BALTIMORE — The Tampa Bay Rays took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single against Ryan Yarbrough, wrecking history in the making and taking some of the edge off their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Ryne Stanek pitched the first two innings before Yarbrough took over. Mixing a cut fastball with a sinker and a deceptive changeup, Yarbrough was literally unhittable – until the ninth.

Tampa Bay’s try for the first combo perfect game in the majors came two days after a pair of Los Angeles Angels pitchers teamed up for a no-hitter while wearing the jerseys of late teammate Tyler Skaggs.

The right-handed hitting Alberto — hitting around .400 against lefties — pushed a grounder to the right side, precisely where the second baseman usually stands. Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single, and an RBI single by Anthony Santander off Oliver Drake enabled Baltimore to break up the shutout.

YANKEES 4, BLUE JAYS 2: Masahiro Tanaka pitched six strong innings, Gio Urshela drove in two runs, and New York beat Toronto at Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka (6-5) allowed two runs, four hits and struck out five without issuing a walk. The righty, who had three no-decisions in his past three starts, won for the first time since tossing a shutout over Tampa Bay on June 17.

ASTROS 12, RANGERS 4: Justin Verlander followed a two-run first inning with five no-hit innings and José Altuve hit Houston’s franchise-record ninth grand slam of the season as the Astros won in Arlington, Texas.

INDIANS 4, TWINS 2: Carlos Santana hit a solo home run that broke a seventh-inning tie and Cleveland avoided a sweep against AL Central-leading Minnesota with a win at home.

TIGERS 12, ROYALS 8: Jeimer Candelario hit a bases-clearing double and Gordon Beckham added a two-run homer during a seven-run third inning, and Detroit won in Kansas City, Missouri.

ATHLETICS 3, WHITE SOX 2: Chad Pinder scored all the way from first base when White Sox shortstop Jose Rondón made a throwing error trying to start a double play in the ninth inning and Oakland walked off with a win over Chicago.

ANGELS 6, MARINERS 3: Rookie Matt Thaiss hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, and Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep at home.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 3: Maikel Franco homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Philadelphia a win at home over Washington.

J.T. Realmuto also went deep for the Phillies, who avoided a three-game sweep.

ROCKIES 10, REDS 9: Ryan McMahon singled, doubled, tripled and drove in three runs as host Colorado outslugged Cincinnati.

CARDINALS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Paul Goldschmidt homered, Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings, and St. Louis held on to beat Arizona at Busch Stadium.

METS 6, MARLINS 2: Robinson Cano homered for the second consecutive game to help lead New York to a win in Miami.

GIANTS 8, BREWERS 3: Tyler Beede pitched effectively into the seventh inning, had two hits and drove in the go-ahead run as San Francisco beat host Milwaukee.

CUBS 8, PIRATES 3: Jason Heyward, Albert Almora Jr. and Kyle Schwarber hit home runs and Chicago Cubs beat visiting Pittsburgh for a three-game sweep.

BRAVES 4, PADRES 1:  Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and All-Star rookie Mike Soroka struck out a career-high nine to win his 10th straight decision for Atlanta, which finished a three-game sweep in San Diego.

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