The Minnesota Twins took care of their own business and will end the night in sole possession of the final wild-card spot in the American League.
The Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Wednesday to complete a sweep and improve to 63-65. That win, combined with losses across the American League, propelled the Twins up into the third wild-card spot.
The Rangers, Guardians, Orioles, Blue Jays and Tigers all lost to fall below the Twins. The Mariners, who seemed out of the race after a 22-0 loss to the Brewers on Tuesday, rebounded to beat Milwaukee 7-5 to keep within striking distance.
Here is a look at the updated standings after Wednesday’s action.
MINNEAPOLIS — Kody Clemens and Brooks Lee had RBI singles in the seventh inning and Minnesota beat Atlanta to sweep the three-game series.
Clemens drove in three runs and Kaelen Culpepper added three hits for Minnesota.
Yoendrys Gómez earned his third save in as many games and 20th of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. A.J. Minter (2-2) got the last two outs of the seventh inning and Jeff Hoffman struck out three batters in the eighth.
With the game tied at 4, Josh Bell doubled off Victor Mederos (2-1) with one out in the seventh inning and Clemens followed with an RBI single against Dylan Lee. Brooks Lee singled two batters later to score Clemens.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Lane Thomas and Ozzie Albies had RBIs for Atlanta.
The Braves have scored 15 runs in losing five of six games, including 4-2 on Monday and 4-1 on Tuesday. They are 8 for 43 with runners in scoring position in that span.
Manager Walt Weiss was ejected for arguing a check swing in the eighth.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cade Cavalli struck out 11 over six innings for his second double-digit strikeout game in a row and retired the final 11 batters he faced as Washington beat Texas.
Cavalli (11-5) limited the Rangers to three singles and walked one while throwing 58 of 84 pitches for strikes. He was pitching six days after 10 Ks while throwing one-hit ball over eight scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs. The right-hander is 7-1 his last 10 starts.
José Tena put the Nationals ahead to stay with a solo homer in the third, and Andrés Chaparro’s third hit in the game was a towering 415-foot drive for a three-run homer in the seventh that made it 6-0. Washington has an MLB-high 182 homers.
The Nationals had lost four in a row and six of seven, a stretch in which the only other win was Cavalli’s against the Cubs last Thursday when he didn’t allow a hit until the seventh.
Will Dion, Max Kranick and Jake Bird each pitched an inning to wrap up Washington’s fifth shutout victory. Texas (62-65) dropped out of the American League’s third wild card spot.
PITTSBURGH — Brandon Lowe homered off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh to a victory.
Rafael Flores Jr. homered twice for Pittsburgh, including a tying shot off Jansen (3-5) with one out in the ninth. Lowe followed two batters later with a towering shot to right field that clanged high off the foul pole.
The homer was the 27th this season for Lowe, the most in club history by a second baseman. It was the 83rd this year by the Pirates at PNC Park, the most at the venue since it opened in 2001.
Mason Montgomery (5-3) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as the Pirates went 4-2 during a six-game homestand against Boston and Detroit.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings with four walks and five strikeouts. The towering 6-foot-6 right-hander has a 5.05 ERA over his last 16 starts dating to May 17.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Yandy Díaz hit a two-run homer, Drew Rasmussen earned his sixth consecutive win and Bryan Baker converted his 25th straight save opportunity to lead Tampa Bay to a win over Toronto.
The Rays led 7-1 before Toronto scored four runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to make it a one-run game. But, the Rays’ bullpen shut down Toronto’s last 12 batters, and Baker got the last three outs for his major league-leading 36th save.
McAdoo, who was stranded at second base in the ninth, stole his first career base and led the Blue Jays with a career-high three hits. Alejandro Kirk homered and drove in two runs for Toronto.
Rasmussen (13-5) retired his first eight batters before McAdoo legged out an infield single in the third. Kirk’s solo homer in the fourth broke up the shutout.
Rasmussen is the fifth pitcher in Rays history to win six straight starts and the first since Blake Snell won a franchise-best nine in a row in 2018.
BALTIMORE — Pete Alonso’s drive down the left-field line in the seventh inning was ruled foul, and New York took advantage of that reprieve, scoring twice in the top of the eighth to beat Baltimore.
Alonso, who had already homered in the third, nearly went deep again with the score tied at 3. His fly to left was initially called foul. One replay seemed to show the ball on the fair side of the pole, but it wasn’t clear what angle it was shot from.
After a review, the call stood and Alonso ended up striking out.
The following inning, Cam Sanders (1-1) loaded the bases with a walk and two hit batters. Yennier Cano came on with two outs, and George Lombard Jr. hit a slow roller for an infield single to put New York ahead. Then a wild pitch made it 5-3.
Brent Headrick (7-2) won in relief. David Bednar worked the ninth for his 29th save in 32 chances.
CLEVELAND — Victor Bericoto had an RBI single, Matt Wilkinson worked two innings as an opener in his major league debut against the team that drafted the left-hander and San Francisco beat Cleveland.
The 23-year-old Wilkinson allowed one hit a little more than three months after Cleveland’s 10th-round pick in the 2023 amateur draft was acquired from the AL wild card-chasing Guardians. He was the franchise’s first Canadian-born pitcher to make his big league debut as a starter since Tip O’Neill for the New York Gothams in 1883.
Wilkinson faced seven batters after being called up from Triple-A Sacramento, Adrian Houser (3-8) struck out three while allowing four hits and two walks in five innings and Dylan Smith had five strikeouts over the final two innings for his third save in San Francisco’s second 1-0 victory this season.
Rafael Devers scored from third with two outs in the fourth when Bericoto’s sharp grounder in the hole bounced away from diving shortstop Brayan Rocchio toward the left field line.
Willy Adames had three singles for the Giants, and Jung Hoo Lee added a single and a double.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick (9-8) tied his career high with 10 strikeouts while allowing six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
MILWAUKEE — Dominic Canzone, Josh Naylor and Taylor Ward each drove in two runs as Seattle bounced back from an embarrassing loss by beating Milwaukee.
The Mariners were coming off a 22-0 defeat by major league-best Milwaukee that matched the largest shutout in baseball’s modern era. Seattle never trailed in this one, scoring seven runs off Dustin May (6-8) in the first two innings.
Seattle improved to 4-4 in a nine-game trip that concludes Thursday.
Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the second inning and matched a career high with four RBIs.
May had allowed a total of two runs in his two previous starts since the Brewers acquired him from St. Louis at the trade deadline.
Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena singled to start the game before Calzone doubled them home. Ward drove in two more with a two-out single.
Julio Rodríguez had a sacrifice fly and Naylor added a two-run single in the second to make it 7-0. Naylor went 3 for 5.
CHICAGO — Kody Clemens and Brooks Lee had RBI singles in the seventh inning and Minnesota beat Atlanta to sweep the three-game series.
Clemens drove in three runs and Kaelen Culpepper added three hits for Minnesota.
Yoendrys Gómez earned his third save in as many games and 20th of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. A.J. Minter (2-2) got the last two outs of the seventh inning and Jeff Hoffman struck out three batters in the eighth.
With the game tied at 4, Josh Bell doubled off Victor Mederos (2-1) with one out in the seventh inning and Clemens followed with an RBI single against Dylan Lee. Brooks Lee singled two batters later to score Clemens.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Lane Thomas and Ozzie Albies had RBIs for Atlanta.
The Braves have scored 15 runs in losing five of six games, including 4-2 on Monday and 4-1 on Tuesday. They are 8 for 43 with runners in scoring position in that span.
Manager Walt Weiss was ejected for arguing a check swing in the eighth.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, RED SOX 6, 10 INNINGS
BOSTON — Nolan Arenado hit a tiebreaking broken-bat bloop single over a drawn-in infield to spark a two-run 10th inning, and Arizona avoided a series sweep by beating Boston.
Lars Nootbaar hit a pinch-hit two-run homer and Gabriel Moreno a two-run double for Arizona, which was without All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte for the third straight game.
Mickey Gasper homered for the third straight game, a tying three-run shot, Nick Sogard had a solo shot for his first major-league homer and Jarren Duran also hit a solo drive for the Red Sox.
Manager Torey Lovullo said before the game that he still hasn’t heard from Marte, following little communication on Monday when he was AWOL for the series opener. Before Tuesday’s loss, Lovullo was told he traveled to Phoenix for tests on his left knee.
Arenado hit his floater into shallow left off Jovani Morán (2-3) to score automatic runner Moreno. Jose Fernandez drew a bases-loaded walk.
PHILADELPHIA — Luis Arraez homered, Garrett Stubbs had two hits and an RBI and Aaron Nola tossed seven strong innings as Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins.
Arraez had a pair of hits, including a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, off Miami starter Sandy Alcantara. Stubbs, who had his first multi-hit game since April, drove in the first run of the game when he legged out an infield single with two outs and the bases loaded, scoring Arraez. Trea Turner drove in the other Phillies run with an RBI double.
Philadelphia won a season-best sixth straight game and closed within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The Phillies trailed Atlanta by 9 1/2 games on August 13.
Nola (5-9) completed seven innings for just the second time this season, allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight. It was the first time Nola had gone seven innings and allowed fewer than three runs since his final start of the 2025 season and the third time since 2024.
Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 28th save.
CINCINNATI — Sal Stewart hit a three-run home run and Cincinnati added runs on a throwing error and an infield hit, rallying for a win over St. Louis.
Matt McLain doubled and Elly De La Cruz singled before Stewart stepped to the plate in the sixth inning with the Reds trailing 2-0. Stewart’s 27th homer of the year traveled 422 feet over the center field wall.
Stewart is the third-fastest Reds players to surpass 100 RBIs since 1920. His 94 RBIs lead the MLB this season.
Leading by a run in the eighth, McLain reached first on a throwing error and Jose Trevino scored on the play. Dane Myers dropped a run-scoring bunt later in the inning that stretched the lead to 5-2.
Reds starter Chase Burns struck out eight and allowed two earned runs and six hits with two walks in five innings. Reliever Sam Moll (2-7) pitched the sixth inning and earned the win, allowing one hit and a walk with a strikeout.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Rave hit a tiebreaking, bases-clearing double during a seven-run eighth inning, and Kansas City rallied past the Athletics.
Rave entered the game in the fifth as a pinch-hitter for Jac Caglianone, who exited with right ankle soreness. In the eighth, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs after an intentional walk to Bobby Witt Jr. and hit a line drive to the corner in right off Drew Rom (1-1) to make it 8-5.
Kansas City trailed 5-2 entering the eighth. Maikel Garcia opened the inning with a triple off Hayden Juenger, who did not record an out. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with an RBI single.
Kyle Isbel’s run-scoring single off Rom got the Royals within 5-4, and Isaac Collins tied it with a sacrifice fly. Garcia made it 9-5 with his second hit of the inning.
Pasquantino homered in the sixth.
Craig Kimbrel (1-2) worked a scoreless eighth. Steven Cruz allowed a two-run homer to Max Muncy in the ninth.
Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof each drove in two runs for the Athletics, who have lost the first three of their four-game series at Kansas City and 16 of 20 overall.
NEW YORK — Carson Benge hitting a two-run homer to conclude an impressive series, helping the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Wednesday.
The fourth-inning homer was the 15th of the season for Benge, who is the first Mets rookie with at least 15 homers and 15 steals since fellow right fielder Darryl Strawberry in 1983.
Benge threw out two runners at the plate in the first inning of Monday’s 2-1 win. He has nine assists this season, including five since Aug. 4 — a span in which the Mets are 11-4 despite a massive sell-off at the trade deadline.
Jared Young capped a two-run eighth with an RBI single.
Nate Lavender (1-0) was credited with the win after retiring all three batters he faced in the sixth. Lavender. Jefry Yan and Jonathan Pintaro all earned their first big league victories on the six-game homestand.
Kodai Senga allowed Gavin Sheets’ pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth before locking down his fourth save in four opportunities in place of the injured Devin Williams.
Mets starter Robert Stock allowed one run and struck out six in 4 1/3 innings. He didn’t allow a hit until Xander Bogaerts led off the fifth with a double.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had an RBI double for the Padres, who entered Wednesday with a two-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the last National League playoff spot.
Michael King (8-9) gave up two runs and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings.