NATIONAL LEAGUE
Jay Bruce’s 34th homer put the Reds ahead to stay, and they made good on their second chance to win the NL Central title by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 on Saturday without Dusty Baker.
The 63-year-old manager spent another day in a Chicago hospital getting treated for an irregular heartbeat. The Reds brought him his fifth division title as a manager, including two during the past three years with Cincinnati.
Bruce’s first-pitch, leadoff homer in the ninth off Houston’s Tim Byrdak clinched the title for Cincinnati in 2010. On Saturday, he led off the fourth inning with a first-pitch homer off rookie Stephen Fife (0-2), and Cincinnati’s main offseason pitching acquisition made it stand up.
Mat Latos (13-4) allowed six hits and did not walk a batter in eight innings. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance since Sept. 10 — a tired shoulder sidelined him — and finished it off by getting Hanley Ramirez to hit into a double play.
GIANTS 8, PADRES 4
In San Francisco, California, Madison Bumgarner pitched San Francisco to their second NL West title in three years and newcomer Marco Scutaro had three hits and three RBIs.
The Giants captured their eighth divisional crown — wrapping it up once again with a victory over the Padres in front of their home fans, just as they did on the season’s final day in 2010 on the way to an improbable World Series championship.
Brandon Belt homered leading off the eighth to give the sellout crowd of 42,418 one more thing to stand and cheer about in a season full of such moments.
The real party began after Sergio Romo retired Matt Kotsay on a fly ball to center to end it. Fireworks shot off behind the main center-field scoreboard as the players rushed to the mound and began bouncing up and down.
The Giants won their season-high sixth straight game and moved 26 games above .500 (89-63), the club’s best record since finishing the 2003 season 39 games over. Bumgarner (16-10) struck out six in 5-2/3 innings.
Scutaro’s two-run single in the fourth chased rookie Andrew Werner (2-2).
BRAVES 8, PHILLIES 2
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to back Mike Minor and the Braves roughed up Roy Halladay to move closer to clinching a postseason berth.
The win coupled with Milwaukee’s 10-4 loss to Washington reduced Atlanta’s magic number for securing a playoff spot to three. The Braves were up 8.5 games through Sept. 5 last year, but went 9-18 down the stretch and were overtaken by St Louis on the final day of the season.
The Phillies fell four games behind the Cardinals for the NL’s second wild-card spot with only 10 games remaining. The five-time defending NL East champions had won four in a row and 12 of 15.
Ryan Howard became the second-fastest player to reach 300 homers, but Halladay (10-8) lasted just 1-2/3 innings, allowing seven runs and five hits.
Minor (10-10) gave up two runs and two hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision.
CARDINALS 5, CUBS 4, 10 INNS
In Chicago, Illinois, Jon Jay’s RBI double in the 10th inning lifted St Louis to the victory, bolstering the Cardinals’ bid for another playoff appearance.
Carlos Beltran hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Cardinals, who improved their lead for the second NL wild-card spot to 2.5 games over Milwaukee.
After Matt Carpenter and Brian Anderson drew two-out walks from Jaye Chapman (0-1), Jay doubled down the right-field line.
Mitchell Boggs (4-1) got the last out of the ninth. Jason Motte struck out the side in the 10th for his 39th save.
Beltran made it 4-all with his 30th homer, a one-out shot off Carlos Marmol that wrapped just inside the right-field foul pole.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Nationals 10, Brewers 4
‧ Mets 4, Marlins 3
‧ Astros 4, Pirates 1
‧ Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 7
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Raul Ibanez hit his second home run of the game during a startling rally in the 13th inning, then the New York Yankees won a thriller when first baseman Brandon Moss’ two-out error in the 14th lifted them over the Oakland Athletics 10-9 on Saturday.
The AL East leaders came back to hold their one-game edge over Baltimore. Down 9-5 in the 13th, the Yankees won for just the second time in team history after trailing by at least four runs in extra innings.
Oakland has a 2.5-game lead over Los Angeles for the second AL wild-card spot. The A’s still have an edge, but blew a huge opportunity and lost for the fifth time in six games.
Moments after pinch-runner Melky Mesa — in his big league debut — missed third base and had to retreat, the Yankees found another way to win. Moss let a bases-loaded grounder by Eduardo Nunez skip off his glove, allowing Ichiro Suzuki to score.
Tyson Ross (2-10) got the loss. Cory Wade (1-1) pitched the 14th for the win.
ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 6, 12 INNS
In Boston, Massachusetts, Jim Thome hit a go-ahead double in the 12th in his first game in nearly two months and Baltimore stretched its extra-inning win streak to 16 games.
The Orioles won their sixth in a row overall and remained one back of the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
Baltimore’s extra-inning streak is the best in the majors since the Cleveland Indians won 17 straight in 1949. The Orioles are 16-2 in extras this year, losing only to the Yankees on April 10-11.
Thome had been on the disabled list from July 31 until Friday with a herniated disk in his neck. The veteran slugger gave Baltimore a 7-6 lead with his ground-rule double off Alfredo Aceves (2-10) that drove in Adam Jones, who led off the 12th with a double.
Tommy Hunter (6-8) pitched a perfect 11th and Jim Johnson extended his franchise record to 47 saves.
TIGERS 8, TWINS 0
In Detroit, Michigan, Miguel Cabrera hit his 42nd homer, putting him in Triple Crown position, and Doug Fister pitched his first career shutout to help the Tigers get the win.
Detroit began the day 1.5 games behind the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, who played later at the Los Angeles Angels.
Cabrera’s solo shot in the fourth inning tied him with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the most homers in the AL. Cabrera has a relatively comfortable league lead with a .332 batting average and 131 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski won the last Triple Crown in 1967. He took the batting and RBIs title, and tied Harmon Killebrew for the AL homer lead.
Fister (10-9) gave up seven hits while striking out seven. He won for the third time in four starts.
Twins starter Samuel Deduno (6-5) was charged with seven runs, matching a career high, in just 2-1/3 innings.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ Rays 11, Blue Jays 5
‧ Royals 5, Indians 3
‧ Angels 4, White Sox 2
‧ Mariners 1, Rangers 0
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