Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena slides safely into second with a stolen base ahead of the throw to Toronto’s Bo Bichette on Tuesday night in Toronto. Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via The Associated Press

TORONTO — Drew Rasmussen combined with four relievers on a three-hitter, Brandon Lowe and Ji-Man Choi homered and the Tampa Bay Rays became the first AL team to reach 90 wins by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 Tuesday night.

After losing four of their previous five, the East-leading Rays hit the 90-win mark for the eighth time – all in the past 14 seasons.

Pitching well and playing good defense to defeat a postseason contender put the Rays in an October frame of mind.

“Mike Zunino came in after the game and said `That’s what a playoff game feels like,”‘ Rasmussen said. “To go out there and see how well our pitching staff did, and also how well our defense played, that really gives our team a lot of confidence. We can match up with the best of them.”

Tampa Bay (90-55) stopped a two-game losing streak. The Rays have not lost three in a row since July 25-28.

Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios (11-8) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings before leaving because of soreness in his left abdominal muscle.

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Toronto (81-64) had scored 52 runs in winning their previous four games.

Rasmussen (3-1) allowed two hits in five innings.

YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 2:  Aaron Judge started a five-homer barrage that backed Gerrit Cole, and New York won at Baltimore to win consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 1 and 3.

Cole (15-7) returned from left hamstring tightness that cut short his Sept. 7 start against Toronto. He stranded the bases loaded in a 29-pitch first inning when he struck out Ramón Uris and allowed one run and four hits in five innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. He threw 108 pitches.

Judge homered hit a two-run homer in the first off a change-up from Alexander Wells (1-3), his 34th home run this season. Judge is 20 for 58 with three doubles, nine homers and 15 RBI against Baltimore this year.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the third and Luke Voit followed for back-to-back homers and a 5-0 lead.

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Joey Gallo added his 34th homer in the eighth off Spenser Watkins and DJ LeMahieu homered in the ninth to reach double digits for the fourth straight season.

RANGERS 8, ASTROS 1: All-Star slugger Adolis Garcia tied the Rangers’ single-season rookie record with his 30th homer, one of three long balls allowed by Zack Greinke in his return after testing positive for COVID-19 as last-place Texas won at home.

Rangers starter Jordan Lyles (9-11) struck out seven, walked one and hit one, allowing only three singles over seven scoreless innings.

A night after winning 15-1 in the opener of the four-game series, the Astros didn’t score until an RBI single by Carlos Correa in the ninth off Josh Sborz.

Greinke (11-6) allowed eight runs on five hits and three walks while pitching into the sixth inning of his first start in 16 days. His last game had also been a road loss against the Rangers on Aug. 29, two days before the 37-year-old right-hander went on COVID-19 injury list.

Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run homer that went 440 feet in the first inning to put the Rangers ahead to stay. DJ Peters chased Greinke when he lined a three-run shot 421 feet into the Astros’ bullpen in left-center, making it 8-0 with no outs in the sixth.

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Garcia hit a 438-foot drive for his first homer in 13 games, a two-run shot off the batter’s eye in center field for a 4-0 lead in the third. The 28-year-old Cuban, who also added two doubles, had last gone deep off an Astros reliever Aug. 29, in the last start by Greinke.

Pete Incaviglia hit 30 homers during his rookie season in 1986. With 18 games remaining, Garcia also has 81 RBI, seven off the Rangers’ rookie record also held by Incaviglia.

INDIANS, TWINS SPLIT: Triston McKenzie was sent to Triple-A four times this season, as the lanky 24-year-old worked through some early struggles.

Now Cleveland has another budding star pitcher, turning in one stellar start after another.

McKenzie cruised through six innings of the first game of a doubleheader to beat Minnesota 3-1, when a comebacker off the wrist of Twins rookie Joe Ryan shortened the pitching duel. Ryan Jeffers had four RBI in the nightcap as the Twins gained a split with a 6-3 victory.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

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PIRATES 6, REDS 5:  Wade Miley surrendered six runs on 10 hits and visiting Cincinnati lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Miley (12-6) gave up three runs in the first and three more in the fifth before being pulled with one out. The six runs (five earned) allowed were Miley’s most since the Rockies scored eight off of him May 14.

The Reds entered the day half a game ahead of the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card in the National League.

NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 2: Ryan Zimmerman homered, Erick Fedde pitched five solid innings and Washington beat visiting Miami.

CUBS 6, PHILLIES 3: Patrick Wisdom and Alfonso Rivas hit back-to-back homers as Chicago won at Philadelphia.

NOTES

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BREWERS: Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers’ home run leader whose production was slowed by injuries during the second half of his 14-year career, announced his retirement on Tuesday.

Braun hasn’t played all season and said during spring training that he was leaning toward retirement. The 2011 NL MVP made it official Tuesday in a video the Brewers posted on Twitter.

“While it’s impossible to summarize my emotions right now, what I feel most is one simple thing – gratitude,” Braun said.

Braun, 37, batted .296 with 352 homers and 1,154 RBI. He ranks second among Brewers in RBI (1,154), extra-base hits (809), total bases (3,525) and doubles (408). He ranks third in runs (1,080), hits (1,963), triples (49), stolen bases (216) and walks (586). He is fourth in games played (1,766).

Braun became a free agent after the Brewers declined to exercise a $15 million mutual option in his contract last October. The six-time All-Star batted a career-low .233 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 39 games last season while dealing with a back issue.

ROYALS: Kansas City are promoting General Manager Dayton Moore to club president and elevating longtime assistant GM J.J. Picollo to fill his role, a person familiar with the front-office movements told The Associated Press.

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The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the club had not announced the moves.

The 54-year-old Moore presided over one of the most remarkable turnarounds in baseball history, leading the long-suffering Royals from a team that regularly lost 100 games upon his 2006 arrival to one that reached consecutive World Series. And in 2015, they beat the New York Mets in five games for their first championship in 30 years.

The Royals have been on another major rebuilding effort after the small-market club was unable to keep some of the big names that ushered in their winning era. But there have been signs that another breakthrough is on the horizon as a wave of talented young pitchers continues to help Kansas City win games down the stretch this season.

• With a decade left on their lease at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals are evaluating their options and owner John Sherman said one of those could be a new downtown ballpark.

The Royals are tied to the 53-year-old stadium, named after founder Ewing Kauffman, until 2031 under terms of a public-private partnership 15 years ago that helped to fund $250 million in renovations to the quaint but aging ballpark on the outskirts of town.

But the club must make a decision in the next couple of years to press on with more renovations at Truman Sports Complex, which is also home to Arrowhead Stadium and the Kansas City Chiefs, or look elsewhere. The design and construction for a new stadium typically takes up to five years, and securing the necessary funding can sometimes take just as long.

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ALL-STAR GAME: The Seattle Mariners will host baseball’s 2023 All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park.

The team announced a news conference for Thursday at Seattle’s Space Needle with baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The purpose of the news conference is to announce that Seattle will be the site of the 2023 All-Star Game, a person familiar with the planning told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the subject was not announced.

Seattle will host the All-Stars for the third time. The ballpark, then known as Safeco Field, opened in 1999 and was the site of the American League’s 4-1 victory in 2001, part of a streak of 12 AL wins around the 7-7 tie in 2002. The game marked the final All-Star appearances of Cal Ripken Jr., who homered, and of Tony Gwynn.

The 1979 All-Star Game was at the old Kingdome and was won 7-6 by the NL.

WHITE SOX: AL-Central leading Chicago reinstated right-hander Lucas Giolito and All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson from the 10-day injured list and placed both in the starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Giolito was set to take the mound for the first time since Aug. 31, when he suffered a strained left hamstring against Pittsburgh. An All-Star in 2019, he’s 9-9 with a 3.69 ERA this season.

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Anderson was batting leadoff after being out since Aug. 28, also with a left hamstring strain. The 2019 AL batting champion is hitting .302 with 14 homers and 53 RBI.

ASTROS: The AL West-leading Houston Astros put starter Jake Odorizzi on the 10-day injured list with right foot soreness from a play when he covered first base.

Odorizzi’s roster spot was filled by right-hander Zack Greinke, who was reinstated from the COVID-19 injury list to make his first scheduled start in 16 days. His previous start was also on the road against the Rangers, on Aug. 29.

Manager Dusty Baker said Odorizzi was getting an MRI.


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