The red-hot Detroit Tigers earned an AL wild card berth on Friday night, ending a decade-long postseason drought with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

The Tigers have been on a tear, winning six straight and 10 of 11 to surge into the playoffs and eliminate the defending AL Central champion Minnesota Twins from the race.

Since Aug. 11, when Detroit was eight games under .500 and counted out of contention, it has been the hottest team in the majors with 31 wins in 42 games with the lowest ERA in baseball and the largest run differential.

The Tigers will play AL Central champion Houston or Baltimore next week in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, most likely on the road.

The White Sox, meanwhile, set a modern major league record with their 121st loss. They broke the post-1900 record of 120 losses set by the New York Mets in 1962 during their first season. The overall record was set in 1899 by the Cleveland Spiders with a 20-134 record.

Taking advantage of playing a historically bad team, Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning. Jake Rogers scored when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch even though the ball didn’t hit the dirt just below catcher Korey Lee’s glove.

Riley Greene put Detroit ahead 3-1 with a double in the seventh, and Chicago helped the home team’s cause again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw the team’s third wild pitch of the night.

 

Royals clinch playoff berth despite loss

Max Fried pitched three-hit ball over 8 2/3 innings to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory over Kansas City, but the Royals still got a chance to celebrate their first postseason berth since 2015.

Sean Murphy hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna trotted home on a throwing error after his first stolen base since 2022 for the Braves, who won their fourth straight and sixth in seven games.

Atlanta moved into a tie with the Mets in the NL wild-card race when New York lost 8-4 at Milwaukee.

Despite the loss, the Royals, who matched a franchise record with 106 losses last season, clinched a wild card when Baltimore beat Minnesota 7-2. This is their first playoff appearance since winning the 2015 World Series.

Fried came within one out of a shutout, giving way to Raisel Iglesias when the Royals put runners at second and third. Iglesias retired Salvador Perez on a flyout for his 33rd save.

Fried threw 98 pitches, 63 for strikes. He walked two and struck out nine.

 

Padres beat Diamondbacks to secure top wild card

Luis Arraez hit two doubles and a triple, Yu Darvish pitched 5 1/3 gritty innings and the San Diego Padres used a four-run first inning to beat the sliding Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3.

The Padres secured the No. 4 spot in the National League bracket, meaning they'll host a best-of-three Wild Card Series next week in San Diego.

As for the Diamondbacks (88-72), they sit just behind the Mets (87-71) and Braves (87-71) in a tight race for the final two NL wild cards. The D-backs - who have lost four of five - have a slightly lower winning percentage.

Atlanta and New York have played two fewer games because Hurricane Helene washed out two games of their crucial series earlier this week. The teams would play a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta if playoff positioning is still undecided.

The Mets and Braves hold tiebreakers over the Diamondbacks should they finish with the same record. Arizona lost the season series to both teams.

The Padres never trailed, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Merrill Kelly gave up four hits, one walk and a hit by pitch.

 

The New York Yankees won the AL East title for a first-round bye in the playoffs, rolling to a 10-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night behind Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gerrit Cole.

Judge hit his major league-leading 58th homer, going deep for the fifth straight game and increasing his RBIs total to 144, the most in the big leagues since Ryan Howard's 146 in 2008. Stanton hit his 27th homer and had four RBIs, and Cole pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball.

Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.

When Cedric Mullins hit a game-ending groundout to shortstop Anthony Volpe, the Yankees came out of the dugout and formed a brief jumping huddle between the mound and second base.

New York improved to 93-66 and will open its 59th postseason at home Oct. 5 in a best-of-five Division Series against a winner of next week's wild-card round. The Yankees will have five days off following Sunday's regular-season finale.

Orioles ace Corbin Burnes allowed two hits in five innings with one walk and nine strikeouts. He came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start Baltimore’s postseason opener on Tuesday. Burnes had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.

The Orioles, who failed to sweep the three-game series, hold a three-game lead in the race for the top wild card.

Trying to hold off AL Central champion Cleveland for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs, the Yankees have a one-game lead and hold the tiebreaker over the Guardians.

 

Dodgers rally past Padres to secure NL West

Will Smith hit a tying, two-run homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers scored three more runs in the seventh to beat the San Diego Padres 7-2 and clinch the NL West title.

The rally was dampened by an apparent injury to All-Star slugger Freddie Freeman, who left the game after awkwardly colliding with Luis Arráez and the first base bag trying to avoid being tagged for the second out of the inning. Freeman grabbed at his lower right leg before hobbling off the field.

The Dodgers (95-64) had not clinched at home since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when cardboard cutouts replaced fans. The last time fans were on hand for a clincher at home was 2018.

A sellout crowd of 52,433 packed Dodger Stadium for the finale of the crucial series between the top two teams in the NL West. Both teams had already clinched postseason berths.

The Padres led 2-0 as Joe Musgrove pitched six shutout innings.

But the Dodgers got to him in the seventh. Musgrove gave up a leadoff walk to Max Muncy. Smith followed with a 426-foot blast to center, tying the game at 2-2. It was the Dodgers’ first home run of the three-game series.

Pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández singled and took second when Andy Pages reached on catcher’s interference by Kyle Higashioka. Shohei Ohtani singled and Hernández scored on an error, while Ohtani was safe at second on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s throwing error.

Pages and Ohtani scored on Mookie Betts’ single, making it 5-2, and Pages added a two-run, two-strike, two-out homer in the eighth.

 

Athletics win final game in Oakland

JJ Bleday hit an RBI single and made a highlight-reel catch in center field, Shea Langeliers had a sacrifice fly, and the Oakland Athletics went out winning in their final scheduled game at the Coliseum by beating the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Thursday.

¶Bleday and Zack Gelof delivered defensive gems to delight a sellout crowd of 46,889 under a cloudless blue September sky. Fans alternated chants of “Sell the team!” and “Let's go Oakland!” amid the mixed emotions and nostalgia at the Coliseum, where the A's have played since 1968 and enjoyed so many memorable moments.

The ninth inning featured two fans jumping the fences to run onto the grass, bottles being thrown into center field and smoke bombs set off and tossed into right. Toilet paper and other debris also came down before manager Mark Kotsay took the microphone after the game with a heartfelt thank you to the fans and one last round of “Let's go Oakland!"

The A’s plan to play the next three years in Sacramento with hopes of opening a new ballpark in Las Vegas ahead of the 2028 season.

Green “SELL” banners hung from the outfield railings as fans were treated to a trip down memory lane. Former left-hander Barry Zito sang the national anthem to huge applause, while Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart tossed out ceremonial first pitches.

The current A's entertained, too.

Bleday made a diving catch on his right side to rob Carson Kelly of a hit on his line drive in the seventh. And the hometown fans got one more chance to see flame-throwing closer Mason Miller on the mound.

A’s starter J.T. Ginn left to a loud standing ovation after allowing two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings, and the pitcher then applauded right back by clapping his glove.

Oakland's bullpen followed him with 3 2/3 scoreless innings, with Miller recording the final four outs for his 28th save, which leads all major league rookies. He has converted his last 16 opportunities dating to June 18.

Shohei Ohtani singled in the go-ahead run before stealing his 56th base of the season in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Wednesday night to move within a victory of clinching the NL West.

The Dodgers increased their lead over the second-place Padres to three games with four to play and reduced their magic number to two. Los Angeles needs a win in Thursday's series finale to earn its 11th division title 12 years.

The Padres' five-game winning streak ended a night after they celebrated making the postseason with a game-ending triple play on their biggest rival's field.

Ohtani's two-strike, two-out single to center off Adrián Morejón scored Will Smith, who drew a leadoff walk, and made it 4-3. Ohtani stole second, but Mookie Betts followed with a popup to end the inning.

With two outs in the ninth, Michael Kopech walked Jake Cronenworth to put the tying run aboard, but Donovan Solano struck out.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a 448-foot homer – the longest by a Padres player this season – to tie the game at 3 in the fifth.

 

Tigers defeat Rays to stay red hot

Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson homered, and the surging Detroit Tigers strengthened their bid for an AL wild card with a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Detroit moved 10 games over .500 with its fourth consecutive victory. It is tied with Kansas City (84-74) for second in the wild-card standings behind Baltimore.

The Tigers play the Rays on Thursday before finishing the season with three home games against the lowly Chicago White Sox.

Detroit is 29-11 since Aug. 10, thanks to ace Tarik Skubal, one of the favourites for the AL Cy Young Award, and a cast of young pitchers. On Wednesday, rookie Keider Montero pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball before five relievers combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

Jackson Jobe, Detroit's best pitching prospect, worked the ninth in his major league debut.

 

Orioles hold off Yankees as Judge homers again

Gunnar Henderson had three of Baltimore's 12 hits in the first four innings, and the Orioles again prevented the New York Yankees from clinching the AL East title by holding on for a 9-7 victory despite another home run from Aaron Judge.

Colton Cowser drove in three runs for the playoff-bound Orioles, who tagged substitute starter Marcus Stroman early and improved to 8-4 against New York with one matchup left in their season series.

Judge went deep for the fourth game in a row, connecting on his major league-leading 57th homer in a four-run ninth inning. The three-run shot off Matt Bowman upped Judge's total to 142 RBIs, also most in the majors, and shaved New York's deficit to 9-7.

Keegan Akin entered and retired the next two batters for his third career save and first this year.

Juan Soto also homered and knocked in three runs for New York, which could have wrapped up the AL East race with a victory over the Orioles either of the past two nights.

Baltimore moved within four games of the Yankees in the division with four remaining as it tries to lock down the top AL wild card. Cedric Mullins went 3 for 4 with a walk, three runs scored and two stolen bases.

Stroman was a late replacement for injured left-hander Nestor Cortes and gave up six straight singles to begin the game as the Orioles grabbed a 3-0 lead.

Three more teams secured play-off berths on Tuesday, with the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros and San Diego Padres booking trips to the post-season.

The Orioles got home runs from Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser and Ramon Urias to beat the New York Yankees 5-3 and deny their division rivals the AL East crown for at least one more night.

The Yankees, who saw Aaron Judge hit his 56th homer of the season, lead the Orioles in the East by five games with five to play, although Baltimore would have the tiebreaker if they go 5-0 down the stretch and New York finishes 0-5.

The Orioles will play in consecutive post-seasons for the first time since 1996-97.

For the fourth consecutive year, the AL West crown was claimed by the Astros, who beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3. Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Jason Heyward each hit home runs for Houston, with Heyward’s two-run shot in the fifth putting the Astros ahead for good.

In the NL West, the Padres turned a triple play to close out their 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and ensure them at least a wild-card spot.

Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run homer in the second and added an RBI double in the fourth to pace the Padres, who trail the Dodgers by two games in the West.

 

Braves take crucial series opener from Mets

Michael Harris had a home run and an RBI double, Spencer Schwellenbach was strong through seven innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 5-1 as both teams continued their fight for play-off position.

Harris finished 3 for 4 with seven total bases, and Marcell Ozuna hit his 39th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth off Ryne Stanek.

Schwellenbach carried a shutout into the seventh, when he surrendered a solo shot to Mark Vientos. Schwellenbach allowed three hits and one walk over seven innings.

The win, Atlanta’s third in a row, moved the Braves (86-71) half a game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks (87-71) for the NL’s final wild-card spot. Arizona was routed 11-0 by the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday.

With the loss, the Mets (87-70) were left clinging to a wild-card position by the narrowest of margins. They face the Braves two more times before heading to Milwaukee for a three-game set against the NL Central champion Brewers.

 

Guardians secure first-round bye

Kyle Manzardo and Lane Thomas hit home runs to back a strong outing from Tanner Bibee, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-1.

With the win, the AL Central champion Guardians clinched a top-two finish in the American League and a first-round play-off bye.

Manzardo and Thomas both went deep in the first inning off Carson Spiers for the early lead, and Josh Naylor drove in a pair of insurance runs as Cleveland improved to 91-67.

Bibee, who had been 1-4 in his previous five decisions, cruised to his 12th win, allowing four hits and one run in seven innings with seven strikeouts.

The Guardians trail the Yankees by 1 ½ games for the best record in the AL.

Home runs from J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber backed six solid innings from Aaron Nola as the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first National League East title since 2011 with Monday's 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

The Phillies also received a run-scoring single from Nick Castellanos to enhance their chances of earning one of the NL's top two seeds and a first-round bye for the upcoming playoffs. Philadelphia (93-64) now trails the Los Angeles Dodgers by a half-game for the majors' best record with less than a week remaining in the regular season.

Nola (13-8) scattered seven hits and struck out seven while allowing just two runs. The steady veteran pitcher held the Cubs scoreless through the first six innings of play as the Phillies gradually built a 6-0 lead.

Realmuto opened the scoring with his 14th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Caleb Kilian in the second inning. Schwarber made it 3-0 an inning later with a lead-off homer that gave him 100 runs batted in for a second straight season.

The Phillies added another run off Kilian in the third when Trea Turner followed Schwarber's blast with a double and later scored on Castellanos' single.

Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and eventually crossed the plate on an error by Chicago second baseman Nico Hoerner to increase the margin to 5-0. The Phillies scored again in the sixth when Brandon Marsh drew a walk, advanced to third on Johan Rojas' single and came home on a double-play grounder off the bat of Schwarber.

Nola was removed after surrendering back-to-back doubles by Isaac Paredes and Hoerner that got the Cubs on the board. Hoerner later scored on a groundout for the game's final run.

Kilian (0-1) allowed all six Philadelphia runs - five earned - and eight hits across 5 2/3 innings. 

Mariners put Astros' AL West title plans on hold

The Seattle Mariners got seven scoreless innings from Bryce Miller and two runs batted in from Julio Rodriguez to prevent the Houston Astros from clinching the American League West with Monday's 6-1 win.

Rodriguez went 3 for 5 to lead a 13-hit attack that closed Seattle within 1 1/2 games of the co-holders of the AL's final two wild-card spots, the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.

The Mariners still have a faint chance of winning the AL West, though Houston needs to win just one of this series' two remaining games to claim its fourth straight division title.

Miller (12-8) continued a strong finish to his season by yielding just two hits and a pair of walks. The right-hander is now 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA over his last four starts.

Hunter Brown (11-9) allowed just one run while striking out eight over six innings for Houston, but issued two walks in the third inning that led to Seattle taking a 1-0 lead on Cal Raleigh's single that plated Victor Robles.

The Mariners added on in the seventh after loading the bases on singles by Justin Turner and J.P. Crawford and a walk to Dylan Moore. Two batters later, Rodriguez singled to center to drive in Turner for a 2-0 advantage.

Seattle loaded the bases again in the eighth on three consecutive singles before Turner brought in Raleigh with a sacrifice fly. Jorge Polanco followed with a run-scoring double to stretch the margin to 4-0.

Jason Heyward finally got Houston on the board with a solo home run in the eighth, but the Mariners scored twice more in the ninth to put the game out of reach. 

Back-to-back doubles by Robles and Rodriguez increased the lead to 5-1 before Rodriguez scored on Randy Arozarena's double.

Giants drop Diamondbacks back in NL wild card standings

The San Francisco Giants hit three home runs, including an inside-the-park shot from Matt Chapman, to come through with a 6-3 win over Arizona that knocked the Diamondbacks out of a tie for the NL's second wild card.

Casey Schmitt and Michael Conforto also homered to help the Giants to a fourth straight win. Chapman finished 2 for 3 and drove in three runs, while San Francisco starter Hayden Birdsong (5-5) struck out six while holding the Diamondbacks to two runs in five innings.

Arizona fell a half-game behind the New York Mets in the standings and now holds a 1 1/2-game lead on the Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild card. The Braves and Mets begin a pivotal three-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The Diamondbacks had an early 1-0 lead after consecutive doubles by Geraldo Perdomo and Joc Pederson in the first inning, but the Giants went ahead with three runs in the third off Eduardo Rodriguez.

After Heliot Ramos singled and scored on Jerar Encarnacion's double, Chapman drove a pitch off the center field wall and sprinted around the bases for the first inside-the-park homer by a Giants' player since Denard Span in 2017.

Christian Walker drove in Corbin Carroll with a double in the bottom of the third to pull Arizona within 3-2, but Schmitt's solo homer in the fourth restored the Giants' two-run advantage.

Conforto went deep an inning later to increase the lead to 5-2, then doubled in the seventh before crossing the plate on a Chapman triple.

Arizona got a run back in its half of the seventh when Jose Herrera doubled and scored on Perdomo's single. The Diamondbacks failed to score thereafter, though, with Ryan Walker throwing a perfect ninth for San Francisco to record his 10th save.

Rodriguez (3-4) struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings but was tagged for five runs on seven hits. 

 

 

 

Kerry Carpenter hit two home runs, including the tie-breaking blast in the sixth inning, and the surging Detroit Tigers moved into possession of an American League wild card spot with Sunday's 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

The Tigers' sixth win in seven games moved them one game ahead of reeling Minnesota and into a tie with also-slumping Kansas City for the AL's second wild card. The Twins lost both games of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox, who got a three-homer game from Triston Casas to win the opener 8-1. The Royals have now lost seven straight following Sunday's 2-0 defeat to the San Francisco Giants.

Spencer Torkelson also homered while Trey Sweeney delivered a run-scoring double for Detroit, which last reached the post-season in 2014. 

Cedric Mullins had a two-run homer for Baltimore, which is four games up on the Tigers and Royals for the first wild card.

Carpenter drilled a pitch from Albert Suarez into the right field seats in the sixth inning for a 4-3 lead that Detroit's bullpen made stand by holding the Orioles scoreless over the final four innings. Jason Foley finished it out with a perfect ninth for his 26th save.

The Tigers had taken a 2-0 advantage on Torkelson's second-inning homer and back-to-back doubles by Jace Jung and Sweeney later in the frame. Carpenter's first homer of the afternoon increased the margin in the third.

Baltimore drew even with a three-run fifth inning, with Mullins cutting the deficit to 3-2 with his 18th homer of the season. Gunnar Henderson followed with a single before scoring the tying run on Jordan Westburg's double.

 

Mets edge Phillies to keep rival from clinching NL East

Brandon Nimmo's tie-breaking solo home run in the sixth inning provided the difference as the New York Mets prevented the Philadelphia Phillies from clinching the National League East with a 2-1 victory.

The result kept Philadelphia's magic number to win the division at one but, more importantly, dropped the Phillies one game back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the NL's best record. The Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on back-to-back home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the ninth inning.

New York took three of four matchups from their division rivals in the weekend series and are now tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL's final two wild-card spots, with the Atlanta Braves two games behind both teams.

Nimmo's drive off Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler just eluded the glove of a leaping Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos and cleared the wall to snap a 1-1 tie. Relievers Jose Butto and Edwin Diaz successfully protected the one-run lead over the final three innings, with Diaz working the last two to earn his 20th save.

Wheeler (16-7) struck out eight over seven innings while permitting just two runs in a hard-luck loss.

The Phillies got their lone run in the opening inning when Trea Turner singled, moved to second on a wild pitch from New York starter Tylor Megill and scored on Alec Bohm's single.

New York pulled even an inning later when Tyrone Taylor followed Mark Vientos' double off Wheeler with a run-scoring single.

Taylor and Jose Iglesias each had two hits for the Mets, while Castellanos and Turner each went 2 for 4 for Philadelphia.

 

White Sox tie modern era record with 120th loss

The San Diego Padres rallied for three eighth-inning runs to hand the Chicago White Sox their 120th loss of the season, a 4-2 setback that tied an MLB record for most defeats in a season in the post-1900 era.

Chicago (36-120) matched the 1962 expansion New York Mets, who finished 40-120, for the most losses in a season in baseball's modern era and have six more chances to eclipse the dubious record. The White Sox will open a three-game series at home with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

The White Sox took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth that quickly evaporated as San Diego's Donovan Solano and Luis Arraez led off with consecutive doubles, with Arraez's hit off Fraser Ellard scoring pinch-runner Tyler Wade. 

Ellard then threw a wild pitch that advanced pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge to third. Jurickson Profar followed with a sacrifice fly that put the Padres ahead in front of Fernando Tatis' solo homer that increased the lead to 4-2.

The comeback win kept the Padres three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. San Diego has won four straight and holds a three-game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets for the league's top wild card. 

Profar finished 2 for 3 and drove in another run with a solo homer in the bottom of the third that tied the game at 1-1. The White Sox had briefly gone ahead on Korey Lee's solo homer in the top of the inning.

Chicago went back in front on Miguel Vargas' solo homer in the sixth, his second hit in four at-bats for the game.

Both starting pitchers performed well while not factoring in the final outcome. San Diego's Yu Darvish struck out nine while allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings, while Chicago's Sean Burke fanned eight while yielding one run on two hits in six innings. 

 

 

 

The Cleveland Guardians’ rally on the field may have come up short on Saturday night, but that didn’t stop the celebration afterwards.

The Guardians lost 6-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals but clinched their 12th AL Central title since 1995 after the Kansas City Royals were beaten by the San Francisco Giants.

“This is awesome just to see the joy,” Cleveland manager Steven Vogt told reporters after the game. “The result of tonight's game, it matters, but at the end of the day, we need to celebrate this. Any time you get the chance, you win the division, you've got to enjoy every second of it.”

The Guardians (90-66) have spent 170 days in first place this season, the most in the American League and trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 181 days in the majors.

Jose Ramirez starred in the losing effort on Saturday, hitting his 37th home run and 36th double this season.

Entering the eighth inning, Cleveland trailed 6-1 with their only run coming on a Bo Naylor solo shot.

Ramirez’s homer provided three runs in a fourth-run eighth inning, but the Guardians could never close the gap entirely.

Nick Sandlin gave up four runs in the seventh, but they were all unearned, coming after a Naylor fielding error.

Ivan Herrera and Jordan Walker went deep for the Cardinals. Miles Mikolas gave up one run and four hits in six innings to earn the win.

 

White Sox on brink of losses record

The Chicago White Sox took one more step toward infamy, tying the American League record with their 119th loss of the season.

Xander Bogaerts, David Peralta and Elias Diaz hit home runs and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago White Sox 6-2 as the Padres moved closer to securing a post-season berth.

Chicago (36-119) fell into a tie with the 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119) for the worst season in AL history. The expansion 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, the most in baseball’s modern era.

San Diego picked up a game in the NL West standings on the Los Angeles Dodgers and now trail by three with seven games to play.

The Padres are currently slotted as the NL’s top wild card team with a three-game lead over the final wild card spot.

San Diego have won seven of their last eight games and have baseball’s best record since the All-Star break at 38-17.

 

Mets top Phils to stay alive in NL East

Sean Manaea had another strong outing, Brandon Nimmo sparked a three-run seventh inning and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3, denying Philly a division-clinching win.

Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña hit solo home runs early, and Alvarez added a two-run double in the seventh as the Mets collected their 17th win in 22 games.

Manaea won his fourth consecutive decision, allowing three hits and three runs in seven innings’ work. Edwin Diaz got the last four outs for his 19th save of the season.

New York (86-69) remained two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the NL’s final wild card spot.

Philadelphia (92-63), who clinched a playoff berth on Friday, needed one more win over the Mets to secure their first NL East title since 2011 but will have another chance on Sunday.

Kyle Schwarber extended his MLB record by hitting his 15th leadoff home run of the season, his 36th homer overall. Nick Castellanos also went deep, but Philadelphia managed just four hits.

The Phillies’ staff issued seven walks in the game, while the Mets’ staff issued none.

Alec Bohm went 4 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead a 17-hit attack that powered the Philadelphia Phillies to a playoff-clinching 12-2 rout of the New York Mets on Friday.

Bohm's three-run homer capped a big fourth inning in which the Phillies scored six times to break a 2-2 tie, and J.T. Realmuto added a two-run shot in the eighth to secure Philadelphia's place in the National League playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Philadelphia, which entered the day tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL's best record, can wrap up its first NL East title since 2011 by winning one of its two remaining games with the Mets this weekend.

The Phillies also received three hits and two RBIs from Nick Castellanos, while Johan Rojas had a two-run double among his two hits.

Jose Iglesias went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for New York, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Mets dropped a game back of Arizona for the NL's second wild card after the Diamondbacks earned a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Iglesias led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run and Starling Marte followed with a single before later crossing the plate for a 2-0 New York lead against Philadelphia starter Cristopher Sanchez.

Sanchez (11-9) allowed just one more hit over his five-inning stint while finishing with seven strikeouts, and the Phillies scored single runs in the second and third before breaking things open in the fourth.

Rojas' two-run double in the fourth put Philadelphia ahead 4-2, and Bohm later delivered his 15th homer of the season to extend the margin to 8-2.

David Peterson (9-3) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for New York and was tagged for five runs - four earned - on eight hits.

Ohtani follows historic night with encore performance

Shohei Ohtani followed Thursday’s unforgettable performance with another record-breaking outing, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-4.

On Thursday, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season, reaching the milestone by going 6 for 6 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and two stolen bases.

Ohtani finished Friday 3 for 4, launched his 52nd home run of the season and stole his 52nd base. It was the 14th time this season that he hit a home run and stole a base in the same game, an MLB record.

Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages also went deep for the Dodgers (92-62), whose magic number to clinch the NL West over the San Diego Padres was reduced to four.

The Dodgers opted for a bullpen day, with eight pitchers combining to allow just five hits and strike out 15 batters.

The Rockies squandered home runs from Charlie Blackmon, Michael Toglia and Sam Hilliard.

Kyle Freeland, who allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings, was saddled with the loss.

Orioles cool off Tigers to pad AL wild card lead

The Baltimore Orioles belted five home runs, including two each from Colton Cowser and James McCann, to increase their lead atop the American League wild card standings with a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Anthony Santander also homered for Baltimore, which got all its runs via the long ball to back seven scoreless innings from Corbin Burnes to move five games up on Kansas City for the AL's top wild card. The slumping Royals were dealt a 2-1 loss by the San Francisco Giants for their fifth straight defeat.

Detroit, which entered this key three-game series having won four straight, dropped one game behind Minnesota for the third and final wild card after the Twins posted a 4-2, 12-inning win over the Boston Red Sox.

Burnes (15-8) yielded just three hits and struck out eight to beat the Tigers for the second time in less than a week. The Baltimore ace also tossed seven scoreless innings in a 4-2 win at Detroit on Saturday.

Santander's two-run homer off Tyler Holton in the first inning staked the Orioles to an early lead, and Cowser made it 3-0 an inning later with a solo blast off Keider Montero.

McCann added a two-run shot in the fourth, and he and Cowser came through with solo homers off Montero in the sixth to increase the margin to 7-0.

The Tigers' lone run came on Trey Sweeney's RBI single in the ninth. Sweeney finished with two of Detroit's seven hits.

Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season during the most spectacular game of a history-making career for the Los Angeles Dodgers star, going deep three times and swiping two bags in a 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins on Thursday.

Ohtani hit his 49th homer in the sixth inning, his 50th in the seventh and his 51st in the ninth. He finished 6 for 6 with a franchise-record 10 RBIs while becoming the first big league player to hit three homers and steal two bases in a game.

The Japanese superstar reached the second deck in right-center on two of his three homers at LoanDepot Park. In the sixth inning, he launched a 1-1 slider from George Soriano 438 feet for his 49th.

Ohtani hit his 50th homer in the seventh inning, an opposite-field, two-run shot to left against Marlins reliever Mike Baumann. Then, in the ninth, his 51st travelled 440 feet to right-center, a three-run shot against Marlins second baseman Vidal Brujan, who came in to pitch with the game out of hand.

Ohtani took care of the stolen bases earlier in the game, swiping his 50th in the first and his 51st in the second. He has been successful on his last 28 stolen base attempts.

He led off the game with a double against Edward Cabrera and swiped third on the front end of a double steal with Freddie Freeman, who reached on a walk.

Ohtani finished 6 for 6 with two doubles and four runs scored, falling a triple shy of the cycle.

He reached the milestone in his 150th game. Ohtani was already the sixth player in major league history and the fastest ever to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season, needing just 126 games.

Oakland's José Canseco became the first 40-40 player in 1988 and has been joined by San Francisco's Barry Bonds in 1996, Seattle's Alex Rodriguez in 1998, Washington's Alfonso Soriano in 1996, Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023.

Lost in Ohtani’s historic game was the Dodgers clinching a playoff spot for the 12th straight season and extending their NL West lead over idle San Diego to four games.

Jake Burger, Griffin Conine and Nick Fortes homered for the Marlins, who dropped to 56-96.

Guardians secure postseason berth

Andrés Giménez singled home José Ramírez from second base in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff berth in dramatic fashion, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday.

With Ramírez on second as the automatic runner, Minnesota reliever Caleb Thielbar struck out Josh Naylor and the Twins walked Lane Thomas intentionally to face Giménez.

Cleveland's second baseman then hit a 3-2 pitch into right to easily score Ramírez.

As the All-Star third baseman rounded third, Cleveland's dugout emptied onto the field in celebration as the Guardians posted their MLB-leading 42nd comeback win and second straight in extra innings.

The Guardians are the second AL team to qualify for the postseason, following the New York Yankees, who locked up a spot Wednesday night.

The Twins threatened in the 10th, loading the bases with one out against Eli Morgan. But the right-hander got out of the jam by retiring Carlos Correa on a foul pop and Byron Buxton on a liner to right.

Cleveland's bullpen, which has carried the team all season, combined for 5 2/3 hitless innings.

Rookie Kyle Manzardo homered for the Guardians, who lowered the magic number to clinch the AL Central title to three.

The Twins fell into a tie with Detroit for the final AL wild card. The Twins own the tiebreaker.

Sale wins MLB-best 18th as Braves roll

Matt Olson hit two of Atlanta's six home runs, Chris Sale cruised to his major league-leading 18th win and the Braves cruised to a 15-3 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Braves became the first team in major league history to hit four three-run homers in a game.

Along with his career-best win total, Sale (18-3) also leads the majors in ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225).

The left-hander pitched five innings, allowing two runs and five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. It was the 18th consecutive game in which he allowed two runs or fewer.

Olson hit his 27th home run and second of the series leading off the second inning. Ramon Laureano hit a three-run homer in the third off rookie Julian Aguiar.

Marcell Ozuna doubled in a run in the fifth after Aguiar hit Michael Harris II and Jorge Soler to lead off the inning. Olson greeted Yosver Zuleta with his second homer of the game. It was his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 25th of his career.

Harris hit the Braves' sixth home run with two on in the ninth off Brandon Leibrandt.

Dylan Cease pitched two-hit ball into the ninth inning and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Donovan Solano hit consecutive homers in the eighth to give San Diego Padres a 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.

Machado homered twice for the Padres, who won two of three against the Astros and stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of Arizona and the Mets for the first NL wild card.

Cease, who threw his first career no-hitter on July 25 at Washington, took a one-hitter into the ninth before Mauricio Dubón beat out an infield single to shortstop. Cease struck out Jake Meyers but then shortstop Xander Bogaerts booted Jose Altuve's grounder for an error that allowed Dubón to take third, and that was it for the right-hander after 103 pitches.

Cease retired the first 15 Astros batters before allowing a single to right field by Jason Heyward to open the sixth. Cease then retired the side.

He struck out five and walked none before Tanner Scott got two outs for his 21st save.

Machado lined a shot to left-center off Framber Valdez, opening the sixth for his 29th home run.

Tatis, who struck out in his first three at-bats, hit reliever Kaleb Ort's first pitch into the first row in left-center leading off the eighth. Machado followed with a shot deep into the seats in left and Solano hit a liner to left.

Valdez went seven innings, allowing one run and five hits while striking out six and walking two.

 

Skubal wins 17th as Tigers stay hot

Tarik Skubal allowed three hits over five innings for his AL-best 17th win and the streaking Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 to move within a half game of a playoff spot with 10 games remaining.

Riley Greene hit a go-ahead home run as the Tigers won their fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 games. With the series sweep, Detroit won for the 25th time in 35 games to move within a half game of Minnesota for the third AL wild-card spot.

Skubal, who has won his last five decisions, made his case for the AL Cy Young Award stronger by matching Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins and lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 2.48. He walked one and struck out seven.

Skubal had struggled against the Royals in the past, entering Wednesday with a 2-9 record and 5.05 ERA in 12 starts over 14 appearances. After allowing three hits and Yuli Gurriel’s two-out RBI single in the first inning, he threw four hitless innings.

The Royals lost their fourth straight and were swept for the first time at home this season. They remained 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card.

 

Guardians rally past Twins

Brayan Rocchio singled in Andrés Giménez to cap a three-run 10th inning and lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, reducing their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to one.

Kyle Manzardo and Will Brennan had RBI singles off Ronny Henriquez before Michael Tonkin entered and gave up Rocchio’s second career walk-off hit, a chopper to right through a drawn-in infield.

Josh Naylor hit a pair of solo homers and scored three times for Cleveland, which leads the division by six games over Kansas City. Naylor’s first shot was a 445-foot rocket to right-center, giving him his first 30-homer season.

The Guardians, who now have a major league-leading 41 comeback victories this season, can lock up a postseason spot Thursday with a win over Minnesota.

Carlos Correa had a two-run single off Hunter Gaddis that gave the Twins a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th. Correa finished with four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 16 games, matching his career high with Houston in 2019.

Minnesota had its lead for the final AL wild card cut to one-half game over surging Detroit.

Twins right-hander Bailey Ober struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings, but remained winless in seven starts since Aug. 9. He allowed two runs without issuing a walk.

Bryce Harper hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning to back up the strong pitching of Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders.

Nick Castellanos added a solo shot and Trea Turner added three hits to help the Phillies move closer to wrapping up the NL East title while delaying the Brewers’ NL Central championship celebration.

The Phillies lowered their magic number for clinching the NL East to four. The Brewers’ magic number dropped to one with the Chicago Cubs’ 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Wheeler (16-6) boosted his Cy Young Award credentials by allowing only four hits and one run in seven innings while striking out six and walking none. Wheeler, who lowered his ERA to 2.56, has given up no more than two runs in each of his last nine starts.

The score was tied at 1-all until Harper sent a 1-1 pitch from Frankie Montas over the wall in left-center for his 29th homer. Harper’s two-run shot also scored Kyle Schwarber, who led off with an infield single.

Philadelphia extended the lead to 4-1 in the seventh as Schwarber hit a ball that went off a leg of pitcher Aaron Ashby and headed into shallow right field for an RBI single after Edmundo Sosa's leadoff double.

Turner added a two-out RBI single off Enoli Paredes in the ninth.

 

Judge, Soto power Yankees to rout

Aaron Judge drove in four runs in his first two at-bats, Juan Soto hit his 40th homer of the season and 200th of his career, and the New York Yankees moved to the cusp of clinching a playoff berth with an 11-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The Yankees can clinch at worst a wild-card spot in the American League with a victory over Seattle on Wednesday. The win in the opener of New York’s six-game road trip pushed the Yankees' lead in the AL East to four games over Baltimore - their largest lead since holding a 4 1/2-game lead when play started on June 7.

Judge laced a two-run double three batters into the game and added a two-out, two-run single the next time he was up an inning later. Judge now has a league-leading 136 RBIs.

Soto joined the offensive outburst in the third inning with a two-out, two-run opposite field blast off Seattle starter Bryan Woo. It’s the first time in his career Soto has reached the 40-homer mark, and he’s now homered in all 30 parks in baseball.

Soto and Judge are the third set of Yankee teammates to each hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931), and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (1961).

 

Tigers get past Royals in extras

Parker Meadows and Riley Greene delivered RBI singles in the 10th inning and the surging Detroit Tigers continued their postseason push with a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Tyler Holton retired all six Royals he faced, striking out a pair in the ninth to force extra innings. Jason Foley took care of the Royals in the 10th, earning the save for the second straight night and 25th time this season.

Detroit remained 1 1/2 games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild-card spot. The Royals stayed 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and are 1 1/2 ahead of the Twins.

Cole Ragans allowed one run on four hits and four walks with six strikeouts over seven innings for Kansas City, and Casey Mize allowed one run on six hits and four walks while pitching into the fifth for Detroit.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a combined four-hit shutout from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers to hand the Atlanta Braves a potentially costly 9-0 loss on Monday.

Making his second start following a near three-month absence caused by a strained shoulder, Yamamoto scattered four hits and two walks in four innings. The Braves didn't record a hit against Evan Phillips (4-1), Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Brent Honeywell the rest of the way to fall one game back of the New York Mets for the National League's final wild card.

The Mets came through with a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the 10th inning.

Shohei Ohtani knocked in two runs to help Los Angeles split this four-game series and move within a game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's best record. The superstar slugger finished 0 for 4, however, and remained at 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases as he attempts to become MLB's first 50-50 player in a season.

The Dodgers didn't get a hit off Atlanta's Max Fried until the fifth inning but still managed to manufacture a run following a lead-off walk to Miguel Rojas in the third. Rojas advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored when Fried uncorked a wild pitch.

Tommy Edman collected Los Angeles' initial hit with a ground-rule double to begin the fifth and scored on Rojas' single. After a hit batter and a fly ball advanced Rojas to third, he came home on Ohtani's fielder's choice grounder for a 3-0 advantage. 

Fried (9-10) yielded just two hits and struck out seven in six innings despite being touched for three runs.

The Dodgers put the game away with a six-run seventh inning capped by the ex-Brave fan favourite Freeman's opposite-field homer.

After three walks by Atlanta reliever Daysbel Hernandez loaded the bases, Ohtani reached on a fielder's choice that plated Rojas for a 4-0 cushion. Mookie Betts brought in another run with a sacrifice fly and Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single in front of Freeman's blast. 

Brewers trim magic number to two with win over Phillies

William Contreras and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs to back a solid start from Aaron Civale as the Milwaukee Brewers moved closer to capturing the NL Central with a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Brewers' fourth victory in five games reduced their magic number to two to claim their third division title in four years. Milwaukee also closed within three games of the NL-leading Phillies in the standings.

Civale (5-2) scattered seven hits and struck out six while limiting Philadelphia to one run in five-plus innings. Colin Rea closed out the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings to notch his first career MLB save.

Contreras gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead with a third-inning double off Ranger Suarez that brought in Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins, who reached via a walk and single, respectively.

The Brewers extended the margin in the fourth when ex-Phil Rhys Hoskins walked, advanced to third on Sal Frelick's double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ortiz.

Suarez (12-7) lasted five innings and allowed three runs despite giving up just four hits and fanning five.

Brandon Marsh homered in the fifth for the Phillies' lone run off Civale, but Milwaukee scored twice in the sixth to increase their lead further.

Ortiz knocked in Frelick with a triple to put the Brewers up 4-1 before crossing the plate on Brice Turang's single.

Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the seventh when Bryson Stott singled and later scored on Kyle Schwarber's two-out single. The Brewers countered in their half of the inning, however, when Perkins singled and stole two bases before coming home on Gary Sanchez's sac fly.

Manzardo's homer lifts Guardians over Twins

Kyle Manzardo's go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning rallied the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a key four-game series between American League Central contenders.

Cleveland overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn its MLB-leading 40th comeback victory of the season, which increased the Guardians' lead atop the AL Central to five games over Kansas City.

The Royals were handed a 7-6 loss by the charging Detroit Tigers, who closed within 1 1/2 games of struggling Minnesota for the AL's final wild card. The Twins have lost seven of 10 and are 9-18 since Aug. 18.

Minnesota was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Twins reliever Griffin Jax. Two batters later, Manzardo clubbed the first pitch he saw from Jax into the right field seats to put the Guardians ahead.

Emmanuel Clase then retired the side in order in the ninth to record his 46th save, tying a Cleveland franchise season record.

The Twins got all of their runs in the third inning after loading the bases with one out on a Carlos Correa double and two walks issued by Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. Correa scored the game's first run on a passed ball by Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor, and Byron Buxton knocked in two more with a single for a 3-0 advantage.

Minnesota's Pablo Lopez held Cleveland scoreless until the fifth, when he hit Brayan Rocchio with a pitch and allowed a double to Angel Martinez. Andres Gimenez followed with a single to drive in the Guardians' first run.

Lopez issued two walks around a Will Brennan single to allow Cleveland to inch closer in the seventh on Martinez's bases-loaded single which brought in Manzardo.

Martinez finished 3 for 4, while Brennan and Jose Ramirez each had two hits for the Guardians.

Lopez pitched 6 1/3 innings and permitted two runs on eight hits.

 

 

 

Aaron Judge has once again found his power stroke.

Judge hit his major league-leading 53rd home run to help the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Sunday.

Judge's two-run homer travelled 445 feet and bounced off the glass window of a restaurant beyond the centre field fence at Yankee Stadium.

It marked the slugger's second home run in three games following a career-high 16-game homer-less streak.

 

Gleyber Torres also homered for the Yankees (87-63), who took three of four games from the Red Sox to open a three-game lead atop the AL East over the second-place Baltimore Orioles.

The Red Sox (75-75), meanwhile, dropped 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the AL's final wild-card spot.

Tyler O’Neill hit a two-run homer off Yankees starter Carlos Rodón for his 31st home run of the season and sixth in the last nine games.

Those were the only runs permitted by Rodón, who yielded six hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn his career-best 15th win.

 

Phillies top Mets on Realmuto's walk-off single

For the second day in a row the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies rallied late, winning 2-1 on J.T. Realmuto's walk-off single in the ninth inning to hand the New York Mets another discouraging defeat.

The game was scoreless until Tyrone Taylor homered in the top of the eighth inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Phillies responded with Buddy Kennedy's RBI double in the bottom of the eighth, and won it an inning later on Realmuto's game-ending single off Edwin Díaz with two outs for his sixth career walk-off hit.

 

Philadelphia (90-59) reached the 90-win mark for the second year in a row by winning the final two games of the three-game series with New York after rallying for a 6-4 victory on Saturday.

Adding to the Mets' woes, All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor left the game in the second inning with back discomfort.

Lindor, who has been instrumental to New York's play-off push, also left Friday's game with low back soreness, and is scheduled to get an MRI on Monday.

In a bit of good news for the Mets (81-68), the Atlanta Braves later lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, leaving New York tied with Atlanta for the NL's final wild card-spot.

 

Dodgers use seven-run ninth inning to beat Braves

The Los Angeles Dodgers scored seven runs in the ninth inning - all with two outs - to beat the Atlanta Braves 9-2.

Mookie Betts started the ninth-inning outburst with a tiebreaking single and Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run single.

The Dodgers then poured it on with Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman and Max Muncy hitting consecutive home runs.

 

Los Angeles' big ninth started against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, who had not allowed an earned run since June 16 - a span of 35 1/3 innings.

Shohei Ohtani was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored for the Dodgers (88-61), who own a two-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League's No. 2 seed.

Matt Olson and Travis d'Arnaud drove in runs for the Braves (81-68), who are tied with the Mets with 13 games remaining.

Chris Sale pitched six strong innings to become the first 17-game winner in the majors and Matt Olson drove in four runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 10-1 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

Sale (17-3), who hasn't been charged with a loss since June 27, became the first player in Braves franchise history to allow no more than two earned runs in 17 straight starts, passing Hall of Famer Greg Maddux's previous record of 16 starts. He also surpassed Padres starter Dylan Cease for most strikeouts in the NL this season with 219.

Atlanta is now a season-high 14 games over .500 and pulled even with the Mets for the final NL wild-card spot. New York lost to the Phillies 6-4 on Saturday night.

Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 2 with a walk and has stalled in his quest to be the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, going 0 for 6 in his last two games since hitting his major league-best 47th home run on Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs.

Atlanta scored six runs in the sixth inning, which featured Olson's bases-loaded double and RBIs from Whit Merrifield and Michael Harris II.

 

Harper’s blasts rally Phillies

Bryce Harper homered twice, Cal Stevenson hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the seventh and made a run-saving, highlight-reel catch in the eighth and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to cool off the New York Mets with a 6-4 victory.

J.T. Realmuto added an RBI double for the Phillies, who have won 10 of 13 and lead the Mets by eight games in the division. The teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday afternoon before the Mets host the Phillies for four games from Sept. 19-22.

Starling Marte singled, tripled and drove in three runs and Luisangel Acuña had a pair of singles in his major-league debut for the Mets, who lost for just the third time in the last 15 games. New York dropped into a tie with Atlanta for the final wild card spot in the National League.

With the Phillies trailing 4-0, Harper launched the first of his two drives off starter Luis Severino with one out in the fourth, a 397-foot opposite-field drive off an 85-mph changeup. He pulled Philadelphia within 4-3 in the sixth with a two-run shot off an 87-mph slider that came on a 3-2 count. The two-time NL MVP, who hadn't homered since Aug. 9, has 28 home runs on the year.

Philadelphia went ahead in the seventh. Danny Young surrendered a pair of singles to Bryson Stott and Realmuto to start the frame, with both advancing on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice bunt.

Reed Garrett relieved and struck out pinch-hitter Weston Wilson before Stevenson clubbed a 3-2, 92-mph cutter to the wall in right to score Stott and Realmuto.

 

Adames stars as Brewers outslug Diamondbacks

Willy Adames hit a grand slam as part of a two-homer night, Garrett Mitchell added a two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-8.

Milwaukee's magic number to win the NL Central is down to 3.

Arizona still has sole possession of the second NL wild-card spot, but is just one game ahead of the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets with 14 games to play.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first on William Contreras' sacrifice fly that scored Brice Turang, who reached on a leadoff walk. They kept their advantage when Sal Frelick robbed Corbin Carroll of a solo homer, leaping to reach over the fence and make the catch.

Milwaukee scored seven runs in the second inning, all with two outs.

Brandon Pfaadt retired the first two batters of the second before the next seven batters reached base. Turang and Jackson Chourio hit back-to-back RBI singles, Contreras walked to load the bases, Garrett Mitchell walked to force in a run and then Adames launched a sweeper into the left field seats for an 8-0 lead.

Adames had five RBIs, pushing his NL leading total to 107. Mitchell reached base five times, including three walks. Contreras hit a two-run homer in the ninth to make it 15-8.

 

Gunnar Henderson tripled with two outs in the ninth inning to break up the Tigers’ combined no-hit bid and Detroit held on for a 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter combined to retire Baltimore’s first 21 batters before Adley Rutschman’s eight-pitch walk leading off the eighth.

Brenan Hanifee retired the next three batters and Tyler Holton relieved to start the ninth.

Emmanuel Rivera flied out and pinch-hitter Coby Mayo took a called third strike before Henderson pulled a first-pitch sweeper into the right-field corner for the Orioles’ second baserunner.

Henderson became just the second batter to end a no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the ninth, joining the St. Louis Cardinals' Bernard Gilkey against the Chicago Cubs' Frank Castillo on Sept. 25, 1995.

Holton then struck out Anthony Santander to remain perfect in eight save chances.

Kerry Carpenter homered on the third pitch of the game from Zach Eflin, who allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Tigers have won five of six to pull within 2 ½ games of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.

Brieske was planned to start as an opener and retired four batters while throwing 11 of 16 pitches for strikes.

Hurter struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings while throwing 53 of 71 pitches for strikes. He started 17 of 18 batters with strikes, including his first 14.

Hanifee relieved after Rutschman’s walk and got a pair of strikeouts around a forceout.

 

Judge ends homer drought with slam

Aaron Judge ended the longest home run drought of his career with a go-ahead grand slam to lift the New York Yankees to a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox.

The star slugger had gone 16 games and 75 plate appearances without a longball before launching a clutch drive into the lower left-field seats off reliever Cam Booser in the seventh inning to give the AL East leaders a 5-4 advantage.

Judge's eighth career slam and second this season sent the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,292 into a frenzy, and he came out of the dugout for a curtain call.

It was the 52nd homer of the season for Judge, who also leads the majors with 130 RBIs. He hadn't gone deep since Aug. 25, when he homered twice against Colorado.

New York moved three games ahead of Baltimore for the AL East lead, its largest cushion since it led by 3 ½ games before a June 15 defeat at Boston that started a 4-14 slide.

Mark Leiter Jr. got four outs in relief of starter Clarke Schmidt for the win. Luke Weaver struck out five in two scoreless innings for his second career save.

 

Mets use homers to rout Phillies

Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader hit three-run homers, Jose Quintana allowed three hits in seven shutout innings and the New York Mets routed the Philadelphia Phillies 11-3 for their 12th win in 14 games.

Alvarez and Nimmo homered in a three-run fifth inning off Aaron Nola, Alvarez's second three-run homer in a span of three at-bats.

Bader homered in the eighth against Tyler Gilbert and Pete Alonso went deep in the ninth off infielder Kody Clemens. It was the first big league homer allowed in 12 career pitching appearances by Clemens. His father, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, gave up 363 in 24 seasons.

New York All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor had an RBI double and left in the middle of the seventh because of lower back soreness. Manager Carlos Mendoza said it was precautionary and Lindor likely would've stayed in the game had the score been closer.

Philadelphia leads the NL East by seven games over New York, which remained one game ahead of Atlanta for the last wild card. The series opener began a stretch of seven games in 10 days between the rivals.

 

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