LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller threw a career-best seven innings of three-hit ball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a four-game sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to complete their meeting of the NL’s top two teams.
Miguel Rojas had an RBI double and Mookie Betts added a run-scoring single in the fifth for the Dodgers, who prevented Atlanta from sweeping a four-game series at Dodger Stadium for the first time. James Outman added an RBI single in the eighth for Los Angeles.
Matt Olson hit his 44th home run in the seventh to pull even with Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead, but Atlanta’s six-game winning streak ended with only its second loss on a 10-game West Coast trip. The Braves still have the majors’ best record at 90-46.
Miller (9-3) underlined his ace potential with this effort against the powerhouse Braves less than four months after he made his major league debut with a solid outing in Atlanta. The 24-year-old retired 16 consecutive Braves between Marcell Ozuna’s double in the second and Olson’s homer, then finished the seventh to a standing ovation.
Miller outpitched 39-year-old Charlie Morton (14-11), who yielded six hits and three walks in four-plus innings for Atlanta.
Brusdar Graterol allowed two baserunners in the ninth, but hung on for his seventh save.
Ronald Acuña Jr. went 0 for 4 after homering in each of the series’ first three games.
METS 6, MARINERS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso homered twice and drove in four runs, reaching 40 homers and 100 RBIs for the second consecutive season as New York topped first-place Seattle.
Jeff McNeil also went deep — after finishing a homer shy of the cycle Saturday night — and the Mets took two of three games from the Mariners to hand them their first series loss since Aug. 11-13 against Baltimore.
Seattle began the day leading the AL West by one game over Houston.
Alonso hit an RBI single in the first inning before his two-run shot in the third made him the fifth player in major league history with at least three 40-homer seasons in his first five campaigns, joining Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Eddie Matthews as well as Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols.
Alonso’s solo homer in the seventh gave him 100 RBIs for the third time.
Tylor Megill (8-7) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Adam Ottavino allowed two baserunners in the ninth before striking out J.P. Crawford to earn his eighth save.
Dominic Canzone and Mike Ford hit back-to-back homers for the Mariners. George Kirby (10-9) gave up four runs, three earned, in three innings.
RANGERS 6, TWINS 5
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning after striking out his first four times up, lifting struggling Texas over Minnesota.
García drove in his 100th run of the season on his 34th homer, a 430-foot drive into the second deck in left field.
Mitch Garver was on deck when García connected off Josh Winder (2-1), having twice given the Rangers the lead with homers among his four hits and four RBIs.
Texas ended up squandering three leads before finally winning for just the fourth time in 16 games. The Rangers pulled within a game of Seattle, which leads the AL West after Texas spent 140 consecutive days atop the division.
Royce Lewis twice matched Garver to get the AL Central-leading Twins even, first with a three-run homer in the fifth after Garver’s three-run shot in the first. Lewis’ RBI single for a 5-5 tie in the eighth came after Garver’s leadoff homer in the seventh.
Rookie reliever Cody Bradford (3-1) tossed a scoreless ninth.
PHILLIES 4, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back homers to open the seventh inning and Philadelphia, held hitless until the sixth, defeated Milwaukee to avoid being swept.
Wade Miley (7-4) silenced the Phillies for much of the day as the Brewers built a 2-0 lead. He didn’t allow a hit until Trea Turner's two-out single in the sixth. Nick Castellanos followed with an RBI double.
Turner added a two-out RBI single in the seventh that made it 4-2. He failed to homer after going deep in five consecutive games to tie a Phillies record.
William Contreras and Mark Canha homered for the NL Central-leading Brewers.
Philadelphia starter Ranger Suárez went four innings in his return from the injured list. Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez (4-3), Matt Strahm, José Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel combined for five innings of scoreless relief. Kimbrel earned his 22nd save in 25 chances for the Phillies, who lead the crowded NL wild-card race.
ORIOLES 8, DIAMONDBACKS 5
PHOENIX (AP) — Adley Rutschman and pinch-hitter Jordan Westburg each had a pivotal double in a four-run sixth inning, breaking open a tight game and sending Baltimore past Arizona.
The AL East-leading Orioles took two of three in the series, winning the final two.
Arizona has lost five of six. The Diamondbacks are tied with the Giants and Marlins for the final playoff spot in the National League wild-card race.
The Orioles broke a 4-all tie in the sixth and chased NL Cy Young Award contender Zac Gallen (14-7), roughed up for a second straight start. Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Christian Walker homered for Arizona.
Cedric Mullins had three hits for Baltimore, including the go-ahead single. Danny Coulombe (5-1) won in relief.
RAYS 6, GUARDIANS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Taylor Walls drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Tampa Bay salvaged the series finale with a win over Cleveland, which missed a chance to gain ground on Minnesota in the AL Central.
Walls lined a single off Trevor Stephan (6-5) to bring home Jose Siri, who slid headfirst and safely around rookie catcher Bo Naylor’s attempted sweep tag. Siri had walked with two outs and stole second.
René Pinto hit a two-run homer for the Rays, who added three runs in the ninth off reliever Eli Morgan.
The Guardians got only five hits and stayed five games behind the first-place Twins, who open a critical three-game series at Progressive Field starting Monday.
Colin Poche (10-3) won in relief, and Pete Fairbanks got two outs for his 19th save.
CUBS 15, REDS 7
CINCINNATI (AP) — Ian Happ drove in four runs, Mike Tauchman and Cody Bellinger each had three RBIs and Chicago pounded Cincinnati to split a critical four-game series between NL Central playoff contenders.
Nick Madrigal and Tauchman each knocked in two runs with a bases-loaded single off All-Star closer Alexis Díaz in a seven-run Cubs eighth. Dansby Swanson added a two-run double.
The Cubs, who banged out 18 hits, scored three more in the ninth, including a solo homer by Jeimer Candelario.
Tyler Stephenson had three RBIs for the Reds, including a two-run homer in the second inning. TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer hit back-to-back homers in the first off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon.
Daniel Palenci (5-0) got the win in relief. Derek Law (4-5) took the loss.
PADRES 4, GIANTS 0
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Juan Soto homered for the third straight game and Manny Machado also connected as San Diego blanked San Francisco to win the final three games of a four-game series against the wild card-contending Giants.
Seth Lugo (6-6) held the Giants to three hits in six innings. Three relievers finished the four-hitter, with Josh Hader striking out three in the ninth.
Xander Bogaerts had four hits and Machado added three for the Padres, who will try to win four straight games for the first time this season Monday when they welcome Philadelphia, which beat them in the NLCS last year.
San Diego scored three runs in the first against Alex Cobb (7-6), who came within one out of a no-hitter against Cincinnati on Tuesday night. Cobb lasted only three innings, allowing four runs and six hits.
MARLINS 6, NATIONALS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — Luis Arráez led off the game with his sixth homer and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error in the ninth inning as Miami completed its first four-game sweep of Washington.
Sandy Alcantara (7-12) pitched eight strong innings and the Marlins moved three games over .500 in September for the first time in a full season since 2010. Miami is tied with San Francisco and Arizona for the final NL wild card, with Cincinnati just behind.
Arráez went 2 for 4 and scored twice. He raised his major league-leading batting average to .356.
Tanner Scott worked the ninth for his fourth save.
Lane Thomas homered and had three hits for the Nationals. Kyle Finnegan (6-4) took the loss.
RED SOX 7, ROYALS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Masataka Yoshida hit a three-run homer and Adam Duvall had a solo shot to back Chris Sale as Boston beat Kansas City.
Sale (6-3) pitched five scoreless innings and struck out five, the first time he hasn’t allowed a run in a start since July 12 last season.
The Red Sox have won two straight after losing five in a row and six of seven. They are 5 1/2 games behind Texas for the final AL wild card.
Royals opener Taylor Clarke worked a scoreless inning before Zack Greinke (1-14) allowed three runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings. Kansas City has lost eight of nine.
TIGERS 3, WHITE SOX 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Spencer Torkelson hit a tiebreaking home run, Tarik Skubal pitched seven solid innings and Detroit ran its winning streak to four with a victory over Chicago.
Torkelson connected off Aaron Bummer (4-4) in the seventh inning for his team-leading 25th homer. Carson Kelly had a two-run double in the second as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep.
Eloy Jiménez and Elvis Andrus had RBIs for Chicago, which has lost three in a row and five of six. Tim Anderson got his 1,000th career hit.
Skubal (4-3) allowed two runs in the first and then settled down for his longest outing since returning July 4 from left forearm flexor tendon surgery. Alex Lange worked around a single and a walk in the ninth for his 21st save. The Tigers closed the game with a snazzy 4-6-3 double play.
BLUE JAYS 7, ROCKIES 5
DENVER (AP) — Whit Merrifield hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth inning and Toronto beat Colorado to take two of three in the series.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered and singled to drive in a pair of runs and Spencer Horwitz, a late fill-in for ailing Brandon Belt, added three hits, including his first career home run to help Toronto remain 1 1/2 games behind Texas for the final AL wild card.
Hunter Goodman doubled twice and drove in three runs for the Rockies in a game interrupted by a 59-minute rain delay.
Chad Green (1-0) worked a scoreless inning for the win and Jordan Romano got three outs for his 32nd save.
Justin Lawrence (4-7) took the loss.
ATHLETICS 10, ANGELS 6
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Tony Kemp had a two-run single that put Oakland ahead in a six-run seventh inning, and the Athletics rallied past Los Angeles to finish a three-game sweep.
Shea Langeliers added a two-run double for Oakland. Ryan Noda and pinch-hitter Seth Brown each launched a two-run homer in the sixth to begin the comeback after the last-place A’s were held hitless through five innings.
Oakland blew a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh on Luis Rengifo’s 15th home run before storming back in the bottom half with the help of throwing errors by reliever José Soriano (0-1) and center fielder Mickey Moniak.
Oakland has won three straight for the second time this season. It was the third series sweep this year for the A’s (42-95).
Francisco Perez (1-1) retired two batters for his first career win, and Trevor May earned his 17th save.
CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Walker homered and Zack Thompson tossed seven effective innings to lead St. Louis over Pittsburgh.
Nolan Gorman added a two-run single for the Cardinals, who avoided a three-game sweep. Alec Burleson broke a 3-all tie with a two-run single in the fourth.
Miguel Andujar homered for the Pirates, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Walker gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead with his 14th homer in the third. He also doubled and scored in the seventh.
Thompson (4-5) allowed three runs and seven hits on 92 pitches. He struck out six. Giovanny Gallegos earned his 10th save.
Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo (8-14) lasted just 3 2/3 innings. He walked a season-high six.
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