Royals top White Sox, maintain wild card hopes

CHICAGO — Alex Gordon homered, Whit Merrifield drove in three runs and Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning to lead the Royals to an 8-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night, keeping Kansas City's slim playoff hopes alive.

Salvador Perez went 2 for 4 with a pair of run-scoring doubles.

With eight games remaining, the Royals trail Minnesota by 4 ½ games for the second AL wild card.

Duffy (9-9) allowed two runs on eight hits in six-plus innings for his first win since Aug. 22.

Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 and drove in two runs to reach the 100-RBI mark for the fourth straight season. The Chicago slugger is just the third major leaguer to begin his career with four straight seasons of at least 25 homers and 100 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols are the others.

Tim Anderson went 1 for 4 to extend his career-best hitting streak to 14 games.

Dylan Covey (0-7) allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. The right-hander still is looking for his first major-league win after 17 appearances (11 starts).

Chicago took the lead on Abreu's RBI single in the first.

Covey allowed just one hit over the first three innings and retired the first two batters in the fourth. But then Eric Hosmer walked, Perez followed with an RBI double and Mike Moustakas singled to drive in Perez for a 2-1 Kansas City lead.

Gordon homered in the fifth. Merrifield's three-run double in the seventh gave the Royals a 6-1 advantage.

YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 1 The New York Yankees returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence, clinching no worse than a wild card as Greg Bird’s three-run homer led them over the Toronto Blue Jays. Sonny Gray (10-11) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Yankees won for the 11th time in 14 games.

ASTROS 6, ANGELS 2 Evan Gattis hit a three-run homer to back a solid start by Charlie Morton and Houston further dampened the AL wild-card hopes of the Los Angeles Angels. Justin Upton hit two home runs for the Angels, who matched a season worst with their sixth straight loss. Los Angeles began the day 3 ½ games behind Minnesota for the second wild-card spot.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 11, CARDINALS 6 Lance Lynn allowed eight runs in the first inning and the St. Louis Cardinals slipped up against the Pittsburgh Pirates. St. Louis (81-73) entered the day 1 1/2 games behind the Colorado Rockies, who play the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, for the second NL wild card. The loss ended the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak. St. Louis remained five games behind the Cubs in the NL Central after Chicago lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, who are a half-game ahead of St. Louis.

INTERLEAGUE

RED SOX 5, REDS 0 Mitch Moreland ended his long slump with a three-run homer, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning and Boston took another step toward a second straight AL East title. The Red Sox have won 13 of 16 and are trying to take back-to-back East titles for the first time since divisional realignment in 1969. They remain four games ahead of the Yankees.

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