Baseball-Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games

(Adds late games) Sept 28 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Major League Baseball games on Wednesday: Yankees 5, Red Sox 3 Mark Teixeira hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the New York Yankees rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox, who clinched the AL East Division title. The Red Sox learned they secured their eighth divisional title before Craig Kimbrel threw a pitch when the Baltimore Orioles secured a 3-2 win in Toronto. Kimbrel (2-5) loaded the bases by allowing three walks and a hit. He was pulled for Joe Kelly, who recorded the first two outs. With many of the Red Sox fans rising in anticipation of the win, Teixeira drove an 0-1 pitch over the center field fence for his 15th home run of the season. Royals 5, Twins 2 The title defense ended for the Kansas City Royals despite scoring three runs with two outs in the eighth to beat the Minnesota Twins. Kendrys Morales drove in the go-ahead run with a double, and Alex Gordon added a two-run single for the Royals. However, soon after their big eighth inning, the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, eliminating the 2015 World Series champion Royals from post-season contention. Joakim Soria (5-8) claimed the victory after pitching a scoreless inning, while Taylor Rogers (3-1) took the loss after allowing three runs in one-third of an inning. Orioles 3, Blue Jays 2 Pinch hitter Hyun Soo Kim hit a two-run homer against Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth inning and the Baltimore Orioles came back to defeat Toronto. Mark Trumbo also homered for the Orioles, while left-hander Zach Britton pitched the ninth for his 47th save of the season. The Blue Jays (87-71) lead the Orioles (86-72) by one game for the first American League wild-card spot. Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman allowed six hits, three walks and two runs (one earned) in 5-2/3 innings. Mariners 12, Astros 4 Robinson Cano Cano belted his 36th homer with a three-run shot in the first inning off Houston right-hander Doug Fister to give the Seattle Mariners a 12-4 win that kept alive their postseason dreams. Seattle (84-74) built a 7-0 lead in the third and held off an Astros' rally in the middle innings before Seattle tacked on two runs in the seventh inning then Kyle Seager belted his 30th home run, a three-run shot off Astros right-hander Pat Neshek, in the eighth. The Astros (83-76) essentially bowed out of the race for an American League wild card. Diamondbacks 3, Nationals 0 (6 innings) Right-hander Shelby Miller pitched five scoreless innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 in a game that was called by rain with one out in the top of the sixth after a delay of 69 minutes. Miller (3-12) gave up just five hits, two coming from Anthony Rendon. He lowered his ERA to 6.15 and had five strikeouts with one walk. Pirates 8, Cubs 4 John Jaso became the first player to hit for the cycle in PNC Park, driving in five runs with a three-run homer, triple, double and a single as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat up on Chicago starter Jake Arrieta. Rookie right-hander Jameson Taillon (5-4), limited the Cubs to one hit -- Anthony Rizzo's home run in the first inning -- while striking out four and walking three in six strong innings. Tigers 6, Indians 3 (5 innings) Miguel Cabrera lined a tiebreaking three-run homer through a hard rain into the right field seats with one out in the fifth inning to give the Detroit Tigers a five-inning, weather-shortened 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The game was halted after a second play stoppage, this one for 72 minutes, with five innings completed. The Detroit win kept the Tigers one game behind Baltimore, who currently holds the American League's second wild-card berth and also won. Mets 5, Marlins 2 James Loney and Jay Bruce each hit two-run homers to lead the New York Mets to a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins. The Mets (85-74) maintained their slim lead over the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card race. Only two of those three teams will make the playoffs. Braves 12, Phillies 2 First baseman Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to a major league-best 30 games and the Atlanta Braves drubbed the Philadelphia Phillies 12-2 for their ninth win in 10 games. Freeman singled in the sixth inning and now has the third-longest hitting streak in Atlanta history. He was hit by a pitch in the third inning, extending his streak for reaching base to 46 consecutive games. Rangers 8, Brewers 5 Carlos Gomez drilled a three-run home run in the eighth to give the Texas Rangers an 8-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Rangers also took another step toward finishing with the best record in the American League and home-field advantage throughout the postseason, including the World Series. Reds 2, Cardinals 1 Anthony DeSclafani and two relievers combined to check St. Louis on six hits as the Cincinnati Reds eked out a 2-1 victory. DeSclafani (9-5) gave up six hits and a run over six innings, walking two and fanning three in his last start of the year. The result dropped the Cardinals to 82-76, 2-1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the National League's first wild card spot. White Sox 1, Rays 0 Todd Frazier his his 40th home run of the season while starter Miguel Gonzalez worked 8-1/3 scoreless innings as Chicago beat Tampa Bay. Gonzalez (5-8) earned the victory with his season-high effort that included sitting out an hour-plus rain delay. He allowed three hits, struck out five and walked none. Padres 6, Dodgers 5 Rookie Hunter Renfroe flexed his muscles again and hit a massive two-run homer and added a two-run single, as the San Diego Padres edged the Los Angeles Dodgers. Renfroe became the first player to reach the Western Metal Building roof down the left-field line with the 435-foot homer. The Dodgers remain two games behind the Washington Nationals for home-field advantage in the National League Division Series. The Nationals lost 3-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Angels 8, Athletics 6 Los Angeles erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning and cruised past Oakland, which guanranteed the Athletics will finish the season in last place in the American League West for the second consecutive season. All but one hitter in the Angels' starting lineup had at least one hit, including two hits apiece from Kole Calhoun (single, homer) and Jefry Marte (two doubles). Rockies 2, Giants 0 Right-hander Tyler Chatwood continued his brilliant pitching on the road, limiting San Francisco to three hits over eight shutout innings in Colorado's victory over the Giants. Nolan Arenado and Gerardo Parra drove in runs against Jeff Samardzija as the Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak while denying the Giants an opportunity to improve upon their chances of landing a National League wild-card spot. The Giants fell 1-1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the chase for the top wild-card spot just four days remaining in the regular season. San Francisco retained a one-game advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals for the final postseason berth.