The suddnenly hot Tampa Bay Rays have won seven straight games in a late playoff push as they beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Wednesday. Despite the win, Tampa Bay remains three games behind Oakland for the second wild card in the American League. The Rays begin a series at Chicago tonight.
In other AL action, New York stays a game and a half ahead of the Orioles in the AL East with an 8-2 win over Minnesota but the O’s keep pace with a 12-2 pounding of Toronto. The Yanks start a series with Toronto tonight while the Orioles are idle.
Oakland beats Texas 9-3 to move within three games of the Rangers in the AL West. The A’s also lead the second wild card race by two games over Los Angeles; the Angels keep pace by beating Seattle. In the AL Central, Detroit beats Kansas City 5-4 and Chicago loses 6-4 to Cleveland as the Tigers take a one game lead over the White Sox.
In the National League, Craig Kimbrel picks up his 40th save as the Atlanta Braves down Miami 3-0. Washington downs Philadelphia 8-4 to stay four games up on Atlanta in the NL East. St.Louis loses 2-0 to Houston while Los Angeles beats San Diego 8-2 and Milwaukee tops Cincinnati 8-1 to leave the Cardinals three and a half games up on LA and the Brewers for the NL second wild card lead.