INTERLEAGUE
ASTROS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4
HOUSTON -- Justin Verlander continued his strong September with another dominating outing Sunday.
Verlander struck out 11 in seven innings and the Houston Astros extended their AL West edge, topping the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4.
"Certainly, in the last couple of months this is his best start," Houston Manager AJ Hinch said. "He's had some pretty good ones as an Astro. When he comes out and sets that kind of tone and gets those swings and misses and the strikeouts it's a pretty special day for us."
The Astros lead Oakland by 4½ games in the division race. Arizona began the day four games behind in the NL West and 3½ games back for the second NL wild-card spot.
Verlander (16-9) allowed one run on three hits.
"I just felt good," Verlander said. "I had good control of the fastball. Mechanics felt in line; timing felt good. I was able to execute pretty well today."
He matched his career high for strikeouts in a season with 269. Verlander also surpassed 200 innings for the 11th time in his career.
Verlander hasn't given up more than two runs in any of his three September starts.
Zack Greinke (14-10) allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 6⅓ innings. He has permitted at least three runs in four consecutive outings.
"Really good for the most part," Greinke said. "The last inning wasn't that great. Just trouble getting them to strikeout. Just a lot of balls in play and that put a lot of pressure on the defense. Wasn't perfect but felt really good. They battled like a really good team would do."
Tyler White hit a two-out, RBI double in the sixth to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.
Josh Reddick led off the seventh with a home run, and Jose Altuve hit an RBI single later in the inning. Martin Maldonado's single in the eighth extended the lead to 5-1.
The Diamondbacks scored three times in the ninth after Collin McHugh walked David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt singled with one out. Eduardo Escobar had a sacrifice fly, and Daniel Descalso hit a two-run home run off Roberto Osuna.
Osuna struck out Ketel Marte to end it for his 18th save.
RED SOX 4, METS 3 Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts left the game after hurting his left side making a throw to home plate during during a victory over the Mets that cut Boston's magic number to two for a third consecutive AL East title. Betts walked off slowly and was replaced. Boston said Betts has left side soreness and will be evaluated further.
PADRES 7, RANGERS 3 Rookie Francisco Mejia hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning as San Diego rallied to beat visiting Texas. It was the first walkoff for Mejia, who was promoted from Class AAA on Sept. 4. The prized prospect has hit three home runs since then.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 6, BRAVES 4 Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon hit two-run home runs, 19-year-old rookie Juan Soto added an RBI single in the ninth inning, and Washington beat Atlanta Braves.
MARLINS 6, PHILLIES 4 Peter O'Brien homered and drove in three runs as visiting Miami blunted Philadelphia's bid to move up in the playoff race. The Phillies remained 6½ games behind NL East-leading Atlanta.
PIRATES 3, BREWERS 2 Jesus Aguilar and Domingo Santana hit back-to-back home runs to begin the ninth inning for the Milwaukee Brewers, but the NL wild-card leaders couldn't complete the rally and lost to Pittsburgh. Pirates starter Trevor Williams (13-9) pitched six scoreless innings.
REDS 2, CUBS 1 Scott Schebler homered on Jose Quintana's first pitch of the game, Phillip Ervin also went deep and Cincinnati beat Chicago in the friendly confines.
ROCKIES 3, GIANTS 2 Antonio Senzatela pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and also hit a two-run single as Colorado held their playoff position, topping San Francisco.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 8, WHITE SOX 4 Jonathan Villar and Adam Jones homered, rookie Cedric Mullins had a career-high four hits and Baltimore beat Chicago to avoid a three-game sweep.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 2 Dellin Betances blew a one-run lead in the eighth inning, sending New York to a home loss against Toronto. Betances (4-6) allowed hits to four of his first five batters, including a tying single by Kendrys Morales and a go-ahead double by Randal Grichuk.
TIGERS 6, INDIANS 4 Cleveland rested several of its regulars a day after clinching the AL Central and lost to Detroit as Jim Adduci homered and drove in a career-high four runs.
RAYS 5, ATHLETICS 4 Khris Davis hit a grand slam in the ninth inning, but Oakland came up short at Tampa Bay.
ANGELS 4, MARINERS 3 Kole Calhoun hit a two-run home run and Justin Upton homered in his third straight game as Los Angeles avoided a four-game sweep against Seattle.
TWINS 9, ROYALS 6 Tyler Austin hit one of Minnesota's four home runs, made a spectacular catch while flipping into the dugout down the first-base line and helped Minnesota turn back Kansas City.
Sports on 09/17/2018