AROUND THRE HORN
■ Royals: OF Alex Gordon, 36, the former first-round pick whose rollercoaster career took him from near bust to All-Star and Gold Glove winner, announced Thursday he will retire after the season. Gordon was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 first-year player draft following a standout career at Nebraska. Gordon wound up playing his entire 14-year career with the Royals, winning one World Series and joining only George Brett and Frank White as position players with that much longevity with the franchise.
■ Indians: Jose Ramirez delivered a go-ahead, tworun double in the seventh inning and the Indians beat the White Sox 5-4 for a four-game sweep in a matchup of playoff-bound teams. The victory pulled the Indians within one game of the Sox for the fourth seed and home-field advantage in the first round of the postseason. The Idle Twins lead the Sox by one game in the AL Central with three to play. The Indians have won five straight and the Sox have lost five in a row. The Sox scored three times in the top of the seventh to take a 4-1 lead, but the Indians answered with four in the bottom half. ... Team president Chris Antonetti said manager Terry Francona will not return to the dugout during the regular season, but is slated to join the team’s postseason bubble. The 61-year-old has missed 42 games because of gastrointestinal surgery and blood-clotting issues. Sandy Alomar Jr. has been managing the Indians in Francona’s absence. The Indians clinched a playoff berth Tuesday.
■ Rockies: Raimel Tapia hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and the Rockies rallied to keep the contending Giants from gaining ground in the NL wild-card race in a 5-4 victory. The Giants (28-28), winners of three of their last five, dropped behind the idle Reds for the first NL wild card. The Reds (29-28) visit the Twins over the final weekend as the playoff-bound Padres come to San Francisco.
■ Mets: Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs, and the Mets beat the Nationals 3-2 to keep their flickering postseason hopes alive. ... Former All-Star OF Michael Conforto was placed on the IL with a hamstring injury Thursday, ending his regular season. Conforto was hitting a career-high .322 with nine HRs and 31 RBIs. ... Sandy Alderson will be return to the Mets as team president if the sale of the team to Steve Cohen is approved by MLB owners, Cohen said in a statement. Alderson, 72, served as Mets GM from 2010-18 before taking a leave of absence after his cancer returned.
■ Extra innings: Chad Kuhl pitched seven sharp innings and Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds had HRs among their three hits each in the Pirates’ 7-0 victory over the Cubs. Kuhl (2-3) retired the first nine batters and had a no-hitter until Anthony Rizzo doubled to the wall in right-center with one out in the sixth. ... The 2019 World Series champion Nationals were eliminated from playoff contention after the Giants beat the Rockies late Wednesday.