Aaron Sanchez on Tuesday night stayed perfect against the Orioles and kept the Toronto Blue Jays on track for a playoffs berth.
Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer and Sanchez struck out 10 in Toronto’s 5-1 win over Baltimore in the opener of their American League wild-card showdown.
Ezequiel Carrera also homered as the Blue Jays won for the sixth time in eight games. They lead the wild-card standings by two games over the Orioles with five to play.
Photo: AP
Sanchez (14-2) struck out the first four hitters he faced and five of the first six. He gave up one run and five hits over six innings to win for the first time in four starts.
“We’ve seen him quite a bit and it was another impressive outing for him,” Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo said. “He’s got a big-time fastball.”
Toronto are 10-7 against Baltimore with two meetings left, giving the Blue Jays the tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record.
Baltimore were one game ahead of Detroit for the league’s final playoff spot.
The Tigers had a 12-0 win over the AL Central-champion Cleveland Indians, who played with backups.
Toronto’s victory kept the Blue Jays alive in the AL East race, because the Red Sox lost 6-4 to the New York Yankees. One Toronto loss or a Boston win would hand the division crown to the Red Sox.
Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Tyler Austin homered off David Price, helping New York end Boston’s 11-game winning streak.
David Ortiz, starting his final series in the Bronx, went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts and stranded seven runners. He ended the game by fanning with two on against Tyler Clippard.
Having clinched at least a wild-card berth last weekend, Boston were five games ahead of Toronto.
The Texas Rangers had a half-game lead over Boston for the best record in the AL after a 6-4 win over the Brewers.
Houston had an 8-4 win over the Mariners, leaving Seattle two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card and cutting their own deficit in the race to 2.5 games.
The Royals staved off post-season elimination with a 4-3 win over the Twins, leaving the defending World Series champions five games behind Baltimore.
The Mets maintained a half-game lead on the Giants for the first National League wild card with a 12-1 win over Miami. St Louis had a 12-5 win over the Reds.
The Giants had a 12-3 win over the Rockies in San Francisco as Buster Posey homered for his 1,000th hit.
The Chicago Cubs beat reeling Pittsburgh 6-4. Coghlan’s second-inning drive off the wall in right-center against Ryan Vogelsong (3-7) gave the NL Central champions all the offense they would need to win for the seventh time in their past eight games. Chicago improved to 101-56, the club’s highest victory total since they won 104 games in 1910.
The Pirates were eliminated from post-season contention, ending a run of three straight playoff appearances.
Washington inched closer to home-field advantage in the NL Division Series with a 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks, with Max Scherzer striking out 10 and allowing two runs in six innings and Anthony Rendon, with two outs in the sixth, hitting a go-ahead three-run homer.
Rookie Hunter Renfroe hit his first career grand slam and also had a three-run shot to drive in all the runs in San Diego’s 7-1 victory over the NL West champion Dodgers.
Elsewhere, Atlanta edged the Phillies 7-6, the White Sox had a 13-6 win over Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Angels beat Oakland 8-1.
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