Jordan Montgomery struck out six in seven scoreless innings to lead the Texas Rangers to a 2-0 win over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.

Montgomery walked two and scattered five hits for Texas (86-68), which won its fourth in a row. The Rangers increased their lead atop the American League West to 1 1/2 games over the Houston Astros (85-70) and two games over Seattle (84-70). Texas will go for a three-game sweep of the series on Sunday.

Dylan Moore and Julio Rodriguez had one double apiece, which marked the only extra-base hits for Seattle.

Montgomery (10-11), whom the Rangers acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals before the trade deadline, earned his second victory in his past three starts. The southpaw has allowed one earned run in his past 21 innings.

Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert (13-7) took the loss after giving up two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out two.

Rangers right-hander Jose Leclerc entered the game in the eighth and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out two. He threw 14 of 18 pitches for strikes.

Leclerc gave way with one out in the ninth to hard-throwing left-hander Aroldis Chapman, who overcame shaky command to notch his sixth save of the season and No. 321 of his career. He moved into a tie with Jose Mesa for No. 21 on the all-time saves list.

The Rangers opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Adolis Garcia hit a one-out double to left field, advanced to third base on a groundout by Jonah Heim and came home on a single to right field by Mitch Garver.

In the fourth, the Rangers scored again to increase their advantage to 2-0. Garcia jump-started the action once again by drawing a two-out walk, stealing second base and scoring on Heim’s single to left field.

It was the 50th career stolen base for Garcia, who has been caught only 11 times.

–Field Level Media

Alfonso Rivas went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a nine-run deficit to beat host Cincinnati 13-12 on Saturday and deal the Reds’ postseason hopes a crippling blow.

Rivas got the Pirates on the board with an RBI single in the fourth inning. After the Pirates scored five runs in the sixth to trim their deficit to 9-6, Rivas’ bases-clearing double tied the score at 9-9 in the seventh. He then singled home another run in Pittsburgh’s four-run eighth inning.

The Pirates (74-81) also got a three-run home run from Bryan Reynolds — his 23rd homer of the season — and three RBIs from Ji Hwan Bae with a run-scoring single in the sixth and a two-run double in the eighth.

Cincinnati (79-77) tried to rally in its half of the eighth when Nick Martini’s fielder’s choice grounder drove in one run, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled home a second.

Encarnacion-Strand contributed to the Reds’ 9-0 start with a two-run homer in the first off of Pirates starter Bailey Falter — Encarnacion-Strand’s 10th homer of the season — and an RBI single in the second. Encarnacion-Strand finished the night 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

The Reds got the tying runs in scoring position with none out in the ninth inning against Carmen Mlodzinski after pinch hitter Joey Votto’s lead-off single and TJ Friedl’s double. Jake Fraley scored Votto with a groundout, but Mlodzinski struck out Elly De La Cruz after an 11-pitch at-bat, then got Jonathan India to fly out for his first career save.

Jose Hernandez (1-1) earned the win. He came on with two out in the seventh and walked a man but got a strikeout to end the inning. Alexis Diaz (9-6), typically the Reds’ closer, was tagged for four runs and five hits in taking the loss.

The Reds dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the chase for the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Reds, who face an elimination number of five, would also have to leapfrog the Miami Marlins, who are one game behind the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

John Means took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Anthony Santander had three hits and two RBIs, and the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 on Saturday.

Andres Gimenez belted a solo homer with two outs in the seventh inning for Cleveland’s only hit. The 406-foot blast came against Means (1-1), who was making his third start of the season after returning from Tommy John surgery.

Means was lifted after recording one out in the eighth inning. Yennier Cano retired the next two batters, and Cionel Perez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save.

Adley Rutschman and James McCann had two hits apiece for the Orioles (96-59), who ended a three-game losing streak and remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

Cleveland (74-82) had its six-game home winning streak snapped. The Guardians were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Friday.

Baltimore claimed an early 1-0 lead on Santander’s RBI double after the first two batters of the game reached base against Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill (3-7).

Santander is 13-for-26 with seven extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, one homer) and 11 RBIs in six games against Cleveland this season.

Quantrill was lifted after four innings. He gave up the one run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Baltimore, which left eight runners on base in the first four innings, pushed another run across in the sixth inning on Santander’s two-out RBI single off Xzavion Curry.

Means, who tossed a no-hitter on May 5, 2021, against the Seattle Mariners, walked one and struck out four while throwing 96 pitches. It was his first win since Sept. 20, 2021.

Gimenez extended his hitting streak to seven games.

Perez recorded his fourth career save and second in his last three appearances.

–Field Level Media

Trevor May pitched out of bases-loaded jams in the eighth and ninth innings, preserving Joe Boyle’s first major league win, as the Oakland Athletics defeated the visiting Detroit Tigers 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Esteury Ruiz’s two-run home run in the third was Oakland’s only scoring until the eighth in its second straight win over the Tigers (72-83).

After Boyle (1-0) went six innings and Lucas Erceg tossed a scoreless seventh, Oakland (48-107) turned a 2-1 lead over to Dany Jimenez to start the eighth. But three walks with two strikeouts interspersed prompted May to come on and, despite falling behind 2-0, strike out Parker Meadows.

The A’s made things easier on their closer in the ninth by tacking on two runs in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by Ryan Noda and a run-scoring single by Zack Gelof. Ruiz, batting ninth, contributed his second hit — a single — in the inning and scored his second run of the game.

The Tigers made things interesting in the ninth, however, as they loaded the bases again, this time with one out. But May struck out Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter to lock down his 20th save.

Boyle, who threw three shutout innings in his A’s debut last Sunday, was equally effective in six innings this time, allowing only an unearned run on a fielding error by third baseman Jordan Diaz in the third. Zach McKinstry, who had doubled with one out, scored on the error.

The hosts reversed the score in the last of the third, with Nick Allen stroking a one-out single off Joey Wentz before Ruiz smashed his fifth home run of the season.

Boyle was pulled after having thrown 94 pitches. He allowed five hits and one walk, striking out five.

Wentz (3-12) came on in relief of opener Miguel Diaz and threw 5 2/3 innings. He was charged with two runs on three hits. He struck out five and did not walk anyone.

Allen also scored two runs for the A’s, who had lost eight straight before beating the Tigers on Friday night.

McKinstry had a double and a single for the Tigers, who saw 13 batters go down swinging.

–Field Level Media

Josh Lowe sliced a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays scored twice to rally past the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 on Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Down 6-5 against closer Jordan Romano (5-6), the Rays (95-61) tied it on Curtis Mead’s RBI single. With runners on first and second and one out, Junior Caminero was called out on a double-play grounder.

However, the Rays challenged the play, which was overturned and the team had new life. Lowe then sent a single that barely landed inside the left-field line to score Harold Ramirez with the game-winning run.

Winner Chris Devenski (5-4) tossed a scoreless 1 1/3 innings.

Yandy Diaz was 4-for-4 with a solo homer and a double, and Lowe had three hits including a three-run shot. Christian Bethancourt also went deep.

Rays top prospect Caminero, 20, made his major league debut and went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run while batting fifth as the designated hitter.

In a four-run first, Diaz opened the scoring with a 401-foot homer to left-center on starter Hyun Jin Ryu’s 1-2 fastball. His 21st long ball was his fourth leading off thus far.

After Caminero drew a two-out walk with one on in his first career plate appearance, Lowe launched his 19th homer to center on Ryu’s 2-2 fastball for a 4-0 lead.

In the fourth, Bethancourt blasted the Rays’ third two-strike fastball home run off Ryu when he hit his 11th to left.

Rays starter Zack Littell allowed a single hit in each of the first five innings, plus a walk and a hit batsman, over a career-high 99 pitches, but the right-hander could not finish the sixth after a throwing error by Mead and a wild pitch on a strikeout.

George Springer greeted reliever Shawn Armstrong with a two-run double. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio drove in one each to round out the four-run frame.

Bad defense turned into outstanding for the Rays in the seventh after pinch hitter Whit Merrifield reached and advanced to second on shortstop Taylor Walls’ throwing error.

But with one out and Merrifield on third, left fielder Ramirez — known more for his offensive skills — threw out Merrifield at home on a one-hop throw on a tag-up.

Trailing 5-4 against closer Pete Fairbanks in the eighth, Toronto (86-69) tied it and then took the lead on walks to Guerrero, Biggio and Merrifield, and Matt Chapman’s second hit by pitch.

Bo Bichette, Guerrero and Biggio had two hits apiece.

–Field Level Media

Jake Burger slammed a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins held on for a 5-4 win against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday.

Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz each had two hits and a run scored for Miami (80-75), which remains a game behind the Chicago Cubs for the final wild card from the NL.

Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo was responsible for three runs and three hits over five-plus innings. He struck out four and walked three.

Carlos Santana hit a game-tying three-run homer in the sixth for the Brewers (88-67), who had won four in a row, including a 16-1 win in the series opener on Friday.

Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two but came up short of winning his fifth straight decision.

Burger walked to start the eighth off Joel Payamps (6-5).

Garrett Hampson pinch-ran for Burger and went from first to third on a single to right by De La Cruz.

Jesus Sanchez struck out on three pitches and Payamps had an 0-2 count on Jon Berti before throwing a wild pitch that scored Hampson from third for a 5-4 lead.

Andrew Nardi (8-1) pitched the eighth for the Marlins and Tanner Scott worked the ninth for his 10th save.

Burger went deep in the first inning to give the Marlins a 3-0 lead.

Luis Arraez led off with a single before Bell walked with one out. Burger came up with two outs and blasted the first pitch he saw from Woodruff over the fence in left for the early lead.

Woodruff set the Marlins down in the next two innings before they tacked on a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Fortes to make it 4-0.

Luzardo benefited from an inning-inning double play in the second and then retired the next nine batters in a row before walking No. 9 hitter Blake Perkins to start the sixth.

Christian Yelich followed with a double to right to put runners on second and third.

William Contreras reached on an infield single to trim the lead to 4-1 and end the day for Luzardo.

The bullpen couldn’t bail out Luzardo as A.J. Puk surrendered a three-run homer to Santana to tie the score 4-4.

–Field Level Media

Luis Robert Jr. homered with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to propel the visiting Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox in wet conditions Saturday.

The home run, which landed just inside the foul pole in right field, came against reliever Josh Winckowski (4-3). According to Statcast, the ball traveled 311 feet. It was Robert’s 38th home run of the season.

The Red Sox had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Bryan Shaw struck out rookie Ceddanne Rafaela to end the game. Shaw, who gave up singles to Enmanuel Valdez and Reese McGuire in the inning, recorded his third save.

The loss ended Chicago’s three-game losing streak. A loss would have left the White Sox (59-96) 39 games below the .500-mark for the first time since 1970.

Boston (76-79) squandered a good scoring opportunity in the eighth when Rafaela and Rafael Devers led off the inning by drawing back-to-back walks against White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer, but Bummer (5-5) struck out Justin Turner, retired Alex Verdugo on a shallow fly ball to center field and got Masataka Yoshida to ground out to first.

Chicago received a strong start from Dylan Cease, who struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings. He allowed six hits, and didn’t issue any walks.

Cease entered the game with 196 strikeouts and surpassed the 200-strikeout mark for the third consecutive season. Cease joined Ed Walsh (1910-12) and Chris Sale (2013-16) as the only White Sox pitchers to have three straight seasons with at least 200 strikeouts.

Boston’s Nick Pivetta also tossed seven scoreless innings. Pivetta limited the White Sox to three hits — all singles — walked one and struck out seven.

Yoshida collected three hits for the Red Sox, who also received two hits from Valdez.

Eloy Jimenez had two of Chicago’s five hits.

–Field Level Media