TORONTO (AP) — Jorge Polanco produced another five-hit performance, putting himself in some exclusive company.
Polanco had five hits, including a two-run home run, Kyle Gibson struck out a...
SEATTLE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Chris Herrmann's two-run homer in the 11th inning gave the Seattle Mariners a 10-8 win over Oakland on Tuesday night, clinching the AL West for Houston and leaving the Athletics with a wild-card matchup against the New York Yankees.
Seattle overcame an 8-5 eighth-inning deficit and dropped the A's 2½ games behind the Yankees for home-field advantage in the Oct. 3 winner-take-all matchup. Oakland had been 68-0 when leading after seven innings.
HOUSTON (AP) — When Houston's Jake Marisnick made a highlight-reel catch on a ball hit by Robinson Cano for the second out of the eighth inning Monday night, Seattle manager Scott Servais started to think it just might not be his team's night.
Turns out he just had to wait a little bit longer.
Rookie pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit his first career grand slam two batters later, lifting the Mariners over the Houston Astros 4-1 on Monday night.
SEATTLE (AP) — Andrew McCutchen got the Yankees started and Dellin Betances made sure they hung on at the end.
McCutchen hit his second home run in two days, Betances pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and New York held off the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday night.
Austin Romine hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh for the Yankees, who moved within 7½ games of first-place Boston in the AL East with 20 to play. New York leads Oakland by 3½ games for the league's top wild card.
SEATTLE (AP) — Dee Gordon says it's too early for the Seattle Mariners to be worried about the wild-card math. He thinks they should just concentrate on winning games.
Nelson Cruz and Denard Span hit back-to-back home runs, and Seattle overcame sloppy infield defense to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Wednesday night.
PHOENIX (AP) — Edwin Diaz had a rare night of struggles, facing runners on the corners with no outs in a one-run game. A rundown and two fly outs later, the Seattle closer reached a rare milestone.
Now it's time for Diaz's manager to get a haircut.
Diaz worked out of a jam in the 10th inning to become the 17th player in big league history with 50 saves in a season and Denard Span hit a solo home run in the top half to lift the Mariners a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Seattle Mariners are feeling pretty good after beating Houston All-Stars Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole on consecutive nights.
Still, they know they have a lot more work to do as they chase their first playoff berth since 2001.
"We came here and wanted to start playing some better games and that's what we've done," manager Scott Servais said. "We're just playing better baseball right now and the top of the lineup has been really swinging the bat well."
HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander got pushed around by the Seattle Mariners early Thursday night, and then umpire Nic Lentz sent him off for an early shower.
Certainly not what the former Cy Young and MVP Award winner had in mind for his first shot at career win No. 200.
Seattle jumped on Verlander for six runs in two innings before the star right-hander was ejected for arguing a balk call in the Mariners' 8-6 win over the Houston Astros.
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have made a habit this year of mounting comebacks, winning by one run and prevailing in extra innings.
They combined all three of those traits in a rousing, drama-filled matchup with the Baltimore Orioles.
Denard Span hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 11th inning after Kyle Seager delivered a two-run homer in the ninth, and the Mariners pulled out an 8-7 victory Wednesday night.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Instead of using the long ball to win, the Seattle Mariners took a different approach.
Take a walk, drop down a bunt, make a play in the field. Employing those basic skills, the Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Monday night for just their second victory in eight games.
SEATTLE (AP) — Denard Span came to the plate in the eighth inning, knowing the situation was why the Seattle Mariners traded for him three weeks ago.
The veteran outfielder kept his cool and stroked a pinch-hit double that scored two runs, leading the Mariners to a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Span, batting for Guillermo Heredia with one out, hit a liner to the right-field corner off Matt Barnes (0-2) after Ryon Healy walked and Ben Gamel singled to left.
SEATTLE (AP) — Tampa Bay lefty Blake Snell tied the American League record with seven consecutive strikeouts to start a game against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Snell matched the mark set by Joe Cowley of the White Sox on May 28, 1986, and also reached by Carlos Rodon for the White Sox on Sept. 30, 2016.
SEATTLE (AP) — Before speaking to reporters after a 3-1 victory over the Twins, Seattle manager Scott Servais sat down, smiled and turned his cap slightly to the side. Just a little sign of the respect for the fashion style of his new reliever Alex Colome, who pitched a perfect ninth to earn a save in his first day as a Mariner.
"Colome is a serious dude," Servais said. "He's all business."
SEATTLE (AP) — Rather than waiting to see where the Seattle Mariners are sitting by the time the trade market heats up, general manager Jerry Dipoto decided to be proactive.
Rewarding a strong start in spite of numerous injuries and the suspension of Robinson Cano, the Mariners pulled off the first big trade of the season Friday, landing outfielder Denard Span and right-handed reliever Alex Colome from the Tampa Bay Rays for two minor leaguers.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are putting a major league-worst 1-8 start behind them.
Denard Span drove in his team-leading 24th run to help the surging Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 on Saturday night.
Jake Faria (3-1) allowed a run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the Rays got their 11th victory in 14 games to improve to 15-16. Alex Colome, the fourth Tampa Bay reliever, got five outs for his sixth save.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Yarbrough focused on remaining aggressive against Toronto's hitters instead of making his case for a spot in Tampa Bay's injury-depleted rotation.
Five scoreless innings in Friday's night's 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays took care of the latter for the Rays rookie relief pitcher.
"I was just worrying about going as far as I could today and kind of play it by ear after that," Yarbrough said.
DETROIT (AP) — With the Detroit Tigers rallying in the ninth inning Monday night, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash was focused on Miguel Cabrera's whereabouts.
The Tigers star wasn't in the lineup due to biceps tightness, but Cash was unsure if Cabrera could make an appearance with the game on the line.
"I saw him in the dugout with a bat, and I started asking everyone I could find if he could swing," Cash said. "I even asked the batboy at one point. I didn't want to see him step onto the field."
BOSTON (AP) — Wilson Ramos went deep again and scored on Denard Span's inside-the-park homer, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 12-6 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory.
It's the longest win streak for Tampa Bay since taking nine in a row in July 2014. The resurgent Rays have won nine of 10 overall to move within one game of .500 at 12-13.
BOSTON (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays put themselves in a hole with a tough start to the season.
They are trying to slug their way out.
Wilson Ramos went deep again and scored on Denard Span's inside-the-park homer, helping Tampa Bay beat the Boston Red Sox 12-6 on Saturday for its eighth consecutive victory.
It's the longest win streak for Tampa Bay since taking nine in a row in July 2014. The resurgent Rays have won nine of 10 overall to move within one game of .500 at 12-13.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays stood near their dugout for an agonizing couple of minutes before their victory became official.
Pinch-runner Johnny Field scored the winning run from second base in the 10th inning as reliever Zach Duke missed first base after taking a flip from first baseman Joe Mauer on Denard Span's two-out grounder, leading the Rays to an 8-7 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
The safe call was upheld after a 2-minute, 16-second video review.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Evan Longoria expects to win immediately with the San Francisco Giants, whose run of success in even years is well documented — and the club's new third baseman knows all about that.
The Giants' brass realizes adding Longoria to the lineup and an already-talented infield gives San Francisco a far better chance of bouncing back from a surprising last-place season in the NL West.
CHICAGO (AP) — Despite compiling the longest hitless streak of any Giants player since at least 1900, Pablo Sandoval insisted he wasn't focused on the dry spell.
"You know, I don't think about it," he said. "I keep swinging. It's one of those things, you have to grind every day (on) the field and think with a great attitude and great positivity to do everything you can to get out of it."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Like any player, San Francisco Giants outfielder Denard Span worries about hitting nasty curveballs and losing fly balls in the sun. But he's got another concern when he's playing at his home stadium: birds pooping on him in the field.
"I'm afraid of them dropping something, using the bathroom on top of me," Span said. "Or maybe them dropping some food near me and then all of them just freaking swarming me."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Matt Moore took his time walking off the mound after Giants manager Bruce Bochy came out to replace him in the eighth inning.
Moore wanted to enjoy the ovation from the crowd at AT&T Park, something he hadn't heard for quite some time.
Moore took a one-hitter into the eighth inning and picked up his first win in nearly two months as San Francisco beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-2 on Friday night.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buster Posey twice watched plays he was part of go to replay, first on a three-run homer that held up and then a stolen base. A rare stolen base for San Francisco's catcher, who now has five to move within one of his career high set last season.
He matched teammate Denard Span's five stolen bases.
"I told Span I'm tied with him now so he needs to step it up," Posey said.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pablo Sandoval was still sitting in the home dugout at AT&T Park, his day long done, when the Giants completed their biggest comeback of the season.
The 30-year-old third baseman celebrated his return to San Francisco with a big swing in the seventh inning that jump-started the Giants' rally then stuck around long enough to see it finished.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ty Blach had a pretty good idea he had exceeded his teammates' wildest expectations of what he could do with a bat. The reaction he got from teammate Denard Span rounding third base sealed it.
"Denard's look in the on-deck circle, that was pretty funny, he was just kind of like 'Did you just do that?'" Blach said. "That was a great moment."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Conor Gillaspie celebrated his 30th birthday by delivering a big hit for the San Francisco Giants.
Gillaspie started the winning rally in the 10th inning with a pinch-hit double and Eduardo Nunez ended it with an RBI single that helped the Giants snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Indians 2-1 on Tuesday night.
"I love to get them any time I can," Gillaspie said. "You have to be grateful when you get hits, especially off the bench."
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Just as they're getting ready to welcome back Madison Bumgarner, the San Francisco Giants could be losing Johnny Cueto for at least one start.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dan Straily's bid for his first career complete game ended with a splash when Denard Span homered off the Miami pitcher into McCovey Cove with one out in the ninth inning.
Not that it mattered much.
On a night when Giancarlo Stanton hit his team-leading 24th home run, Straily overshadowed the Marlins All-Star outfielder Friday with his best outing of the season.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pirates right-hander Daniel Hudson was only thinking about Giants star Buster Posey when he uncorked a full-count slider Saturday.
When the ball skipped in the dirt and got away from the catcher, Denard Span was ready to pounce.
Span sprinted home from third on Hudson's wild pitch in the 11th inning to give San Francisco a 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Coming into Friday night's game, the San Francisco Giants had scored 311 runs in the 2017 season, the fourth-lowest total in the majors.
They didn't look like it against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Hunter Pence drove in five runs and the Giants pounced on Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole for seven runs then added six more against the bullpen to rout the Pirates 13-5.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Back-to-back wins over the slumping Colorado Rockies won't get the San Francisco Giants back into contention in the NL West.
It did, however lighten the mood in manager Bruce Bochy's clubhouse, and that's a good thing considering how things have gone over the past month.
Denard Span singled home Gorkys Hernandez with two outs in the 14th inning, lifting San Francisco over Colorado 4-3 on Tuesday night.