PHOENIX -- Rookie Cody Bellinger homered and drove in two runs, Yu Darvish pitched five strong innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers swept their way into the National League Championship Series with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Monday.Bellinger and Austin Barnes homered off Zack Greinke (0-1). Darvish (1-0) gave up one run and struck out seven in five-plus innings to send the Dodgers to the NLCS against the winner of the Chicago Cubs-Washington Nationals series. The Cubs beat the Dodgers in six games in the NLCS last year.Bellinger, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, had 39 regular-season homers but was 1-for-12 in the NLDS before his opposite-field homer made it 2-0 in the fifth inning.Barnes' homer gave Darvish a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, and the Dodgers used four relievers to hold on. Kenley Jansen recorded his second save of the series.Astros 5, Red Sox 4BOSTON -- Houston clinched its first trip to the American League Championship... [More]

There may not be two American League players who differ more standing side-by-side than the Houston Astros' Jose Altuve and the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge.Altuve is a diminutive 5-foot-6. Judge is a giant at 6-7. But when it comes to the AL Most Valuable Player Award, the difference could be measured in angstroms.The members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America are sending in their votes right now for all of the major 2017 awards. There are some that will be, or should be, unanimous picks.How do you not give Judge the AL Rookie of the Year? Same goes in the National League for Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both were by far at the top of their classes when all was said and done.Below is our take on the deserving winners in each race. AL MVP isn't the only white-knuckler. In the AL, the Cy Young Award race between Boston's Chris Sale and Cleveland's Corey Kluber is tight, too. In the National League, the MVP, Cy Young and Manager of the Year are all worthy of great... [More]

LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Cody Bellinger hit his 39th homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fifth straight NL West Division title with a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants Friday night.Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Jeff Samardzija (9-15). He broke a tie with Wally Berger (1930) and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (1956) for the homers hit a by National League. Rich Hill (11-8) drove in the other run and allowed a run in six innings, for the Dodgers who clinched on former manager Tommy Lasorda's 90th birthday.Pablo Sandoval homered in the ninth off Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen.Blue Jays 8, Yankees 1TORONTO -- Ryan Goins pulled off the hidden ball trick and hit a grand slam off Masahiro Tanaka asToronto routed New York.Goins pulled off the trick in the third inning to retire Todd Frazier, who was on second base. He then chased Tanaka (12-12) in the sixth inning with his second career grand slam.Teoscar Hernandez and Russell Martin also homered for Toronto... [More]

LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Cody Bellinger hit his 39th homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fifth straight NL West Division title with a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants Friday night.Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Jeff Samardzija (9-15). He broke a tie with Wally Berger (1930) and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (1956) for the homers hit a by National League. Rich Hill (11-8) drove in the other run and allowed a run in six innings, for the Dodgers who clinched on former manager Tommy Lasorda's 90th birthday.Pablo Sandoval homered in the ninth off Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen.Blue Jays 8, Yankees 1TORONTO -- Ryan Goins pulled off the hidden ball trick and hit a grand slam off Masahiro Tanaka asToronto routed New York.Goins pulled off the trick in the third inning to retire Todd Frazier, who was on second base. He then chased Tanaka (12-12) in the sixth inning with his second career grand slam.Teoscar Hernandez and Russell Martin also homered for Toronto... [More]

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger and left-hander Alex Wood on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday.Bellinger, the standout rookie, suffered a mild right ankle sprain while playing the outfield in Detroit on Sunday. The All-Star leads MLB-best Los Angeles with 34 home runs and 79 RBIs.Wood is making his second trip to the DL this season with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. The 26-year-old All-Star went six innings and allowed three runs at Pittsburgh on Monday before coming out of the game and is 14-1 with a 2.41 ERA.In a pair of corresponding moves, the Dodgers recalled right-handers Josh Ravin and Brock Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Stewart owns a 1.64 ERA in nine previous appearances -- two starts -- for Los Angeles, while Ravin has a 3.38 ERA in four appearances for the Dodgers this season.--The Cleveland Indians placed left-hander Andrew Miller and right-hander Danny Salazar on the 10-day disabled list, the team announced.Miller,... [More]

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals hold sizable leads in their division races, and each team had three players voted to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game on July 11 in Miami.The All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers were all announced Sunday. Starters were selected by a fan vote, and the pitchers and reserves were chosen by a combination of player vote and selections made by the commissioner's office.The three Astros voted as starters for the American League were second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer.Washington's representatives in the National League starting lineup will be first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy and outfielder Bryce Harper, who was the leading vote-getter in the NL.San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart and outfielders Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Marcell Ozuna of the host Miami Marlins... [More]

CLEVELAND -- Eddie Rosario had three hits, including a home run, and Ervin Santana pitched six scoreless innings as the Minnesota Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with a 4-0 victory on Sunday.The Twins, who were swept by Cleveland in a four-game series in Minnesota last weekend, returned the favor this weekend in Cleveland. They shut out the Indians in two of the three games and outscored them 13-2.Santana (10-4) gave up nine hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (4-9) pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and a season-high three walks.Reds 6, Nationals 2WASHINGTON -- Scooter Gennett went 4-for-5, including a homer, and drove in two runs, and Tucker Barnhart was 2-for-4 with two RBIs as Cincinnati beat first-place Washington, salvaging the finale of the three-game series and breaking a four-game skid.Gennett was 8-for-13 in the series with three RBIs. It was the second four-hit game for Gennett... [More]

CLEVELAND -- Eddie Rosario had three hits, including a home run, and Ervin Santana pitched six scoreless innings as the Minnesota Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with a 4-0 victory on Sunday at Progressive Field.The Twins, who were swept by Cleveland in a four-game series in Minnesota last weekend, returned the favor this weekend in Cleveland. They shut out the Indians in two of the three games and outscored them 13-2.Santana (10-4) gave up nine hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (4-9) pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and a season-high three walks.The Twins extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Rosario led off the inning by hitting a line drive into the seats in right field for his 10th home run. Jason Castro's run-scoring double in the sixth made it a four-run cushion.Reds 6, Nationals 2WASHINGTON -- Scooter Gennett went 4-for-5, including a homer, and drove in two... [More]

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez isn't interested in rushing his way back from a herniated disk and plans to miss the next month rehabilitating the injury. Gonzalez, who was placed on the disabled list June 13, tentatively has set a late July date for his return to the diamond."This time around, I'm not going to rush," Gonzalez said, per the Los Angeles Times. "Obviously, I felt fine, but then the more baseball I (played), the more it started to stiffen up. I think slower is better than faster right now, at this point."Manager Dave Roberts is more optimistic as he said the team is hopeful that the 35-year-old would return prior to the All-Star break, which begins July 10.Gonzalez, who is now in his second stint on the disabled list, is batting .255 with one home run and 23 RBIs in 49 games this season.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Eddie Rosario belted three home runs and Eduardo Escobar matched a career high with five hits as the Minnesota Twins set a franchise record with 28 hits en route to a 20-7 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.Minnesota scored seven runs in the third and seventh innings, collecting eight consecutive hits in the third. Eight Twins recorded multiple-hit games with Escobar, Kennys Vargas and Jason Castro finishing with four hits.Kyle Gibson (4-4) allowed six runs and 12 hits in six-plus innings for Minnesota.The teams combined for a Target Field-record 42 hits.Seattle catcher Carlos Ruiz pitched the eighth inning, allowing a run and two hits, walking two and striking out one.Angels 3, Yankees 2 (11 innings)ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Eric Young Jr.'s infield single in the bottom of the 11th inning drove home Andrelton Simmons from third base to lift Los Angeles over New York.Young sent the game into extra innings with a home run in the eighth inning that made it 2-2. The Yankees... [More]