ARLINGTON, Texas -- George Springer drilled a grand slam and the Houston Astros completed a sweep by blasting the Texas Rangers 12-2 Wednesday afternoon in the series finale.The Astros improved to a season-best 38 games above .500 with their 11th win in the last 13 contests. Houston moved within a half-game of Cleveland for the best record in the American League, pending the result of the Indians' game against the Minnesota Twins later Wednesday.The Rangers suffered their sixth straight loss and are now assured of only their second losing season since 2009.The Astros reached double figures in scoring in all three games and outscored Texas 37-7. Houston also scored at least 11 in all three games, a first in franchise history.Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3PHOENIX -- Right fielder J.D. Martinez tied the National League record for homers in September and Arizona scored three runs in the ninth inning for a walk-off victory.Martinez led off the ninth inning with a solo homer, his 16th blast of September,... [More]

ST. LOUIS -- One big inning put the Chicago Cubs back in the postseason.Chicago, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning, knocked off the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Wednesday night to wrap up its second consecutive National League Central title.Addison Russell wiped out a 1-0 deficit with one swing, cracking a three-run homer down the left field line to spoil a good game from Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha. Jason Heyward and pinch hitter Tommy La Stella each added RBI doubles as seven straight Cubs reached base to start the inning.John Lackey (12-11) stifled St. Louis on two hits and a run over six innings, walking two and striking out three. Five relievers finished up for the Cubs, who will play the Nationals in an NL Division Series starting on Oct. 6 in Washington.Indians 4, Twins 2CLEVELAND -- Yan Gomes homered, and Carlos Santana had three hits as Cleveland snapped Minnesota's five-game winning streak.The Twins, though, clinched the AL's second wild-card spot when the Chicago... [More]

RF J.D. Martinez tied an NL record with his 16th September home run Wednesday, his 45th of the season and 29th in 59 games in Arizona since being acquired July 18. He was asked if he is surprising himself. "If I say yes, it's like I don't think I can do it," Martinez said. "If I say no, it's like I'm arrogant, cocky. It's one of those things where I go up there and expect to hit the ball hard. I just feel like right now I'm having success in being able to do what I want to do up there. I feel comfortable in the box and I'm getting the results." Martinez tied Ralph Kiner for the NL September record. Babe Ruth and Albert Belle hold the major league record with 17. Martinez is hitting .418 with seven doubles and 36 RBIs in September, breaking Luis Gonzalez's franchise record for RBIs in the month.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- George Springer drilled a grand slam and the Houston Astros completed a sweep by blasting the Texas Rangers 12-2 Wednesday afternoon in the series finale.The Astros improved to a season-best 38 games above .500 with their 11th win in the last 13 contests. Houston moved within a half-game of Cleveland for the best record in the American League, pending the result of the Indians' game against the Minnesota Twins later Wednesday.The Rangers suffered their sixth straight loss and are now assured of only their second losing season since 2009.The Astros reached double figures in scoring in all three games and outscored Texas 37-7. Houston also scored at least 11 in all three games, a first in franchise history.Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3PHOENIX -- Right fielder J.D. Martinez tied the National League record for homers in September and Arizona scored three runs in the ninth inning for a walk-off victory.Martinez led off the ninth inning with a solo homer, his 16th blast of September,... [More]

RF J.D. Martinez has averaged a homer every 9 1/2 at-bats this season, the best ratio in the major leagues, after hitting a grand slam and driving in six runs Tuesday. He has 44 homers, 28 since coming to Arizona on July 18, and a career-high 103 RBIs. Imagine his numbers had he not missed the first six weeks with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot while with Detroit. "Everyone always says that, but you guys know who I am by now," Martinez said. "I don't like to look into things. I just worry about today, worry about tomorrow, about who I'm facing. That's what I've learned is the best way to handle these distractions you can get caught up in. Right now, we're just on a mission." Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, with 57 homers, comes in at a shade over 10 homers per at-bat. Martinez is hitting .414 with 15 homers and 35 RBIs in 21 games in September.

MILWAUKEE -- Jose Quintana struck out 10 in a three-hitter game as the Chicago Cubs moved closer to clinching the National League Central by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 on Sunday.Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer for the defending World Series champions, who have a magic number of two to clinch.Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 2PHOENIX -- J.D. Martinez singled with two outs in the ninth inning and Arizona edged Miami to clinch its first playoff spot since 2011.Chris Herrmann homered for Arizona, which holds the first National League wild-card spot.Giancarlo Stanton increased his RBI total to 126, moving into a tie with Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the major league lead.Angels 7, Astros 5HOUSTON -- Brandon Phillips and Justin Upton homered and drove in two runs apiece, and Luis Valbuena also had two RBIs in Los Angeles win over Houston.The Angels remain 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second American... [More]

RF J.D. Martinez assured Arizona of home-field advantage in the Oct. 4 NL wild-card game with his walk-off single Sunday against Miami.He has 27 homers and 58 RBIs since being acquired from Detroit on July 18, and included was the 18th four-homer game in major league history. "They've embraced me from the moment I came in," Martinez said. "I said it from the moment I came here: I am just trying to jump on your guys' train. This isn't it. It gets better. Every one gets bigger. Every one gets more celebration, more bottles. From the day I got here, they've been talking about making the playoffs and doing something that hasn't been done in a while."

MILWAUKEE -- Jose Quintana struck out 10 in a three-hitter game as the Chicago Cubs moved closer to clinching the National League Central by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 on Sunday.Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer for the defending World Series champions, who have a magic number of two to clinch.Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 2PHOENIX -- J.D. Martinez singled with two outs in the ninth inning and Arizona edged Miami to clinch its first playoff spot since 2011.Chris Herrmann homered for Arizona, which holds the first National League wild-card spot.Giancarlo Stanton increased his RBI total to 126, moving into a tie with Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the major league lead.Angels 7, Astros 5HOUSTON -- Brandon Phillips and Justin Upton homered and drove in two runs apiece, and Luis Valbuena also had two RBIs in Los Angeles win over Houston.The Angels remain 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second American... [More]

MILWAUKEE -- Jose Quintana struck out 10 in a three-hitter game as the Chicago Cubs moved closer to clinching the National League Central Division by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 on Sunday.Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer for the defending World Series champions, who have a magic number of two to clinch.Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Twins 10, Tigers 4DETROIT -- Eduardo Escobar hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Minnesota rolled over Detroit. Jorge Polanco also homered and Joe Mauer drove in two runs as Minnesota moved to within four games behind the New York Yankees for the first wild card spot.Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer for Detroit, which dropped its seventh straight. Red Sox 5, Reds 4 CINCINNATI -- Mookie Betts hit a three-run double in the eighth inning and scored on a single by Rafael Devers as Boston beat Cincinnati.Betts helped the Red Sox lower their magic number for clinching the American League East to... [More]

OF J.D. Martinez has 27 home runs since July 19, second behind Stanton. Martinez also drove in his 28th run of the month, tying Luis Gonzalez for the single month record he set in March-April 2000.

RF J.D. Martinez tied the Arizona franchise record for homers in a month when he hit his 13th in the ninth inning of Friday's win over Miami. Luis Gonzalez had 13 in April, 2001. Martinez has 42 homers, 26 since joining the Diamondbacks on July 18. 1B Paul Goldschmidt and Martinez hit 3-4 in the lineup for the fourth straight game after hitting in virtually 4-5 in every game in which both played since Martinez was acquired. "It seems to suit them well and suit the team well," manager Torey Lovullo said. "Paul hitting in the first, and J.D. hitting behind him, I just felt it was the right part of the lineup to hit those guys. Is that something that we permanently do? I don't know yet. It's working right now and we'll stay with it."

OF J.D Martinez has hit 12 home runs in September as he continues to sizzle after being acquired from the Tigers at the trade deadling. His 12 homers in a month ties for the second-most by a player in Diamondback history.

RF J.D. Martinez continues to get on base as he went 1-for-3 on Monday with a single. Martinez, who came over from the Tigers last month, is 26-for-62 with 11 homers and 22 RBIs over his last 15 games.Padres

RF J.D. Martinez hit his 40th home run of the season on Sunday in Arizona's loss to the Giants. After starting the season with the Tigers, Martinez became just the fifth player to hit a combined 40 homers for two teams in the same season. The others who previously accomplished the feat were LF Greg Vaughn (1996, Brewers and Padres), 1B Mark McGwire (1997, Athletics and Cardinals), RF/DH David Justice (2000, Indians and Yankees) and 1B Adam Dunn (2008, Reds and Diamondbacks).

RF J.D. Martinez (stiff neck) returned to the lineup Saturday night and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Diamondbacks' 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Martinez sat out Friday's series opener as a late scratch after his neck bothered him in the pregame warmups.

RF J.D. Martinez (stiff neck) was a late scratch from the Diamondbacks' announced starting lineup Friday night against the San Francisco Giants. He never left the bench in Arizona's 3-2 win. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo indicated afterward that the injury is not considered to be serious, and that Martinez would be re-evaluated before Saturday's game.

RF J.D. Martinez was 2-for-4 with another homer and two runs, extending his steak of reaching base safely to 18 consecutive games. He has 23 homers in 49 games since being acquired from Detroit on July 18, with 10 homers in his last 11 games including a four-homer game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 4. During the 18-game streak, he is batting .394 with six doubles, 13 homers and 23 RBIs, during which the Diamondbacks are 14-4.

RF J.D. Martinez was 3-for-4 with two singles and a double after being named the NL player of the week earlier in the day. He slashed .429/.448/1.214 with seven homers and 11 RBIs in six games last week, including his four-homer game at Dodger Stadium on Monday. "He's been a very consistent hitter," manager Torey Lovullo said. "Everybody is talking about the home runs, and we love those. Those are instant points. In certain cases he's been doing exactly what he's supposed to do every at-bat. He knows what the at-bat is asking for, and he has a series of approaches that can counter-punch every pitch or every type of area that the pitchers retrying to cover.

OF J.D. Martinez received a request from the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the bat he used to club four home runs Monday night in Los Angeles. The Hall of Fame said there is no rush and they will take the memento to put on display once Martinez takes it out of action himself. He became just the 18th player in baseball history to hit four home runs in a single game.

OF J.D. Martinez tied the all-time single-game record for home runs with four. Martinez is the 18th player in history to hit four home runs in a game. He hit all four against four pitchers -- Rich Hill, Pedro Baez, Josh Fields and Wilmer Font.