CLEVELAND (AP) — Gavin Williams struck out a career-high 13 and allowed just two singles in seven innings, leading the Cleveland Guardians to a 6-1 win on Tuesday night over the Toronto Blue Jays in a matchup of teams in the thick of the AL wild-card race.

Patrick Bailey, rookie Angel Genao and Angel Martinez all hit two-run homers for the Guardians, who are 11-4 since Aug. 12. Cleveland came in with a slim lead for the third wild-card spot.

Williams (13-7) began September by dominating the Blue Jays, allowing one unearned run. The right-hander, who was coming off a shaky outing last week, didn’t give up a hit until the fourth.

Williams struck out the side in the seventh and fanned five of his last six. It was his 10th double-digit strikeout game this season.

Hunter Gaddis and Matt Festa pitched an inning apiece to finish the three-hitter.

Bailey put the Guardians up 2-1 in the fifth with his eighth homer. Martinez led off with a walk, and one out later, Bailey drove a 3-1 pitch from Spencer Arighetti (7-8) into the left-field bleachers.

NATIONALS 9, BRAVES 5

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yohandy Morales homered in his first major league game and Jared Simpson earned the win in relief in his own debut, helping Washington beat Atlanta.

The Nationals called up Morales and Simpson before the game, with major league rosters expanding from 26 to 28. After striking out his first time up, Morales hit a solo shot in the third inning. Simpson (1-0) entered in the fifth with Washington up 5-2 and induced a double play and a flyout after inheriting a first-and-second, nobody-out situation.

Then he worked two more perfect innings.

The 24-year-old Morales, who hit 25 homers for Triple-A Rochester this year, also singled and doubled in an impressive debut.

AJ Smith-Shawver (0-1) allowed five runs and six hits in four innings. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II homered for the Braves, whose lead over Philadelphia atop the NL East dropped to 3 games, with the Phillies beating Arizona Tuesday night.

REDS 4, PADRES 3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Trevino drove in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning, lifting Cincinnati to a victory over San Diego.

San Diego (73-66) has a half-game lead on Arizona for the third and final NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks lost to the Phillies Tuesday night.

With the score tied at 2 in the eighth, the Reds loaded the bases with one out against Adrian Morejon (9-3). Trevino lined a sharp single to center, scoring Elly De La Cruz with the go-ahead run.

Juan Brito followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Reds a two-run cushion.

Emilio Pagán allowed a solo homer to Fernando Tatis, his second of the night, in the ninth but secured his 20th save.

Brock Burke (6-5) got the win for Cincinnati.

RAYS 6, METS 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Freddy Peralta pitched six terrific innings against his former team, Yandy Díaz homered and doubled, and Tampa Bay beat New York.

Junior Caminero extended his hitting streak to 15 games with two singles for Tampa Bay. Victor Mesa Jr. had three hits and Ryan Vilade drove in two runs for the Rays, who have the best record in the American League at 83-55 and a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees.

Peralta, acquired from the Mets for three minor leaguers in an Aug. 2 trade, struggled at the start. He gave up Francisco Lindor’s leadoff homer and consecutive singles to Bo Bichette and Carson Benge. But the right-hander settled down and retired 17 of his final 18 batters.

Peralta (7-11) allowed three hits and one run, with no walks and seven strikeouts. He has permitted just one run over his last 14 innings.

The two-time All-Star combined with three Rays relievers to hold New York to 0 for 26 over the final eight innings, although the Mets managed to score in the seventh when Tampa Bay walked four batters.

MARLINS 6, ROYALS 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Graham Pauley homered and tripled to drive in four runs, Kyle Stowers also went deep, and Miami rolled past Kansas City.

Tyler Phillips (4-6) threw five innings of one-hit ball for the Marlins, striking out four and walking two. Three relievers combined to give up five hits with two strikeouts, with Tyler Zuber finishing off the ninth.

Pauley, recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville ahead of the game — his fifth call-up of the year — hit his second major league homer of the season in the second, a two-run shot to right.

Stowers added a 412-footer to right in the fifth to make it a three-run game.

Pauley’s first triple of the season drove in two more and sent Royals starter Randy Dobnak (2-3) to the dugout in the seventh. Javier Sanoja got Pauley across with a single to make it 6-0.

Dobnak went six-plus innings and allowed seven hits and six runs while striking out six and walking two.

MARINERS 9, RED SOX 6

BOSTON (AP) — Lazaro Montes homered in his big league debut, Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer and Seattle ended a five-game skid with a win over Boston.

Dominic Canzone also homered for the Mariners, who tagged Jedixson Páez (0–1) for five runs in the second inning of his first career start and finished with 14 hits.

The game was delayed for several minutes in the sixth after umpire Will Little caught a foul ball under his chin, knocking off his throat guard. Little appeared dazed and needed a few minutes before finishing the top of the sixth. He then left the game as second-base umpire Ryan Wills took over behind the plate.

The scary moment came not long after a jubilant trip around the bases by Montes, one of several players added Tuesday as rosters expanded.

Montes walked and scored in the first, hit an RBI single in the second and led off the fifth with a 407-foot shot to center. Montes had an animated run around the bases, nearly bowling over third-base coach Carlos Cardoza during a high-five on his way to the plate, followed by a dugout celebration carrying the Mariners’ golden trident.

Mickey Gasper homered for Boston, which has lost three of four. The Red Sox got a two-run homer by Jahmai Jones as they tried to rally late, but couldn’t overcome a 9-1 deficit.

PIRATES 13, GIANTS 12

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brandon Lowe scored from third when San Francisco third baseman Oseilvis Basabe short-hopped a throw to first with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Pittsburgh won.

Lowe led off the ninth against Carson Seymour (0-1) with his fourth hit of the night, before eventually moving to third on a single by Nick Gonzales and a fielder’s choice by Oneil Cruz.

Pittsburgh backup catcher Rafael Flores Jr. then laced a hard grounder to third that Basabe picked cleanly, only to see his throw to first get away from first baseman Rafael Devers.

Lowe’s four-hit night included his 29th home run of the season. Cruz had four hits and drove in four runs for Pittsburgh, which recovered later after blowing a six-run lead.

The Pirates have won five of seven despite allowing the Giants to rally to tie it at 12 thanks to a five-run eighth, the final two runs scoring on Drew Cavanaugh’s double.

Gonzales had three hits for Pittsburgh to boost his batting average to .310. Spencer Horwitz and Jacob Gonzalez added two hits each for the Pirates.

Mason Montgomery (6-3) worked around two hits in the ninth to keep the game tied and put Pittsburgh in position to win it.

TWINS 15, TIGERS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis and Ryan Jeffers hit three-run homers during a 10-run sixth inning for Minnesota to highlight a victory over skidding Detroit.

Kody Clemens homered for the second straight game and Kalen Culpepper had two hits and three RBIs for the Twins (67-72), who won their third straight game after losing seven of eight. Minnesota is 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the third wild- card spot in the AL, with three other teams between them.

Luke Keaschall drove in two runs on two hits and Lewis went 3 for 4 with a walk as the Twins followed an 11-1 victory in the series opener with a 13-hit romp over a Tigers team (63-75) that has lost 14 of its last 17 games.

The Twins, who are second in the AL in runs behind Central Division leader Chicago, posted their second 10-run inning of the season and the 12th in club history, according to Sportradar. Minnesota had 10 runs in the fifth inning of a 16-8 win at Arizona on June 20.

Tigers starter Troy Melton (7-4) gave up the three-run shot to Lewis before yielding to Kyle Finnegan, who bore the brunt of the inning with five runs allowed and only one out recorded as the Twins sent 15 batters to the plate.

BREWERS 9, CUBS 4

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Yelich capped Milwaukee’s four-run sixth inning with a tiebreaking two-run homer, helping the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs.

Milwaukee used a 13-hit attack to restore its eight-game lead in the NL Central over Chicago, bouncing back nicely after losing 17-3 to the Cubs in the opener of the four-game series. The top three hitters in the Brewers’ lineup — Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras — went 6 for 14 and scored four times.

A day after hitting a franchise-record nine homers, Chicago was held to three singles and three doubles on a muggy night at Wrigley Field. Tyrone Taylor drove in two runs, and BJ Murray Jr. singled in the sixth for his first hit in his major league debut.

Milwaukee went ahead to stay in the sixth. Turang scored on a balk by Daniel Palencia, and Andrew Vaughn’s RBI double tied it at 3. Yelich then drove an 0-2 slider from Palencia (2-2) to right-center for his 10th homer.

Yelich also walked and scored on Joey Ortiz’s eighth homer in the eighth, a two-run shot to center field off Tyler Ferguson that lifted the Brewers to a 9-4 lead.

Antonio Senzatela (10-4) pitched an inning for his first win since he was acquired in a deadline trade with Colorado.

WHITE SOX 5, ASTROS 1

HOUSTON (AP) — Colson Montgomery had two hits and two RBIs and Randal Grichuk added a two-run double to lead the Chicago White Sox to a win over Houston.

Sean Burke (8-6) allowed one hit and walked four with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the win after walking a career-high eight in just three innings in his last start.

Houston’s loss, combined with Texas’ 8-5 win over the Athletics, cut the Astros’ lead over the Rangers in the AL West to one game.

The White Sox had runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth when Andrew Benintendi’s RBI single to right field made it 1-0. Montgomery followed with a double to score two more and push the lead to 3-0.

Chicago got another big hit with two on and two out in the seventh when Grichuk’s double made it 5-0. The White Sox had a chance to add to the lead after that, but Cam Smith robbed Tristan Peters of a homer with a leaping catch in right field to end the inning.

The Astros had just two hits — both by Taylor Trammell — when Isaac Paredes homered to left field with two outs in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 5-1.

RANGERS 8, ATHLETICS 5

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brandon Nimmo set season highs with four hits and five RBIs, Corey Seager scored three times and Texas beat the Athletics.

Texas pulled within one game of Houston atop the AL West. The first-place Astros lost 5-1 to the Chicago White Sox in a matchup of division leaders.

Seager doubled twice and scored on Nimmo’s first three RBI hits, including a bouncing two-run single in the fifth inning. Seager had the second of two sacrifice flies in the sixth.

Jeff McNeil hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Athletics, who lost their fifth straight game and have four losing streaks at least that long in the past two months. That stretch includes skids of 10 and nine games.

MacKenzie Gore (8-10) pitched around five singles and four walks, allowing one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Jacob Latz struck out both batters he faced for his 28th save in 31 chances after the A’s turned an 8-1 deficit through six innings into a save situation for Texas.

The Athletics had 11 hits, seven walks and two hit batters but left the bases loaded twice and stranded 14 runners.

ROCKIES 4, ORIOLES 2

DENVER (AP) — TJ Rumfield broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run homer and Colorado beat Baltimore to snap its franchise-record home losing streak at 10 games.

Adael Amador also went deep for the Rockies, who won at Coors Field for the first time since an 8-1 victory over Kansas City on Aug. 2 and snapped a five-game skid overall.

Jackson Holliday launched a tying homer in the seventh off winning pitcher Jaden Hill (1-3) and finished with three hits, but Baltimore (69-70) dropped 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the final American League wild card.

Mickey Moniak reached on Holliday’s fielding error at second base before Rumfield hit a towering shot into the Colorado bullpen off Luis De León (0-1) to give the Rockies a 4-2 lead.

The 23-year-old De León was making his major league debut.

Jordan Romano struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 14th save.

PHILLIES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 1

PHOENIX (AP) — Bryce Harper reached base five times, Jesús Luzardo threw 6 2/3 quality innings and Philadelphia won its sixth straight game by beating Arizona.

The surging Phillies have won 15 of their last 17 and are now just three games behind the Atlanta Braves for the NL East lead.

Harper had four singles, including one on a surprise bunt in the first inning. The nine-time All-Star also walked, scored a run and drove in another, starting September with a terrific performance after slashing .333/.496/.573 in August.

Luzardo (13-5) gave up one run on six hits and a walk while striking out six. The hard-throwing lefty has a 1.32 ERA over his lasts six starts — joining Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sanchez for arguably baseball’s best starting rotation.

The Phillies never trailed, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Trea Turner hit an RBI double off the center-field wall in the first while Alec Bohm’s run-scoring single made it 3-1 in the fifth.

The D-backs cut the margin to 3-1 on Jordan Lawlar’s solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. The Phillies put the game away with a three-run eighth inning and another run in the ninth.

Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (14-5) needed 103 pitches to get through five innings. The All-Star gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks, striking out three.

YANKEES 7, ANGLES 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Spencer Jones homered and drove in three runs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. also went deep and finished with three hits, and New York pulled away for a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Jones and Chisholm launched back-to-back homers to give Gerrit Cole a 3-0 lead before even throwing a pitch in his latest return home. New York moved four games ahead of rival Boston for the top American League wild card and remained 4 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

A day that began with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment reaching an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Angels from owner Arte Moreno ended with the struggling Angels losing for the ninth time in 11 games.

Cole (8-7) gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber held Los Angeles to one hit the rest of the way.

Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-6) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking two.

CARDINALS 13, DODGERS 8

LOS ANGELES (AP) — St. Louis hit five home runs, including a pair by Thomas Saggese and a two-run shot from Home Run Derby champion Jordan Walker, in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ramón Urías and Joshua Báez also went deep for the Cardinals, who had lost seven of nine while getting outscored 63-38 during that span. But the bats broke loose in this one as St. Louis scored its most runs in a game at Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles starter Eric Lauer (8-7) was tagged for seven early runs, five in the third inning.

Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy went a combined 1 for 7 with three strikeouts for the Dodgers. Mookie Betts had four RBIs.

Los Angeles dropped to 28-2 when scoring at least eight runs this season.

Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy (6-9) allowed four runs and five hits with four strikeouts in five innings.