Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt and the San Diego Padres hung on for a 2-1 victory over the host New York Mets on Saturday night.
Taylor Rogers allowed a bloop RBI single to J.D. Davis in the ninth before retiring Tomás Nido on a popup with runners at the corners for his major league-leading 28th save.
New York’s lead in the NL East is down to a half-game over the Atlanta Braves, its smallest since April 12. The Mets had a 101/2-game cushion on June 1.
San Diego was held without a hit for 4 1/3 innings by Bassitt (7-7) until Eric Hosmer singled to right field.
Two batters after Jurickson Profar singled in the sixth, Machado made it 2-0 when he drove a 79 mph slider over the left-field fence.
Machado’s 16th homer helped San Diego win for the fourth time in five games.
Blake Snell (2-5) dodged trouble and allowed four hits in five scoreless innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked two.
ASTROS 3, MARINERS 1 >> Justin Verlander became the major leagues’ first 13-game winner, striking out nine and topping 99 mph in his final inning to lead visiting Houston over Seattle.
Verlander (13-3) allowed four hits in seven innings to win his fifth straight start and lower his ERA to 1.86, second in the American League to Shane McClanahan’s 1.71 for Tampa Bay.
The 39-year-old right-hander, who missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, retired 15 straight between Adam Frazier’s second-inning single and Carlos Santana’s ninth home run, which cut the lead to 2-1 in the seventh.
Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel hit RBI doubles in the fourth to help the Astros to their fourth consecutive win and send Seattle to its second straight loss after a 14-game winning streak.
Logan Gilbert (10-4) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1 >> — All-Star Alek Manoah pitched six sharp innings as Toronto relied more on his arm than its bats in a win over Boston at Fenway Park.
A day after Toronto set a team record for runs — and posted the most ever scored against the Red Sox — in a 28-5 romp, Manoah set the tone.
Manoah (11-4) allowed one run, on a homer by Bobby Dalbec in the second, and seven hits. He walked none, struck out seven and lowered his ERA to 2.24.
Toronto got seven hits a day after pounding out 29, and improved to 9-3 against the Red Sox this year.
Boston lost for the eighth time in nine games.
CARDINALS 6, REDS 3 >> Paul Goldschmidt drove in three runs to reach 1,002 RBIs, combining with Tyler O’Neill to hit consecutive fourth-inning home runs and lead St. Louis to a road win over Cincinnati.
Nolan Arenado had three hits, including two of the Cardinals’ six doubles.
O’Neill broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run shot to straightaway center field in the fourth off Mike Minor (1-7), who lost his fifth straight decision. Goldschmidt followed with his team-high 22nd homer.
TWINS 8, TIGERS 4 >> Luis Arraez had three hits to raise his major league-leading average to .342, Carlos Correa homered and Minnesota scored six late runs to beat host Detroit.
The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera had a run-scoring single in a three-run eighth and with 1,839 RBIs passed Ted Williams on the career list and tied Al Simmons for 13th place.
Joe Ryan (7-3) gave up one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings for the AL Central leaders, striking out seven and walking one.
RED SOX’S DEVERS HITS IL >> The Red Sox put All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers on the 10-day injured list because of right hamstring inflammation.
He experienced tightness in his hamstring on a swing during his final at-bat Friday night.
Devers ranks second in the AL in batting average (.324) and also is among the league leaders in home runs (22) and RBIs (55).