CHICAGO (AP) — Shortly after their playoff spot was assured, the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 on Albert Almora Jr.'s single with two outs in the 10th inning Wednesday night.The NL Central-leading Cubs clinched their fourth straight postseason appearance when Milwaukee beat St. Louis. The Brewers, who sealed a playoff slot with their win, are a half-game behind Chicago. One of them will win the NL Central, the other will play in the NL wild-card game.After Pittsburgh tied it in the ninth on a two-out, two-run double by Starling Marte, the Cubs bounced back to win. Ian Happ led off the 10th with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Terrance Gore. Mike Freeman's sacrifice moved up Gore, and he took third on a groundout. Almora singled to left on an 0-2 pitch from Richard Rodriguez (4-3).Jason Heyward homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs. Javier Baez singled for his NL-leading 111th RBI as the Cubs won after blowing a five-run lead. Star third baseman Kris Bryant... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinch-runner fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 victory over the contending Cardinals.The Chicago Cubs also sealed a postseason berth because of the Cardinals' loss.Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles as the Brewers completed a three-game sweep.The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter walked and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first. Garcia was waved home but fell halfway to the plate, allowing second baseman Hernan Perez to easily throw him out to end the inning.Chacin (15-8), who had lost his last three decisions, gave up one run on just one hit over five innings. Xavier Cedeno, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader and Jeremy... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinch-runner fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 victory over the contending Cardinals.The Chicago Cubs also sealed a postseason berth because of the Cardinals' loss.Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles as the Brewers completed a three-game sweep.The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter walked and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first. Garcia was waved home but fell halfway to the plate, allowing second baseman Hernan Perez to easily throw him out to end the inning.Chacin (15-8), who had lost his last three decisions, gave up one run on just one hit over five innings. Xavier Cedeno, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader and Jeremy... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinch-runner fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 victory over the contending Cardinals.Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles as the Brewers completed a three-game sweep.The Brewers began the night a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central and 3 1/2 games ahead of Colorado for the top wild-card slot. St. Louis entered a half-game behind the Rockies for the final wild-card berth.The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter walked and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first. Garcia was waved home but fell halfway to the plate, allowing second baseman Hernan Perez to easily throw him out to end the inning.Chacin... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez had three of Boston's season-high 22 hits, including a three run homer that brought his major league-leading RBIs total to 127, and the Red Sox beat Baltimore 19-3 on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader that sent the Orioles to a franchise-record 112th loss.The once-proud Orioles (45-112) had lost more than 100 games just once since moving to Baltimore in 1954, in 1988 when they lost their first 21 games en route to a 55-107 record. The previous franchise record of 111 losses was set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns. Baltimore dropped 61 1/2 games behind Boston (107-51), which extended the franchise record wins it set Monday.In the makeup of Tuesday night's rainout, David Price (16-7) settled down after an early stumble in his final tuneup before the playoffs. He allowed three runs — all in the second inning — six hits and three walks, striking out six before leaving with a 10-3 lead after five.Price is expected to start Game 2 of the AL Division Series... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez had three of Boston's season-high 22 hits, including a three run homer that brought his major league-leading RBIs total to 127, and the Red Sox beat Baltimore 19-3 on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader that sent the Orioles to a franchise-record 112th loss.The once-proud Orioles (45-112) had lost more than 100 games just once since moving to Baltimore in 1954, in 1988 when they lost their first 21 games en route to a 55-107 record. The previous franchise record of 111 losses was set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns. Baltimore dropped 61 1/2 games behind Boston (107-51), which extended the franchise record wins it set Monday.In the makeup of Tuesday night's rainout, David Price (16-7) settled down after an early stumble in his final tuneup before the playoffs. He allowed three runs — all in the second inning — six hits and three walks, striking out six before leaving with a 10-3 lead after five.Price is expected to start Game 2 of the AL Division Series... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez had three of Boston's season-high 22 hits, including a three run homer that brought his major league-leading RBIs total to 127, and the Red Sox beat Baltimore 19-3 on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader that sent the Orioles to a franchise-record 112th loss.The once-proud Orioles (45-112) had lost more than 100 games just once since moving to Baltimore in 1954, in 1988 when they lost their first 21 games en route to a 55-107 record. The previous franchise record of 111 losses was set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns. Baltimore dropped 61 1/2 games behind Boston (107-51), which extended the franchise record wins it set Monday.In the makeup of Tuesday night's rainout, David Price (16-7) settled down after an early stumble in his final tuneup before the playoffs. He allowed three runs — all in the second inning — six hits and three walks, striking out six before leaving with a 10-3 lead after five.Price is expected to start Game 2 of the AL Division Series... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Walker hit a three-run homer, Zach Britton started a game-ending double play on New York's third try in the ninth inning and the Yankees kept the Boston Red Sox from a bubbly celebration in the Bronx for at least another night with a 3-2 victory Tuesday.Batting from the left side, Walker launched a no-doubter in the seventh inning off Ryan Brasier for the Yankees' third hit of the game and a 3-1 lead.Aaron Judge returned to New York's lineup for the first time since breaking his right wrist July 26, while AL MVP candidate Mookie Betts got a day off for Boston after injuring his left side Sunday. Judge hit a pop fly to the warning track but finished 0 for 4.New York moved 2½ games ahead of Oakland for the top AL wild card. The A's lost at home to the Angels.Boston is trying to clinch the AL East at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three years. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 10 1/2 games and entered the night with a magic number of four over the Astros to lock up... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Justin Turner homered on Zack Greinke's first pitch of the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Friday night.Los Angeles began the day two games behind Arizona in the NL West and 2 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.The Dodgers also announced they had acquired third baseman David Freese from the Pirates in exchange for minor league infielder Jesus Manuel Valdez.Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for his 33rd save. Paul Goldschmidt doubled with one out, but Jansen struck out David Peralta and retired Eduardo Escobar on a grounder to shortstop.Enrique Hernandez also homered for Los Angeles, and Dylan Floro (5-3) got the win.Goldschmidt hit his 31st homer for Arizona, and Greinke (13-9) gave up six hits in 7 1/3 innings.WHITE SOX 6, RED SOX 1CHICAGO (AP) — Yoan Moncada and Matt Davidson homered for Chicago, and prized prospect Michael Kopech combined with three relievers on a five-hitter.Major league-leading Boston had won three in... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres drove in the go-ahead run one batter after a contested check swing loaded the bases for New York in the eighth inning, and the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5 on Friday night as they await the arrival of 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen.Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar homered in the sixth to end Jordan Zimmermann's bid for a second career no-hitter. Zimmermann carried a 3-0 lead and a no-hitter into the inning behind a solo homer from Niko Goodrum and a two-run triple by Jim Adduci.New York trailed 5-4 when it loaded the bases against Joe Jimenez (4-4) on a double by Gardner and walks by Hicks and Luke Voit. Voit was ruled to have checked his swing on a 3-2, two-out pitch. Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected for arguing that Voit went around.Torres then lined an 0-1 pitch from Alex Wilson to left field for a single, and the ball ricocheted off the head of diving left fielder Mikie Mahtook, allowing two runs to score for a 6-5 Yankees lead.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres drove in the go-ahead run one batter after a contested check swing loaded the bases for New York in the eighth inning, and the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5 on Friday night as they await the arrival of 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen.Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar homered in the sixth to end Jordan Zimmermann's bid for a second career no-hitter. Zimmermann carried a 3-0 lead and a no-hitter into the inning behind a solo homer from Niko Goodrum and a two-run triple by Jim Adduci.New York trailed 5-4 when it loaded the bases against Joe Jimenez (4-4) on a double by Gardner and walks by Hicks and Luke Voit. Voit was ruled to have checked his swing on a 3-2, two-out pitch. Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected for arguing that Voit went around.Torres then lined an 0-1 pitch from Alex Wilson to left field for a single, and the ball ricocheted off the head of diving left fielder Mikie Mahtook, allowing two runs to score for a 6-5 Yankees lead.... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray made the most of a foray into the starting rotation by taking a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Saturday night for a doubleheader sweep.In the opener, rookie Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ (15-6) won his fifth straight start and New York rolled to a 10-3 victory.Gray (10-8) gave up three hits, a walk and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been exiled to the bullpen after yielding seven runs in a loss to Baltimore on Aug. 1.Gray allowed only one runner past second base in helping the Yankees notch their seventh win in eight games to pull seven games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Austin Romine homered, had three hits and scored three runs for the Yankees, who led 4-0 after four innings against Andrew Cashner (4-12).Andujar had two hits in each game to raise his batting average to .300. He leads AL rookies in batting, multihit games (43) and RBIs (70).RAYS... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray made the most of a foray into the starting rotation by taking a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Saturday night for a doubleheader sweep.In the opener, rookie Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ (15-6) won his fifth straight start and New York rolled to a 10-3 victory.Gray (10-8) gave up three hits, a walk and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been exiled to the bullpen after yielding seven runs in a loss to Baltimore on Aug. 1.Gray allowed only one runner past second base in helping the Yankees notch their seventh win in eight games to pull seven games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Austin Romine homered, had three hits and scored three runs for the Yankees, who led 4-0 after four innings against Andrew Cashner (4-12).Andujar had two hits in each game to raise his batting average to .300. He leads AL rookies in batting, multihit games (43) and RBIs (70).RAYS... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie David Bote struck again, connecting in the 10th inning for another game-ending home run that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday for their third straight victory.Bote got behind 0-2 before driving Raisel Iglesias' next pitch deep to left field with one out. The infielder hit a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out grand slam that beat Washington 4-3 on Aug. 12.Iglesias (2-2) had made seven straight scoreless appearances. Jesse Chavez (4-2), the sixth Cubs reliever, pitched a scoreless inning.Daniel Murphy hit his first homer since being traded Tuesday from Washington to the NL Central-leading Cubs. Alec Mills pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his first major league start.Cincinnati wasted a terrific start by Matt Harvey in its fourth loss in five games. Harvey struck out six in 5 1/3 innings after reportedly being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. He stayed with the Reds when they couldn't work out a deal.BREWERS 7, PIRATES 6, 15 inningsMILWAUKEE... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie David Bote struck again, connecting in the 10th inning for another game-ending home run that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday for their third straight victory.Bote got behind 0-2 before driving Raisel Iglesias' next pitch deep to left field with one out. The infielder hit a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out grand slam that beat Washington 4-3 on Aug. 12.Iglesias (2-2) had made seven straight scoreless appearances. Jesse Chavez (4-2), the sixth Cubs reliever, pitched a scoreless inning.Daniel Murphy hit his first homer since being traded Tuesday from Washington to the NL Central-leading Cubs. Alec Mills pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his first major league start.Cincinnati wasted a terrific start by Matt Harvey in its fourth loss in five games. Harvey struck out six in 5 1/3 innings after reportedly being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. He stayed with the Reds when they couldn't work out a deal.RAYS 10, RED SOX 3ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie David Bote struck again, connecting in the 10th inning for another game-ending home run that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday for their third straight victory.Bote got behind 0-2 before driving Raisel Iglesias' next pitch deep to left field with one out. The infielder hit a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out grand slam that beat Washington 4-3 on Aug. 12.Iglesias (2-2) had made seven straight scoreless appearances. Jesse Chavez (4-2), the sixth Cubs reliever, pitched a scoreless inning.Daniel Murphy hit his first homer since being traded Tuesday from Washington to the NL Central-leading Cubs. Alec Mills pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his first major league start.Cincinnati wasted a terrific start by Matt Harvey in its fourth loss in five games. Harvey struck out six in 5 1/3 innings after reportedly being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. He stayed with the Reds when they couldn't work out a deal.RAYS 10, RED SOX 3ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie David Bote struck again, connecting in the 10th inning for another game-ending home run that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday for their third straight victory.Bote got behind 0-2 before driving Raisel Iglesias' next pitch deep to left field with one out. The infielder hit a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out grand slam that beat Washington 4-3 on Aug. 12.Iglesias (2-2) had made seven straight scoreless appearances. Jesse Chavez (4-2), the sixth Cubs reliever, pitched a scoreless inning.Daniel Murphy hit his first homer since being traded Tuesday from Washington to the NL Central-leading Cubs. Alec Mills pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his first major league start.Cincinnati wasted a terrific start by Matt Harvey in its fourth loss in five games. Harvey struck out six in 5 1/3 innings after reportedly being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. He stayed with the Reds when they couldn't work out a deal.RAYS 10, RED SOX 3ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Khris Davis hit a long home run after letting a young fan from the Make-A-Wish Foundation sign his jersey, Ramon Laureano hit the first two homers of his career, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 9-0 on Monday night.Davis' shot for his 37th homer of the year was estimated at 438 feet and clanked off a window in the suite-level in left-center field. He did it wearing a uniform signed by 10-year-old Anthony Slocumb. The Oakland sixth-grader attended the game with a group from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Davis asked him to sign his jersey before the game.Laureano connected in the second and again in the sixth with a three-run shot that chased Bartolo Colon (7-11), the 45-year-old Rangers starter scratched a day earlier against the Angels because of back stiffness.Stephen Piscotty homered in the seventh and Marcus Semien added an RBI double to back Mike Fiers (9-6) as Oakland matched Houston atop the AL West.INDIANS 5, RED SOX 4BOSTON (AP) — Greg Allen... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Greg Allen hit a tiebreaking homer right after Boston pitcher Rick Porcello was struck in the midsection by a line drive, and Corey Kluber tied for the major league wins lead as the Cleveland Indians beat the Red Sox 5-4 Monday night.Kluber (16-6) pitched into the seventh inning and matched Washington's Max Scherzer and the Yankees' Luis Severino for the most victories in the majors. Michael Brantley and Melky Cabrera also homered to help the AL Central-leading Indians improve to 14-4 in August.Xander Bogaerts had an early two-run single and an RBI single in the ninth for East-leading Boston. Ian Kinsler flied out with two runners on base, leaving the Red Sox with just their fifth loss in 22 games.In a matchup of the AL's last two Cy Young Award winners, it was 3-all into the seventh. Porcello (15-6) retired the leadoff batter and retired the next hitter. Yan Gomes followed with a liner that hit Porcello near the stomach — Porcello retrieved the ball near the mound, threw... [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]