TORONTO — Alex Cobb pitched 62/3 innings to win for the first time in almost two years, Kevin Kiermaier and Corey Dickerson hit two-run homers and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Wednesday.
Cobb (1-0) allowed one run and two hits to win for the first time since Sept. 23, 2014, against Boston. The oft-injured right-hander, who recently returned from elbow surgery, had gone 722 days between victories.
WHO'S HOT
n Tampa Bay has a franchise-record 200 HRs, passing the 2009 mark of 199.
who’s Not
n Marco Estrada (Blue Jays) is 1-5 with a 6.95 ERA in his last seven starts.
Dickerson had three hits and four RBI as the Rays won for the sixth time in eight games at Rogers Centre.
Reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson sat out his third straight game for Toronto and was scheduled to get an MRI on his sore right hip.
Toronto, now 3-9 in September, fell a game back of Baltimore in the wild-card race.
TIGERS 9, TWINS 6: Miguel Cabrera’s homer broke a seventh-inning tie as Detroit rallied for a crucial win at home to pull one game behind Toronto for the second AL wild card.
ATHLETICS 8, ROYALS 0: Yonder Alonso and Marcus Semien hit two-run doubles as Oakland beat Kansas City for the third straight game and further damaged the Royals’ postseason chances.
INDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 1: Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to break the game open as Cleveland won at Chicago to remain six games ahead of Detroit in the AL Central.
ASTROS 8, RANGERS 4: Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman both left with injuries, but George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez homered as host Houston kept its fading playoff hopes alive.
INTERLEAGUE
DODGERS 2, YANKEES 0: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw pitched five nearly perfect innings and Justin Turner hit an RBI double off Dellin Betances in a two-run ninth that sent Los Angeles to a win at New York.
The Yankees completed a 7-3 homestand and remained two games behind Toronto for the second AL wild card. Next up they begin an 11-game trip – their longest of the season – to Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 7, CARDINALS 0: Anthony Rizzo hit a pair of home runs and Jon Lester (17-4) pitched eight dominant innings as Chicago won at St. Louis to clinch at least a wild-card playoff berth.
The Cubs improved their MLB-best record to 93-52 and their magic number is one to clinch their first National League Central title since 2008.
NATIONALS 1, METS 0: Tanner Roark (15-8) pitched seven scoreless innings and Wilson Ramos homered in the seventh inning for the game’s only run as Washington won at home.
With one out in the seventh, Ramos hit his 21st home run deep over the center-field wall on the first pitch from Fernando Salas (0-1). The Nationals have won 5 of 6.
PADRES 3, GIANTS 1: Madison Bumgarner missed a chance at his milestone 100th career win and host San Francisco wasted another chance for a potential push in the NL West, swept by the division’s second-to-last-place club.
MARLINS 7, BRAVES 5: Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer as Miami rallied for a win at Atlanta.
BREWERS 7, REDS 0: Junior Guerra pitched six shutout innings, and Scooter Gennett and Domingo Santana homered in a win at Cincinnati.
PHILLIES 6, PIRATES 2: Freddy Galvis continued his home-run surge, hitting his 19th of the season in a win at Philadelphia.
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