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 12-13.
The two-homer game was the third this season for Devers and his 23rd in the majors. Devers’ 35 home runs are the most by a Giants player since Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004.
Devers, who had a homer, two doubles and five RBIs in the Giants’ 10-6 loss Friday, is batting .420 (21 for 50) with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in his last 13 games.
CINCINNATI — Matt McLain snapped a seventh-inning tie with a leadoff homer and the Cincinnati Reds held on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 on Saturday night.
Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson also went deep for the last-place Reds in a game delayed more than two hours by rain. Emilio Pagán pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 21st save in 24 chances.
William Contreras homered early for the major league-leading Brewers (88-55), who hold a seven-game lead in the NL Central over the Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee began the day last in the big leagues with 132 home runs.
Contreras connected off Andrew Abbott in the first inning, his 14th. De La Cruz answered with his 22nd home run off Dustin May in the bottom half.
The game was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 22 minutes in the fourth. The Reds trailed 2-1 and Jose Trevino singled off DL Hall to tie the score.