Baz wins debut, AL East-leading Rays beat Blue Jays 6-4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Shane Baz pitched two-hit ball for five innings to win his major league debut and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays cut Toronto’s lead in the wild-card chase, holding off the Blue Jays 6-4 on Monday night. Tampa Bay holds a seven-game advantage over second-place Boston with 11 games remaining. The Blue Jays, who scored twice in the ninth inning and left the bases loaded, had their edge over the New York Yankees for the second AL wild-card spot drop to a half-game. Baz (1-0) gave up a pair of home runs and little else, striking out five and walking none. Toronto got homers from Teoscar Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Marcus Semien. YANKEES 4, RANGERS 3 NEW YORK (AP) – Gary Sánchez hit a go-ahead home run, four pitchers combined for scoreless relief and New gained in the AL wild-card race with a win over Texas. Sánchez put the Yankees ahead in the second inning against rookie A.J. Alexy (2-1) with his 22nd home run. New York built a 4-0 lead before the Rangers closed the gap in a three-run fifth against Nestor Cortes. Chad Green (8-7) retired five straight batters, Clay Holmes and Joely Rodríguez combined for the seventh and eighth, and Aroldis Chapman got three straight outs for his 28th save in 32 chances. New York moved within a half-game of Toronto for the second AL wild card and with 11 games left is two back of Boston, the league’s wild-card leader. CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 2 MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jon Lester notched his 200th career win, Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer and St. Louis beat NL Central-leading Milwaukee for its ninth straight win. The Cardinals have won nine straight for the first time since 2004 to solidify their grip on the second NL wild card. They entered the night three games ahead of Cincinnati and Philadelphia for the final postseason spot. Milwaukee’s magic number over the Cardinals to clinch the division title remained at three. Lester (7-6) is the third active pitcher with 200 wins, joining Houston teammates Justin Verlander (226) and Zack Greinke (219). He surrendered three runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter. Freddy Peralta (9-5) took the loss. He gave up seven hits and three runs in six innings, striking out nine and walking one. Milwaukee got home runs from Avisail Garcia and Luis Urias. ORIOLES 2, PHILLIES 0 PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Means struck out six and stymied Philadelphia as Baltimore slowed the Phillies’ playoff push. Losers of two straight, the Phillies entered two games behind Atlanta in the NL East. The Phillies are 4½ games behind St. Louis for the second wild card. Means (6-7) tossed four-hit ball into the seventh inning and helped himself with a double in the seventh for his first career extra-base hit. Ranger Suarez (6-5) gave up consecutive RBI singles to Pedro Severino and Ryan McKenna in the first inning. He struck out five and his ERA bumped to 1.60. TIGERS 4, WHITE SOX 3 DETROIT (AP) – Carlos Rodón was pulled after three rocky innings and Chicago squandered a three-run lead in a loss to Detroit. Despite the defeat, Chicago’s magic number to clinch the AL Central dropped to two when second-place Cleveland was swept by Kansas City in a doubleheader. Harold Castro’s eighth-inning single broke a 3-all tie for Detroit. Drew Hutchison (2-1) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief. Tigers rookie Alex Lange pitched the ninth for his first career save, becoming the eighth Detroit reliever to earn a save this season. Craig Kimbrel (2-2) took the loss. REDS 9, PIRATES 5