Baseball Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Cubs expect to get Kyle Tucker back for final series vs. Cards
The Chicago Cubs expect to have a familiar face return to their lineup on Friday afternoon when they open their final regular-season series against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.,All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker likely will be activated from the 10-day injured list after being sidelined since S...

Phillies' Jhoan Duran could face ex-club in matchup with Twins
As the regular season winds down, the Philadelphia Phillies still have one goal remaining.,The Phillies have an outside chance of earning the No. 1 overall seed in the National League playoffs, and they can help their chances with a win on Friday against the visiting Minnesota Twins.,Philadelphia (9...

Reds' Zack Littell gets ball in critical game against Brewers
The visiting Cincinnati Reds will turn to right-hander Zack Littell to keep their postseason hopes on track when they face the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday in the opener of the final regular-season series.,Littell (10-8, 3.86 ERA) will be opposed by right-hander Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25 ERA), who h...

Marlins' Sandy Alcantara in position to waylay Mets' plans
From the perspective of the New York Mets, Sandy Alcantara might as well change his name to Freddy Krueger.,With the Mets trying desperately to hold onto the final National League wild-card playoff berth, facing Alcantara and the Marlins in Miami on Friday night is a scary proposition.,Alcantara has...

Surging Yankees open series with Orioles still in running for AL East
The New York Yankees know they will be hosting postseason games next week, but they still would like to skip ahead to the American League Division Series.,Tied for the lead in the AL East, the Yankees will aim for their sixth straight win and hope to get some outside help on Friday night when they h...

Guardians control playoff destiny in pivotal series with Rangers
The Cleveland Guardians' magic number for clinching a postseason berth is two. It remains three for them to win the American League Central Division.,An exciting final series of the regular season is in store when Cleveland hosts the Texas Rangers in a three-game set.,Guardians right-hander Slade Ce...

Exhaling after ending skid, Tigers take division chase to Boston
The American League playoff picture will be in full focus as the Boston Red Sox host the Detroit Tigers in a regular season-ending, three-game series beginning on Friday night.,The teams holding the final two wild-card spots had opposite Thursday results, with the Red Sox (87-72) missing an opportun...

Bobby Witt Jr.'s four hits help Royals take down Angels
Bobby Witt Jr. went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI and Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in three runs to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.,It was the th...

Eugenio Suarez steers M's past Rockies for 11th straight home win
Eugenio Suarez had three hits, including a homer, and drove in three runs as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-2 on Thursday to tie a franchise record with an 11th consecutive home victory.,Randy Arozarena added two hits and two RBIs for the Mariners (90-69), who won their seventh...

MLB roundup: Dodgers blank D-backs, seal NL West title
Freddie Freeman homered twice, Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages also went deep and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to their 12th National League West title in 13 seasons with an 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon in Phoenix.,The Dodgers clinched home-field advantage for a bes...

Mets ride 2 homers to win over Cubs, retain wild-card edge
Brett Baty belted a three-run homer, Francisco Lindor also went deep and rookie Nolan McLean struck out 11 batters, fueling the visiting New York Mets to an 8-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.,The Mets (82-77) won the decisive contest of the three-game series to remain one game ahead of t...

Reds nip Pirates, stay within 1 game of 3rd NL wild card
Nick Lodolo tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings while Noelvi Marte made a game-saving catch in the ninth as the Cincinnati Reds salvaged the series finale against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Thursday afternoon.,Gavin Lux, Ke'Bryan Hayes, TJ Friedl and Miguel Andujar each had two hits as the Re...

Giancarlo Stanton's 3-run double keeps Yankees tied for first
Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead bases-clearing double with two outs in the fifth inning and the New York Yankees stayed tied atop the American League East with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.,The Yankees (91-68) won their fifth straight game and remained even wi...

Daulton Varsho blasts grand slam as Jays upend Red Sox
Daulton Varsho hit a grand slam and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Thursday night.,Varsho's second grand slam of the season snapped a 0-0 tie in the sixth and helped the Blue Jays salvage the finale of the three-game series. George Springer added a two-run homer la...

Walker Buehler, Phillies snuff out Marlins' slim playoff hopes
Walker Buehler and three relievers combined on a five-hitter as the Philadelphia Phillies nipped the visiting Miami Marlins 1-0 on Thursday.,Buehler (10-7) pitched five scoreless innings to help Philadelphia (94-65) move within two games of idle Milwaukee (96-63) for the top seed in the National Lea...

Tigers halt skid; knot Guardians for first place in AL Central
Jahmai Jones, Wenceel Perez and Riley Greene all hit solo homers in the first four innings as the visiting Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 on Thursday night, moving into a first-place tie in the American League Central Division.,Cleveland (86-73) owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over...

Blue Jays RHP Jose Berrios (elbow) hits IL for 1st time in MLB career
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios was placed on the 15-day injured list on Thursday due to right elbow inflammation.,It marks the first time the 10-year veteran has been on the IL as a major leaguer.,Berrios, 31, will undergo an MRI. His velocity has dipped slightly in recent weeks, and he...

Astros snap 5-game losing streak with crucial win over A's
Framber Valdez threw seven quality innings, Christian Walker homered and drove in three runs and the visiting Houston Astros posted a crucial 11-5 victory over the Athletics on Thursday in West Sacramento, Calif.,Valdez (13-11) allowed one run on seven hits, striking out 10 and walking two. Jose Alt...

Rangers, Bruce Bochy to discuss future after season
An untimely eight-game skid knocked the Texas Rangers out of the playoff race.,Next up is determining whether Bruce Bochy remains as manager of the club.,Bochy and president of baseball operations Chris Young will discuss the Texas future after the season and see if the two still share the same visi...

Dodgers clinch NL West crown with shutout of Diamondbacks
Freddie Freeman homered twice, Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages also went deep, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to their 12th National League West title in 13 seasons with an 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon in Phoenix.,Freeman led off a four-run second inning with a 41...