MLB roundup: Yankees continue climb up AL East standings

Max Fried struck out 13 batters across seven shutout innings and set a career high with his 18th win as the New York Yankees beat the host Baltimore Orioles 7-0 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.

The Yankees have won six of their last eight games as they continue to stay within striking distance of first-place Toronto in the American League East. With the Blue Jays losing earlier in the day, this win cut the division margin to three games with nine left to play.

Fried (18-5), who held the Orioles to three singles and one walk, struck out three batters in both the third and sixth innings. He has won five consecutive starts. Paul Blackburn pitched the final two innings to complete the shutout, adding two strikeouts.

Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells each had two hits for the Yankees, who have won three games in a row. New York racked up nine hits and eight walks.

Brewers 5, Angels 2

Christian Yelich doubled during a three-run rally for his 100th RBI as Milwaukee moved a step closer to the National League Central title by completing a three-game sweep of visiting Los Angeles.

The Brewers snapped a 2-2 tie with three runs in the seventh. Jackson Chourio opened with a ground-rule double off Luis Garcia (2-2), who came out of the bullpen to start the inning. Aaron Ashby (4-2) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Abner Uribe tossed a scoreless eighth and Jared Koenig finished for his second save, as the Angels dropped their seventh straight.

Milwaukee, which has clinched a playoff berth and has the best overall record in baseball, increased its division lead to six games over the Cubs, who lost 1-0 at Cincinnati earlier in the day. The Brewers reduced their magic number to four for their fourth division title in five seasons. Milwaukee moved three games ahead of idle Philadelphia for the best record in the National League.

Mets 6, Padres 1

Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo homered while rookie Jonah Tong pitched five solid innings for the win as New York stopped visiting San Diego.

Tong (2-2) allowed only four hits and an unearned run while walking none and fanning a career-high eight in his fourth MLB start. Four relievers closed the game out as the Mets upped its lead for the National League’s final wild-card spot to two games over Arizona.

Randy Vasquez (5-7) was charged with four hits and four runs over 2 1/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts as the Padres dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West.

Guardians 3, Tigers 1

Jose Ramirez clubbed a tiebreaking, two-run homer and visiting Cleveland completed a three-game sweep of first-place Detroit by winning its seventh straight and 12 of its last 13 games to pull within 3 1/2 games of the Tigers in the American League Central.

Jhonkensy Noel supplied a solo home run for the Guardians. Colt Keith hit an RBI double for the Tigers, who have lost six of their last seven games. Keith departed in the third inning due to low back tightness.

The first six innings featured a pitchers’ duel between Detroit ace Tarik Skubal — who departed his previous start in the fourth inning due to left side tightness — and Tanner Bibee. Skubal gave up one run, seven hits and two walks while striking out nine on 102 pitches. Bibee (11-11) allowed one run on four hits with two walks and struck out eight on 100 pitches

Athletics 5, Red Sox 3

Brent Rooker homered during a three-run first inning that helped the Athletics defeat host Boston for their second win in the three-game series and sixth in their last seven games.

J.T. Ginn (4-6) pitched the first six innings to earn the win. He limited the Red Sox to two runs on two hits, struck out three and walked one. Hogan Harris earned his fourth save by pitching the final two innings. He gave up one run and struck out three.

Boston starter Brayan Bello (11-8) was pulled after four innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits. David Hamilton and Trevor Story each homered for Boston, but shortstop Story also committed two errors, each of which cost the Red Sox a run.

Rays 4, Blue Jays 0

Shane Baz crafted five scoreless innings, Chandler Simpson had his second straight three-hit game and Tampa Bay split a four-game series against visiting Toronto.

Baz allowed just two hits while whiffing four and walking one for the Rays (75-78). Simpson went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Carson Williams was 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs and Jake Mangum produced two hits and a stolen base

The American League East-leading Blue Jays (89-64) got a hit apiece from Nathan Lukes, Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement (double) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Chris Bassitt (11-9) lasted just 4 1/3 innings and surrendered three runs on eight hits.

Mariners 2, Royals 0

Luis Castillo threw six stellar innings, Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford each had RBI doubles and Seattle shut out host Kansas City for its 11th victory in 12 outings and tying the Houston Astros atop the American League West.

Castillo (10-8) allowed three hits in his scoreless outing, striking out three and walking none. Andres Munoz worked around Vinnie Pasquantino’s one-out double and a hit-by-pitch in the ninth by striking out Adam Frazier to earn his 36th save.

Stephen Kolek (5-6) threw 7 1/3 innings of two-run (one earned), two-hit ball, while striking out a career-high eight batters and walking one for the Royals, who have dropped eight of their last 11. Both teams finished with just five hits.

Marlins 9, Rockies 7

Liam Hicks homered, singled and drove in a career-high-tying four runs, Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez also went deep and Miami held on to beat Colorado and sweep the three-game series in Denver.

Jakob Marsee and Agustin Ramirez also had two hits and Sandy Alcantara allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings for Miami, which has won seven of its last eight.

Blaine Crim hit two solo home runs and Yanquiel Fernandez also homered and doubled for Colorado. Tyler Freeman had two hits and Tanner Gordon (6-7) allowed four runs — three earned — on five hits in his six innings.

Reds 1, Cubs 0

Hunter Greene carried a no-hit bid through 6 2/3 innings and allowed just one hit en route to his second career complete game as host Cincinnati edged Chicago.

Read More: Surging Yankees try to keep it going at Orioles

Will Benson ripped an RBI double in the fourth inning to provide Greene (7-4) with all the offense he needed and to maintain the flickering postseason aspirations of the Reds. Cincinnati, which has won two in a row and three of its last four games, remained two games behind the New York Mets for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

Fresh off clinching their postseason berth on Wednesday, the Cubs were unable to capitalize on Colin Rea’s 11-strikeout performance.

Dodgers 2, Giants 1

Freddie Freeman had an RBI single in a two-run sixth inning and Yoshinobu Yamamoto did not allow a run over 5 1/3 innings as host Los Angeles earned a victory in the opener of a four-game series against San Francisco.

Six Dodgers pitchers combined to allow one hit in the game with 10 walks and 14 strikeouts, as left-hander Jack Dreyer (3-2) earned the win and left-hander Alex Vesia pitched the ninth for his fifth save. Los Angeles (86-67) increased its NL West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres and reduced its magic number for clinching a playoff berth to one.

Giants right-hander Logan Webb (14-11) gave up two runs (one earned) over seven innings while the team’s only run came in a hitless seventh inning on four walks. San Francisco (76-77) lost for the fifth time over its past six games and is now three games out of the final NL wild-card spot.