Pirates secure 1st non-losing season since 2018
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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Ronny Simon raced home on Spencer Horwitz’s eighth inning sacrifice fly and the Pittsburgh Pirates assured themselves of the club’s first non-losing season in eight years with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Simon reached on a walk by Ryne Stanek (2-3), advanced to second on a wild pitch and scooted to third when the throw from catcher Ivan Herrera skipped into center field for an error. Horwitz’s flyball to center was plenty deep enough for Simon to score.
Luke Weaver (4-1) got the final out of the eighth for Pittsburgh. Mason Montgomery struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances as Pittsburgh improved to 81-78 with three games to go. The club’s previous non-losing season came in 2018 when it won 82 games.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes ended an uneven year by his standards with 6 1/3 excellent innings in his 32nd and final start.
The 24-year-old, whose performance this year has been met with mild criticism locally, allowed one run, three hits and two walks and six strikeouts. He received a loud ovation when he was removed by manager Don Kelly after recording his 200th strikeout of the season when Cardinals designated hitter Leo Bernal was caught looking leading off the seventh.
Skenes became just the second pitcher in the franchise’s 145-year history to reach 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons. He finished 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA, nearly double the MLB-leading 1.97 ERA he posted in 2025.
St. Louis fell to 77-82, assured of consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons.
Alec Burleson hit his 24th homer of the season in the first inning for the Cardinals.
WEDNESDAY ROUNDUP
RED SOX 1, GUARDIANS 0
BOSTON (AP) -- Sonny Gray pitched six innings to tie Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the major league lead with his 18th victory, Andruw Monasterio drove in the only run with a sixth-inning single, and the Boston Red Sox edged Cleveland 1-0 on Wednesday night to snap the Guardians’ six-game winning streak.
It was just the fifth win in 13 games for the Red Sox, who clinched a playoff spot on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Gray (18-5) is in line to become the fourth Red Sox pitcher since 2000 to lead the AL in victories, joining Rick Porcello (2016), Josh Beckett (’07) and Curt Schilling (’04).
Gray allowed four singles, struck out three, walked one and lowered his ERA to 2.72.
Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for his 35th save of the season.
Cleveland starter Foster Griffin (15-6) gave up a run on 10 hits with seven strikeouts.
The victory came with a price for the Red Sox when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela left with right hamstring tightness after running out a single the same day he was activated from the injured list. He had been sidelined with a right quad strain since Sept. 3 and made a diving headlong grab on Steven Kwan, the game’s first batter.
NOTE: With the White Sox’s 9-1 win over the Royals on Thursday afternoon, the Guardians entered Thursday night’s game against the Red Sox with a half-game lead in the AL Central race.
BRAVES 3, REDS 2, 10 INNINGS
ATLANTA (AP) -- Chris Sale struck out 10 and reached 200 Ks for the season, Mauricio Dubón delivered a winning RBI single in the 10th inning, and Atlanta defeated Cincinnati.
Matt Olson and Austin Riley hit solo homers for the Braves. Brent Suter (3-2) worked a scoreless 10th inning and earned the win.
Sale went 5 2/3 innings and was removed after recording his third strikeout of the game of Reds rookie Sal Stewart. The 37-year-old left-hander has reached 200 strikeouts nine times, which is the most of any pitcher since 2013. In his final start before the postseason, he allowed one run on four hits. Sale hit at least 99 mph on the radar gun on 12 of his 97 pitches.
Olson’s home run was his 41st of the season and tied the game at 1 in the sixth. Riley’s homer tied the game at 2 in the seventh. Dubón was 2 for 4 with a walk and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Reds right fielder Juan Brito led off the game with a home run to center field off Sale. He went 2 for 4, including his third homer of the season.
Braves reliever Robert Suarez pitched for the first time since June 19 after being sidelined due to elbow inflammation. He pitched the seventh inning and gave up a leadoff triple to Matt McLain and a sacrifice fly to Will Banfield that gave the Reds a 2-1 lead. He threw 13 pitches.
ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2, 1ST GAME
ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2, 2ND GAME
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Trey Gibson pitched brilliantly into the seventh inning and Baltimore beat Toronto to sweep a doubleheader and at least temporarily stay alive in the American League playoff race.
One more loss by the Orioles -- or a win by the Chicago White Sox, who played at Kansas City on Wednesday night -- would eliminate Baltimore. The Orioles also won the opener 4-2 against Toronto, then the 24-year-old Gibson (2-3) was outstanding in the nightcap.
He would have completed at least seven innings if not for a rare defensive positioning violation that kept the top of the seventh going. Sean Keys grounded out to second for the third out, players left the field, and the Orioles were already playing “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” -- which comes after “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch -- when an umpire interrupted the song to say the Blue Jays were challenging.
A replay appeared to show second baseman Jeremiah Jackson’s heel on the outfield grass before the grounder, so Keys was awarded first. The play was scored an error on Jackson, but no at-bat was charged to Keys. Gibson walked the next hitter and was pulled. Yennier Cano then issued a walk before striking out Myles Straw with the bases loaded to end the inning for real.
In his eighth career start, Gibson allowed three hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered and drove in three runs.
Davis Schneider hit a two-run homer for Toronto in the ninth. The Blue Jays, eliminated from the playoff chase with their loss in the first game, are assured a losing season one year after winning the AL pennant.
Toronto starter CJ Van Eyk (0-2) allowed four runs and four hits in five innings.
BREWERS 4, PHILLIES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Christian Yelich and Brice Turang hit solo home runs, and Milwaukee delayed Philadelphia’s potential postseason clinch with a win.
Philadelphia needed a win over the Brewers and a loss later by Arizona or San Diego to secure its fifth straight trip to the postseason. The Diamondbacks and Padres both won, leaving the Phillies tied with the Chicago Cubs at 87-71 for the second National League wild card -- one game behind San Diego.
The Phillies have to settle for a wild-card berth this season and are likely to open the playoffs next week on the road. The Phillies, Chicago and San Diego hold the three NL wild cards headed into the final games of the season.
The Phillies went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position against the Brewers and left 10 runners on base.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said ahead of the game the team was willing to wait at Citizens Bank Park until after the Padres game ended, if necessary, to celebrate. No need to hang around.
Aaron Nola (7-11) had turned around a miserable season and posted a 1.86 ERA over his last eight starts as the longest-tenured Phillie got the chance to clinch. With a playoff party looming, he instead surrendered Turang’s 20th homer of the season in the first inning and Yelich’s 12th of the year in the second.
YANKEES 9, RAYS 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ben Rice hit his 40th and 41st home runs, Ryan McMahon added a grand slam while matching his career high with five RBIs and New York beat Tampa Bay.
Gerrit Cole (10-9) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and three walks. The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner had a 3.61 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 22 starts and 127 innings following his return in May from Tommy John surgery.
A day after Tampa Bay clinched the AL East title, Rice hit the first pitch of the first inning from Mason Englert (0-4) into the right-field second deck for his fourth career leadoff homer and second this season.
Rice added a solo drive in the fourth for his fifth career multihomer game and finished with three hits. He is tied for the AL home run lead with Baltimore’s Pete Alonso, the Rays’ Junior Caminero and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez.
George Lombard Jr. also homered for the Yankees and Cedric Mullins went deep for the Rays.
New York is assured of hosting a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday, likely against Boston. The winner will face the Rays in a best-of-five Division Series.
METS 7, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Marcus Semien hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning against his former team and Brett Baty added a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth as New York beat Texas.
Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean (12-10) allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings for the last-place Mets (73-85), who have won both games in Texas since ex-interim manager Andy Green was given the full-time position Tuesday.
The Rangers (78-80) have lost three consecutive games but remain tied with Houston for the AL West lead after the Astros lost 6-5 in 10 innings at Seattle. Both teams have four games left, and Houston owns the head-to-head tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.
Semien, traded by the Rangers to the Mets last November for Brandon Nimmo, launched his 15th homer this season off All-Star closer Jacob Latz (3-4) to give New York a 3-2 lead. Semien’s first homer since Aug. 7 snapped an 0-for-13 slump.
PADRES 5, DODGERS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Manny Machado homered and drove in three runs as San Diego beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to take sole possession of the top spot in the National League wild-card standings.
The loss snapped the NL West champions’ 11-game home winning streak and kept the Dodgers (97-61) from clinching at least the No. 2 seed in the National League and a first-round playoff bye. To secure that, they still need one win or an Atlanta loss.
The Padres (88-70) were prevented from clinching their franchise-record third consecutive playoff berth when Arizona beat Colorado 5-3. But they need just one win or a Diamondbacks loss to punch their ticket to the postseason.
San Diego leads Chicago (87-71) and Philadelphia (87-71) by one game for the first National League wild card, a spot that would bring home-field advantage throughout a best-of-three series.
In his return from the injured list, Shohei Ohtani went 1 for 4 with a single, a walk and two strikeouts for Los Angeles. He went down swinging with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning. His long drive to center field was caught near the wall leading off the eighth.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-9) retired nine of his first 10 batters before the Padres got to him in the fourth and fifth innings of his final regular-season start.
MARINERS 6, ASTROS 5, 10 INNINGS
SEATTLE (AP) -- Josh Naylor singled home Randy Arozarena with the winning run in the 10th inning and Seattle kept its slim playoff hopes alive by rallying past Houston.
Houston (78-80) remained tied atop the AL West with Texas, which has lost three straight games. The Astros hold the head-to-head tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record.
The Mariners (74-84) are four games back with four to play.
Seattle was down 5-4 after automatic runner Yordan Alvarez scored on a triple to right field by Isaac Paredes in the top of the 10th.
With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom half, Julio Rodríguez worked a full-count walk from Astros closer Josh Hader, forcing in J.P. Crawford with the tying run. Naylor sent Hader’s next pitch to right-center, and Arozarena scored his third run of the night.
Alvarez went 2 for 4 without an RBI in his pursuit of the AL Triple Crown. That raised his league-leading batting average to .316. Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson, second at .309, did not play Wednesday against the New York Yankees.
Alvarez is part of a three-way tie for the home run lead at 41 with the Rays’ Junior Caminero and Baltimore’s Pete Alonso. The Houston slugger is second in RBIs with 102, eight behind Alonso.