ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Nomar Mazara drove in five runs, including a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Texas Rangers held on to beat the Chicago White Sox 9-8 on Thursday night.
The Rangers (60-60) reached .500 for the first time since July 15 with their fourth straight win and seventh in eight games. The defending AL West champs, out of the division race behind Houston, pulled within 1 1/2 games of the idle Los Angeles Angels for the AL’s second wild card.
Mazara’s 16th home run capped the Rangers’ second four-run inning, which included two injury replacements on the mound for the White Sox in their fifth straight loss.
The White Sox pulled within a run on Jose Abreu’s 23rd homer, a solo shot in the ninth. But Alex Claudio finished a two-inning save for the left-hander’s sixth of the season.
Reynaldo Lopez (0-1) gave up six runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Austin Bibens-Dirkx (4-2) retired all five batters he faced to pick up the win.
YANKEES 7, METS 5
NEW YORK (AP) - Gary Sanchez homered and matched a career high with five RBIs, Luis Severino got right back on track and the Yankees made it a four-game sweep in the Subway Series.
Sanchez hit a three-run homer off struggling starter Steven Matz (2-7) in the first inning and a two-run single in the fourth. Brett Gardner broke his 3-for-29 slump with a two-run double, and the Yankees won twice at Citi Field just as they did back home in the Bronx earlier this week.
Severino (10-5) gave up an unearned run and four hits while striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings.
Curtis Granderson hit his seventh career grand slam off Bryan Mitchell in the ninth, pulling the Mets to 7-5. Dellin Betances was immediately summoned and got three quick outs for his eighth save.
NATIONALS 2, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Ryan Zimmerman homered with two outs in the eighth inning to lift NL East-leading Washington.
Zimmerman homered to right field on 1-1 pitch from Kirby Yates (2-4), who struck out the first two batters of the inning. It was Zimmerman’s 29th. Yates then struck out Adam Lind to end the inning.
The homer was one of just four hits for Washington and made a winner of Edwin Jackson (4-2), who pitched for the Padres for part of last season. He allowed one run and eight hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked one. Jackson had been 0-6 lifetime against the Padres.
Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
The Padres were coming off a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, the NL East cellar dwellers who have the worst record in the majors.
GIANTS 5, PHILLIES 4
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Jeff Samardzija struck out six over six innings to win for the fourth time in five starts and Jarrett Parker hit a two-run double to lead San Francisco.
Buster Posey and Hunter Pence each hit RBI singles in the third to back Samardzija (8-12) as San Francisco returned from a 2-4 road trip through Washington and Miami. On Parker’s fifth-inning double, Pence sprinted around the bases so fast he was right on the heels of Denard Span coming into home.
Cameron Rupp and Nick Williams hit solo homers for the Phillies in a matchup of the two worst teams in the National League - two of three clubs in baseball still below 50 wins.
Rupp hit a one-out homer to the elevated right-field arcade on the first pitch he saw in the fifth from Samardzija, who had been 1-4 with an 8.67 ERA in 10 previous outings and four starts against the Phillies.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (9-8) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, his shortest outing since also going five innings June 11.
CARDINALS 11, PIRATES 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Dexter Fowler’s two -run triple keyed St. Louis’ comeback against Pittsburgh.
With the Cardinals trailing 5-4 with one out in the seventh inning, Fowler tripled down the right field line off reliever Joaquin Benoit to give St. Louis a 6-5 lead. Fowler went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, scored three runs and walked twice.
Yadier Molina followed with an RBI single to make it 7-5 and chase Benoit (1-6), who allowed three runs and three hits in one-third of an inning.
St. Louis added four more runs in the ninth inning before Pittsburgh answered with two in the bottom half.
Fowler went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, scored three runs and walked twice.
Sam Tuivailala (3-1) pitched one scoreless inning for the win.
INDIANS 9, TWINS 3, 1ST GAME. TWINS 4, INDIANS 2, 2ND GAME
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Max Kepler made up for a fielding mistake in the top of the inning with the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh, sending the Minnesota Twins to a victory in the second game to salvage a doubleheader split with the Indians.
Twins starter Aaron Slegers sailed through 6 1/3 innings in his major league debut, helping stop Cleveland’s six-game winning streak. The Indians had also won 10 straight games in Minnesota, all but one this season.
Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis each homered and had three hits for the Indians in a 9-3 victory in the opener as the Twins set a franchise record with 19 strikeouts.
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) - Justin Smoak hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, Josh Donaldson added two solo blasts and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Smoak hit a two-run drive off Tommy Hunter (2-4), his 33rd, as the Blue Jays took three of four from the Rays to remain on the fringes of the AL wild card race. Toronto is 10-5 in August.
Smoak went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Donaldson connected twice against Rays right-hander Chris Archer, hitting solo shots in the first and fifth innings. It was his 13th career multihomer game and third this season. The homers were his 19th and 20th.
Donaldson leads the AL with 10 first-inning home runs this season, one ahead of Houston’s George Springer.
BRAVES 10, ROCKIES 4
DENVER (AP) - Ender Inciarte hit two of Atlanta’s four homers to lead the Braves past Colorado.
Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers also homered, and Lucas Sims (1-3) got his first win in the majors for the Braves, who managed a four-game split at Coors Field thanks to four solo shots off Colorado starter Jeff Hoffman (6-5).
The Rockies were served a potentially more serious blow in the seventh, when All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado left the game with an apparent injury to his left hand.
Arenado was eaten up by a sharp grounder from Lane Adams and left the field in pain. The ball appeared to hit the same spot where he was plunked by Miami pitcher Vance Worley on Sunday.
REDS 13, CUBS 10
CHICAGO (AP) - Phillip Ervin hit a two-run homer to snap a tie in the seventh inning and had four RBIs in his first major league start as Cincinnati rebounded after giving up a nine-run lead.
Ervin, in right field in his fifth game, also had a single and double in four at-bats. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old homered as a pinch hitter for his first hit.
Joey Votto lofted a three-run homer in a nine-run, second-inning rally as Cincinnati raced to a 9-0 lead against Cubs starter Jon Lester on a warm day with the wind blowing out.
Ian Happ hit two solo shots and a sacrifice fly, and Alex Avila went deep and had three RBIs for the Cubs, who used six homers to erase a nine-run deficit for the first time since August 1989 versus Houston.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, ASTROS 0
HOUSTON (AP) - Patrick Corbin came within an out short of his first career shutout and first complete game since 2013 in Arizona’s win over Houston.
After allowing a two-out double to Yuli Gurriel in the bottom of the ninth, Corbin was pulled by Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. Archie Bradley took over on the mound and struck out Marwin Gonzalez.
Corbin (10-11) allowed four hits and one walk, struck out seven and threw just 105 pitches. After blanking the Chicago Cubs in 6 2/3 innings in his previous start, Corbin has 16 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.
Arizona second baseman Daniel Descalso hit an inside-the-park home run off Astros starter Mike Fiers (7-8) in the fourth inning on a deep drive that sailed over the head of center fielder Jake Marisnick and bounced off the wall away from him.
It was the 14th inside-the-park homer in Arizona franchise history and the third this season.
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