AL Wild Card Watch: Rays, Rangers win to keep pressure on Cleveland
NEW YORK (AP) -- Matt Moore had New York flailing for five wild innings, and the Rays beat the Yankees 7-0 to push them to the brink of missing out on the postseason for the second time in 19 years.
Tampa Bay roughed up Hiroki Kuroda in tightening its grip on an AL wild-card spot with its fifth straight win. Matt Joyce had a leadoff homer as the Rays jumped ahead 3-0 in the first and David DeJesus had two RBI doubles.
Tampa Bay has a one-game lead over Cleveland for the top wild card with five to play.
The Yankees trail the Indians, who won 5-4, by five games -- and also are behind the Rangers and Royals. The Yankees would be eliminated Wednesday if Cleveland wins and they lose.
Moore (16-4) gave up only three hits but threw three wild pitches to up his AL-leading total to 16 and walked six.
RANGERS 3, ASTROS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Adrian Beltre homered at home for the first time in more than a month and the Texas Rangers stayed close in the wild-card race, beating Houston and sending the Astros to their 11th straight loss.
With five games left in the regular season, Texas remained a game behind Cleveland for the AL's second wild-card spot. Tampa Bay is a game ahead of the Indians in a crowded pack.
Beltre's 29th homer snapped a 2-all tie with one out in the sixth. That came after Yu Darvish gave up the lead in the top half of the inning.
Matt Dominguez homered for the Astros. Their 107th loss overall matched the franchise record set last year.
