TORONTO — Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer, Aaron Sanchez struck out 10 and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Tuesday night in the opener of their AL wild-card showdown.

Ezequiel Carrera also homered as the Blue Jays won for the sixth time in eight games. They lead the wild-card standings by two games over the Orioles with five to play.

Baltimore is a game ahead of Detroit and two ahead of Seattle for the final playoff spot.

Orioles slugger Chris Davis was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Will Little after striking out against Joe Biagini in the seventh, the third time in three at-bats Davis was caught looking. Baltimore Manager Buck Showalter also was tossed after he came out to argue.

TIGERS 12, INDIANS 0: Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in five runs in the first two innings, and Justin Verlander struck out 12 to power host Detroit against a Cleveland lineup full of backups.

The Indians clinched the AL Central on Monday, and their starting lineup Tuesday was without Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Mike Napoli and Jose Ramirez. Detroit took advantage, pulling within a game of Baltimore for the American League’s second wild card.

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ROYALS 4, TWINS 3: Billy Burns’ sacrifice fly scored Raul Mondesi in the 11th inning as Kansas City won at home, staving off postseason elimination.

The defending World Series champions are five games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card with five to play.

ASTROS 8, MARINERS 4: George Springer had three hits and Houston won at home.

Seattle remained two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card, and Houston’s deficit in the race is now 2 1/2 games.

WHITE SOX 13, RAYS 6: Melky Cabrera and Leury Garcia homered to back Chris Sale and Chicago won at home.

Sale (17-9) allowed three runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings to match his career high in victories.

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RANGERS 6, BREWERS 4: Jonathan Lucroy hit a go-ahead, two-run double against his former team in the sixth inning to help Texas win at home.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NATIONALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Max Scherzer struck out 10 and allowed two runs in six innings and Anthony Rendon hit a go-ahead three-run homer as Washington won at home to inch closer to home-field advantage in the NL Division Series.

METS 12, MARLINS 1: Noah Syndergaard struck out eight and allowed one run in six innings, and the Mets totaled 19 hits to win at Miami.

Jay Bruce and Yoenis Cespedes each hit his 31st homer for the Mets, who have a one-game lead on San Francisco (the Giants played later Tuesday night) and a 1 1/2-game lead on St. Louis for the first NL wild-card berth.

CUBS 6, PIRATES 4: Chris Coghlan hit a three-run triple and John Lackey worked in and out of trouble over five innings, helping Chicago win at Pittsburgh.

CARDINALS 12, REDS 5: Jhonny Peralta and Aledmys Diaz each had four RBIs as host St. Louis feasted on Cincinnati pitching.


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