AP Sports Wrap from Friday, September 16, 2016

UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Red Sox are 2-for-2 in their four-game series with the New York Yankees.

Taylor Buchholz entered the night with a 5.31 ERA this season before holding the Yanks to two runs and seven hits over six innings of the Red Sox's 7-4 victory. Buchholz was given a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez in the bottom of the first. Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. added solo homers for the Bosox.

Gary Sanchez hit a two-run double and Billy Butler smacked a two-run shot for the Yankees, who started the day three games out of an AL playoff berth.

The outcome keeps the Bosox two games ahead of Baltimore and Toronto in the AL East race. The Yankees are six games out of first and four games off the wild-card pace.

The Orioles kept pace by turning an early 4-0 deficit into a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay. The Orioles trailed 4-3 in the eighth until J.J. Hardy poked an RBI single and Michael Bourn followed with a sacrifice fly. Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez smacked solo homers for the Birds.

The Blue Jays got five shutout innings from R.A. Dickey in a 5-0 triumph against the Angels. Troy Tulowitzki (too-loh-IHTS'-kee) and Edwin Encarnacion (ehn-kahr-nah-see-OHN') crushed two-run homers for the Jays, who've won two straight since dropping seven of nine.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Cleveland stretched its lead in the AL Central to seven games over Detroit as Mike Napoli (NAP'-oh-lee) went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a two-run double in the Indians' 11-4 pounding of the Tigers. Corey Kluber worked seven innings for his 17th win, allowing a pair of homers by B.J. Upton and just three other hits. Tigers starter Michael Fulmer was rocked for six runs and seven hits in five innings.

— Texas moved closer to winning the AL West by beating Oakland 7-6 on Jonathan Lucroy's (LOO'-kroyz) two-run single with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Carlos Gomez ripped a solo homer and had two RBIs for the Rangers, who trailed 6-2 in the sixth before their magic number was reduced to six by the end of the night.

— Seattle's eight-game winning streak ended with a 6-0 loss to Houston, leaving the Mariners three games out of an AL playoff berth. Collin McHugh gave up just two hits over seven innings to help the Astros stay four games out of an AL wild-card slot. Jake Marisnick put the Astros ahead with a two-run double in the second, three innings before Evan Gattis (GAT'-his) and Marwin Gonzalez belted solo homers to cap the Astros' scoring.

— Washington's magic number to clinch the NL East crown is down to six after leadoff hitter Trea (tray) Turner went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and four runs scored in the Nationals' 7-2 victory in Atlanta. Max Scherzer picked up his 17th win and has a major league-leading 259 strikeouts after fanning eight Braves over seven innings. Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon (rehn-DOHN') drove in two runs apiece in the Nationals' sixth victory in seven games.

— Bartolo Colon is 14-7 after the 43-year-old right-hander scattered three hits over seven innings of the New York Mets' 3-0 shutout of Minnesota. Jose Reyes and Asdrubal (as-DROO'-bul) Cabrera hit back-to-back homers in the third inning to put the Mets ahead to stay. New York is two games ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth, and one game behind San Francisco for the first.

— The Giants were 8-2 winners over the Cardinals as Buster Posey went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBIs. Posey hit a two-run single and Brandon belt added a two-run double while the Giants scored six unearned runs in the third inning following an error by catcher Yadier Molina (YAH'-dee her moh-LEE'-nuh). Winning pitcher Matt Moore was reached for seven hits and three walks over five innings but left the game with an 8-2 lead.

— The Dodgers still lead the NL West by four games over the Giants after Kenta Maeda (mah-AY'-duh) combined with six relievers on a six-hitter to lift Los Angeles over the Diamondbacks, 3-2 at Arizona. Maeda improved to 15-9 with a 3.24 ERA, yielding one run and three hits over five innings. Justin Turner sparked the Dodgers' two-run first with an RBI triple before scoring on a passed ball.

— Miguel Montero led off the bottom of the 10th with a home run to cap the Cubs' comeback in a 5-4 triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers. The newly-minted NL Central champs were two outs from a 4-2 loss until Chris Coghlan (KAHG'-lihn) and Addison Russell delivered RBI singles to extend the game. Albert Almora Jr. smacked a two-run homer for the Cubbies, who improved to a major league-best 94-53.

— The Phillies beat the Marlins 4-3 on Jimmy Paredes' (pah-REH'-dehs) RBI single in the bottom of the 13th. Ryan Howard homered for the Phillies, who dropped Miami five games out of an NL wild-card berth.

— Carlos Sanchez launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth inning of the White Sox's 7-4 triumph at Kansas City. Chris Sale is 16-8 after striking out 10 in an eight-hitter. The Royals have dropped five in a row as the defending World Series champs fall out of playoff contention.

— Jung Ho Kang (gahng) cracked a game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh before Jordy Mercer spearheaded a 10th-inning rally that pushed Pittsburgh past Cincinnati, 9-7. Mercer singled home the tiebreaking run and scored on a two-run single by David Freese (freez). Gregory Polanco also hit a two-run homer in the Pirates' second straight win.

— Carlos Gonzalez, Nick Hundley and Daniel Descalso hit consecutive RBI singles with two out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rockies an 8-7 triumph against San Diego. D.J. LeMahieu (leh-MAY'-hyoo) had three hits and three RBIs for Colorado.

MLB-METS

Getting healthy again

NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets are closer to full strength as they try to nail down a National League wild-card berth during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Manager Terry Collins says Jacob deGrom (deh-GRAHM) will start Sunday against Minnesota and be limited to about 75 pitches after being sidelined since Sept. 1 because of a sore right forearm.

Lucas Duda (DOO'-duh) will be activated Saturday after missing most of the season while recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back.

Outfielder Juan Lagares (lah-GAH'-rehs) has been activated following a nearly two-month stint on the DL with a thumb injury

MLB-INDIANS-GOMES

Gomes likely done for season

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Indians will likely spend the rest of the season without catcher Yan Gomes (gohms) after he broke his right wrist during a minor league rehab assignment.

Gomes suffered the injury when hit by a pitch Wednesday while playing for Double-A Akron, two days before he was scheduled to come off the disabled list. Gomes already had missed the last six weeks with a separated shoulder.

TOP 25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Bears hammer Owls

HOUSTON (AP) — The 21st-ranked Baylor Bears are off to a 3-0 for the sixth consecutive season.

Seth Russell completed 22 of 38 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears whipped Rice 38-10. Russell's primary target was KD Cannon, who had nine receptions for 213 yards and two scores.

Baylor never trailed after JaMychal Hasty scored on a 16-yard run early in the second quarter.

NFL-JAGUARS

Jags lose Ivory

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jaguars running back Chris Ivory will miss his second straight game Sunday while recovering from what the team is calling a general medical issue. With Ivory out, coach Gus Bradley says T.J. Yeldon will start at San Diego and Denard Robinson will get some carries.

A 1,000-yard rusher with the Jets last season, Ivory was hospitalized Sunday and missed the opener against Green Bay. He was released Tuesday and returned to the facility two days later.

Ivory is expected to return to practice next week.

NFL-VIKINGS

No QB yet for Vikings

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has yet to reveal his starting quarterback for Sunday night's game against the Packers, although it is believed he will go with recent acquisition Sam Bradford. The Vikings picked up Bradford from the Eagles just before the season opener following a gruesome knee injury to Teddy Bridgewater.

Shaun Hill would make his second consecutive start if Bradford doesn't.

Zimmer has confirmed that two starters have been ruled out due to knee injuries: defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

NFL-PATRIOTS-INJURIES

Gronk iffy, Rowe out

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are listing tight end Rob Gronkowski as questionable for Sunday's game against Miami, one week after he missed the season opener with a hamstring injury.

Newly-acquired defensive back Eric Rowe is listed as out due to an ankle injury, and linebacker Dont'a Hightower's sore knee makes him doubtful for the game.

NFL-BILLS

Bills can OC

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan is changing offensive coordinators, firing Greg Roman and replacing him with running backs coach Anthony Lynn.

The Bills had 307 yards of total offense in last night's 37-31 loss to the Jets, with 158 of those yards coming on two plays after they managed just 160 against Baltimore last Sunday. Buffalo had just one drive inside the red zone against the Jets and converted only three of 10 third-down chances.

NFL-FINES

Rams DB hit in pocketbook

The NFL has fined Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald just over $21,000 for his actions that led to his ejection in the team's season opener against the 49ers on Monday night. Donald was docked more than $12,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and just over $9,100 for unnecessary roughness after he was called for 15-yard penalties. One of those infractions was making contact with an official, which resulted in his ejection from the 28-0 loss.

Also, Carolina guard Trai Turner was fined $9,115 for taunting Denver's Chris Harris Jr. in the first half of the Panthers' opening loss to the Broncos.

NASCAR

Let the Chase begin

JOLIET, Illinois (AP) — Rain has washed out qualifying for the opening race of the Chase championship. That means the lineup for Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway will be based on the playoff seeding, putting Kyle Busch on the pole alongside Brad Keselowski. Denny Hamlin will start third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.

LPGA-EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 2 complete

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — South Korea's In Gee Chun is the leader through two rounds of the LPGA's Evian (AY'-vee-ahn) Championship in France.

Chun followed her opening-round 63 with a 66 that puts her 13 under at the midway point, two in front of China's Shanshan Feng and Sung Hyun Park of South Korea.

American Angela Stanford is in fifth at minus-9.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Broadhurst leads through 18

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Paul Broadhurst opened with a 6-under 66 to take a two-shot lead through one round of the Tour Champions event at Pebble Beach.

U.S. Senior Open winner Gene Sauers , Craig Parry, Jay Don Blake, Kevin Sutherland and Tom Pernice (pur-NEES') Jr. were 4 under. Sauers, Parry and Blake shot 68 at the Pebble Beach course, and Sutherland and Pernice shot 67 at Poppy Hills.