Aaron Judge stands alone at the top of home run history in the American League after breaking Roger Maris' 61-year single-season homer record with his 62nd blast in the New York Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Judge, who had hit just one homer in his previous 13 games coming in, blasted a 1-1 slider off Rangers' pitcher Jesus Tinoco over the left-field fence for a lead-off homer to break the mark.
The Yankees outfielder's home run was his 62nd of the season, surpassing Maris' 61-homer mark from 1961, which he had matched last Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The blast came in the Yankees' penultimate game of the regular season, with Judge's 62 homers sitting seventh for most in a single season in MLB history.
Ahead of Judge are only three players, all from 1997 to 2001; Barry Bonds (73 in 2001), Mark McGwire (70 in 1999 and 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 64 in 2001, 63 in 1999).
The home run means 11 of Judge's past 14 blasts have come on the road. Gerrit Cole also made franchise history, reaching 257 strikeouts for the most in a single season for the Yankees.
The Yankees were beaten after the Rangers added two fifth-inning runs, with the visitors having won the first game in the double header 5-4 when Judge went one-for-five with a single.
Braves complete turnaround to clinch NL East
Following their sweep over the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves clinched their fifth straight National League (NL) East title with a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
William Contreras drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning with an infield single, earning the reigning world champions a first-round bye as the NL second seed. The achievement comes after the Braves had trailed the Mets by 10-and-a-half games in June.
Jake Odorizzi had seven strikeouts across five innings, while Kenley Jansen recorded his 41st save with a perfect ninth inning. Ronald Acuna Jr hit a second-inning single to give the Braves an early lead.
AL seeds locked in as Verlander stars for Astros
The Seattle Mariners locked in the number five seed in the AL playoffs with a 7-6 walkoff win over the Detroit Tigers, highlighted by back-up catcher Luis Torrens pitching the 10th inning.
Entering extras ahead of the postseason, the Mariners shuffled their deck, with Torrens becoming the first position player other than Shohei Ohtani to earn a win since John Baker in 2014 for the Chicago Cubs. Abraham Toro's sacrifice fly allowed Carlos Santana to score the walkoff run.
That result meant the Tampa Bay Rays were locked for the third AL Wild Card spot, not helped by a 6-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox where Xander Bogaerts delivered a fifth-inning grand slam.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros go into the postseason as the AL top seed after a 10-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies where Cy Young Award favourite Justin Verlander had 10 K's and kept the opposition hitless until the ninth inning.
Minnesota United FC v Portland Timbers: 'Proud' Neville hoping to build momentum
Phil Neville is hoping Portland Timbers can build some momentum with back-to-back victories when they take on Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Saturday.
The Timbers recovered from two goals down at half-time to beat San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 in their most recent match, snapping a three-game losing run and a nine-match wait for three points.
Portland are now back up to 11th in the Western Conference, but Neville accepts there is plenty to do if his side are to challenge for a play-off spot.
"The spirit in that second half [against San Jose] was bigger than anything I've seen in football, and I've seen an awful lot in football," Neville said.
"Those supporters willed the team, willed the ball into the back of the net and that’s what makes me proud to be the manager of this football club. We've got a hell of a lot of work to do. It's a big job and one we'll succeed in.”
Minnesota played out a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy in their most recent match, as they let slip a half-time lead to trail 2-1 before hitting back late on.
The Loons have now won three and drawn one of their past four games and are second in the West after an impressive start to life under head coach Eric Ramsay.
The Welshman was particularly pleased with his side's first-half performance against Galaxy and is hoping for a full-90 performance when Portland visit.
"I think that's the most complete performance that we've had since I've been here," he told reporters.
"We're really frustrated overall because it's a game you felt we had complete control of at half-time. I just felt we've taken our foot off their neck in the second half."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Minnesota United - Bongokuhle Hlongwane
Hlongwane opened the scoring for Minnesota in the four-goal draw with Galaxy and enjoys playing against next opponents Portland.
Indeed, the South Africa international has scored in his first three MLS matches against the Timers - the only player in MLS history to do so.
Portland Timbers - Maxime Crepeau
The Timbers may have defeated San Jose in midweek, but they conceded multiple goals for a ninth straight game, equalling the longest streak in a single season in MLS history.
While it is down to the whole defensive unit to keep the opposition out, goalkeeper Crepeau's save percentage of 62 is the second lowest in MLS this season, behind only St. Louis City SC's Roman Burki (61.9 per cent)
MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA UNITED WIN
Minnesota have won eight of their 13 regular-season meetings with the Timbers, averaging exactly two points per match in those games - the best of any Western Conference team against Portland since United joined MLS in 2017.
The Loons have lost only two of their opening 11 matches this season - never previously have they lost fewer than four games at this stage - and have scored multiple goals in each of their past four outings.
Portland showed great spirit in fighting back against San Jose - it was the second latest a team has come from two goals down in an MLS match to win by multiple goals - but that is only one of three wins in 13 MLS games this term.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Minnesota United - 48.9%
Draw - 26.6%
Portland Timbers - 24.5%
MLB: Pirates' Skenes strikes out 11 in 6 no-hit innings for first major league win
Paul Skenes struck out the first seven batters and finished with 11 as part of six no-hit innings in his second major league start, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Skenes allowed just one baserunner – Michael Busch’s full-count walk in the fifth – in a dominant performance to earn his first victory. He struck out the side in the first and fanned Mike Tauchman on a 100-mph fastball on his 100th and final pitch – his 12th to reach triple digits.
The No. 1 pick in the 2023 amateur draft became the third rookie with seven strikeouts to start a game, joining Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014, and Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986. He also became the first rookie with an outing of at least six no-hit innings and 10-plus strikeouts since Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the Mets on June 9, 2015.
The Cubs didn’t get their first hit until Christopher Morel singled against Carmen Mlodzinski with two outs in the seventh.
Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo homered for the Pirates, who have won the first two games of this series after losing seven of nine.
Kyle Hendricks allowed season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from a lower back strain.
Rays’ Alexander flirts with perfection
Tyler Alexander took a perfect game into the 8th inning before Danny Jansen blooped an opposite-field, one-out single and the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Alexander retired his first 22 batters, but Jansen dropped a 1-0 changeup between right fielder Josh Lowe and second baseman Richie Palacios.
Davis Schneider homered two pitches later to draw the Blue Jays within 4-2.
Alexander allowed three runs on three hits without a walk and struck out four. He threw 105 pitches, three more than his previous career high.
Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
Palacios hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt as Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Streaking Astros edge Brewers
Jake Meyers hit a two-run homer and Jeremy Pena added a three-run shot to lift the Houston Astros to their sixth consecutive win, 5-4 over the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was the eighth win in nine games for the Astros, who moved into third place in the AL West.
Jake Bauers homered and Joey Ortiz added three hits, including a three-run home run for the Brewers, who went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Toronto FC v CF Montreal: Courtois accepts blame amid ongoing winless streak
Laurent Courtois has accepted that it is on him to find a winning formula as CF Montreal look to snap their winless run against Toronto FC.
Montreal were beaten 3-1 by Columbus Crew in midweek and are now without a victory in six games in all competitions.
That includes a three-game losing streak in MLS, leaving them 13th in the Eastern Conference, and Courtois is eager to get back on track.
"It's up to me to find the winning formulas and discern the phases of the game," head coach Courtois said after the loss to Columbus.
"We have to grit our teeth and find solutions. The difficult times we are going through help me identify my group. I want to know the players better.
"From all the negative aspects we can observe, I can identify a few individual aspects to improve the game or the team itself."
Monreal's rivals Toronto have themselves lost back-to-back games ahead of Saturday's Canadian Classique at BMO Field.
Nashville SC scored twice late on to snatch a 2-0 win in the Reds' most recent match, but acting head coach Jason deVos admits there can be no excuses.
"The last ten minutes, two mistakes cost us and that's the cruelty of football sometimes - that it's a 90-minute match and you need to put in a 90-minute performance in," he said.
"The players are aware of that. They know where the growth areas are for us as a team."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto - Federico Bernardeschi
Bernardeschi missed the loss to Nashville but will hope to start this weekend in a fixture he has fond memories of.
The Italian has scored in each of his two home games against Montreal, making him the third Toronto player to score in two successive home games against them after Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.
Montreal - Joel Waterman
Montreal have conceded three or more goals five times across their 12 MLS games this season, which is tied with San Jose Earthquakes for the most in MLS.
They quite simply need to sharpen up at the back, with Joel Waterman needing to step up and hope others around him also do so.. The centre-back led the way for interceptions (three) and clearances (four) against Columbus, yet it was still not enough.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Montreal have won five successive matches against Toronto, following a run of neither side ever winning more than three on the spin in this fixture.
Toronto have won seven and drawn one of their eight matches in which they have held opponents under two goals since September, while they have lost all 13 in which they have shipped two or more.
Keeping the opposition quiet is therefore key, and this could present a chance to do just that against a Montreal side with fewer points (five) than any side in MLS since mid-March.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto - 39.6%
Draw - 28.5%
Montreal - 31.9%
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