ASTROS 12, RED SOX 2
BOSTON -- Major league batting leader Jose Altuve had three of Houston's 17 hits, Carlos Correa had four and the Astros chased Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez in the second inning to win 12-2 on Thursday night and keep Boston from clinching the first back-to-back AL East championships in franchise history.
Despite the loss, the Red Sox were guaranteed no worse than a tie for the division title when the Yankees lost 9-6 to Tampa Bay.
Boston needs one more victory or Yankees loss to win the division; otherwise, the teams would meet in a one-game tie-breaker in New York on Monday to see who needs to play in the wild-card game and who advances to the AL Division Series -- likely facing the Astros.
Altuve had two singles and his 39th double to raise his batting average to .350. Brad Peacock (13-2) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings, striking out two and walking one for the AL West champion Astros.
Marwin Gonzalez hit a three-run double in the first inning, and Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer off Rodriguez (6-7) in the second. Correa had an RBI double in the fourth, when the Astros scored four runs, and added a two-run homer in the seventh. Brian McCann also homered for Houston.
Mitch Moreland homered for Boston.
The Astros had already clinched the AL West title. They remain one game behind the Cleveland Indians in the chase for the best record in the league and home-field advantage through the AL Championship Series.
INDIANS 5, TWINS 2 Carlos Carrasco struck out 14, Jason Kipnis and Roberto Perez hit two-run homers and host Cleveland notched its 100th victory over understandably sluggish Minnesota, which clinched a wild-card berth earlier in the morning.
RAYS 9, YANKEES 6 Aaron Judge hit his 51st home run to give the Yankees a quick lead, but New York missed a big chance to tighten the AL East race when Sonny Gray and the bullpen fell apart in a loss to visiting Tampa Bay. The Yankees stayed three games behind division-leading Boston.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 4, REDS 3 Host Milwaukee closed within two games of Colorado for the National League's second wild card with three games left, rallying to beat Cincinnati as Brett Phillips hit a go-ahead double in the sixth inning.
NATIONALS 5, PIRATES 4 NL East champion Washington began its last -- and meaningless -- series of the regular season without a sore Bryce Harper and with a blown save by closer Sean Doolittle in what became a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.
CUBS 2, CARDINALS 1 (11) Host St. Louis was eliminated from postseason contention when Leonys Martin leaped at the center-field fence to rob Paul DeJong of a tying home run with two outs in the 11th inning, preserving Chicago's victory.
Sports on 09/29/2017