A look at what's happening around the majors Friday: ___ CRUNCH TIME Eight teams in the National League are vying for four available postseason spots heading into the regular season’s final weekend, and Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty can get St. Louis a crucial win in the opener of a doubleheader against Milwaukee. The clubs opened a five-game series Thursday that could have huge implications on the race, as none of the six other contenders are facing each other. The Marlins, Phillies, Cardinals, Reds, Brewers and Giants are the top teams still in contention -- and they’re packed tightly with slots available for one team from the NL East, another from the NL Central and then two wild cards. The Mets (26-31) and Rockies (25-31) are mathematically eligible but need to win out just to have a shot. AL-MOST OVER Only one playoff spot remains open in the AL, and Michael Brantley and the Astros are on the verge of clinching it. Houston is visiting the Rangers this weekend. The Twins are trying to... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres are returning to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years after beating the Seattle Mariners 7-4 Sunday with a three-run rally in the 11th inning that included a go-ahead double by newcomer Mitch Moreland. The clincher came in the finale of a series that was moved from Seattle because of poor air quality due to wildfires, so the Mariners were considered the home team and batted last. After closer Trevor Rosenthal (1-0), another newcomer, struck out Phillip Ervin for the final out, the Padres had a brief but joyous celebration in the infield. Then they gathered near the dugouts to get playoff caps and T-shirts. Although Petco Park was devoid of spectators, a handful of fans watched from a rooftop bar just beyond left-center field and several others watched from balconies on an office building high above right field. Casey Sadler (1-1) took the loss. RED SOX 10, YANKEES 2 BOSTON (AP) — Tanner Houck took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his second... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:___DIVISION DUST-UPThe Padres and Dodgers open their final series this season, perhaps San Diego’s best chance to close in on the eight-time reigning NL West champions. Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 1.98) faces emerging Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 2.24) in the first of three games at Petco Park. Lamet’s only loss this season came against the Dodgers on Aug. 4.WINDY WEEKThe Minnesota Twins begin a weeklong stay in Chicago, taking on a pair of first-place teams.José Berríos (4-3, 4.40 ERA) starts the opener of a four-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field, trailing the White Sox by one game in the AL Central. He’s won three straight decisions and will go against Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.33 ERA).The White Sox have won four in a row. After finishing on the South Side, the Twins will move to Wrigley Field next weekend to play the NL Central-leading Cubs.ON THE ROADAfter beating Texas on Sunday afternoon, Oakland is in Seattle for... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:___DIVISION DUST-UPThe Padres and Dodgers open their final series this season, perhaps San Diego’s best chance to close in on the eight-time reigning NL West champions. Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 1.98) faces emerging Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 2.24) in the first of three games at Petco Park. Lamet’s only loss this season came against the Dodgers on Aug. 4.WINDY WEEKThe Minnesota Twins begin a weeklong stay in Chicago, taking on a pair of first-place teams.José Berríos (4-3, 4.40 ERA) starts the opener of a four-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field, trailing the White Sox by one game in the AL Central. He’s won three straight decisions and will go against Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.33 ERA).The White Sox have won four in a row. After finishing on the South Side, the Twins will move to Wrigley Field next weekend to play the NL Central-leading Cubs.ON THE ROADAfter beating Texas on Sunday afternoon, Oakland is in Seattle... [More]

White sox fifth. Nomar Mazara strikes out swinging. Nick Madrigal doubles to deep left center field. Tim Anderson singles to center field, advances to 2nd. Nick Madrigal out at home. Yoan Moncada singles to shallow center field. Tim Anderson scores. Yasmani Grandal homers to right field. Yoan Moncada scores. Jose Abreu strikes out swinging.3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. White sox 3, Pirates 0.Pirates fifth. Colin Moran grounds out to first base, Jose Abreu to Dylan Cease. Gregory Polanco grounds out to second base, Nick Madrigal to Jose Abreu. Josh Bell doubles to left field. Ke'Bryan Hayes triples to deep right field. Josh Bell scores. Kevin Newman singles to shallow left field. Ke'Bryan Hayes scores. Jacob Stallings flies out to shallow right field to Nomar Mazara.2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. White sox 3, Pirates 2.White sox eighth. Yoan Moncada grounds out to shallow right field, Josh Bell to Chris Stratton. Yasmani Grandal grounds out to shallow infield, Chris Stratton... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer leading off the 10th inning Thursday night, lifting the New York Mets to a come-from-behind, 9-7 win over the Yankees in the final Subway Series game of the season between the teams.The Mets came back from deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 at Citi Field to earn a split of the six-game season series, all of which was played over the last six days. J.D. Davis forced extra innings by homering off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman one pitch after pinch-runner Billy Hamilton was thrown out trying to steal third base. Alonso then hit the second pitch he saw from Albert Abreu (0-1) well into the left-field seats for his first walk-off homer.Alonso raised his arms and looked towards the dugout as the Mets spilled out to celebrate a win on the afternoon they honored franchise icon Tom Seaver, whose death was announced Wednesday.Edwin Diaz (2-1) tossed two innings and faced only two batters in the 10th. Tyler Wade, who started the inning on second base as the automatic... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer leading off the 10th inning Thursday night, lifting the New York Mets to a come-from-behind, 9-7 win over the Yankees in the final Subway Series game of the season between the teams.The Mets came back from deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 at Citi Field to earn a split of the six-game season series, all of which was played over the last six days. J.D. Davis forced extra innings by homering off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman one pitch after pinch-runner Billy Hamilton was thrown out trying to steal third base. Alonso then hit the second pitch he saw from Albert Abreu (0-1) well into the left-field seats for his first walk-off homer.Alonso raised his arms and looked towards the dugout as the Mets spilled out to celebrate a win on the afternoon they honored franchise icon Tom Seaver, whose death was announced Wednesday.Edwin Diaz (2-1) tossed two innings and faced only two batters in the 10th. Tyler Wade, who started the inning on second base as the automatic... [More]

Royals second. Maikel Franco grounds out to shallow infield, Jose Abreu to Dylan Cease. Alex Gordon homers to right field. Adalberto Mondesi grounds out to shallow infield, Dylan Cease to Jose Abreu. Nicky Lopez strikes out swinging.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Royals 1, White sox 0.White sox third. Luis Robert singles to right field. Nomar Mazara grounds out to second base, Nicky Lopez to Ryan O'Hearn. Luis Robert to third. Nick Madrigal singles to shallow infield. Luis Robert scores. Tim Anderson singles to shallow right field. Nick Madrigal to third. Yoan Moncada walks. Tim Anderson to second. Yasmani Grandal strikes out swinging. Jose Abreu strikes out swinging.1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 3 left on. Royals 1, White sox 1.White sox fourth. Eloy Jimenez walks. Edwin Encarnacion homers to left field. Eloy Jimenez scores. Luis Robert called out on strikes. Nomar Mazara grounds out to shallow infield, Brady Singer to Ryan O'Hearn. Nick Madrigal grounds out to shortstop, Adalberto Mondesi... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiké Hernández hit a three-run drive and Mookie Betts went deep twice in the Dodgers’ seven-homer attack, powering Los Angeles past the Colorado Rockies 11-3 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.The Dodgers are the only team in the majors yet to lose a series, unbeaten in 11. They have won 11 of 12 games overall and own the best record in baseball at 22-8 at the halfway point of this abbreviated season.Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Will Smith and Max Muncy also homered for Los Angeles. Victor Gonzalez (1-0) earned his first major league victory.Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard went deep for Colorado in its season-high seventh consecutive loss. Antonio Senzatela (3-1) allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.PADRES 5, ASTROS 3SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. made two spectacular plays at shortstop, Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and San Diego completed a three-game series sweep. The Padres have won seven straight, all against... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiké Hernández hit a three-run drive and Mookie Betts went deep twice in the Dodgers’ seven-homer attack, powering Los Angeles past the Colorado Rockies 11-3 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.The Dodgers are the only team in the majors yet to lose a series, unbeaten in 11. They have won 11 of 12 games overall and own the best record in baseball at 22-8 at the halfway point of this abbreviated season.Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Will Smith and Max Muncy also homered for Los Angeles. Victor Gonzalez (1-0) earned his first major league victory.Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard went deep for Colorado in its season-high seventh consecutive loss. Antonio Senzatela (3-1) allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.PADRES 5, ASTROS 3SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. made two spectacular plays at shortstop, Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and San Diego completed a three-game series sweep. The Padres have won seven straight, all against... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Yu Darvish struck out 10 in his career-high fifth consecutive victory, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Sunday to stop the South Siders’ seven-game win streak.Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Cubs won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games. The NL Central leaders were outscored 17-5 in the first two games of the series.José Abreu went deep for the White Sox in the second, matching a major league record with a home run in four consecutive at-bats. Abreu connected five times in the first two games against the Cubs, including three homers and four RBIs in Saturday night’s 7-4 win.Darvish (5-1) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. Jeremy Jeffress got four outs for his third save.White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (4-2) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings in his first game against his former team. He had won his last four starts.CARDINALS 6, REDS 2ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina had four hits and top... [More]

A look at what's happening on Sunday in the majors:WINDY CITY WINDUPYu Darvish tries for his career-high fifth straight win when he starts for the Cubs against the White Sox in the series finale at Wrigley Field.Darvish (4-1, 1.80 ERA) has dominated since losing his first outing of the season. The 34-year-old Japanese star traces some of his success to taking a more deliberate approach on the mound.Dylan Cease (4-1, 3.16 ERA) has won four straight starts for the White Sox, allowing just five earned runs in that span. The 24-year-old righty was drafted by the Cubs in 2014, and then traded across town with outfielder Eloy Jiménez in a package for pitcher José Quintana in July 2017. Cease has never faced the Cubs.GREINKE VS. PADRESEven at 36 years old, right-hander Zack Greinke keeps chugging along as one of the best pitchers in the big leagues. The six-time All-Star and 2009 Cy Young Award winner has a 1.84 ERA through five starts, helping the Astros maintain a winning record despite a rash... [More]

Brandon Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games, Austin Meadows also connected and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 6-3 Tuesday night.The second-place Rays cut their deficit to 1 1/2 games in the opener of this three-game set. Tampa Bay has won four of five in the season series.Luke Voit hit his third homer in two days and Gary Sánchez also went deep, but New York ended a six-game winning streak and dropped to 10-1 at Yankee Stadium this season. Kevin Kiermaier lined a one-out triple in the third inning and scored on a hit by nine-hole hitter Michael Perez. Meadows followed with a base hit, and then Lowe drilled a three-run shot to center off Masahiro Tanaka (0-1) for a 4-0 lead.Tanaka was charged with six runs — five earned — and eight hits over four innings.Blake Snell (2-0) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks. Nick Anderson and Chaz Roe combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth, with Roe converting his first save opportunity.NATIONALS 8, BRAVES... [More]

Brandon Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games, Austin Meadows also connected and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 6-3 Tuesday night.The second-place Rays cut their deficit to 1 1/2 games in the opener of this three-game set. Tampa Bay has won four of five in the season series.Luke Voit hit his third homer in two days and Gary Sánchez also went deep, but New York ended a six-game winning streak and dropped to 10-1 at Yankee Stadium this season. Kevin Kiermaier lined a one-out triple in the third inning and scored on a hit by nine-hole hitter Michael Perez. Meadows followed with a base hit, and then Lowe drilled a three-run shot to center off Masahiro Tanaka (0-1) for a 4-0 lead.Tanaka was charged with six runs — five earned — and eight hits over four innings.Blake Snell (2-0) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks. Nick Anderson and Chaz Roe combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth, with Roe converting his first save opportunity.NATIONALS 8, BRAVES... [More]

Brandon Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games, Austin Meadows also connected and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 6-3 Tuesday night.The second-place Rays cut their deficit to 1 1/2 games in the opener of this three-game set. Tampa Bay has won four of five in the season series.Luke Voit hit his third homer in two days and Gary Sánchez also went deep, but New York ended a six-game winning streak and dropped to 10-1 at Yankee Stadium this season. Kevin Kiermaier lined a one-out triple in the third inning and scored on a hit by nine-hole hitter Michael Perez. Meadows followed with a base hit, and then Lowe drilled a three-run shot to center off Masahiro Tanaka (0-1) for a 4-0 lead.Tanaka was charged with six runs — five earned — and eight hits over four innings.Blake Snell (2-0) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks. Nick Anderson and Chaz Roe combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth, with Roe converting his first save opportunity.NATIONALS 8, BRAVES... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings in his first appearance against Cleveland since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and Anthony Rizzo homered, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 7-2 win over the Indians on Wednesday night to match their best start in 50 years.Hendricks (3-1) didn’t have much trouble with the slumping Indians. He allowed one run and seven hits and handled everyone in Cleveland’s lineup but Franmil Reyes, who got three hits.The Cubs are 12-3 in their first season under manager David Ross, matching the club’s start after 15 games in 1970. Rizzo homered in the third off Carlos Carrasco (2-2), David Bote drove in two runs and Kris Bryant connected for a 430-foot shot as the Cubs swept the two-game interleague set.Hendricks hadn’t faced the Indians since Nov. 2, 2016, when he started the dramatic finale as the Cubs beat the Indians in extra innings to clinch their first Series title since 1908. ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Piscotty, Matt... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings in his first appearance against Cleveland since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and Anthony Rizzo homered, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 7-2 win over the Indians on Wednesday night to match their best start in 50 years.Hendricks (3-1) didn’t have much trouble with the slumping Indians. He allowed one run and seven hits and handled everyone in Cleveland’s lineup but Franmil Reyes, who got three hits.The Cubs are 12-3 in their first season under manager David Ross, matching the club’s start after 15 games in 1970. Rizzo homered in the third off Carlos Carrasco (2-2), David Bote drove in two runs and Kris Bryant connected for a 430-foot shot as the Cubs swept the two-game interleague set.Hendricks hadn’t faced the Indians since Nov. 2, 2016, when he started the dramatic finale as the Cubs beat the Indians in extra innings to clinch their first Series title since 1908. ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Piscotty, Matt... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings in his first appearance against Cleveland since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and Anthony Rizzo homered, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 7-2 win over the Indians on Wednesday night to match their best start in 50 years.Hendricks (3-1) didn’t have much trouble with the slumping Indians. He allowed one run and seven hits and handled everyone in Cleveland’s lineup but Franmil Reyes, who got three hits.The Cubs are 12-3 in their first season under manager David Ross, matching the club’s start after 15 games in 1970. Rizzo homered in the third off Carlos Carrasco (2-2), David Bote drove in two runs and Kris Bryant connected for a 430-foot shot as the Cubs swept the two-game interleague set.Hendricks hadn’t faced the Indians since Nov. 2, 2016, when he started the dramatic finale as the Cubs beat the Indians in extra innings to clinch their first Series title since 1908. ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Piscotty, Matt... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings in his first appearance against Cleveland since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and Anthony Rizzo homered, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 7-2 win over the Indians on Wednesday night to match their best start in 50 years.Hendricks (3-1) didn’t have much trouble with the slumping Indians. He allowed one run and seven hits and handled everyone in Cleveland’s lineup but Franmil Reyes, who got three hits.The Cubs are 12-3 in their first season under manager David Ross, matching the club’s start after 15 games in 1970. Rizzo homered in the third off Carlos Carrasco (2-2), David Bote drove in two runs and Kris Bryant connected for a 430-foot shot as the Cubs swept the two-game interleague set.Hendricks hadn’t faced the Indians since Nov. 2, 2016, when he started the dramatic finale as the Cubs beat the Indians in extra innings to clinch their first Series title since 1908. ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Piscotty, Matt... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Michael Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on his 28th birthday, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 1-0 on Friday night.Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a leadoff walk from Adam Ottavino (2-1) in the eighth and went to second with one out when Kevin Kiermaier walked. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Perez put the Rays up 1-0 on his fly to center.Chaz Roe (2-0) went the final two innings for the win.Masahiro Tanaka allowed one hit and struck out five over five innings, retiring his final 13 batters after giving up a first-inning single to Yandy Diaz. The Yankees’ right-hander needed just 59 pitches in his second start after beginning the season on the concussion list after being struck in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s liner during a July 4th summer camp simulated game.Three New York pitchers also limited the Rays to just two hits.MARLINS 4, METS 3NEW... [More]