Mike Foltynewicz pitched eight shutout innings, and the Atlanta Braves earned a 6-0 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants to clinch a second straight National League East title.
Sep 20, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves players celebrate in the fountain behind center field after clinching the NL East division after defeating the San Francisco Giants at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The Braves notched their 19th division championship, tying them with the New York Yankees for the most in the majors since the divisional era started in 1969. The Yankees won their 19th title on Thursday. The victory also ensures the Braves of home-field advantage for the NL Division Series.
Foltynewicz (8-5) allowed three hits and one walk while striking out seven. He won his seventh straight decision, and the Braves have won the last 12 games that he has started.
Atlanta’s offense was led by Ronald Acuna Jr., who was 2-for-2 with a double, a home run, two walks, three runs and two RBIs. Acuna has scored 126 runs, moving him within five of the modern-era franchise record set by Dale Murphy in 1983.
Cardinals 2, Cubs 1
Yadier Molina had three hits, including a two-run single, and visiting St. Louis held on to defeat Chicago for its third straight win.
The National League Central-leading Cardinals dealt the Cubs their fourth straight loss. Chicago trails St. Louis by five games in the division and is three games behind the Washington Nationals and two games below the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild-card race.
St. Louis won despite being outhit 9-4. Both teams squandered offensive opportunities as the Cardinals went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and the Cubs were 1-for-9. Ryan Helsey (2-0) tossed one scoreless inning for the win, and Carlos Martinez got the last two outs for his 22nd save.
Nationals 6, Marlins 4
Trea Turner homered twice, and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run shot, leading Washington to a win at Miami.
It was loss No. 100 for the Marlins, who have reached that negative milestone just two other times in franchise history, most recently in 2013.
Anibal Sanchez (10-8) reached double-figure wins for the first time since 2015, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits in five-plus innings. He had one strikeout and one walk.
Brewers 10, Pirates 1
Milwaukee strengthened its hold on the National League’s second wild card with a home win over Pittsburgh.
Chase Anderson (7-4) shut out the Pirates on three hits over six innings as the Brewers earned their sixth win in seven games. Milwaukee put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh, which featured Trent Grisham’s bases-clearing triple.
Adam Frazier’s seventh-inning home run, his 10th of the season, produced the only run for Pittsburgh, which lost its seventh game in a row.
Indians 5, Phillies 2
Oscar Mercado had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice to help lift Cleveland past visiting Philadelphia.
Francisco Lindor contributed an RBI single and two walks, and Carlos Santana and Yasiel Puig also drove in runs for the Indians, who remained tied with Tampa Bay for the second American League wild card.
Shane Bieber (15-7) bounced back from a rough outing his last time out and allowed two runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. The reigning All-Star Game MVP struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.
Athletics 8, Rangers 0
Mike Fiers faced the minimum over eight innings, teaming with Chris Bassitt on a two-hit shutout as host Oakland opened a three-game series against Texas with its 11th shutout win of the season.
Chad Pinder and Mark Canha belted home runs for the A’s, who remained two games ahead of Tampa Bay and Cleveland in the three-team battle for the American League’s two wild-card playoff spots. Texas lost its sixth straight.
Fiers (15-4), who had to be pulled from his last start in the second inning because of numbness in his right hand, demonstrated he’s back to full health with his 95-pitch masterpiece. He retired the last 16 batters he faced and finished with five strikeouts and no walks.
Rays 5, Red Sox 4 (11 innings)
Willy Adames singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning as Tampa Bay defeated Boston in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Mitch Moreland hit a pair of two-run homers for the defending World Series champion Red Sox, who were eliminated from postseason contention earlier in the night when Cleveland beat Philadelphia.
Adames finished with three hits and Ji-Man Choi added two hits for the Rays. Diego Castillo tossed a scoreless 11th inning for the win.
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3
Tommy Kahnle allowed a go-ahead, two-run homer to Justin Smoak in the seventh inning, and New York opened its final home series of the season with a loss to Toronto. The Yankees fell 1 1/2 games behind Houston in the race for the best record in the majors.
Smoak slugged his 22nd homer, sending a 1-1 fastball deep into the right-center-field bleachers as most of the 45,270 fans were engaged in the wave.
Jason Adams (2-0) pitched a perfect inning for the win, and Ken Giles handled the ninth inning for his 21st save. Aaron Judge and Tyler Wade homered for the Yankees, who had an 11-game home winning streak against divisional foes snapped.
Astros 6, Angels 4
Carlos Correa recorded his ninth career multi-homer game, slugging one of three first-inning home runs in Houston’s victory over visiting Los Angeles.
Playing in just his second game since his return from a lengthy spell on the injured list, Correa became the seventh member of the Astros to reach the 20-homer plateau with his two-run shot to left off Jaime Barria (4-10) in the first. In the third, Correa homered off Barria again for a 6-1 lead.
The Astros clinched at least a share of the American League West title with the victory, their sixth in succession against the Angels. Their five-run first set a pace the Angels failed to match.
Dodgers 12, Rockies 5
Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock each hit home runs in a seven-run fourth inning as Los Angeles rallied for a victory to improve to 7-0 at home this season against Colorado.
Clayton Kershaw (15-5) recovered from a slow start to earn the victory as the Dodgers reduced their magic number to three for clinching the best record in the National League. He gave up four runs in six innings.
Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for the Rockies, who lost their third consecutive game. It was the fourth time in his past six starts Kershaw has given up a first-inning homer.
Mets 8, Reds 1
Rookie Pete Alonso hit his 50th home run, and Jacob deGrom tossed seven scoreless innings for New York, which kept its postseason hopes alive with a win at Cincinnati.
The Mets, who have won three straight, remained 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers in the race for the NL’s second wild card. With the loss, the Reds are guaranteed their sixth straight losing season.
Alonso snapped a tie with Mark McGwire for second place on the all-time rookie single-season homer list. He is two home runs behind crosstown rival Aaron Judge, who hit 52 for the Yankees in 2017.
Twins 4, Royals 3
Randy Dobnak gave up one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings to pick up his first major league win, and Marwin Gonzalez had a two-run double to lead Minnesota over Kansas City in Minneapolis.
Miguel Sano tripled and drove in a run and Jorge Polanco doubled and scored a run for Minnesota, which remained four games ahead of Cleveland in the American League Central with eight games remaining.
Dobnak (1-1), signed two years ago out of the United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL), a four-team independent league in Michigan, walked two and struck out five. Trevor May struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save.
Diamondbacks 9, Padres 0
Merrill Kelly shut out San Diego on two hits over seven innings, and visiting Arizona scored seven times in the eighth to pull away for the win.
The victory kept alive Arizona’s fading hopes for a playoff berth. The Diamondbacks trail the Brewers by five games for the second National League wild card.
Kelly (12-14) walked three and struck out nine. He along with relievers Yoan Lopez and Jimmie Sherfy allowed a total of three hits and three walks while fanning 12. Josh Rojas hit a three-run double in the eighth, and Wilmer Flores added a two-run single.
White Sox 10, Tigers 1
Eloy Jimenez hit a grand slam, tripled and drove in four runs, while fellow Chicago rookie Dylan Cease tamed host Detroit over six strong innings.
Yoan Moncada hit a two-run homer, Yolmer Sanchez had his first career four-hit game and Tim Anderson, who leads the majors in batting average, added two more of the White Sox’s 19 hits.
Cease (4-7) allowed one run on five hits. He walked two and fanned eight to end a four-start winless skid.
Orioles 5, Mariners 3
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez was bombed for four runs in the first inning and Baltimore went on to beat the Mariners.
Hernandez (1-7), who had allowed a total of just two homers in his eight previous starts at Baltimore, was tagged for Anthony Santander’s 20th, a three-run blast in the first, and Hanser Alberto’s 12th, a solo shot in the fourth, in his five-inning stint.
Rookie phenom Kyle Lewis had a home run and a double for the Mariners. The homer, his sixth in 10 major league games, came after a Kyle Seager two-out single in the top of the first.
—Field Level Media