BALTIMORE (AP) — Travis Bazzana hit a three-run homer, Brayan Rocchio drove in two runs, and the Cleveland Guardians outlasted the Baltimore Orioles 9-5 on Tuesday night.
Cleveland (74-72), which clinched the season series over the Orioles, holds the final AL wild card.
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Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Brandon Young, left, talks with catcher Samuel Basallo during a mound visit in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo, left, tags Cleveland Guardians' Patrick Bailey (16) out at home plate during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez slides into third base after hitting a triple during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Cleveland Guardians' Patrick Bailey hits an RBI single during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Jo Adell and Patrick Bailey each hit RBI singles before Bazzana extended the lead to 5-0 in the second inning with his 11th home run of the season, giving Cleveland a lead it never surrendered.
Petey Halpin tacked on a one-run single in the third before Baltimore clawed its way back, scoring five runs over the next two innings. José Ramírez scored on a fielder's choice in the seventh for the Guardians to add an insurance run, and Rocchio capped the scoring with a two-run single.
Tanner Bibee tossed 4 1/3 innings for Cleveland, surrendering five runs on six hits. He retired the first nine Orioles batters in order. Tim Herrin (3-4) earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless and scoreless innings — for a Guardians bullpen that combined for seven strikeouts.
Leody Taveras had his first hit since Aug. 29 — an RBI double — and he scored on a fielding error by Cleveland first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Pete Alonso pulled the Orioles within a run with a two-run homer in the fifth, but that was all Baltimore mustered.
Brandon Young (9-4) tied his shortest outing of the year with 3 2/3 innings. He gave up a season-high six earned runs off eight hits, boasting a 3.71 ERA through 25 starts this year.
Orioles' shortstop Gunnar Henderson was pulled from the game in the eighth after fouling a ball off his shin.
Guardians LHP Foster Griffin (15-3, 3.26 ERA) will start Wednesday’s series finale against Orioles RHP Shane Baz (5-15, 3-91).
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Brandon Young, left, talks with catcher Samuel Basallo during a mound visit in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo, left, tags Cleveland Guardians' Patrick Bailey (16) out at home plate during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez slides into third base after hitting a triple during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Cleveland Guardians' Patrick Bailey hits an RBI single during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Republican John E. Sununu and Democrat Chris Pappas will compete for an open U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire in a race that has emerged as one of a handful around the country that could determine control of the chamber in November.
Sununu, a former U.S. senator, and Pappas, a member of the U.S. House, are vying to replace U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, whose decision not to seek reelection created a cascade of competitive races. Both entered their respective party primaries as strong front-runners and now have just eight weeks to make their case to general election voters.
Republicans view the seat as an opportunity to regain a foothold in a region long dominated by Democrats in Congress. Democrats, meanwhile, need a net gain of four seats to retake the chamber, and keeping New Hampshire in their column is a critical part of that effort.
In other top races, Stefany Shaheen, Shaheen's daughter, won a close primary and will face Republican Anthony DiLorenzo in the race to fill Pappas' open seat in the 1st Congressional District. The 2nd Congressional District will feature a matchup between U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a Democrat seeking her second term, and Republican Lily Tang Williams.
Pappas, who is giving up his seat in the 1st Congressional District after four terms, defeated four other candidates, including democratic socialist Karishma Manzur, who had been gaining on him in recent weeks.
Speaking to supporters at his family's restaurant in Manchester, he quickly sought to link Sununu to President Donald Trump, who endorsed Sununu even though Sununu called him “a loser” during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“While New Hampshire families are struggling to make ends meet, John Sununu has thrown his lot in with Donald Trump and supports the policies that cater to big corporations and billionaires while they make life harder for Granite Staters,” said Pappas, whose campaign also quickly posted a negative ad on social media calling Sununu “a sequel we can't afford.”
“We've got to turn the page on Donald Trump's reckless leadership, on corruption, on the rigged economy and on costs, and this is not the time to turn it back to a failed politician from the past," he said at his victory party.
Sununu, who spent six years in the U.S. House and one term in the Senate before being ousted by Shaheen in 2008, called Pappas a career politician who has held office for virtually his entire adult life.
“He’s not an independent voice for New Hampshire,” Sununu said at his victory party at a Manchester ski area. “Chris Pappas has three main qualities: ineffective, partisan and out of touch with New Hampshire.”
Sununu defeated seven other Republicans to win the primary, including former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who accused him of coasting on his name. Sununu's father and younger brother are both former governors.
Jim Loomis, 83, of Bow, said he backed Brown in 2014 but not on Tuesday because “he never got traction back again.” He acknowledged Sununu had been out of politics for even longer but still voted for him.
“I think what he’s done for work over the years has kept him close enough to what’s going on, and then with his family ties, I just think he’s got a more stable base,” Loomis said.
Stefany Shaheen and Maura Sullivan were the leading candidates among seven seeking the Democratic nomination in the 1st District.
Shaheen is a former city councilor in Portsmouth. She founded a business to help people with chronic medical conditions after one of her daughters was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She also is part of a bio-tech initiative in New Hampshire to advance regenerative medicine.
Speaking to her supporters Tuesday night before the race was called, Shaheen said she was campaigning to “take on Donald Trump and his disastrous corruption, his endless war, his attacks on small business with these disastrous tariffs, the skyrocketing costs families are facing in New Hampshire and across the country.” But she also said running against the president wouldn’t be enough, that she would give voters a reason to turn out for the general election.
“We can bring the real change that’s needed, starting with healthcare, starting with Medicare for all,” she said.
Sullivan is a retired Marine and Iraq War veteran who served as an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs under President Barack Obama. A vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Sullivan ran for the 1st District seat in 2018, losing in an 11-candidate primary to Pappas in his first congressional bid.
Her campaign did not immediately return a call and email seeking a response after Shaheen won. Earlier in the night, Sullivan addressed her supporters and thanked them for their hard work during the campaign.
"What we are doing right now is send such an incredible message for change, and that politics as usual is not, is not going to get us where we need to go," she said.
On the Republican side, political newcomer DiLorenzo, who owns a chain of car dealerships and has been endorsed by Trump, won the Republican primary. He defeated three other candidates, including Hollie Noveletsky, a veteran and nurse practitioner who runs a steel fabrication company and ran for the same seat two years ago.
“Our campaign is about prosperity,” DiLorenzo told supporters. “I believe that Washington, D.C., needs more pragmatic businesspeople.”
In the 2nd District, first-term incumbent Goodlander overcame a primary challenge from Paige Beauchemin, a progressive state lawmaker and nurse. Tang Williams, who was the nominee two years ago and was making her third attempt at the seat, won the Republican primary.
In contrast to the all-Democratic congressional delegation, Republicans dominate state government.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte defeated two little-known opponents in her primary as she seeks a second two-year term. Cinde Warmington, a healthcare attorney, was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Voters also were nominating candidates for the entire state Legislature, where Republicans hold a roughly 40-vote majority in the 400-member House and outnumber Democrats in the Senate 16-8.
Accustomed to going first when it comes to presidential primaries, New Hampshire is among the last states to hold state-level primary elections. But legislation passed this year moves future state primaries to the second Tuesday in June.
Camille Coulborn of Chesterfield, N.H., fills out her ballot inside a voting booth in Chesterfield during the New Hampshire State Primaries on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Republican U.S. Senate nominee John E. Sununu gesturing while addressing supporters in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, shortly after winning his party's primary election. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
Republican U.S. Senate nominee John E. Sununu gesturing while addressing supporters in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, shortly after winning his party's primary election. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
Karishma Manzur, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, talks with a group of potential voters outside Brothers Cortado in Bicentennial Square in Concord, N.H., Friday, July 24, 2026. (Geoff Forester/The Concord Monitor via AP)
Former Sen. John E. Sununu, who is seeking the GOP nomination for his old seat, takes a selfie with supporter Sudie Francouer, in Berlin, N.H., Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican who previously represented Massachusetts and is making his second run for Senate in New Hampshire, addresses voters at an American Legion hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
FILE - Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, April 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)
Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown listens to a voter in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, as he campaigns for the GOP nomination for the state’s open Senate seat. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
Former Sen. John E. Sununu, who is running for his old seat nearly 18 years after being ousted, mingles with voters at the Coos County Republican Committee BBQ in Berlin, N.H., Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
