Astros 5, Mariners 1

Seattle: Justin Verlander took a shutout into the ninth, allowing just three hits and working out of the one jam he faced, and Houston created some cushion in the AL playoff chase with a win over Seattle.

Verlander was dominant with a vintage performance befitting his status as one of the top righthanders in the game for most of his career. He was on the verge of his first complete-game since 2019 when he no-hit Toronto, but manager Dusty Baker pulled Verlander after Josh Rojas led off the ninth inning with a double.

Rangers 5, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif.: The Texas Rangers scored all five of their runs in the sixth through eight innings to maintain a 21/2 game lead over the Houston Astros in the chase to be the American League West division champions.

Four different players drove in runs for Texas in the crucial victory.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval exited Monday night’s start against the Rangers in the fourth inning with tightness in his right oblique.

The left-hander was removed after walking his first two batters in the fourth, giving him five free passes in the game.

Giants 2, Padres 1

San Francisco: The San Diego Padres took a 1-0 lead into the eighth but couldn’t keep San Francisco from scoring twice in the bottom of the inning. Then, the Giants held off a scare in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win.

Michael Conforto drove in the two runs for San Francisco and pitcher Logan Webb pitched a complete game to grab the win.

Yankees 6, Diamondbacks 4

New York: Kevin Ginkel blew the last of Arizona’s three leads in a loss to New York, dropping it into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the National League’s second wild card.

Ginkel (9-1) loaded the bases in the eighth by allowing two singles and a walk. He walked in the tying run and Gleyber Torres scored on a sacrifice fly to left from Estevan Florial to give the Yankees their first lead.

102-loss Royals have turned out to be quite the spoilers

This wasn’t a run you saw coming — but then again, you rarely do when a baseball team starts to play spoiler.

The Kansas City Royals, who reached 100 losses more than two weeks ago and have been out of contention for almost the entire season, suddenly became a huge thorn in the side of the defending champions.

The Royals went 5-1 in two recent series against Houston, leaving the Astros in a precarious spot in the playoff race. Kansas City has now won 10 of its last 11 games.

Even after that impressive stretch, the Royals have the second-worst record in baseball, but you wouldn’t have known it watching those matchups with Houston.

And the Astros looked nothing like the World Series champs from a season ago.

Who will be the leaders?

There will be plenty of debate over the postseason awards — the National League MVP in particular — but the statistical leaders in a season are determined by the numbers.

Among the closer races: Corey Seager leads Yandy Diaz .333 to .328 for the AL batting title. Kevin Gausman leads Pablo Lopez 232-228 in the AL strikeouts race. Gerrit Cole leads Sonny Gray 2.75 to 2.80 for the AL ERA title.

In one interesting twist, Lyles is one of only two pitchers in the majors with three complete games, joining Sandy Alcantara — who also has a losing record. All three of Lyles’ complete games were losses, including two of the eighth-inning variety when the home team didn’t have to bat in the ninth.