LOU TRIVINO

Infielder Jed Lowrie and relievers A.

Billy McKinney homered and Daulton Jefferies and four relievers combined on a three-hitter to lead the Oakland Athletics past the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 for Mark Kotsay's first win as a big league manager.

Matt Olson and Chad Pinder each homered and the Oakland Athletics beat Houston 8-6 Friday night, cutting the Astros’ edge for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs. Houston leads the White Sox by one game for home field in their best-of-five Division Series matchup next week. The AL West champion Astros also own the tiebreaker after going 5-2 against AL Central champion Chicago this season.

Aaron Judge hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning, Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third consecutive game and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7-6 for their 12th straight victory and longest winning streak in nearly 60 years.

Josh Harrison hit a two-run single, Starling Marte added an RBI double, and the Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Friday night.

The Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to 11, rallying from a two-run deficit to beat the Twins 13-12 when Luis Arraez threw away Ramón Laureano’s grounder for Minnesota’s second error of the 10th inning.

“I don’t even think I’ve had a 13 pitch at-bat in my career.”Hicks was scheduled to pitch one inning. Carlos Martínez worked four innings in the start for St. Louis, allowing two runs and five hits. Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 1New York starter Deivi García gave up one hit and an unearned run in three innings. Dean Kremer allowed a run on three hits, walked two and struck out four in the start for Baltimore.

Sean Murphy hit a two-run homer in the fourth against Codi Heuer as wives and families cheered from suites high above the diamond. Oakland stopped a nine-game losing streak in winner-take-all postseason games, a major league record that dated to the 1973 World Series. The low-budget A's had not captured a winner-take-all postseason game since beating Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the New York Mets. The decision made perfect sense: The White Sox went 14-0 in the regular season against left-handed starters and beat southpaw Jesús Luzardo in Game 1 on Tuesday. His home run to left-center traveled 487 feet, the second-longest of the postseason and furthest by a White Sox player since 2015, according to MLB Stats.

Oakland Athletics catcher Jonah Heim, left, celebrates with Lou Trivino after the Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics clinched their first AL West title since 2013 on Monday night with an assist from the rival Houston Astros. Oakland was off Monday before opening an interleague series at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Oakland is in the playoffs for a third straight year and the sixth time in nine seasons. Houston won a major league-best 107 games last season but lost to Washington in the World Series.