AL wild-card roundup: Blue Jays gain ground, get help

Not only did the Blue Jays crush the Guardians to move within 1.5 games of Cleveland for the AL's final wild-card spot, Toronto's closest competitors in the tight race lost their games.

The lowly Athletics and Colorado Rockies beat the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, respectively.

The results put Toronto, Texas and Baltimore into a three-way tie behind Cleveland.

Here is how the standings look with just the New York Yankees still to finish on Wednesday:

Cleveland: vs. Toronto, 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ Toronto: at Cleveland, 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ Texas: vs. Tampa, 8:05 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ Baltimore: vs. Boston, 7:15 p.m. Seattle : vs. Athletics, 9:40 p.m. Minnesota: off Detroit: off New York Yankees: off Boston: at Baltimore, 7:15 p.m.

CLEVELAND — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer and had a season-high five RBIs, Dylan Cease scattered four hits over six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays routed the Cleveland Guardians 11-0 on Wednesday night.

The Guardians remain in the third American League wild-card position, but their lead over Toronto, Baltimore and Texas was sliced to 1 1/2 games.

Cease (10-5), one of the top Cy Young Award candidates, struck out four without a walk and did not allow a runner past second base. The right-hander hasn’t lost since July 20, going 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in eight starts.

Guerrero homered in the second against Joey Cantillo (9-8), capping a five-run inning that made it 6-0. The six-time All-Star, who went 3 for 4, has hit all eight of his home runs on the road.

Rookie Brett Bateman scored three times on Guerrero’s three hits, and Josh Smith belted a solo homer in the eighth off Carlos Hernández as Toronto evened the series at one win apiece.

Cease had his 19-start streak with at least seven strikeouts end, one short of the MLB record for a season by Curt Schilling in 1997 and Randy Johnson in 2001. Paul Sewald, Brendon Little and Braydon Fisher wrapped up the six-hitter.

DENVER — Brett Sullivan’s two-out, two-run single capped Colorado’s 11th-inning comeback, and the Rockies beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Wednesday.

The loss was a blow to Baltimore in its battle for the final AL wild-card spot. The Orioles (69-71) went 6-3 on their trip out West, but they dropped the final two against the Rockies and are 1.5 games behind Cleveland for the last playoff berth.

Baltimore took a 5-3 lead in the 11th on RBI singles by Samuel Basallo and Blaze Alexander, who finished with three hits, but Colorado rallied against Grant Wolfram (6-3). TJ Rumfield drove in Connor Norby before Wolfram struck out Cole Carrigg and Zac Veen.