Junior Caminero launched a mammoth walk-off home run in the ninth inning Friday night, sending the Tampa Bay Rays to the postseason by virtue of a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The American League’s home run leader, Caminero crushed a 417-foot blast to left-center field off reliever Bryan Abreu (6-4) for his 40th long ball. One batter earlier, Jonathan Aranda nearly homered to right-center, settling for a one-out double.
Caminero then belted Abreu’s 97 mph first-pitch fastball for his first career walk-off blast, making the Rays the first club to clinch a postseason spot this year. The Milwaukee Brewers joined them a short time later.
Drew Rasmussen drew a no-decision after seven strong innings, though the Rays won for the 10th consecutive time in games he has started. The AL West-leading Astros outhit the Rays 9-4. Yainer Diaz went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Brewers 20, Reds 0
Garrett Mitchell hit a grand slam, William Contreras homered and drove in six runs, and Dustin May tossed six innings of two-hit ball as Milwaukee routed visiting Cincinnati to clinch its eighth postseason berth in nine seasons.
The Brewers fell short of the biggest shutout in modern major league history, a record they tied on Aug. 18 by trouncing the Seattle Mariners 22-0. May (7-9) struck out six and walked one. Brice Turang (3-for-3, four RBIs) and Jake Bauers homered during a six-run second.
The Brewers jumped on Andrew Abbott (6-11) for two runs in the first and six in the second, ending his outing after he allowed nine hits. Sal Stewart collected the only two hits for the Reds, who have lost four straight.
Yankees 6, Mets 4
Carlos Rodon pitched 6 1/3 sharp innings and the host New York Yankees homered twice off rookie Nolan McLean in a victory over the New York Mets on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Yankees won for the ninth time in 12 games while moving closer to clinching their ninth postseason spot in the past 10 seasons. Cody Bellinger hit a tiebreaking three-run homer off McLean (11-9) in the second and Ben Rice added a leadoff blast in the fifth.
Rodon (6-3) allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits and finished with eight strikeouts. McLean allowed five runs and a career-high 10 hits in five innings. The Mets got a homer and an RBI single from rookie A.J. Ewing but had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Braves 6, Phillies 5 (11 innings)
Drake Baldwin lined a two-out RBI double to center field in the 11th to cap a two-run rally and lift Atlanta to a victory over visiting Philadelphia, giving the Braves some breathing room in the National League East.
Atlanta, trailing 5-4, tied the game on Ha-Seong Kim’s two-out single and walked it off on Baldwin’s double against Brooks Raley (5-6). Didier Fuentes (7-2) was the winning pitcher. Philadelphia had taken the lead in the top of the 11th on an RBI single by Luis Arraez.
The win allowed the Braves to extend their division lead over the Phillies to five games.
Guardians 5, Twins 2
Angel Martinez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, and Cleveland scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to secure a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Brayan Rocchio had a double and two RBIs for Cleveland in the opener of the three-game series. Travis Bazzana went 2-for-2 and scored twice for the Guardians, who hold a two-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot.
Royce Lewis and Kaelen Culpepper tallied one RBI apiece for Minnesota. Twins reliever Yoendrys Gomez (2-3) gave up three runs on two hits in one-third of an inning.
Cardinals 7, White Sox 3
Rookie Joshua Baez and Leo Bernal each had three hits and drove in two runs for St. Louis in a victory against visiting Chicago.
Alec Burleson had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals. Jordan Walker had two hits and two runs for St. Louis, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Chase Meidroth hit a pair of home runs for the White Sox, who lost their fourth straight game and had their AL Central lead trimmed to a half-game over the second-place Guardians. Randal Grichuk joined Meidroth in collecting two of Chicago’s nine hits.
Dodgers 6, Marlins 2
Kyle Tucker went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and a season-high five RBIs to lead visiting Los Angeles past Miami for its eighth straight win.
Dodgers starter Blake Snell (4-1) struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on four hits. Max Muncy added three hits for Los Angeles, and Will Smith contributed an RBI single.
Marlins starter Ryan Gusto (1-5) lasted six innings and held the Dodgers to two runs on five hits. Miami’s offense was led by Otto Lopez, who went 4-for-5.
Nationals 4, Angels 3
Jorbit Vivas hit a tiebreaking two-run double to cap a three-run eighth inning as host Washington snapped a seven-game losing streak with a comeback victory over Los Angeles.
CJ Abrams had two hits and a run and James Wood had an RBI single and a walk for Washington. Clayton Beeter (6-5) tossed a scoreless eighth, and Erik Tolman earned his second save despite allowing a run.
Mike Trout hit a home run and Christian Moore doubled and had two hits and two RBIs for the Angels, who finished with just four hits. Los Angeles reliever Samy Natera Jr. (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits in one inning.
Padres 7, Giants 5
Dustin Harris and Freddy Fermin, the bottom two batters in the order, combined for four hits and four RBIs, Jackson Merrill chipped in with a double and two singles, and visiting San Diego overcame a Rafael Devers grand slam to beat San Francisco.
Robbie Ray (12-8) threw five innings of five-run ball for the Padres, who maintained a half-game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third NL wild card. Mason Miller loaded the bases in the ninth but escaped for his 35th save.
Giants starter Anthony Molina (3-1) allowed seven runs and nine hits in three innings. San Francisco’s Jonah Cox had two hits and two runs.
Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 1
Corbin Carroll and Nolan Arenado hit back-to-back homers in a five-run sixth inning, Ketel Marte doubled twice and drove in three runs, and Arizona topped Texas in Phoenix.
Gabriel Moreno had two hits and two RBIs and Ildemaro Vargas had two hits and drove in a run for the D-backs, who posted their major-league-best 44th comeback victory and have won five of their past six. Reliever Kevin Ginkel (6-4) got two outs for the win.
Joc Pederson had two of the Rangers’ five hits, including an RBI double. MacKenzie Gore (8-11) was charged with four runs on five hits in four-plus innings.
Cubs 12, Pirates 2
Alex Bregman belted a two-run homer and Michael Busch drove in three runs, fueling host Chicago to a victory over Pittsburgh.
Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki scored three runs and joined Bregman with three hits. Carson Kelly ripped a two-run double in the second inning for the Cubs, who banged out 16 hits en route to snapping a four-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh rookie Konnor Griffin tripled to lead off the game and came around to score on an RBI single by Oneil Cruz. Bryan Reynolds capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a homer in the sixth inning for the Pirates, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Royals 3, Red Sox 2
Kansas City scored three runs over the first three innings and let its pitching do the rest as the visitors held on to beat Boston.
Carter Jensen had two doubles and an RBI and Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Royals. Seth Lugo (7-8) scattered seven hits and struck out seven across five innings of two-run ball. Steven Cruz registered his seventh save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Mickey Gasper homered and Wilyer Abreu went 2-for-4 with an RBI double for the Red Sox, who have lost three straight since a five-game winning streak. Sonny Gray (17-5) went six frames and allowed three runs on six hits.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 4
Dylan Beavers socked a solo home run and had three RBIs as visiting Baltimore defeated Toronto.
Coby Mayo added a solo blast and Christian Encarnacion-Strand rapped out three hits for the Orioles, who have won three out of four. Chris Bassitt (7-5) tossed five-plus innings of two-run ball. Rico Garcia got the final out to earn his eighth save.
Brett Bateman hit his first major league homer, a two-run shot, for the Blue Jays, and Kazuma Okamoto added a solo homer and a double. Max Scherzer (2-8) completed five innings, allowing six runs and seven hits.
Tigers 6, Rockies 2
Dillon Dingler hit a two-run homer, Max Clark supplied a solo shot and Detroit pulled away to hand visiting Colorado its fifth straight loss.
Riley Greene contributed a single, a double and a triple and two RBIs for the Tigers. Framber Valdez (10-10) held the Rockies to one unearned run and six hits in six innings. Kenley Jansen got the final out for his 19th save as Detroit won for the fourth time in six games.
Colorado starter Mason Adams permitted one run and two hits in five innings. Mark Manfredi (1-2) gave up two runs while recording only two outs.
Athletics 6, Mariners 5 (10 innings)
Donovan Walton led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a two-run, walk-off homer to right as the Athletics recorded a dramatic victory over Seattle at West Sacramento, Calif.
Walton jumped all over a 1-1 sweeper from Eduard Bazardo (3-4) for his third hit of the night to give the A’s their seventh victory in nine games. Lawrence Butler had three hits, including a two-run homer, for the Athletics.
Julio Rodriguez hit a run-scoring ground single with two outs in the top of the 10th to give Seattle a 5-4 lead prior to Walton’s winning blast. Lazaro Montes delivered a pinch-hit, two-run blast for Seattle.
