SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched baseball's final playoff berth and gave themselves a chance to still win the NL West, getting a go-ahead triple from Manny Machado in the eighth inning Saturday and beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6.The defending NL champions locked up their sixth straight trip to the postseason, assuring at least a spot in the wild-card game. The Dodgers joined Colorado, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee in the NL playoff field.Los Angeles began the day one game behind Colorado for the division lead, and the Rockies hosted Washington later in the day. The regular season is scheduled to end Sunday — if Los Angeles and Colorado finish even, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium.Machado, the star infielder acquired from Baltimore during the All-Star break, hit a two-out triple off Mark Melancon (1-4) for a 6-5 lead. Max Muncy added a two-run double during a four-run ninth.Alex Wood (9-7) pitched the seventh... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched baseball's final playoff berth and gave themselves a chance to still win the NL West, getting a go-ahead triple from Manny Machado in the eighth inning Saturday and beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6.The defending NL champions locked up their sixth straight trip to the postseason, assuring at least a spot in the wild-card game. The Dodgers joined Colorado, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee in the NL playoff field.Los Angeles began the day one game behind Colorado for the division lead, and the Rockies hosted Washington later in the day. The regular season is scheduled to end Sunday — if Los Angeles and Colorado finish even, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium.Machado, the star infielder acquired from Baltimore during the All-Star break, hit a two-out triple off Mark Melancon (1-4) for a 6-5 lead. Max Muncy added a two-run double during a four-run ninth.Alex Wood (9-7) pitched the seventh... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched baseball's final playoff berth and gave themselves a chance to still win the NL West, getting a go-ahead triple from Manny Machado in the eighth inning Saturday and beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6.The defending NL champions locked up their sixth straight trip to the postseason, assuring at least a spot in the wild-card game. The Dodgers joined Colorado, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee in the NL playoff field.Los Angeles began the day one game behind Colorado for the division lead, and the Rockies hosted Washington later in the day. The regular season is scheduled to end Sunday — if Los Angeles and Colorado finish even, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium.Machado, the star infielder acquired from Baltimore during the All-Star break, hit a two-out triple off Mark Melancon (1-4) for a 6-5 lead. Max Muncy added a two-run double during a four-run ninth.Alex Wood (9-7) pitched the seventh... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton has been plunked plenty of times. But by his own home run ball?The New York Yankees star homered over the Green Monster during Saturday's 8-5 win, connecting in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox. Stanton then got quite a surprise from a strong-armed fan while rounding second base at Fenway Park.A man wearing a black T-shirt heaved the souvenir from his first-row seat on top of the left-field wall, and the ball took a hop and bounced off Stanton."I wouldn't have thought it got to me that fast with a fan throwing it," Stanton said. "I've never seen it happen before, so that wasn't my first thought."The slugger continued his home run trot, but turned his head, smiled and appeared to tip his cap to the fan."He got it that far, got his target, he got in trouble for it," Stanton said. "I think it's fine on both sides."The game was briefly halted as umpires gathered near the third-base line to point out the fan to stadium security officials."You see... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton has been plunked plenty of times. But by his own home run ball?The New York Yankees star homered over the Green Monster on Saturday, connecting in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox. Stanton then got quite a surprise from a strong-armed fan while rounding second base at Fenway Park.A man wearing a black T-shirt heaved the souvenir from his first-row seat on top of the left-field wall, and the ball took a hop and bounced off Stanton. The slugger continued his home run trot, but turned his head, smiled and appeared to tip his cap to the fan.The game was briefly halted as umpires gathered near the third-base line to point out the fan to stadium security officials.Stanton's solo homer, the Yankees' 266th of the season, increased New York's lead to 8-2. Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer in the fourth to snap the Yankees' tie with the 1997 Seattle Mariners for the most in a single season in major league history.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge again has baseball's most popular jersey.MLB says the Yankee slugger's No. 99 was the top seller for the second straight season. Judge beat out 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve, who will be trying to repeat as a World Series champion with the Houston Astros next month.Judge and the Yankees will face Oakland in the AL wild-card game Wednesday. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton was ninth in jersey sales in his first season with New York.MVP candidates Javier Baez and Mookie Betts each jumped seven spots into the top five. Baez, an electrifying infielder with the Chicago Cubs, ranked third. Betts, the AL MVP favorite with the Boston Red Sox, was fifth.Clayton Kershaw was fourth on the list in what could be his final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw can opt out of the final two years of his deal at the end of the season. Bryce Harper ranked 13th in the last season of his contract with the Washington Nationals.Los Angeles Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani ranked eighth. The Japanese rookie also had the most visited player page on the league's website.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge again has baseball's most popular jersey.MLB says the Yankee slugger's No. 99 was the top seller for the second straight season. Judge beat out 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve, who will be trying to repeat as a World Series champion with the Houston Astros next month.Judge and the Yankees will face Oakland in the AL wild-card game Wednesday. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton was ninth in jersey sales in his first season with New York.MVP candidates Javier Baez and Mookie Betts each jumped seven spots into the top five. Baez, an electrifying infielder with the Chicago Cubs, ranked third. Betts, the AL MVP favorite with the Boston Red Sox, was fifth.Clayton Kershaw was fourth on the list in what could be his final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw can opt out of the final two years of his deal at the end of the season. Bryce Harper ranked 13th in the last season of his contract with the Washington Nationals.Los Angeles Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani ranked eighth. The Japanese rookie also had the most visited player page on the league's website.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves capped a most surprising season by clinching their first NL East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.A year after going 70-92, manager Brian Snitker and his Baby Braves surged back into the playoffs. A loud crowd at SunTrust Park joined the celebration as star Freddie Freeman, rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. and the rest of the Braves reveled.Atlanta makes its first postseason appearance since 2013 on Oct. 4 in the NL Division Series. It has not yet been determined who or where the youth-filled club will play in the best-of-five round.The Braves won their fourth straight game and beat second-place Philadelphia for the third day in a row. The Phillies, who led the division in early August, faded while going 6-14 this month.Foltynewicz (12-10) tipped his cap to a standing ovation as he left with runners on first and second in the eighth with a 4-0 lead.Arodys Vizcaino,... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves capped a most surprising season by clinching their first NL East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.A year after going 70-92, manager Brian Snitker and his Baby Braves surged back into the playoffs. A loud crowd at SunTrust Park joined the celebration as star Freddie Freeman, rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. and the rest of the Braves reveled.Atlanta makes its first postseason appearance since 2013 on Oct. 4 in the NL Division Series. It has not yet been determined who or where the youth-filled club will play in the best-of-five round.The Braves won their fourth straight game and beat second-place Philadelphia for the third day in a row. The Phillies, who led the division in early August, faded while going 6-14 this month.Foltynewicz (12-10) tipped his cap to a standing ovation as he left with runners on first and second in the eighth with a 4-0 lead.Arodys Vizcaino,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit and the New York Yankees set two home run records with one swing of the bat.The brawny first baseman hit a two-run shot to straightaway center field in the second inning Thursday night against Boston, giving the Yankees a major league-record 12 players with at least 10 home runs this season."It's pretty cool," Voit said. "That's kind of a cool stat to be a part of."Voit's homer also was the 246th for New York this year, breaking the franchise mark set in 2012. The Bronx Bombers ended the night with 247, including Giancarlo Stanton's seventh career grand slam in the fourth.The long balls weren't enough, though, as the Red Sox clinched their third consecutive AL East title with an 11-6 victory over the second-place Yankees."Up and down their lineup they just outslugged us a little bit," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.New York is on pace for 262 home runs — which would be two short of the big league record established by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.Voit, who also... [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]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit and the New York Yankees have set two home run records with one swing of the bat.The brawny first baseman hit a two-run shot to straightaway center field in the second inning Thursday night against Boston, giving the Yankees a major league-record 12 players with at least 10 home runs this season.Voit's homer also was the 246th for New York this year, breaking the franchise mark set in 2012. Entering the game, the Yankees were on pace for 263 home runs — one short of the big league record established by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.Voit, who also hit one homer for St. Louis this season, has connected 10 times in 30 games with the Yankees since they acquired him July 28. He went 4 for 4 with two home runs Wednesday night against the Red Sox.He joins Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, Greg Bird, Neil Walker and Austin Romine as players with double-digit homers for the Yankees this year.The other teams that had 11 players with 10 or more home runs were the Houston Astros in 2015 and 2017, the 2016 Minnesota Twins and the 2004 Detroit Tigers.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

While much of the focus last offseason was on the trade that sent Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins to the Yankees, there was another deal involving Miami that has turned out to have quite an impact on the postseason race.Christian Yelich was sent from the Marlins to Milwaukee in late January, and his second-half surge at the plate has the Brewers in good position to play on into October. If the season ended now, Milwaukee would be the National League's top wild card, and the division title is still in play for the Brewers, who trail the Cubs by only 2½ games in the NL Central. Milwaukee can thank Yelich, who is hitting .343 with a .700 slugging percentage since the All-Star break.There's been some discussion lately about whether a pitcher might win the NL MVP award, and that's in part because the top position players haven't really distinguished themselves. But Yelich's work down the stretch for a team in contention has been impressive. The Brewers gave up a highly regarded prospect in... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.Major league-leading Boston poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.Mookie Betts also homered as the Red Sox (93-42) earned their third straight win and increased their AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.Major league-leading Boston poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.Mookie Betts also homered as the Red Sox (93-42) earned their third straight win and increased their AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton joined the 300-home run club Thursday night, connecting for a two-run drive in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers.Stanton ended a 10-game homerless drought and became the 147th player to reach the mark, 11 of them active. He did it in 1,119 games, making him the fifth-fastest to hit the milestone behind Ralph Kiner, Ryan Howard, Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez.At 28, Stanton was the ninth-youngest player to hit 300. He hit his 33rd homer for New York. He led the majors with 59 last year and was the NL MVP before Miami traded him to the Yankees.Stanton went the opposite way for a drive into the right field seats on a 3-1 pitch from left-hander Francisco Liriano.Stanton watched the path of the ball for a couple seconds before flipping his bat aside with a small smile on his face. After rounding the bases and receiving a warm ovation from his teammates, he emerged from the dugout and doffed his helmet to the fans offering a standing ovation.The home run continued a gradual feeling-out process between the fans and Stanton, whose slumps have made him the occasional target for boos during his first season with the Yankees. He's had three dry spells of 10 or more games without a home run this year.

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]