Wright leads Braves to sweep
Yankees stave off elimination
HOUSTON » Rookie Kyle Wright dazzled for six innings in his postseason debut, and the Atlanta Braves rode their superb pitching to beat the Miami Marlins 7- 0 Thursday for a threegame sweep and their first trip to the NL Championship Series since 2001.
Atlanta had lost eight straight Division Series, including in each of the previous two seasons, before out scoríng the Marlins 18- 5, including 11- 0 in the final two games. The Braves are 5- 0 with a 0.92 ERA in the postseason, allowing five runs in 49 innings.
They will play the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego in the NLCS starting Monday in Arlington, Texas.
YANKEES 5, RAYS 1 » Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres hit impressive home runs, Jordan Montgomery and three relievers combined on a three-hitter and New York beat Tampa Bay to force a deciding fifth game in their AL Division Series.
The Yankees bounced back from two straight losses against their AL East rivals to set up an expected showdown between aces Gerrit Cole of New York and Blake Snell of Tampa Bay on Friday night.
DODGERS6, PADRES5 » Cody Bellinger homered and robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a go-ahead shot, and Joe Kelly got the final out with the bases loaded in a tension-filled ninth inning as Los Angeles barely held off San Diego for a 2- 0 lead in their NL Division Series on Wednesday night.
Kelly retired Eric Hosmer on a routine grounder to earn the save after Dodgers All- Star closer Kenley Jansen wobbled in the ninth.
Clayton Kershaw allowed three runs over six innings for the win. He gave up consecutive solo homers to Manny Machado and Hosmer in the sixth while making his first start near his Texas home in a 13-season career.