SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez hit the fourth leadoff home run of his rookie season, Eugenio Suárez and Carlos Santana both went deep, and the Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres 6-1 on Wednesday.
Seattle rebounded quickly from being shut out for the first time in nearly three months and split the brief two-game set. Rodríguez hit the first pitch thrown by Padres starter Mike Clevinger (5-7) for his 26th home run.
Rodríguez later nabbed his 25th stolen base, making him the third rookie in league history to have at least 25 steals and 25 homers in their first season. But unlike Chris Young in 2007 and Mike Trout in 2012, Rodriguez reached the 25/25 plateau in his debut season. Both Young and Trout reached the majors late in the previous season, but were still considered rookies.
Seattle kept pace with Toronto and gained a game on Tampa Bay in the crowded race for the top AL wild card. The Padres hold the third and final NL wild-card slot.
Luis Castillo (7-5) threw six shutout innings, scattering four hits and striking out nine.
CARDINALS 4, BREWERS 1
ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina made history with the first pitch of the game, then the record-setting battery helped St. Louis extend its NL Central lead by beating Milwaukee.
Wainwright and Molina started together for the 325th time, the most ever by a pitcher-catcher duo in the majors. They eclipsed the regular-season mark of 324 held by the Detroit Tigers pair of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan from 1963-1975.
The 41-year-old Wainwright (11-9) gave up just one run in five innings despite allowing eight hits. He threw 98 pitches.
Molina gave him a boost, throwing out Kolten Wong attempting to steal on the back end of a strikeout to end the third. Molina also put the Cardinals ahead for good with a tiebreaking single in the second.
Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar homered for the Cardinals, who have won three of four. They stretched their division lead to eight games over the second-place Brewers.
Milwaukee had a three-game winning streak snapped and remains two games behind San Diego in the race for the final NL wild card.
Corbin Burnes (10-7) gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings.
Albert Pujols hit an RBI double in the eighth. He remains at 697 career home runs.
Ryan Helsley earned his 17th save in 21 tries.
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 1
TORONTO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 100th home run at age 23, and Toronto beat Tampa Bay to ensure winning a rare five-game series against a wild card rival.
Toronto (81-62) has won three of four from the Rays (79-63), who dropped one game behind Seattle (80-82) heading into Thursday's series finale, Those teams are in the three AL wild-card positions for the expanded playoffs, with Baltimore (75-67) four games behind the Rays.
Guerrero homered off Drew Rasmussen (10-5) in the first inning, his 28th home run this season. At 23 years, 182 days, he became the youngest Blue Jays player to reach 100 homers.
Ross Stripling (8-4) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He won for the first time in nine career appearances against the Rays.
YANKEES 5, RED SOX 3
BOSTON -- Aaron Judge didn't homer and Gleyber Torres only sorta did to send AL East-leading New York past Boston, completing a two-game sweep.
A day after homering twice to reach 57 for the season -- four short of Roger Maris' AL record -- Judge went 1 for 4 with a walk. He singled in the fifth after Aaron Hicks reached on an error, putting runners on first and second.
Torres lined a single to right, and Alex Verdugo's throw to the plate was too late to get Hicks. Catcher Connor Wong thought he had Torres making too big of a turn and fired the ball to first but it sailed wide and into the outfield.
Judge came around to score, and Torres beat Verdugo's second throw home for the three-run, Little League homer that gave New York a 3-0 lead. Torres had three hits, and Nestor Cortes (10-4) took a shutout into the fifth to give the Yankees their fourth straight win and eighth in 10 games.
Red Sox rookie Brayan Bello (1-6) took the loss even though all three runs he allowed were unearned.
Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 25 chances.
GUARDIANS 5, ANGELS 3
CLEVELAND -- José Ramírez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cleveland beat Los Angeles for its sixth consecutive victory.
Oscar Gonzalez and Andrés Giménez each had three hits as the AL Central leaders (76-65) moved 11 games over .500 for the first time since September 2020.
The Angels (61-82) clinched their seventh straight losing season, matching the team record set from 1971-77.
With Amed Rosario aboard after a leadoff single, Ramírez drove a 3-1 slider from Ryan Tepera (4-3) to right for his 27th homer. The All-Star third baseman also leads the Guardians with 111 RBIs.
The Guardians opened a four-game lead over the Chicago White Sox, who lost to last-place Colorado. The win streak for Cleveland matches a season high.
Trevor Stephan (5-4) got three outs for the win, and James Karinchak worked the ninth for his third save.
CUBS 6, METS 3
NEW YORK -- David Peterson got only one out and the slumping New York Mets fell behind early as Chicago completed a three-game sweep.
The NL East leaders lost their fifth consecutive home game and dropped to 5-7 in a 16-game stretch against Washington, Pittsburgh, Miami and the Cubs -- all more than 20 games under .500 this season.
New York remained a half-game ahead of the Braves in the division race after they lost in San Francisco earlier. The Mets have held a share of first place for all but two days this season: April 11 and Sept. 9.
Peterson (7-5) allowed two-run doubles to Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins. Trevor Williams gave up an RBI double to Michael Hermosillo and a run-scoring single to Nelson Velázquez in Chicago's 25-minute opening inning.
Pete Alonso and Tomás Nido homered for the Mets, who scored six runs in the series and got swept for the fourth time this year.
Drew Smyly (7-8) yielded two runs -- one earned -- and four hits in five innings.
GIANTS 4, BRAVES 1
SAN FRANCISCO -- Austin Wynns drove in three runs, Carlos Rodón struck out eight in five dominant innings before leaving with a blister and San Francisco slowed Atlanta to win the series.
Atlanta lost two of three to the sub-.500 Giants, who have won four of five.
Rodón (13-8) allowed just an unearned run on two hits and a walk. Giants relievers Tyler Rogers, Scott Alexander, John Brebbia and Camilo Doval combined for four scoreless innings.
Doval struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 opportunities.
Robbie Grossman went 3 for 3 with an RBI for Atlanta. Charlie Morton (8-6) was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings for his first loss since July 27.
ROCKIES 3, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO -- Colorado starter Kyle Freeland outpitched Dylan Cease and put a dent in Chicago's push for a playoff spot.
The White Sox fell four games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland with 19 remaining. Chicago travels to Cleveland for a makeup game Thursday, and the teams return to Chicago for a three-game series starting Sept. 20.
Freeland (9-9) frustrated a Chicago lineup that was 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. He worked around seven hits and three walks, striking out five in 6 2/3 innings
Daniel Bard struck out three in the ninth for his 30th save.
Cease (14-7), a contender for the AL Cy Young Award, threw 56 pitches in the first two innings. Alan Trejo hit an RBI double in the second to snap Cease's 16-inning scoreless streak. Yonathan Daza singled home a run later in the inning.
TWINS 4, ROYALS 0
MINNEAPOLIS -- Sonny Gray cruised through seven sharp innings and Minnesota, despite losing AL batting leader Luis Arraez to an early injury, blanked Kansas City.
Gary Sánchez had a two-run double and Carlos Correa a couple of hits for the Twins, five games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland with 21 remaining.
Arraez got an infield hit, raising his average to .320, and scored in the first, then exited after the inning with left hamstring tightness.
Gray (8-4) allowed three hits and struck out eight.
Michael Massey had two of the five hits for the Royals. Zack Greinke (4-9) gave up three runs in four innings.
ASTROS 2, TIGERS 1
DETROIT -- Cristian Javier allowed two hits in six shutout innings, and Houston beat Detroit for a seven-game season sweep.
Javier (9-9) struck out eight and walked none. He retired 13 in a row before Riley Greene's two-out single in the sixth.
Ryan Pressly worked the ninth for his 28th save in 32 chances, finishing a four-hitter.
Houston swept the Tigers over a season for the first time since moving to the American League in 2013. The AL-best Astros (93-50), closing in on their sixth straight postseason appearance, are 25-8 against the AL Central this season.
Joey Wentz (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits in four-plus innings. The Tigers have lost four straight and 11 of 15.
PIRATES 10, REDS 4
CINCINNATI -- Rodolfo Castro hit a three-run homer and an RBI single, and Pittsburgh finished a four-game sweep of Cincinnati.
Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz connected for a two-run drive, helping last-place Pittsburgh to its first four-game win streak since mid-July. Ke'Bryan Hayes had three of the Pirates' 12 hits.
It was Pittsburgh's first four-game series sweep in Cincinnati since July 1991.
Kyle Farmer and Austin Romine homered for the lowly Reds, who have dropped six in a row. Nick Lodolo (4-6) struck out 11 while working 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball.
Pittsburgh broke it open with four runs in the ninth against Luke Farrell.
Tyler Beede (2-5) got six outs for the win in relief of Roansy Contreras. Miguel Yajure pitched three innings for his first career save.
PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 1
MIAMI -- J.T. Realmuto homered twice against his former team, Bryce Harper also went deep and Philadelphia downed Miami.
Philadelphia holds the second NL wild-card spot by 2 1/2 games after third-place San Diego lost earlier at Seattle.
Kyle Gibson (10-6) threw six innings of one-run ball. The right-hander gave up six hits, struck out seven and reached double-digit victories for the seventh time in his career.
Harper, the reigning NL MVP, hit his 100th homer with the Phillies.
Harper and Realmuto hit consecutive homers in the sixth to erase a deficit against starter Edward Cabrera (5-3). Realmuto added a three-run shot in the seventh.
The Phillies won their fifth consecutive series over Miami and will seek a second straight road sweep against their NL East opponent Thursday night.
ORIOLES 6, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON -- Gunnar Henderson drove in four runs, Jorge Mateo homered and Baltimore beat Washington to complete a two-game sweep.
Baltimore pulled within four games of Tampa Bay for the third and final AL wild card. The Orioles begin a three-game series Friday at wild-card leader Toronto -- and trail the Blue Jays by 5 1/2 games.
Riley Adams and Luke Voit homered for Washington, which is a major league-worst 49-94 and has lost five in a row and seven of eight. The Nationals had only four hits and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.
The Orioles took control with a four-run seventh against Mason Thompson (1-1).
Austin Voth (5-2), who pitched parts of five seasons for Washington before he was designated for assignment May 31, worked a scoreless sixth in his first appearance against the Nationals.
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez hits a single off San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez celebrates after the team's 6-1 win in a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez acknowledges the crowd after stealing a base during the fifth inning of the team's baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Seattle. Rodriguez has hit 25 home runs and stolen 25 bases in his rookie season. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Seattle Mariners' Carlos Santana celebrates with Julio Rodriguez after hitting a three-run home run off San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)