The National League (NL) West-leading Colorado Rockies on Friday locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.
David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining.
The Rockies entered the night with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers as they try to wrap up the team’s first division crown.
Photo: AFP
Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.
The Rockies are headed to the post-season in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993.
Freeland wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to finish the season with a 2.4 ERA in games at the hitter-friendly ballpark.
Joe Ross allowed four runs in five innings in his third start since undergoing surgery last year.
YANKEES 11, RED SOX 6
New York clinched home-field advantage for the American League (AL) wild-card game, hitting four homers to tie the major league single-season record and beat Boston.
Aaron Judge hit his first homer since coming off the disabled list on Sept. 14, and Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks and Luke Voit also homered to match the mark of 264 set by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.
The win in the opener of the three-game series settled the AL’s last remaining post-season question with two games to go.
The Yankees are to host Oakland on Wednesday, with the winner playing Boston.
The Red Sox, who clinched the best record in baseball with a franchise-record 107 wins, were hoping to make things difficult for their archrivals — and the Athletics — by forcing the winner of the wild-card game to have to fly cross-country next week.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS