Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years.
Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the NL Central champions.
Photo: AFP
“We just have to take it one step at a time and take care of business,” Marsh said. “There’s nothing like it. This is why we show up. This is the stuff we dream about.”
Nico Hoerner homered twice for Chicago, while Isaac Paredes hit four singles.
In Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani singled in the go-ahead run before stealing his 56th base of the season in the sixth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3 to move within a victory of clinching the NL West title.
Photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images
The Dodgers increased their lead over the second-placed Padres to three games with four to play and reduced their magic number to two. Los Angeles need a win in the series finale to earn their 11th division title in 12 years.
“You want to think about it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s right in front of us. We’ll be ready.”
The Padres’ five-game winning streak ended a night after they celebrated making the post-season with a game-ending triple play on their biggest rival’s field. They remained 3.5 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks — who beat the San Francisco Giants 8-2 — and the New York Mets for the NL’s top wild-card spot.
Photo: AFP
“We’re just going to keep coming,” Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr said. “We’re definitely going to bring the same energy tomorrow [yesterday] and keep going like that.”
Ohtani’s two-strike, two-out single to center off Adrian Morejon scored Will Smith, who drew a leadoff walk, and made it 4-3. Ohtani stole second, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for the most in a season by a Japanese-born player.
“He’s somebody I admire and look up to,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I will continue to steal when the occasion is necessary.”
However, the Dodgers could not capitalize, as Mookie Betts followed with a popup to end the inning. He popped up to every infield position.
With two outs in the ninth, Michael Kopech walked Jake Cronenworth to put the tying run aboard. Brandon Lockridge ran for Cronenworth and stole second. Donovan Solano struck out swinging on a fastball from Kopech to end the game and keep fans on their feet cheering.
Kopech earned his 15th save of the season.
Alex Vesia (5-4) got the win with one hitless inning of relief.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, retiring Tatis on a flyout and getting Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado on called third strikes.
“Tonight was a clinic,” Roberts said of Treinen. “He’s using his entire toolbox.”
A 137m shot from Tatis — longest by a Padres player this season — tied the game at 3-3 with two outs in the fifth. It was his seventh homer in his past 13 games. San Diego did not get a hit the rest of the game.
The Dodgers scored the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs in the fourth. Gavin Lux had an RBI single and Ohtani’s double hit the Padres bullpen gate in right as the sellout crowd of 52,310 chanted “MVP. MVP.”
“There’s some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games,” Ohtani said. “I’m really focused on quality at-bats.”
Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada (6-3) took the loss.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Astros 1, Mariners 8
‧ Athletics 1, Rangers 5
‧ Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1
‧ Guardians 5, Reds 2
‧ Nationals 0, Royals 3
‧ Rockies 2, Cardinals 5
‧ Tigers 7, Rays 1
‧ Twins 8, Marlins 3
‧ White Sox 4, Angels 3 (10i)
‧ Yankees 7, Orioles 9
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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
RSS