KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Luis Castillo pitched six innings of three-hit ball, Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford drove in runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 on Thursday to climb back into a first-place tie with the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Mariners are headed to Houston for a three-game series beginning Friday night.
Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier tossed an inning apiece for Seattle. Andres Muñoz stranded two in the ninth by striking out Adam Frazier on three pitches for his 36th save.
Castillo (10-8) dueled with Kansas City counterpart Stephen Kolek, who allowed two runs -- one earned -- while pitching into the eighth inning. One run came on Polanco's double and the other after an astute move by Manager Dan Wilson in the eighth.
Kolek appeared to have retired the first two batters of the inning when Wilson challenged that second baseman Michael Massey set up on the grass ahead of Dominic Canzone's groundout, in violation of Major League Baseball's defensive shift rules. The challenge was successful, Canzone was awarded first base, and reliever Daniel Lynch IV eventually gave up Crawford's run-scoring double to make it 2-0.
Castillo and Kolek (5-6) were so stingy that each allowed just a pair of runners over the first four innings, and both times they were on back-to-back hits. The difference was the Royals paired together singles and stranded both runners while the Mariners got Josh Naylor's single and an RBI double by Polanco for a 1-0 lead.
ATHLETICS 5, RED SOX 3 Brent Rooker homered in a three-run first inning and J.T. Ginn limited Boston to five hits over six innings to lead the Athletics to a victory over the Red Sox. The A's started the game with four straight hits, including Rooker's two-run shot -- his 30th of the season. Ginn (4-6) allowed two runs while walking one and striking out three.
GUARDIANS 3, TIGERS 1 Jose Ramirez hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the seventh inning after Tarik Skubal was replaced and surging Cleveland swept slumping Detroit. Returning from an injury scare last week, Skubal gave up 1 run, 7 hits and struck out 9 over 6 innings. The reigning AL Cy Young Award and pitching Triple Crown winner was replaced by right-hander Troy Melton in the seventh in a 1-all game. Nine pitches later, Ramirez broke the tie with a 368-foot shot to right.
RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 0 Chandler Simpson had his second consecutive three-hit game and Tampa Bay beat Toronto to split their series. Toronto's magic number to clinch a postseason spot remained at three. The AL East leaders have lost two in a row following a six-game winning streak. Shane Baz (10-12) pitched 5 scoreless innings with 2 hits and 4 strikeouts.
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 0 Max Fried struck out 13 over seven innings while earning his major league-leading 18th victory, and the surging New York Yankees blanked Baltimore. Mixing fastballs, changeups and a tantalizingly slow curve ball, Fried (18-5) dominated the last-place Orioles. His 13 strikeouts tied a career high, set last year against Boston while with the Atlanta Braves. Fried allowed only three hits -- all singles -- to win his fifth consecutivre start and reach a career high in victories.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 9, ROCKIES 7 Liam Hicks matched a career high with four RBI, including his sixth home run of the season, and Miami beat Colorado to complete a three-game sweep. Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez also homered for the Marlins, who finished with 34 hits in the series at Coors Field.
METS 6, PADRES 1 Jonah Tong threw five encouraging innings and earned the win for the New York Mets, who lengthened their lead in the race for the final National League playoff spot with a victory over San Diego. Pete Alonso homered for the fourth consecutive game, Brandon Nimmo also went deep and Juan Soto collected his 100th RBI for the Mets, who won a series for the first time since taking two of three from the Detroit Tigers from Sept. 1-3. Tong (2-2), who allowed six runs while recording only two outs last Friday, gave up an unearned run on four hits Thursday while racking up eight strikeouts.
REDS 1, CUBS 0 Hunter Greene pitched a one-hitter and Will Benson drove in the only run with a fourth-inning double as Cincinnati beat the Chicago Cubs. Greene (7-4) struck out nine and walked one in his first career complete game. After retiring Michael Busch on a deep drive to the warning track for the first out of the ninth inning, he struck out Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ to end it. Greene retired the first twelve batters he faced before Moises Ballesteros reached on an error to begin the fifth inning. Cincinnati scored in the fourth when Austin Hays doubled and came around on Benson's double.
INTERLEAGUE
BREWERS 5, ANGELS 2 Christian Yelich went 2 for 4 and reached 100 RBI for the season as Milwaukee defeated the Los Angeles Angels. Yelich doubled home Brice Turang as part of the Brewers' three-run outburst in the seventh inning that broke a 2-all tie. This marks Yelich's first 100-RBI season since 2018, when he had 110 and was named the NL MVP. Milwaukee's Quinn Priester struck out eight of the first nine batters he faced and didn't allow a baserunner until the fifth inning, when Jo Adell drew a leadoff walk and Luis Rengifo homered.
Seattle Mariners' Jorge Polanco, left, is caught off base at second by Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey to get the second out of a double play hit into by Dominic Canzone during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh walks back to the dugout after striking out during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)