MAJOR LEAGUES
Gerrit Cole retired the final 17 hitters he faced as the surging Pittsburgh Pirates clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the free-falling Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
The Pirates’ win combined with Milwaukee’s loss to Cincinnati assured Pittsburgh of no worse than an National League wild-card. The Pirates wrapped up their berth exactly one year after clinching a place in last year’s playoffs.
Starling Marte gave Pittsburgh the lead with a sixth-inning double.
They reacted to the final out on Tuesday with little emotion. The Pirates exchanged high-fives in a line on the field before sharing hugs in front of their dugout.
The Pirates, who are still chasing St Louis for the NL Central title, have won 11 of 13.
ROYALS 7, INDIANS 1
Rookie Yordano Ventura blanked Cleveland’s punchless offense for seven innings as the Kansas City Royals kept pressure on first-place Detroit in the AL Central with a win over the Indians.
The hard-throwing Ventura (14-10) allowed four singles and threw a 160kph fastball on his 104th pitch.
Salvador Perez’s two-out, two-run double off Danny Salazar (6-8) put the Royals ahead 5-0 in the fifth and they turned their attention to the left-field scoreboard to monitor the Tigers’ score. Kansas City entered one game out of first and with a grasp on one of the league’s two wild-card spots.
The Royals are closing in on their first post-season appearance since 1985, when they won their only World Series title.
At 86-71, Kansas City matched their win total from last season. It is the first time the Royals have had consecutive seasons with at least 86 victories since 1978.
DODGERS 4, GIANTS 2
Justin Turner homered twice and Matt Kemp had a two-run shot in a testy first inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the second-place Giants to stretch their NL West lead to 4.5 games.
The Giants’ seventh loss in 10 games kept them from clinching a playoff berth after Milwaukee lost in Cincinnati.
The Dodgers had a chance to win the division title with a victory in the series finale yesterday.
The game got off to a rocky start when both benches emptied after left-hander Madison Bumgarner hit Dodgers star Yasiel Puig in the left foot with a pitch. Order was soon restored.
ANGELS 2, ATHLETICS 0
Gordon Beckham homered as the Los Angeles Angels dropped the Athletics into a tie for the top American League wild-card.
Sonny Gray whiffed Mike Trout three times among his career-best 12 strikeouts, one month to the day after Jon Lester fanned the Angels slugger three times at the Coliseum. However, Gray had nothing to show for it as the Athletics were shut out for the seventh time since Aug. 1.
Oakland and Kansas City are tied for the two wild-card spots at 86-71, three games ahead of Seattle with five to play. The Royals beat Cleveland 7-1 earlier in the night and won the season series with Oakland 5-2, giving Kansas City the tiebreaker.
That means if the Royals and A’s win the wild-cards and finish with identical records, Kansas City would host their one-game playoff on Tuesday next week.
In other games on Tuesday, it was:
‧ Tigers 4, White Sox 3
‧ Orioles 5, Yankees 4
‧ Nationals 4, Mets 2
‧ Blue Jays 10, Mariners 2
‧ Rays 6, Red Sox 2
‧ Reds 3, Brewers 1
‧ Marlins 2, Phillies 0
‧ Rangers 2, Astros 1
‧ Cubs 4, Cardinals 3
‧ Twins 6, Diamondbacks 3
‧ Rockies 3, Padres 2
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
Wrexham on Monday were back in the driver’s seat for promotion from English third-tier soccer after a crunch 2-1 win over Blackpool. The road win lifted Wrexham back into League One’s top two spots for automatic promotion. After a loss by third-placed Wycombe Wanderers, Wrexham were two points above them with two rounds to go. Birmingham City have already clinched the league title. Celebrity owner Rob McElhenney was among the 2,000 Wrexham supporters in the away end to see their side break the deadlock on the hour mark. James McClean’s opening score through a crowded box was doubled three minutes later by Ollie Rathbone.
RSS