Rays 7, @Blue Jays 1: Matt Moore turned in Tampa’s third straight strong start (1 R, 2 H in 6 IP), and the Rays moved to 3-0 with Evan Longoria back in the lineup, even at DH — not only completing the sweep (with a total of 4 runs allowed), but resurfacing in the wide-open wild-card race. Losses by Detroit and Baltimore leave Tampa just a half-game out of a playoff spot and with a bit of momentum: They’ve won 10 of 15, including series wins over WC competitors LAA, OAK and BAL.

• Rookies often fade in the second half, but Moore has surged, allowing 5 runs in 30.2 IP over 5 starts since the Break (4-1, 1.47). Counting the postseason, Moore logged 174 IP last year and was strong at the finish, so his modest 130 IP this year should be no cause for alarm. And he’s tamed the gopher — after 13 HRs in his first 15 starts this year, none in his last 7.
• Longoria made his first significant contributions on offense, going 3-5 with 2 RBI and a double, Tampa’s only XBH out of 13. The biggest hit came from Jose Lobaton, whose 2-run single reversed a 1-0 score in the 2nd.

Royals 8, @Orioles 2: Balto was knocked into a 4-run ditch before Boog’s buns were even toasted — HR, single, single, HR on 8 pitches from de facto ace Wei-Yin Chen — and never got back in the game, falling to 28-27 at home. Chen had not allowed an ER in 2 starts, but he gave up career highs of 7 runs and 10 hits this time, and Baltimore’s negative run differential crept up to -53.

• Billy Butler homered for the 3rd time in 4 games, pushing his career high up to 23, and added a double and his first triple since 2009. His season OPS sits at .888, also a career best, and he scored 3 Runs for just the 2nd time this year.
• Alex Gordon hit his 3rd leadoff HR and his MLB-high 38th double. After slow April-May, he’s up to .294/.811.
• Young Will Smith set a new high with 6 Ks, throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of 28 batters. He has 3 QS in his last 4 outings.
• Baltimore’s bright spot was the 2-hit debut of Manny Machado, the 3rd pick of the 2010 draft (2 after Bryce Harper, 4 before Matt Harvey). Machado, who turned 20 last month, hit an oppo-gap triple in his 2nd time up, beat out an infield hit the next time, and cleanly handled 3 defensive chances at his temporary(?) 3B assignment. He held his own as the youngest player in the AA Eastern League, with a .352 OBP, 42 XBH and 13 steals in 17 tries. He’s just the 2nd Oriole in the expansion era to triple in his debut,

Yankees 4, @Tigers 3: When the book is closed on this season, Detroit’s failure to shore up the bullpen at the trade deadline seems the factor most likely to bring them up short. Not that they might have gotten anyone better than 8th-inning man Joaquin Benoit, who took the loss today by serving up (for his second straight game) a pair of HRs, on consecutive pitches to Mark Teixeira & Eric Chavez. After all, Benoit’s season stats are just dandy, outside of his alarming HR rate. But what the Bombers did in the last 3 games of this series to Benoit, to Jose Valverde (33 pitches Tuesday to secure a save that started with a 3-run lead and ended with the winning run on 2nd), and to recent phenom Brayan Villarreal (2 big insurance runs Wednesday in a rally that started with 2 outs and none on) highlighted the cracks in a bullpen that ranks 11th in AL ERA and 12th in WHIP.

• The rejuvenated Chavez is NYY’s MVB (most valuable backup), hitting .289/.873 in 216 PAs — notably better than their erstwhile starting 3B. In this 4-game set, Chavez went 9 for 16 with 6 Runs and 5 RBI, two opposite-field HRs and a couple of doubles.
• In the 9th, Detroit got men to the corners with no outs — but Rafael Soriano bore down and got 3 soft air outs to dodge the bullet.
• The Tigers had 13 hits in all, 4 for extra bases — but no walks from Hiroki Kuroda and 3 relievers. Kuroda has given just 6 passes in his last 8 starts (54.2 IP) and has averaged 2.16 BB/9 this year. The entire Yankee rotation has been stingy that way, averaging just 2.46 BB/9 (2nd to Oakland), with all 6 of their top starters coming in at 2.8 or less.
• New York is 25-8 when yielding 1 walk or less, the most such wins and the best pct. in the AL.

@Indians 5, Red Sox 3: Time is running out for Boston to back up their skipper’s claim that they’re a playoff team. They let slip a 3-1 lead and went 1-13 with RISP in losing their 3rd straight and 7th of 9, to fall 3 games under .500, 11 back in the division and 5 out of the 2nd wild card. Setup star Vinnie Pestano, who hasn’t been nicked since June (21 straight scoreless frames, 1.26 ERA in 51 IP, MLB-best 31 Holds) worked in and out of trouble in the 8th before Chris Perez cleanly closed Cleveland’s 2nd straight win.

• Carl Crawford capped his 0-4 night (0-3 RISP) by running into a DP to end the 7th.
• Ubaldo Jimenez won for the first time in 6 starts. He allowed 8 hits, but walked just 1 in 6 IP — he leads the AL with 77 walks — and fanned 10, his 12th career game of 10+ Ks but his first in almost a year; even now, he’s averaging a career-worst 7.3 SO/9.
• CF Michael Brantley continued his strong second half, hitting his 34th double of the year and driving in the go-ahead run with a sac fly. He hit .336/.940 in his prior 31 games and is up to .296 for the year, building on last year’s growth by slashing his K rate more than 1/3 from 2011. You never hear his name, but he’s on pace for about 4 WAR, which is a very useful player.

Bonus NL coverage! Your cup runneth over.

Nationals 5, Astros 0: A 4th straight nail-biter was averted when Washington scored twice in the 4th and slowly pulled away from forlorn Houston, who fell to 4-34 since June 28. Mike Morse ran his streak to 18 games with a pair of HRs, and platoon CF Roger Bernadina had 3 knocks and a walk to lift his OBP to .372.

Jordan Zimmermann barely worked up a sweat, throwing 87 pitches in 6 breezy innings, tying his high mark with 11 Ks while boosting his SO/BB ratio over 4 for the second straight year. He’s 2nd in NL ERA at 2.35, but his innings and pitches have been carefully meted in his 2nd year back from TJ surgery; he hasn’t thrown 100 pitches since June 22nd, and hasn’t topped 108 pitches or 7 IP all year, but still averages 6-1/3 IP per game. His record is just 9-6, but the Nats are 15-8 in his starts.

• Nine NL qualifiers average at least 4 SO per walk; the Nats have two (you remember Strasburg?).
• Bryce Harper got a rest. He’s hitting .176 with 5 RBI and 4 XBH in 26 games since the Break.
• Brett Wallace had 3 of Houston’s 5 hits and is batting .319/.943 in 20 games.