ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Hicks injured his left hamstring running up the first-base line Monday night in the Yankees’ 4-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays – another concern for New York heading into next week’s AL wild-card game.

Hicks’ 11th-inning double Saturday drove in Didi Gregorius with the run that clinched a postseason berth, and the Yankees learned Sunday that Gregorius had torn cartilage in his right wrist during his headfirst slide across the plate.

Hicks, who had fouled a pitch off his left ankle just before the double, left Monday’s game with left hamstring tightness. He appeared to get hurt in the third inning while running to first base on a grounder to shortstop, successfully beating a relay throw and avoiding a double play. He was replaced by Brett Gardner in the middle of the fourth.

New York’s win eliminated the Rays and ensured a postseason berth for Oakland, which is likely to be the wild-card opponent but also is still alive in the AL West race. The Yankees began the night 1½ games ahead of the Athletics for home-field advantage. At 96-60, New York is assured of its best record since going 97-65 in 2011.

ASTROS 5, BLUE JAYS 3: Brian McCann and Josh Reddick hit back-to-back home runs, and Houston won at Toronto to move one step closer to its second straight AL West title.

The Astros began the day with a magic number of three over Oakland to clinch the division – which would set up a best-of-five postseason matchup against AL Central champion Cleveland.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 3: Anthony Rendon homered and drove in four runs, Bryce Harper reached 100 RBI in a season for the first time and Washington won at home.

Juan Soto and Matt Wieters also homered for Washington, which broke it open with four runs on three pitches in the fourth inning.

PIRATES 5, CUBS 1: Jameson Taillon outpitched Cole Hamels, Francisco Cervelli hit a two-run homer and visiting Pittsburgh made Chicago wait at least another day to clinch a postseason spot.

The Cubs needed a win plus a loss by Colorado to Philadelphia to assure a franchise-record fourth straight trip to the playoffs, a run that includes a drought-busting World Series championship in 2016.

NOTES

YANKEES: Shortstop Didi Gregorius hopes to return from a wrist injury this week and start in the AL wild-card game Oct. 3.

GIANTS: Bobby Evans was fired as the team’s general manager.


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