DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies entered the night with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to finish the... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The New York Yankees clinched home-field advantage for the AL wild-card game, hitting four homers to tie the major league single-season record and beat the Boston Red Sox 11-6 on Friday night.Aaron Judge hit his first homer since coming off the disabled list Sept. 14, and Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks and Luke Voit also homered to match the mark of 264 set by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.The win in the opener of the three-game series settled the AL's last remaining postseason question with two games to go. The Yankees will host Oakland on Wednesday, with the winner playing Boston.The Red Sox, who clinched the best record in baseball with a franchise-record 107 wins, were hoping to make things difficult for their archrivals — and the Athletics, too — by forcing the winner of the wild-card game have to fly cross-country next week. The ALDS begins in Boston on Friday.J.A. Happ (17-6) pitched three perfect innings and allowed just one hit through five. Staked to an 8-0 lead, he loaded... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox won their third consecutive AL East championship Thursday night, clinching on enemy turf with an 11-6 victory over the rival New York Yankees.Betts homered, doubled twice and drove in five runs, finishing with four hits as the Red Sox overcame Giancarlo Stanton's go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a tying home run in the seventh and Xander Bogaerts put Boston ahead with a sacrifice fly.With the best record in baseball and a playoff berth already secured, Boston (104-49) closed out a once-tight division race with nine games to spare. J.D. Martinez and the Red Sox, alone in first place since July 2, will open the postseason at home on Oct. 5 against an opponent to be determined.Never before had Boston finished in first place three years in a row. The club needs one victory to match the franchise record held by the 1912 World Series champions.It took three tries, but these Red Sox finally earned their chance... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox reached 100 wins for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II in the 1946 season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Wednesday night.David Price (15-6) won his sixth straight decision, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Unbeaten in 11 starts since July 1, Price left after 92 pitches with a lead earned when Rafael Devers scampered home on a wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez (4-6) in the fifth inning.Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 39th save in 44 chances.A night after becoming the first major league team this year to clinch a playoff spot, Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved a season-high 54 games above .500.Jonathan Davis had his first major league hit for Toronto.TWINS 3, YANKEES 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Odorizzi's no-hit bid was broken up when Greg Bird hit a run-scoring double with one out in the eighth inning, and Minnesota beat the Yankees to take two of three from New York.The Yankees' lead over Oakland... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox reached 100 wins for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II in the 1946 season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Wednesday night.David Price (15-6) won his sixth straight decision, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Unbeaten in 11 starts since July 1, Price left after 92 pitches with a lead earned when Rafael Devers scampered home on a wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez (4-6) in the fifth inning.Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 39th save in 44 chances.A night after becoming the first major league team this year to clinch a playoff spot, Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved a season-high 54 games above .500.Jonathan Davis had his first major league hit for Toronto.TWINS 3, YANKEES 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Odorizzi's no-hit bid was broken up when Greg Bird hit a run-scoring double with one out in the eighth inning, and Minnesota beat the Yankees to take two of three from New York.The Yankees' lead over Oakland... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox reached 100 wins for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II in the 1946 season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Wednesday night.David Price (15-6) won his sixth straight decision, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Unbeaten in 11 starts since July 1, Price left after 92 pitches with a lead earned when Rafael Devers scampered home on a wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez (4-6) in the fifth inning.Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 39th save in 44 chances.A night after becoming the first major league team this year to clinch a playoff spot, Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved a season-high 54 games above .500.Jonathan Davis had his first major league hit for Toronto.TWINS 3, YANKEES 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Odorizzi's no-hit bid was broken up when Greg Bird hit a run-scoring double with one out in the eighth inning, and Minnesota beat the Yankees to take two of three from New York.The Yankees' lead over Oakland... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Yelich led Milwaukee's big comeback by hitting for the cycle, and Jesus Aguilar homered in the 10th inning, powering the Brewers to a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday nightAguilar connected off Raisel Iglesias (2-3) for Milwaukee's fourth homer of the game, halting the Brewers' month-long slide. Milwaukee has dropped 11 of 20 and slipped into third place in the NL Central, five games behind the Cubs.Yelich became the eighth Brewers player to hit for the cycle and the first since George Kottaras on Sept. 3, 2011, at Houston. Yelich also matched the club record with six hits of the Brewers' 22 hits, including a two-run homer.Mike Moustakas' solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 11-10 in the eighth, but Joakim Soria's wild pitch allowed Billy Hamilton to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Jeffress (7-1) gave up Brandon Dixon's homer in the 10th.The Brewers extended their Great American Ball Park record to 21 straight games with at... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Yelich led Milwaukee's big comeback by hitting for the cycle, and Jesus Aguilar homered in the 10th inning, powering the Brewers to a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday nightAguilar connected off Raisel Iglesias (2-3) for Milwaukee's fourth homer of the game, halting the Brewers' month-long slide. Milwaukee has dropped 11 of 20 and slipped into third place in the NL Central, five games behind the Cubs.Yelich became the eighth Brewers player to hit for the cycle and the first since George Kottaras on Sept. 3, 2011, at Houston. Yelich also matched the club record with six hits of the Brewers' 22 hits, including a two-run homer.Mike Moustakas' solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 11-10 in the eighth, but Joakim Soria's wild pitch allowed Billy Hamilton to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Jeffress (7-1) gave up Brandon Dixon's homer in the 10th.The Brewers extended their Great American Ball Park record to 21 straight games with at... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered early and had a two-run double in Boston's 11-run seventh inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 14-6 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night after pitcher David Price was knocked out with a bruised left wrist.The 33-year-old lefty exited in the fourth after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Austin Dean on the final play of the previous inning.With the Red Sox trailing 5-3, Blake Swihart had a pinch-hit RBI single and Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with a double before Betts hit his go-ahead shot into the right-center gap off Adam Conley (3-4). Brock Holt followed with a pinch-hit triple and scored on Xander Bogaerts' single.Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler had RBI singles before Swihart doubled home his second run of the inning and scored on Bradley's single. By the time it was over, Boston had its biggest inning of the season.Betts and Eduardo Nunez each hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who won for the 22nd time in their last 26 interleague... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered early and had a two-run double in Boston's 11-run seventh inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 14-6 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night after pitcher David Price was knocked out with a bruised left wrist.The 33-year-old lefty exited in the fourth after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Austin Dean on the final play of the previous inning.With the Red Sox trailing 5-3, Blake Swihart had a pinch-hit RBI single and Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with a double before Betts hit his go-ahead shot into the right-center gap off Adam Conley (3-4). Brock Holt followed with a pinch-hit triple and scored on Xander Bogaerts' single.Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler had RBI singles before Swihart doubled home his second run of the inning and scored on Bradley's single. By the time it was over, Boston had its biggest inning of the season.Betts and Eduardo Nunez each hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who won for the 22nd time in their last 26 interleague... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Todd Frazier hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs to lead the New York Mets to a 10-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, avenging a tough loss earlier in the day.Frazier gave New York a 4-0 lead in the first inning with his drive against Alec Mills (0-1) and added an RBI single in a two-run ninth.Jason Vargas (5-8) won his third straight start. The Mets had 16 hits and avoided a season sweep after dropping the first six games against the NL Central leaders.Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer for Chicago in the ninth.The Cubs had won a season-high seven in a row after pulling out a 2-1 victory earlier on Ben Zobrist's RBI single with the bases loaded in the 11th. That game was suspended in the top of the 10th because of rain the previous night.In the suspended game, Zobrist grounded the winning single up the middle off Daniel Zamora with one out in the 11th after Chicago loaded the bases against Paul Sewald (0-5). Jesse Chavez (5-2) got the win with... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 victory and a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.The Cardinals' eighth straight road win helped them improve to 17-4 this month, the most wins in the majors. They've homered in 15 straight games, one off the current season mark of 16 in a row by Philadelphia.St. Louis remained 2½ games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs.For Jansen, it was a familiar ending.The All-Star closer, who became a father for the third time earlier in the day, gave up consecutive homers to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in the series opener Monday. That was Jansen's first game back after missing time because of an irregular heartbeat.This time, Gyorko singled off Jansen (0-5) and DeJong followed with a drive to left-center to give the Cardinals their first lead.Jordan Hicks struck out Cody Bellinger, Brian Dozier and Chris Taylor to earn his fifth... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Freddy Peralta tossed seven scoreless innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, combining with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday.Christian Yelich homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two runs for Milwaukee. He opened the first with his 21st homer, doubled in the third, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth.Peralta (6-4) allowed just three singles, striking out seven and walking two to win for the second time in seven starts. The 22-year-old right-hander did not allow a hit until Jose Peraza's single to open the fourth.Peralta was 0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts this season before he drove in the Brewers' second run with a fourth-inning single.Robert Stephenson (0-2) allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out four.The Reds loaded the bases in the eighth against Taylor Williams, but Jeremy... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Freddy Peralta tossed seven scoreless innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, combining with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday.Christian Yelich homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two runs for Milwaukee. He opened the first with his 21st homer, doubled in the third, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth.Peralta (6-4) allowed just three singles, striking out seven and walking two to win for the second time in seven starts. The 22-year-old right-hander did not allow a hit until Jose Peraza's single to open the fourth.Peralta was 0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts this season before he drove in the Brewers' second run with a fourth-inning single.Robert Stephenson (0-2) allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out four.The Reds loaded the bases in the eighth against Taylor Williams, but Jeremy... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player in major league history to homer in five straight games, hitting a leadoff shot on the first pitch and later adding a three-run drive to help the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 10-6 on Tuesday night.The 20-year-old Acuna homered on Miami's first pitch for the second straight night and became the first player to hit a leadoff homer in three consecutive games since Baltimore's Brady Anderson went deep in four straight in 1996. On Monday, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader.Acuna connected in the first off Trevor Richards and homered to right-center, his 19th of the year, off Adam Conley (3-3) to give the Braves a 10-6 lead in the seventh.Freddie Freeman hit his 20th homer to tie it in the sixth, and Dansby Swanson had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh as the NL East-leading Braves won for the 13th time in 17 games.Acuna, who has homered in seven... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player in major league history to homer in five straight games, hitting a leadoff shot on the first pitch and later adding a three-run drive to help the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 10-6 on Tuesday night.The 20-year-old Acuna homered on Miami's first pitch for the second straight night and became the first player to hit a leadoff homer in three consecutive games since Baltimore's Brady Anderson went deep in four straight in 1996. On Monday, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader.Acuna connected in the first off Trevor Richards and homered to right-center, his 19th of the year, off Adam Conley (3-3) to give the Braves a 10-6 lead in the seventh.Freddie Freeman hit his 20th homer to tie it in the sixth, and Dansby Swanson had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh as the NL East-leading Braves won for the 13th time in 17 games.Acuna, who has homered in seven... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In the latest bizarre medical development for the baffling New York Mets, ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard is headed back to the disabled list after contracting hand-foot-and-mouth disease.The team figures it's likely Syndergaard caught the contagious virus when he made an appearance at a baseball camp for kids last Thursday during the All-Star break. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said that probably explains why Syndergaard weakened and his velocity decreased during Friday night's victory at Yankee Stadium."Hand-foot-and-mouth, are you serious? I guess it's very uncommon in adults, period," Callaway said Sunday. "It's kind of odd. Maybe the first DL stint in Major League Baseball with hand-foot-and-mouth? I don't know. A record or something."According to WebMD.com, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious disease that "most often occurs in children under 10 and is characterized by a rash of small blister-like sores on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and in the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In the latest bizarre medical development for the baffling New York Mets, ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard is headed back to the disabled list after contracting hand-foot-and-mouth disease.The team figures it's likely Syndergaard caught the contagious virus when he made an appearance at a baseball camp for kids last Thursday during the All-Star break. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said that probably explains why Syndergaard weakened and his velocity decreased during Friday night's victory at Yankee Stadium."Hand-foot-and-mouth, are you serious? I guess it's very uncommon in adults, period," Callaway said Sunday. "It's kind of odd. Maybe the first DL stint in Major League Baseball with hand-foot-and-mouth? I don't know. A record or something."According to WebMD.com, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious disease that "most often occurs in children under 10 and is characterized by a rash of small blister-like sores on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and in the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In the latest bizarre medical development for the baffling New York Mets, ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard is headed back to the disabled list after contracting hand-foot-and-mouth disease.The team figures it's likely Syndergaard caught the contagious virus when he made an appearance at a baseball camp for kids last Thursday during the All-Star break. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said that probably explains why Syndergaard weakened and his velocity decreased during Friday night's victory at Yankee Stadium."Hand-foot-and-mouth, are you serious? I guess it's very uncommon in adults, period," Callaway said Sunday. "It's kind of odd. Maybe the first DL stint in Major League Baseball with hand-foot-and-mouth? I don't know. A record or something."According to WebMD.com, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious disease that "most often occurs in children under 10 and is characterized by a rash of small blister-like sores on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and in the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In the latest bizarre medical development for the baffling New York Mets, ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard is headed back to the disabled list after contracting hand-foot-and-mouth disease.The team figures it's likely Syndergaard caught the contagious virus when he made an appearance at a baseball camp for kids last Thursday during the All-Star break. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said that probably explains why Syndergaard weakened and his velocity decreased during Friday night's victory at Yankee Stadium."Hand-foot-and-mouth, are you serious? I guess it's very uncommon in adults, period," Callaway said Sunday. "It's kind of odd. Maybe the first DL stint in Major League Baseball with hand-foot-and-mouth? I don't know. A record or something."According to WebMD.com, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious disease that "most often occurs in children under 10 and is characterized by a rash of small blister-like sores on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and in the... [More]