Baseball Capsules
September 25, 2016
LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fourth straight NL West title, winning the crown in Vin Scully's final home game when Charlie Culberson homered with two outs in the 10th inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 Sunday.
Culberson hit his first homer of the season and just sixth of his career off Boone Logan (2-5) and the ball landed in the lower left-field seats, touching off wild cheers and a raucous celebration at home plate. The Dodgers charged out of their dugout and surrounded Culberson, jumping up and down. They donned championship T-shirts and hats from carts wheeled on the field.
The Dodgers took off their caps, turned toward Scully's broadcasting booth and held them in a salute to the 88-year-old Hall of Famer, who has just three games at San Francisco next weekend before ending his 67-year career.
The Dodgers became the first NL West team to win four straight division titles.
Joe Blanton (7-2) pitched the 10th to get the victory.
PADRES 4, GIANTS 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Rookie Manuel Margot tripled in the seventh inning and scored the go-ahead run on Wil Myers' single as San Diego dropped San Francisco a game behind the New York Mets in the NL wild-card race.
A few minutes before this game ended, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado in 10 innings to win the NL West title. The Dodgers came into Sunday seven games ahead of the Giants.
Margot, called up Wednesday from Pacific Coast League champion El Paso, tripled to right center off Cory Gearrin (3-2) with one out in the seventh and scored on Myers' single to right.
Margot doubled in the first and hit an RBI single in the second, both off rookie Ty Blach, who was making his first big league start, in place of the injured Johnny Cueto.
Brandon Morrow (1-0) got two outs for the victory. Brad Hand got the last five outs for his first save.
CUBS 3, CARDINALS 1
CHICAGO (AP) - David Ross homered and teamed with Jon Lester for another scoreless performance, and Chicago hurt St. Louis' wild-card chances.
Ben Zobrist had three hits and scored two runs as Chicago finished with a major league-best 57-24 home record. It's the most home wins for the Cubs since they went 58-19 at the West Side Grounds in 1910.
The Cardinals lost for the third time in four games, wasting a chance to improve their playoff positioning. They remain a half-game back of San Francisco for the second NL wild card.
Lester (19-4), one of the top candidates for the NL Cy Young Award, struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed three hits and walked one while improving to 10-0 with 1.34 ERA in his last 13 starts.
Carlos Martinez (15-9) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.
WHITE SOX 3, INDIANS 0
CLEVELAND (AP) - Carlos Rodon struck out a career-high 11 over eight dominant innings and the Chicago White Sox denied Cleveland any chance of winning the AL Central title by beating the Indians 3-0 on Sunday.
Rodon (8-10) blanked the Indians on just two singles and easily handled the division leaders who still haven't wrapped up a playoff spot and have gone flat at the worst time possible. Cleveland needed to win its regular-season finale at home and Detroit to lose to Kansas City for the Indians to clinch their first division championship since 2007.
Now, they will have to try and do it on the road against the Tigers, whom they've beaten 13 times in 15 games this season. The clubs open a four-game series Monday at Comerica Park.
It was a disappointing finish for the Indians at Progressive Field, where they went 50-27 and had 11 walk-off wins in a season of comebacks. Cleveland had three errors for the second straight game.
Carlos Sanchez had two RBIs off Josh Tomlin (12-9).
BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 3
TORONTO (AP) - Ezequiel Carrera drove in the tying run with a squeeze bunt in the ninth inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a winning single and Toront hled its AL wild-card lead.
Toronto leads Baltimore by 1 1/2 games for the top AL wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have won a team-record eight straight at home against the Yankees.
New York ended its 33-inning scoreless streak, but lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
After the Yankees scored twice in the ninth off closer Roberto Osuna (3-2) for a 3-2 lead, the Blue Jays bounced back.
Dellin Betances walked Melvin Upton Jr. to begin the bottom of the ninth and took third when Kevin Pillar singled off Tyler Clippard (3-6). Carrera followed with a squeeze bunt, and both runners advanced as Clippard's attempted scoop sent the ball rolling past catcher Gary Sanchez toward the backstop.
Clippard struck out Devon Travis before Josh Donaldson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Encarnacion's slow roller between first and second scored the winning run.
ORIOLES 2, DIAMONDBACKS 1
BALTIMORE (AP) - Hyun Soo Kim hit his fifth home run, a two-run shot in the second inning, and Baltimore completed a three-game sweep of Arizona.
The Orioles entered the day a half-game ahead of Detroit for the second AL wild card and trailed Toronto by 1 1/2 games for the top spot. The Orioles begin a crucial three-game series at the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Baltimore finished the regular season 50-31 at Camden Yards. Arizona has been swept 13 times this season, including six on the road.
Orioles rookie Dylan Bundy (10-6) allowed the one run on three hits with five strikeouts over five innings. Baltimore's Zach Britton picked up his American League-leading 46th save in 46 chances. Manny Machado went 2 for 4 for his team-high 54th multi-hit game.
ROYALS 12, TIGERS 9
DETROIT (AP) - Salvador Perez homered to cap a cycle by Kansas City's first four batters of the game, and the Royals went deep three more times to beat Detroit and drop the Tigers in the AL wild-card race.
The defending World Series champions avoided elimination from this year's postseason race by chasing Detroit starter Matt Boyd (6-5) before he retired a hitter. Kansas City started the game with a single, a triple and a double before Perez's two-run homer made it 4-0.
The Tigers fell 1 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot. The loss cut Cleveland's magic number to clinch the AL Central to one - the Indians start a four-game series in Detroit on Monday night.
RED SOX 3, RAYS 2, 10 INNINGS
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Dustin Pedroia used nifty baserunning to score from first base on David Ortiz's double in the 10th inning and AL East-leading Boston won its 11th straight.
Pedroia singled off Eddie Gamboa (0-1) to start the inning. The relay throw on Ortiz's hit to right center beat Pedroia to plate but he avoided Luke Maile's first tag. Pedroia's momentum carried him past the plate and when he went back to touch it Maile was charged with an error when the ball dropped out his glove on another tag try.
Joe Kelly (4-0) went 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez struck out a career-high 13 in 5 1/3 innings.
METS 17, PHILLIES 0
NEW YORK (AP) - Asdrubal Cabrera hit a grand slam, Jose Reyes drove in four runs and the Mets got the largest shutout victory in team history to maintain the NL wild-card lead.
On an afternoon when batters circled the bases like the cartoon Gashouse Gorillas, the Mets romped in their final regular-season game at Citi Field.
Reyes batted four straight times with the bases loaded and Cabrera hit his 23rd home run this season. Curtis Granderson reached 30 home runs for the first time since 2012 and rookie Robert Gsellman (3-2) allowed three hits over seven innings.
New York's previous high for runs in a shutout was 14, against the Chicago Cubs in 1965 and Cincinnati in 1998.
Wearing 1986 commemorative uniforms, New York began the day tied with San Francisco for the NL's two wild cards, a half-game ahead of St. Louis.
Jake Thompson (3-6) allowed three runs and five hits in four innings.
REDS 4, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Brandon Finnegan pitched five scoreless innings in his final start of the season, lifting the Cincinnati past Milwaukee.
Finnegan (10-11) scattered three hits and struck out four, needing only 54 pitches to get through five innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
Finnegan, obtained in the July 2015 trade that sent Johnny Cueto to Kansas City, went 4-3 with a 2.23 ERA in his final 11 starts. The left-hander pitched 172 innings this year, up from 105 1/3 innings splitting time between the major and minor leagues in 2015.
Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (7-11) pitched six innings, allowing three runs - two earned - on five hits and three walks while striking out five.
ASTROS 4, ANGELS 1
HOUSTON (AP) - Joe Musgrove pitched seven strong innings, Evan Gattis, Tony Kemp and Tyler White homered, and Houston snapped a three-game slide to preserve its playoff hopes.
Houston began the day three games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild-card spot.
Musgrove (4-4, 4.06 ERA) allowed one run on seven hits while striking out four.
Closer Ken Giles rebounded from a blown save in Friday's 10-6 loss to Los Angeles. He walked one and struck out two in the ninth for his 14th save.
Daniel Wright (0-5, 6.95) lasted six innings for the Angels. He gave up three runs on seven hits, including two homers, while striking out four and walking two.
MARINERS 4, TWINS 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Nelson Cruz homered twice before leaving with left wrist soreness, Jesus Sucre homered for the first time in 14 months and Seattle beat Minnesota.
Taijuan Walker (7-11) danced around danger for most of his 5 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits and three earned runs. Nick Vincent, Steve Cishek and Edwin Diaz then combined for 3 2/3 innings of no-hit relief, including Diaz's 17th save in 19 chances.
Trying to make the postseason for the first time since 2001, Seattle is 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second American League wild-card spot with a week to play.
Max Kepler homered and Robbie Grossman had three hits for Minnesota in its 100th loss. This is the second time in team history the Twins have had triple-digit losses: The 1982 squad finished 60-102.
Hector Santiago (12-10) allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings for Minnesota.
ATHLETICS 7, RANGERS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Jharel Cotton pitched seven crisp innings and Oakland avoided a series sweep.
Ryon Healy had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Stephen Vogt drove in three runs to help the A's win after being shut out in back-to-back games.
Adrian Beltre hit his 32nd home run for Texas.
The Rangers, who clinched the AL West on Friday, fell into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for home-field advantage in the playoffs. Texas (92-64) holds a slight tiebreaking advantage based on division record.
Oakland will be sitting out the postseason and had lost the first five games on this homestand but ended it on an encouraging note behind Cotton (2-0). The rookie right-hander allowed one run, struck out five and faced two over the minimum while quieting the Rangers' potent offense.
Coming off consecutive shutout losses in the first two games of the series, the A's did all of their scoring in the second to chase starter Colby Lewis (6-4).
NATIONALS 10, PIRATES 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Nationals star Bryce Harper injured his left thumb making an awkward slide to avoid a pretend tag by Pittsburgh third baseman Jung Ho Kang, and the teams later cleared the benches in Washington's win.
Harper's thumb was sore and the reigning NL MVP will have X-rays Monday.
Harper led off the third inning with a triple for the NL East champions. As Harper neared third, Kang acted as if a throw was coming and faked a tag. Harper went down, was checked by a trainer and stayed in. He scored on Anthony Rendon's double and was replaced in the field in the bottom half.
The next time Kang came up, Nationals starter A.J. Cole threw a fastball behind him and was immediately ejected by plate umpire Jordan Baker.
The benches cleared, with Washington's Jayson Werth in the middle of the skirmish. Pirates outfielder Sean Rodriguez was ejected.
Washington rallied for five runs in the eighth off former teammate Felipe Rivero (1-5).
Shawn Kelley (3-2) got the win. Former Pirates closer Mark Melancon got his 43rd save.
