Buehler looks playoff ready, Dodgers top A’s
Walker Buehler proved he and his fickle right index finger are playoff ready, Corey Seager homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Thursday night to earn their major league-leading 40th victory of the shortened 60game season.
Buehler allowed one hit in four innings, struck out six and walked one in his first career appearance against the A’s. The right-hander returnedearlier intheday after missing 12 gameswitha blister on his finger that landed him on the injured list twice in the last4 ½ weeks.
Buehler threw 65 pitches, enough to confirmhis status as a starter in next week’s NL wild- card playoff that the Dodgers will host. He had not pitched since Sept. 8 at Arizona, where he lasted just 2 2/3 innings before leaving with finger issues.
Seager went deep — the
Dodgers’ 108th homer of the season — on the first pitch from Mike Fiers leading off the third for a 2-0 lead. INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 4 » JoséRamírez delivered a goahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and Cleveland beat Chicago.
BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 1 » Hyun Jin Ryu pitched seven shutout innings and the Toronto Blue Jays clinched their first postseason spot since 2016, beating the Yankees and further damaging New York’s chances of hosting a firstround playoff series. ASTROS12, RANGERS4 » Alex Bregman’s three extra-base hits included one of Houston’s four home runs, and the Astros trimmed their magic number to one for clinching the American League’s last playoff spot with over Texas.
METS3, NATIONALS2 » Robinson Chirinoshomeredand drove inthree runs, and the New York Mets beat Washington to keep their flickering postseason hopes alive. PIRATES 7, CUBS 0 » Chad Kuhl pitched seven sharp innings and ColinMoran and Bryan Reynolds had home runs among their three hits each in Pittsburgh’s victory over slumping Chicago. ORIOLES13, REDSOX1 » José Iglesias, Pat Valaika and Austin Hays homered to lead Baltimore past Boston. ROYALS 8, TIGERS 7 » Salvador Perez hit a three-run home run, Maikel Franco hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning and Kansas City beat Detroit. CARDINALS 4, BREWERS 2 » Yadier Molina singled twice to reach 2,000 career hits and St. Louis began a five-game series between playoff contenders by beating Milwaukee. MARLINS 4, BRAVES 2 » Jon Berti had three hits, including a two-run double, Pablo López allowed only two hits infive scoreless innings and Miami beat Atlanta to boost its playoff hopes.