Major League Baseball results | Wednesday

Rays 7, Blue Jays 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Kiermaier was hit by a pitch, apparent retribution for scooping up a Toronto scouting report two days earlier, and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched a postseason berth with a 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Reliever Ryan Borucki hit Kiermaier on the back with his first pitch of the eighth inning, when the Rays led 7-1.

Borucki was ejected after the umpires met, which prompted Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo and enraged pitching coach Pete Walker to storm out of the dugout to argue as played spilled onto the field, Walker also was tossed and there were no incidents between the players.

Nationals 7, Marlins 5

MIAMI — Juan Soto took over the NL batting lead, getting three hits and three RBIs in Washington’s win over Miami.

Soto singled, doubled and hit his 27th homer, raising his average to .321 and passing former teammate Trea Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who began the night at .318. Soto walked twice and with 130 tied Bryce Harper’s team season record, set in 2018.

Phillies 4, Orioles 3

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper threw out the tying run at the plate in the eighth inning and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run home run to keep Philadelphia in the hunt in the NL East race.

The Phillies took two of three against the 104-loss Orioles. Next up, four games against the Pirates.

Philadelphia entered three games behind

Atlanta for first in the division. The Braves faced Arizona in a late game Wednesday.

Yankees 7, Rangers 3

NEW YORK — Gleyber Torres doubled home Joey Gallo for the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, Gary Sánchez followed with a two-run homer and New York rallied past Texas for a three-game sweep heading into a divisional stretch that will decide their postseason fate.

New York made two errors, allowed two stolen bases, had a baserunner sprint through a stop sign but score easily and another thrown out at home plate.

The Yankees’ wild-card chase takes them to Fenway Park for three games starting Friday night followed by three at at Toronto and a season-ending three-game homestand against Tampa Bay.

Red Sox 12, Mets 5

BOSTON — Kyle Schwarber homered twice and scored four times, and Chris Sale struck out eight in five innings as Boston won its seventh straight.

The Red Sox scored in each of the first six innings and have not lost since Sept. 13.

The winning streak has lifted Boston from fourth place in the AL East — percentage points out of playoff position — into second and the top AL wild-card spot, with a twogame lead over the Yankees.

Twins 5, Cubs 4

CHICAGO — Max Kepler homered twice, rookie Joe Ryan struck out a season-high 11, and Minnesota dealt Chicago its ninth loss in 11 games.

Kepler staked the Twins to a 2-0 lead with a homer in the first inning and hit a tiebreaking drive in the fourth.

Ryan (2-1) limited the Cubs to three hits in five innings. The 25-year-old right-hander became the first pitcher in Washington Senators//Twins history with 11 strikeouts in five innings or fewer.

Cardinals 10, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE — Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill homered as St. Louis won its 11th straight game and extended its lead for the second NL wild-card spot with a win over NL Central-leading Milwaukee, which dropped its fourth straight.

Goldschmidt also doubled, singled and scored four runs to help St. Louis stretch its best winning streak since an 11-game string in 2001.

St. Louis leads by 4 1/2 games over Cincinnati and Philadelphia for the final NL playoff slot.

Mariners 4, Athletics 1

OAKLAND — Kyle Seager hit his 35th home run, Ty France also connected and the Seattle Mariners moved up in the playoff race, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-1 for their fourth straight win.

Seattle topped the A’s for the third day in row to pull within 2 1/2 games of the Yankees for the second AL wild card. Oakland fell 3 1/2 back of New York.

A’s manager Bob Melvin and bench coach Ryan Christenson were both ejected by plate umpire Greg Gibson in the top of the sixth during a strange sequence.

Braves 9, Diamondbacks 2

PHOENIX — Adam Duvall lost a home run to a baserunning miscue, but Atlanta rebounded with homers by Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman and the Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2.

Ian Anderson pitched two-hit ball in six-plus innings as Atlanta (80-70) won its fifth straight and maintained its three-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL East with 12 games remaining.

Albies became the third player to reach 30 home runs for the Braves this season, joining Riley (31) and Freeman (31). Duvall has 15 with the Braves since being acquired from Miami in July.

San Francisco at San Diego, late Kansas City at Cleveland, ppd, weather

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians postponed Wednesday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals because of rain and rescheduled it for next week.

The postponement was announced about three hours before the scheduled 6:10 p.m. EDT first pitch. Cleveland rescheduled the game for Monday at 1:10 p.m..

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, ppd, weather

CINCINNATI — The finale of Pittsburgh’s three-game series at Cincinnati was postponed Wednesday by rain about 10 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. The game was rescheduled for Monday at 1:10 p.m.

White Sox at Detroit, ppd, weather

DETROIT — Wednesday’s game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park has been postponed because of rain. The game will be made up on Monday at 1:10 p.m.

The Tigers stalled the White Sox’s drive for the AL Central title with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday. Chicago’s magic number for clinching the division remain at two. It plays the second-place Cleveland Indians on the road in a five-game series beginning Thursday.