San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Rockies fall, now tied with L.A. atop West
The Colorado Rockies dropped into a tie with Los Angeles for the National League West lead with one game left, routed by Stephen Strasburg, Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals 12-2 Saturday night.
Hoping to hold their one-game edge, the host Rockies saw their winning streak end at eight. The Dodgers were 10-6 winners in San Francisco earlier, ensuring the race will go down to the wire. With game No. 162 on deck, the Rockies (90-71) are attempting to accomplish a first: capture a division title.
If Los Angeles and Colorado finish tied, there will be a one-game tiebreaker for the West title Monday at Dodger Stadium. The loser will become a wild card.
Colorado celebrated earning a postseason spot Friday night, even breaking out the bubbly. But the team looked flat from the start as the Nationals grabbed an early 5-0 lead on Jon Gray (12-9) to sap the energy from a sellout crowd at Coors Field.
Cardinals 2, Cubs 1: Host Chicago wasted a solid performance by Cole Hamels, sending the NL Central race to the final day of the season. Chicago and Milwaukee will meet in a tiebreaker at Wrigley Field on Monday if they wind up tied, with the loser playing in a wild-card game at home on Tuesday. The Cardinals stayed alive for a wild card but were later eliminated by the Dodgers’ 10-6 win at AT&T Park. Brewers 6, Tigers 5: Host Milwaukee moved into a tie for first place in the NL Central with one game remaining, getting two homers from MVP candidate Christian Yelich to draw even with Chicago.
Mets 1, Marlins 0: David Wright left to a long standing ovation in the fifth inning before a sellout crowd at Citi Field in his farewell game for New York, going 0-for-1 with a walk against Miami, then joined teammates to swarm Austin Jackson, who hit an RBI double in the 13th inning.
Yankees 8, Red Sox 5: Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton connected as visiting New York broke the major-league record for home runs in a season. Torres’ two-run drive in the fourth was the Yankees’ 265th of the year and moved them past the 1997 Seattle Mariners. Stanton pushed the record to 266 in the seventh with his 38th homer, a solo shot to left field.
Astros sweep Orioles: Justin Verlander struck out 10 in six scoreless innings, helping visiting Houston take the opener of a doubleheader 4-3. In the nightcap, rookie Myles Straw hit his first big-league homer as Houston won 5-2.
Rays 4, Blue Jays 3: C.J. Cron and Austin Meadows homered, powering host Tampa Bay to the win. Rays left-hander Blake Snell struck out 10 in five innings, but failed to win his 10th straight start.
Reds 3, Pirates 0: Michael Lorenzen singled home a run and got his first victory as a starter since 2015, helping host Cincinnati snap its sevengame skid against Pittsburgh.
Philles 3, Braves 0: Aaron Nola pitched seven shutout innings to help host Philadelphia snap a nine-game skid.
Twins 8, White Sox 3: Joe Mauer reached base three times and Kyle Gibson got his 10th win in host Minnesota’s victory over Chicago.
Royals 9, Indians 4: Adalberto Mondesi hit a tie-breaking, three-run homer to lift host Kansas City.
D’backs 5, Padres 4: Rookie Ildemaro Vargas hit his first home run and drove in three runs for visiting Arizona.
Mariners 4, Rangers 1: Dee Gordon drove in the go-ahead run with a triple in the seventh inning, and James Paxton struck out nine to go over 200 for the season for host Seattle.