DETROIT — Erik Johnson followed a one-hitter by Jeff Smardzija with six solid innings, leading the White Sox to a victory over the Tigers for a doubleheader sweep.
Samardzija allowed only a leadoff single to Victor Martinez in the fifth inning as the White Sox won the opener 2-0.
Gordon Beckham homered, Jose Abreu had an RBI double and Avisail Garcia a sacrifice fly in the night cap of the split-doubleheader. All the runs came off Detroit’s Randy Wolf (0-4).
Johnson (3-0) allowed a long ball to Alex Avila and a sacrifice fly to Ian kinsler. Making his fourth start this season after spending most of it at Triple-A Charlotte, Johnson matched a career best with nine strikeouts. He allowed five hits and two walks.
In the opener, no other batter reached base against Samardzija (10-13), who struck out six in his second shutout this season.
Adam Eaton singled in Carlos Sanchez in the third, and Sanchez homered in the sixth against Kyle Ryan (2-4), who allowed six hits in seven innings.
BLUE JAYS 4. YANKEES 2
TORONTO – David Price pitched seven shutout innings, Jose Bautista had two hits and the Toronto Blue Jays used a three-run first inning to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night.
Toronto stretched its lead in the AL East to 3 1-2 games in the opener of a three-game showdown between the division’s top teams.
Facing the Yankees for the fourth time since joining the Blue Jays in a July 30 trade, Price (17-5) improved to 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA against New York with Toronto.
Roberto Osuna overcame Greg Bird’s two-out solo homer in the ninth to earn his 17th save.
Toronto jumped on Adam Warren (6-7) with a three-run first.
PIRATES 9, ROCKIES 3
DENVER — Starling Marte homered among his four hits and came within a triple of the cycle, and Pittsburgh beat the Rockies.
Aramis Ramirez went deep and Jody Mercer had four hits for the Pirates, who reduced their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to two. A win Tuesday and a San Francisco loss would clinch at least a wild card for the third straight season.
Mercer hit doubles in the second and fourth innings to drive in Francisco Cervelli, who had three hits, as the Pirates built a 5-0 lead on Jon Gray (0-2).
Pittsburgh starter A.J. Burnett (9-5) cruised through the first four innings before an error in the fifth preceded Tom Murphy’s three-run homer that made it 5-3.
ASTROS 6, ANGELS 3
HOUSTON — Evan Gattis and Carlos Correa hit two-run homers, and the Astros beat the Angels in a matchup of American League wild-card contenders.
Dallas Keuchel (18-8) pitched 7 2-3 solid innings to remain undefeated at home this season. More importantly, the All-Star left-hander helped Houston keep momentum by winning its third straight.
The Astros (80-71) lead the Minnesota Twins by three games and the Angels by 3 1-2 for the AL’s second wild-card spot. The victory put the Astros within a game of first-place Texas in the AL West.
Right-hander Jered Weaver (7-12) lasted 5 2-3 innings for the Angels, giving up five runs and nine hits, including the two homers.
METS 4, BRAVES 0
NEW YORK — Jonathon Niese won for the first time in a month, Michael Conforto homered and the Mets moved closer to an NL East title with their victory over the Braves.
Daniel Murphy lined a two-run double, Yoenis Cespedes had three hits and the Mets handed hard-luck Shelby Miller (5-16) his 15th straight defeat. New York stretched its lead to 6 1/2 games over the second-place Nationals with 12 to play and lowered its magic number for clinching the division to seven.
Niese (9-10) tossed three-hit ball for six innings, keeping the ball down during an encouraging outing and getting 13 of his 18 outs on the ground.
Miller lost his seventh straight start. He threw a season-high 113 pitches in six innings, allowing two runs and seven hits — including Conforto’s homer. The right-hander is winless in his last 23 outings, the longest drought for a starter in Atlanta history, since coming within one out of a no-hitter in a 6-0 win May 17 at Miami.
CUBS 9, BREWERS 5
CHICAGO — Anthony Rizzo had three hits and scored three runs, Jorge Soler hit a pinch-hit, 3-run shot and the Cubs beat the Brewers.
The Cubs inched closer to a NL playoff berth as their magic number to clinch fell to four.
Rizzo reached in all five of his at-bats after walking twice to go along with his three hits.
Milwaukee’s Adam Lind tied the game at 4 with a two-run homer in the fifth inning off Cubs starter Jason Hammel (9-6), who allowed three earned runs over his five innings.
Wily Peralta (5-10) allowed four walks and eight hits. He gave up six runs over 4 2-3 innings.
RED SOX 8, RAYS 7
BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to lift Boston to a victory over Tampa Bay, moving the Red Sox out of the AL East’s basement and ahead of the Rays.
David Ortiz collected his 99th RBI on a night he was honored at Fenway Park for hitting his 500th career homer. It was his first home game since he joined the 500-home run club, hitting it against the Rays on Sept. 12.
Brandon Guyer homered on the game’s second pitch to spark a three-run first for the Rays, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games.
Jean Machi (1-0) got one out for the win. Robbie Ross Jr. pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Bogaerts homered off Brandon Gomes (2-6). Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch and Mookie Betts and Pedroia singled before Bogaerts hit his homer over the Green Monster.
CARDINALS 2, REDS 1
ST. LOUIS — Rookie Stephen Piscotty doubled in the go-ahead run in a two-run eighth inning and the Cardinals turned it on late for a victory over the Reds.
Rookie Tommy Pham tripled off J.J. Hoover (8-2) to open the eighth and Jhonny Peralta’s one-out single tied it ahead of Piscotty’s drive off the wall in left-center.
Johnathon Broxton (3-5) allowed one hit the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal earned his 47th save in 49 chances to match the franchise record.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES – Paul Goldschmidt homered after Yasmany Tomas and Aaron Hill gave the Diamondbacks the lead with longballs off Brett Anderson, and Arizona beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 Monday night.
The Dodgers’ loss in the opener of this four-game series kept their magic number for clinching a third straight NL West title at seven, with second-place San Francisco idle.
Jhoulys Chacin (1-1) allowed two runs, six hits and four walks over 5 1-3 innings in his fourth start for the Diamondbacks, one day after they were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. The seven-year veteran right-hander posted his first win in the majors since June 12, 2014, with Colorado.
The Diamondbacks’ bullpen came up big in the sixth after Chacin walked two batters and was pulled with one out. Andrew Chafin struck out pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke and David Hernandez fanned pinch-hitter Scott Schebler.
