Diamondbacks 3, Cardinals 2, 19 Innings

In Phoenix, Ildemaro Vargas had a game-tying pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning and then singled with the bases loaded in the 19th at 1:34 am local time to lift Arizona past St Louis.

Carson Kelly and Nick Ahmed started the final rally with back-to-back singles off John Brebbia (3-4), who was the Cardinals’ 11th pitcher of the night. Jarrod Dyson and Robbie Ray – a pitcher who had to pinch hit – struck out before Christian Walker was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Then it was Vargas’ turn to be the hero again, smacking a single – his fourth hit of the game – through the left side of the infield. He raised his hands as players rushed the field to celebrate.

Brewers 4, Reds 2

In Cincinnati, Ryan Braun added to his record total of homers at Great American Ball Park, and Milwaukee moved a step closer to a wild-card berth with its fifth win in a row.

Just like last season, when Milwaukee put on a late rush to take the NL Central title, the Brewers have closed in on a playoff spot with a September flourish. They’ve won 16 of 18, positioning themselves for one of the NL wild cards along with Washington. They can clinch Wednesday with a win or losses by the Cubs and Mets.

Pirates 9, Cubs 2

In Pittsburgh, free-falling Chicago committed five errors, including two in a seven-run seventh inning, and moved to the brink of elimination with its seventh straight loss.

Chicago dropped to 82-75 and would be eliminated with one more loss or Milwaukee win. The Cubs have not missed the playoffs since 2014.

Mets 5, Marlins 4, 11 Innings

In New York, three outs from postseason

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer throws to the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning of the

second baseball game of a doubleheader on Sept 24 in Washington. (AP)

elimination, New York tied it 4-all in the ninth when Michael Conforto clocked his second two-run homer of the game, connecting off José Ureña for his 33rd long ball of the season. Brandon Nimmo won it by working a basesloaded walk in the 11th against rookie Jeff Brigham.

After wins by Washington and Milwaukee earlier in the day, the Mets needed a victory to stay in the playoff race. They are tied with the plummeting Chicago Cubs, five games behind the Brewers for the second NL wild card with five to play.

Twins 4, Tigers 2

In Detroit, Willians Astudillo and Eddie Rosario fueled a four-run seventh inning, and Minnesota dodged an injury scare for starter Jake Odorizzi to move closer to an AL Central title.

Odorizzi (15-7) pitched two-hit ball through six innings but was pulled with a tight left hamstring after warming up for the seventh. He later said he had a cramp and expected to be fine.

The Twins improved to 97-60, their most victories since going 98-64 in 1970. Minnesota’s magic number to clinch the division is two over Cleveland. Taylor Rogers pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save.

Rays 2, Yankees 1

In St Petersburg, Florida, Ji-Man Choi hit a game-ending home run in the 12th inning that helped Tampa Bay remain on track for an AL wild card berth after New York’s C.C. Sabathia pitched a perfect inning in his first regular season relief appearance.

Choi homered off Cory Gearrin (13) after Pete Fairbanks (2-3) struck out Brett Gardner with a runner on second and two outs in the top half.

Indians 11, White Sox 0

In Chicago, José Ramírez hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in his first two plate appearances after missing a month with a broken hand, and Cleveland pounded Chicago.

Roberto Pérez and Óscar Mercado also went deep for the Indians, who won for the sixth time in seven games to remain a half-game back of Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card.

Astros 3, Mariners 0

In Seattle, Gerrit Cole won his 15th consecutive decision, striking out 14 and walking none while pitching two-hit ball over seven innings to lead Houston.

Cole (19-5) is unbeaten in 21 starts since losing to the Chicago White Sox on May 22. He is on the longest streak of consecutive winning decisions since Toronto’s Roy Halladay was 15-0 during an 18-start span in 2003. Cole set an Astros season record with 316 strikeouts, three more than J.R. Richard’s total in 1979, and established a team record with his eighth straight game of doubledigit strikeouts.

Dodgers 6, Padres 3

In San Diego, Max Muncy hit his first career grand slam and Los Angeles

Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ildemaro Vargas follows through on a solo home run against the St Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning of a baseball game on Sept 24 in

Phoenix. (AP)

clinched home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs even before it beat staggering San Diego. The seven-time NL West champions Dodgers (101-56) locked up home field when the two-time NL East champions Atlanta Braves (9662) lost 9-6 at Kansas City.

Muncy’s 34th home run was a moon shot to right field on the first pitch by Gerardo Reyes with two outs in the fourth. Reyes came on after rookie Ronald Bolaños (0-2) walked Will Smith, allowed a single to reliever Tony Gonsolin and walked Joc Pederson.

Angels 3, Athletics 2

In Anaheim, California, Homer Bailey lost for the first time in eight starts and Oakland suffered a setback in its postseason pursuit. The A’s let their lead for the top AL wild card drop to a halfgame over Tampa Bay and one game over Cleveland. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot remained at five with five games left.

David Fletcher had three hits and Albert Pujols drove in his 2,075th run to help the Angels end a seven-game skid. Dillon Peters (4-3) allowed two runs in five innings.

Rockies 8, Giants 5, 16 Innings

In San Francisco, Colorado and San Francisco combined to use a major league-record 25 pitchers, and Charlie Blackmon hit a three-run homer in the 16th inning to end it. The game lasted 5 hours, 31 minutes, with Giants manager Bruce Bochy making 12 pitching changes – hardly taking it easy in his final week on the job.

Blackmon’s first hit of the night came in his eighth plate appearance and off Dereck Rodriguez (6-10) for his 31st home run. Both clubs left the bases loaded in the 11th, and Colorado stranded 15 baserunners.

Red Sox 12, Rangers 10

In Arlington, Texas, Eduardo Rodriguez labored through five innings to get his 19th win, allowing more runs than

Colchester managed only a handful of shots on target during their match at the Community Stadium, while Tottenham enjoyed 70% of possession and could boast the likes of internationals Dele Alli, Heung-Min Son and Erik Lamela on the pitch.

Substitute Christian Eriksen had his spot kick saved by Dean Gerken and Lucas Moura blasted against the crossbar.

Tom Lapslie then sent Colchester into the last 16 for the first time in 44 years by scoring the decisive penalty past Paulo Gazzaniga.

Crawley beat 10-man Championship (second-tier) side Stoke City 5-3 on penalties after the visitors had Nathan Collins sent off in the 62nd minute for violent conduct.

Sterling sent Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on their way with a rightfoot shot in the 19th minute and then provided the pass for Gabriel Jesus to make it 2-0 in the 35th.

A Ryan Ledson own-goal completed the scoring in the 42nd minute at Deepdale.

A first-half double from Danny Ings helped Southampton to a 4-0 win at League One (third-tier) Portsmouth

he had in his previous seven starts combined, and Boston beat Texas. Rodriguez (19-6) exited with a 12-7 lead after throwing 113 pitches.

Boston (82-75) clinched a winning record while the Rangers (75-82), who opened their final homestand before moving into a new stadium next year, will have their third straight losing season. Brandon Workman, the fourth Boston reliever, worked the ninth for his 16th save in 22 chances.

Royals 9, Braves 6

In Kansas City’s first game after manager Ned Yost announced he will retire after the season, the lowly Royals burst to a six-run lead in the first three innings and beat NL East champions Atlanta behind three hits and two RBIs from Nicky

WASHINGTON, Sept 25, (RTRS): Results and standings from the MLB games on Tuesday. Nationals Brewers Twins Nationals Pittsburgh Baltimore TB Rays NY Mets 4 Phillies 1 4 Cincinnati 2 4 Detroit 2 6 Phillies 5 9 Chic Cubs 2 11 Toronto 4 2 NY Yankees (12 Ins)1 5 Miami (11 Ins) 4 American League

East Division

W L Pct

NY Yankees Tampa Bay Boston Toronto Baltimore Minnesota Cleveland Chic W. Sox Kansas City Detroit Houston Oakland Texas LA Angels Seattle 102 56 .646 – 94 64 .595 8 82 75 .522 19-1/2 64 94 .405 38 52 106 .329 50

Central Division

W L Pct

97 93 68 58 46 60 .618 64 .592 88 .436 100 .367 110 .295

West Division

W L Pct

103 54 94 63 75 82 71 86 66 91 .656 .599 .478 .452 .420

GB

GB

– 4 28-1/2 39-1/2 50-1/2

GB

– 9 28 32 37 Colchester United’s Tom Lapslie celebrates after scoring the winning penalty kick in a shootout in an English League Cup soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Colchester United on Sept 24 at JobServe Community Stadium in

Colchester, England. (AP)

in the first south-coast derby in seven years between two of the fiercest rivals in English soccer.

Portsmouth piled on the pressure for the opening 20 minutes, when they could have been 2-0 up, but Ings took the wind out of their sails against the run of play in the 21st before adding a second just before the break.

Cedric Soares made it 3-0 in the 77th and Nathan Redmond completed Saints’ biggest away win against their neighbours, and first at Fratton Park since 1984, four minutes from time.

Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored twice in the opening 10 minutes to put the Toffees 2-0 up against Championship side Sheffield Wednesday before the goals dried up at Hillsborough.

Arsenal thrashed Nottingham Forest 5-0 at The Emirates with Gabriel Martinelli scoring twice on his first start.

Leicester City ran out 4-0 winners at Luton Town while Premier League bottom side Watford laboured to a 2-1 home win against Swansea City.

Lopez.

Danny Duffy (7-6) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings, improving to 2-1 in his last six starts.

Julio Teheran (10-11) gave up six runs and six hits in 2-1/3 innings. He has lost three straight starts, giving up 14 earned runs in 11-1/3 innings.

Orioles 11, Blue Jays 4

In Toronto, Trey Mancini had a career-high five hits, D.J. Stewart hit a two-run homer and Baltimore beat Toronto. Dwight Smith Jr and Austin Wynns each hit solo home runs for the Orioles.

With one more victory or a loss by Detroit, the Orioles (51-106) can avoid having baseball’s worst record for the second straight season.

Boston 12 Texas Cleveland 11 Chic W. Sox KC Royals 9 Atlanta Arizona 3 St Louis (19 Ins) Colorado 8 SF Giants (16 Ins) LA Angels 3 Oakland Astros 3 Seattle LA Dodgers 6 SD Padres

National League Atlanta Washington NY Mets Philadelphia Miami St Louis Milwaukee Chic Cubs Cincinnati Pittsburgh 96 62 .608 – 88 69 .561 7-1/2 82 75 .522 13-1/2 79 78 .503 16-1/2 55 102 .350 40-1/2

Central Division

W L Pct

LA Dodgers Arizona SF Giants San Diego Colorado

East Division

W L Pct

90 87 82 73 66 68 70 75 84 91

West Division

W L Pct

101 56 81 77 75 82 70 87 68 89 .570 .554 .522 .465 .420 10 0 6 2 5 2 0 3

GB

GB

– 2-1/2 7-1/2 16-1/2 23-1/2

GB

.643 – .513 20-1/2 .478 26 .446 31 .433 33